Hero of Lichfrost

by M E Robinson

  “So the reason Kyp closed the distance wasn’t to enter into melee range with Hope, but to threaten the possibility that he might, and to allow him to interrupt Hope’s spell casts?” Halfthur inquired.

  “Exactly. When Kyp judges that he can interrupt a cast, he uses Arcane Strike. When he judges that he can’t, he uses Wind Dart and attempts to dodge, either trading evenly with Hope, or hitting him and avoiding the damage all together. If Hope messes up and allows Kyp to interrupt his attacks, Kyp dashes towards him and fights him in melee range. It’s a sound strategy,” Wavesun explained.

  As the announcers discussed Eric’s strategy, the battle below was coming to a climax. Drawing back, Rob attempted to put distance between them once more. However, Eric refused to let this happen, sticking to him like a leech as he fired spell after spell towards his friend.

  With a shout, Rob brought up both hands, casting runes with each hand as Eric avoided a Water Blade that had been cast diagonally to catch his roll.

  Seeing this, Eric cast an Arcane Strike, attempting to disrupt Rob’s spellcasting once more, but to no avail. As the violet bolt struck him, Rob completed the spell, the runes glowing brightly as he aimed towards Eric. Instincts screaming, Eric threw himself backwards, desperately attempting to move as a pair of enormous Stone Spheres manifested in front of Rob.

  “Hope dualcasts Enhanced Stone Sphere! I can’t believe a Journeyman mage can use this spell!” Halfthur yelled excitedly, bouncing up and down in the announcer’s booth.

  The audience too had moved to the edge of their seats, watching anxiously as they saw the enormous Stone Spheres approach Eric.

  With a grim look, Eric stopped moving. The Stone Spheres were too big to dodge. Even if he avoided them, the resulting explosion of shrapnel would be more than enough to wipe out the rest of his healthbar. Thinking quickly, Eric began to draw rune after rune, his athame moving at lightning speed as it drew shapes in the air.

  With a shout, Rob cast the Enhanced Stone Spheres, the two spells converging towards Eric’s position. As they neared with a couple metres of him, Eric’s hands stopped moving, the runes in front of him glowing as he completed his spell.

  With the roar of rushing wind, nine Wind Darts blinked into existence around Eric. Pointing them towards the rocks, Eric fired the spell, sending four Wind Darts toward one sphere, and five towards the other. As the Wind Darts approached the Stone Spheres, they converged, nine Wind Darts meeting two Stone Spheres. With a stage-quaking sound, the Stone Spheres exploded, sending bits of rock flying everywhere like shrapnel. Covering his face with his arms, Eric jumped backwards as he braced for impact.

  “Kyp casts nine Wind Darts at once to break up the Stone Spheres! I don’t believe it, is this still a fight between two low level mages?!” Halfthur asked, his dumbstruck voice echoing through the arena.

  Going silent, the audience watched as Eric flew backwards, propelled by the explosion of wind and rock. Landing heavily on his back, Eric skidded across the stage, his body ragdolling as he rolled more than twenty metres from where he’d stood.

  Coming to a halt, Eric went still, his body twitching gently where it lay.

  “It looks like both Kyp and Hope are suffering from mana rebound! Who will recover first?

  Four percent health left eh? That should be more than enough, Eric thought to himself, as he attempted to get his body to respond. A row of status effects along the bottom of his vision announced the state that his body was currently in, but he ignored them, hauling himself to his feet as he stared balefully towards Rob.

  Rob wasn’t in a much better state than Eric himself. Although Eric had attempted to put distance between them, the Stone Spheres had exploded only ten metres from where Rob stood. What’s more, the blast of wind from Eric’s Wind Darts had propelled the majority of the shrapnel back towards him. Combined with the damage that Eric had inflicted upon him earlier in the fight, and Rob’s healthbar was blinking red as well.

  Raising his hands, Rob attempted to cast a spell, but Eric was too fast. Moving quickly, he drew a Wind Dart, firing the spell directly towards Rob. As Rob’s spell completed, a Stone Sphere manifesting in front of him, the Wind Dart slammed into him, depleting the rest of his healthbar and triggering the blue light.

