Intimancer

Everyone in the arena erupted into cheers at the announcement.

“Allow me to show you how the fights shall be organized.”  The dean announced cheerfully.  Above his head what looked like a hologram formed itself into three separate tree-like shapes.  “Each school year will be separated into its own bracket.  For today, the students will compete into the first tier of their respective bracket, with the second half of the tournament taking place tomorrow, and the final fights the day after.  Now, I’m sure I have bored you all enough with my rambling.  Let’s have our talented first year students kick things off, shall we?”

The first bracket above the dean’s head glowed and shifted forward so the onlookers could see it better.  The simple lines flashed once and several letters began forming along the bottom of the pyramid.  Shortly after, a portrait of each student appeared just below their names, presumably to help distinguish who was who for those who couldn’t read or didn’t know the students by name.

“For those who may not be aware, our school tallies each individual student's scores after every exam to be ranked and displayed for all to see.”  The old wizard explained.  “These fine mages in training are the top sixteen in their year, and are organized appropriately.  Now, on to the first match!”

Rick studied the brackets and put a hand to his chin in thought.  “Hrm… wasn’t Sade ranked first?”  He wondered aloud.

“Yes, she just overtook Ariwyn again in the rankings a couple weeks ago.  Why do you ask?”  Lilie asked.

Rick pointed to the large holographic bracket still floating high over the center of the arena.  “Because they have Sade as the second seed.”

“What’s this about seeds?”  Tyr cut in.  Rick wasn’t sure if she was simply being funny or was genuinely confused by his vocabulary.  He decided to play it safe and assume it was the latter.

“Much like you would plant seeds in certain places in a garden to help them grow to their maximum potential, you can also place participants in a tournament in specific spots so things stay increasingly entertaining.”

RIck pointed to the first matchup and then the last one where Sade’s name and face were shown.  “If this tournament is anything like the ones I’m used to, then they would want to spread out the top competitors around so that they won’t fight until the later stages.  Ariwyn is placed in the first spot, and I’m assuming the poor sod who is about to fight her is ranked sixteenth.”

“Okay, I can see the logic behind all that.  But why is Sade’s match last?”  Tyr asked.

“Follow the pattern.  If both of them win all their fights, then the final round will be where Sade and Ariwyn will finally have their grudge match.  That’s the fight everyone wants to see, and it would be boring to have the best fight in the tournament right at the beginning.  Get the easy wins out of the way, perhaps have an upset victory come in out of left field, and have all the truly close matchups come in later.”

A sudden thought struck him while he was looking over the three separate brackets.  “Hey Lilie, you’re still a student, right?.  Why aren’t you participating in this?”

The raven haired shaytoni gave a shy smile.  “I am.  But I’m in the medical program.  We’re a bit more specialized and have our own separate rankings from the rest.  Outside my first year general education courses, I haven't even studied any combat based spells.”

“Huh…”  Rick mused.  He often forgot that Lilie was basically training to become a doctor.  It was a stark contrast to the indomitable wall she had become for her hunting party.

“That’s dumb.  Any idiot who’s seen ya fight would know how dangerous ya are.”  Tyr commented.

Lilie let out a musical giggle.  “I’m dangerous with a sword, Tyr.  All my magic does is allow me and the rest of you to keep fighting.  This is supposed to be about using magic to defeat your opponent.  ”

“Bah!  Pussies.”  The large woman grumbled.

Everyone chuckled at that.  They each turned to the field to see two figures step into the center of the arena from an entrance right behind where the dean and Armondo stood.  Rick recognized the long platinum blond head of one.  Although their first meeting was relatively short, he had to admit that the high elf certainly made an impression.  The two students stood about fifty paces apart and faced each other.

“And… Begin!”  The dean shouted.

Ariwyn’s opponent hopped to the side and waved his hand in the air.  Several small glowing orbs of magic formed in a halo above his head.  Rick had seen this spell dozens of times in training and on hunts with Sade.  The spell was ‘mage missile’, and just like its counterpart from table top role playing games, it was a quick, efficient, and simple staple that nearly all spellcasters first learned.  Rick didn’t count that against the boy though.  While the spell was little more than a cantrip, he had seen Sade use one of those orbs to punch a hole through a monster like it was shot out of a high caliber rifle.  Even the simplest of magic was downright dangerous.

Honestly, if he was in the young man’s shoes he would have probably done the same.  The opening moves of a fight were for combatants to test each other, probing their opponents defenses before going in for the kill.  The student was playing it safe and preparing for the long game.  He was facing up against the number one seed after all.

While Rick was mentally complementing the male student for his tactics, it seemed that Ariwyn had a different strategy in mind.  While her opponent had originally repositioned before casting, she had simply stood there and started channeling her mana from the moment the match began.

The crowd gasped in amazement as the high elf’s spell manifested at the same time as her opponents.  A huge globe of multicolored energy the size of her torso expanded out from her outstretched hand like a balloon being filled by an air hose.  Once the chromatic orb started to float away from her, Ariwyn crossed her arms and grinned smugly at the man standing across the arena.

Rick was about to ask what the big deal was when the answer came almost immediately.  Countless smaller pieces exploded out from the mass of magic, only to inexplicably curve and shoot towards the other mage like heat seeking missiles.  The man dove for cover as the first wave of projectiles slammed into the ground, but more were shooting out of the glob with each passing moment.  He tried to shoot his own spell in the elf’s direction, only for each bolt of magic to be countered by several smaller colorful streaks of magic swerving off course and detonating the spell early.

The poor mage only managed to evade for a couple of seconds before the first shot hit his leg, sending him stumbling to the ground.  Before he could even register what was happening, more bolts rained down on his prone body from all angles.  In no time at all, a wave of force dissipated all magical attacks in the area and a barrier flashed around him.  The first match of the day was over.

Rick and the rest of the audience sat stunned at the overwhelming show of power.  The high elf beat her opponent in merely ten seconds flat, with a single spell.  Once their brains caught up to what their eyes just witnessed, the crowd burst into a roar of cheers.  Ariwyn merely basked in the adulation as she slowly turned on her heel and walked back to the staging area.

“She’s a magus.”

Rick turned to see Daniela looking at the retreating form of the high elf with a pale face.  Lilie also