  Giving Eric a smile, Rob was whisked away, leaving Eric alone on the stage.

  “And Erick ‘Kyp’ Kystfyr is the winner! After a jawdropping match with his fellow Riptide member, Kyp wins and Sweet ‘Hope’ Sins is eliminated! Kyp moves on to the top eight where he will fight the winner of the next round between Grott and Flora Sinflame!” Halfthur announced, finally recovering from the shock of what he had just witnessed.

  Smiling weakly, Eric waved to the crowd as he left the stage, intent upon finding a healer. This had been the most intense fight he’d had in the entire tournament so far. Even more intense than his fight with Soren. Rob had truly held nothing back, going at him with everything he had. If Eric hadn’t had the presence of mind to use Multi-linked Wind Dart to deal with Rob’s Enhanced Stone Sphere, then he would’ve been the one eliminated.

  I’m going to have to have a talk with Rob about that, I didn’t even know dual casting was possible, let alone enhancing a spell like that, Eric thought as he entered the tunnel. Headed for the viewer’s lounge where he would find a healer, and watch Grott’s match, in that order.

  Chapter 33

  Having visited the healer, Eric made his way back to where Mark, Ryan, and Jun were sitting. Their group had now diminished significantly with the eliminations of first Gio, and now Griffin and Rob.

  “Damn, Eric. You did Rob dirty,” Ryan said with a grin.

  Eric smirked. “Damn Rob nearly got me. Did you know that he could dual-cast?”

  Ryan laughed. “Yeah he got a new wand like two days ago that allows him to do that. It takes a shit ton of mana though.”

  “So he can’t dual-cast without the wand?”

  “Not yet. He can enhance his Stone Sphere without it though,” Ryan explained.

  “Poor Rob, losing to a shitter like Eric,” Jun lamented.

  Eric rolled his eyes. “He damn near almost got me. I was hoping to save my Multi-linked Wind Dart as a trump card against Hydrus or Jun, but Rob forced me to expose it early.”

  “Yeah, what was up with that? I thought you couldn’t use that spell without collapsing from mana rebound. You got up way faster than you did that time against the Swordclaw,” Mark asked curiously.

  “It’s not like I’ve been wasting my time studying with Lucy. I’ve been practicing my mana circulation and mana infusion techniques. I can cast it without fainting so long as I have more than half my mana. There’s still a ton of room for improvement though,” Eric explained.

  “Well I’ve still got my trump card ready, so it looks like I’ll be taking the win,” Ryan said jokingly.

  “Make it past Seryllia first. She took out Griffin, so you’ve got to be careful,” Mark warned.

  “Either way, he’s going to be out before the top four anyways,” Jun said.

  “Because that’s where he’s going to encounter you?” Eric asked.

  “Exactly.”

  As they joked about who was going to win, Halfthur finished introducing Grott and his opponent, a female adventurer with an enormous scar over her left eye who wielded a mace and shield. Grott had a very orthodox fighting style for an archer. Maintaining his range, he bombarded his opponent with arrows, kiting the melee range fighter across the stage as he sniped at gaps in her defence.

  As they watched, Eric and his friends searched for weaknesses that they could exploit should Grott advance.

  “His aim isn’t as good as Jun or that blonde archer chick’s, but his fundamentals are solid,” Mark admitted as he watched Grott land another shot on his opponent.

  “He’s not particularly amazing in any aspect. But he’s above average at everything an archer needs to do well,” Jun admitted.

  “Ugh, he’s the worst type of opponent.
One without any flaws to exploit, just a pure skill matchup,” Eric complained.

  “Well if you were more skilled, then this fight would be easy,” Jun shot back.

  “Maybe you won’t have to fight him? The adventurer chick’s landed a few good hits,” Ryan suggested.

  “Nah, Grott’s going to win. He’s only allowing hits that let him trade for more damage. Unless she pulls out some crazy skill, she’s going to lose in another minute or two,” Eric replied.

  Sure enough, a minute and a half later, the fight was over. Landing a Charged Shot just under his opponent’s upraised shield, Grott watched impassively as the blue light surrounded his unwilling foe, whisking her away as Halfthur announced his victory.

  “Well, looks like I’m up. I shouldn’t be long,” said Mark, flashing them a confident smile as he walked off.

  True to his word, Mark’s fight was over quickly. Mark hadn’t neglected his mace skills, using a combination of efficient strikes along with his healing skills to keep himself alive as he dismantled his opponent.

  Raising his mace in triumph, Mark walked back towards the tunnel, still casting healing spells on himself even as he left the stage.

  “Mark’s Divine Magic must be getting pretty high. He’s really dedicated to practicing his healing spells,” Ryan commented as they watched Mark disappear from the projection.

  “I’m half afraid he’s going to start hurting himself just to get more practice,” Eric joked. “Or even worse, one of us.”

  This got a round of laughs as Jun stood to leave for his fight. Wishing him luck, the group watched as Jun faced off against Kifax Catclaw.

  Kifax was an exciting fighter to watch. Wielding a pair of gauntlets with short claws extending from the fingertips, he used a hit and run fighting style to dismantle his opponents, catching weapons with his gauntlets, and ripping defenses away with the claws. Unfortunately for Kifax, Jun’s fighting style was the antithesis of his own. Maintaining a proper range, Jun accurately predicted Kifax’s movements, landing arrows on the former Tidescout even when he attempted to dodge, and avoiding Kifax’s attempts at creating an offence.

  Jumping backwards, Jun dodged Kifax’s lunge, loosing an arrow pointblank into his chest for his troubles. Staggering slightly, Kifax was unable to pursue as Jun backpedalled swiftly, launching another arrow at the man to deter pursuit.

  “Shin lands another arrow! Kifax is in trouble now. He can’t close the gap, and his health is steadily dwindling,” Halfthur commented.

  “Yes. Shin’s ability to grasp his opponent’s movements is incredible. At this rate, he’s going to eliminate Kifax, one of the favourites to win this tournament, with only a few more arrows,” Wavesun added.

  As he said this, Jun activated Charged Shot, aiming carefully at Kifax. As Jun watched, Kifax began to dart back and forth, his form blurring and leaving slight watery afterimages as he approached Jun’s position.

  “And Kifax uses Nereide Steps to advance! Shin might be in trouble now,” Halfthur shouted excitedly, secretly hoping for Kifax to turn the tide against Jun.

  As Kifax advanced, Jun continued to adjust his aim, ready to loose his Charged Shot the moment an opportunity appeared. Eyes darting from side to side, Jun turned suddenly, launching his arrow towards an empty space several metres to his right.

  As the audience watched in stunned amazement, Kifax suddenly appeared in the path of Jun’s arrow, the Charged Shot slamming into his throat. With an agonized gurgle, Kifax fell, the blue light enveloping him as silence filled the arena.

  Breaking the silence, Halfthur cleared his throat, the spell that magically amplified his voice causing the sound to fill the arena. “Ahem. And Jun Shinzir wins! With an absolutely spectacular performance, Shin eliminates Kifax and advances to the top eight, leaving only one spot left! Will the remaining Riptide member, Nelo Noire advance? Or will Seryllia Vespin eliminate another member of Riptide? It’s time to find out!” Halfthur shouted, attempting to brush over his gaffe.

  Bidding goodbye to his friends, Ryan left for his match, leaving Eric and Mark alone to discuss his chances and Jun’s victory.

  As Ryan and Seryllia entered the arena, the audience burst into applause. Both fighters were popular with the fans thanks to their flashy and reckless fighting styles. Because of this fact, it seemed that their match was the most highly anticipated fight of the top sixteen, even after Eric and Jun’s ridiculous displays in their wins. Waving to the fans, Ryan had a huge grin on his face as he surveyed the arena. In contrast, Seryllia had her face set in a scowl, not that that was anything new. In fact, Eric sometimes wondered if her face could do any other expressions, as scowling seemed to be both her default and only expression at times.

  “And the fighters have entered the stage. Wavesun, who do you think has the greater chance? Riptide’s members have all put up fantastic showings so far, but Seryllia is the only non-member to knock one of them out up to now. Do you think Nelo’s fast and flashy swordsmanship will carry him to victory? Or will Seryllia’s unbridled aggression give her the win?” Halfthur asked, directing the question towards Wavesun.

  Pausing for a moment, Wavesun stroked his chin, considering the question. “I feel that this is a rather even match. Nelo’s skill with the sword is extremely high, but Seryllia’s aggression makes her incredibly tough to deal with. I feel that Nelo needs to minimize his risks, and just attempt to overwhelm Seryllia with superior skill. If he gets sucked into her pace the way Boreik Griffinwing did last round, then there’s a good chance he loses,” Wavesun analyzed.

  “Great analysis, Wavesun. Now then, the fighters are ready. Representing Riptide, Nelo Noire is looking to be the fourth Riptide member to advance, which would mean Riptide would occupy a full half of the top eight! However, Seryllia Vespin is the one who took out his fellow teammate, Boreik Griffinwing last round. Looking to repeat her feat this round, she’s going to be hungry to prove that it wasn’t a fluke,” Halfthur shouted, causing the audience to settle down in anticipation.

  Seeing this, Halfthur smiled. “Let the fight...begin!”

  The words had barely left his mouth when Seryllia began her charge forward. Reacting in kind, Ryan rushed forward to meet her, his sword held at the ready. As Seryllia approached, she leapt forwards, allowing her momentum to carry her forwards as she brought her axe down like a lightning bolt from above.

  Throwing himself to the side, Ryan narrowly avoided the blow, Seryllia’s axe kicking up shards of stone as it crashed into the stone beside him. As Ryan rolled to his feet, he lashed out with his sword, scoring a hit upon Seryllia as he rose.

  Snarling at him, Seryllia lashed out with her arm, backfisting Ryan in the face and sending him backwards. Not letting up, she brought her axe forward, launching an upwards strike which threatened to cut Ryan from hip to shoulder. Paling slightly, Ryan leaned sideways, watching as the axe soared within a finger’s length of his head.

  “What a fast exchange of blows! Nelo opens the fight with a slash across Seryllia’s side, but she responds with a backfist into a diagonal cut that Nelo narrowly avoids! This is still anyone’s fight folks,” Halfthur commented excitedly, watching as Seryllia pressured Ryan backwards across the stage.

  Swearing slightly, Ryan took a Flame Strike from Seryllia, stabbing forward to score a hit of his own as his blade pierced her shoulder. Carefully avoiding her followup strike, Ryan landed another hit, his blade slashing her leg as he dodged a kick.

  “It looks like Nelo is slowly starting to find his rhythm - he’s struck Seryllia four times now, compared to her two hits on him. Is Seryllia in trouble?” Halfthur commented.

  “Nelo’s managed to avoid taking any major blows so far. But none of his attacks have dealt major damage either. While he’s slowly building a lead, he’s walking on thin ice here, any of Seryllia’s big hits could easily reverse the tide of this battle,” Wavesun replied.

  As they watched, Ryan landed another hit, his sword flashing twice in the air as he followed up wit
h another strike on the backswing, drawing blood as he brought his sword up just in time to deflect Seryllia’s overhead chop. Groaning with exertion, Ryan pushed Seryllia’s strike to the side. As her axe slammed into the ground for the second time this fight, Ryan stepped forward, preparing to deal another blow to the defenseless fighter.

  However, this time Seryllia was prepared, stepping forward, she headbutted Ryan, causing his sword to fly past the mark as Ryan stepped back in a daze. Grabbing her axe by the handle, Seryllia pressed her advantage, activating Power Blow to deal an enormous blow to Ryan.

  In the announcer’s booth, Halfthur was going crazy as he attempted to commentate upon the fast paced fight below.

  “And Seryllia reverses the momentum! Just as you predicted, Wavesun, Seryllia sucked Nelo into her pace, and now she punishes him hard. Nelo’s on the backfoot now. Can he recover from this?”

  Abandoning decorum, Ryan turned and ran, putting distance between himself and the overly aggressive axe-user, who used Charge to chase after him. Once he’d put a few metres between them, Ryan turned, his sword at the ready once more.

  “Nelo seems to have regained his composure, he’s standing ready to receive Seryllia’s charge, does he have a plan?” Halfthur speculated, his voice rippling over the stage.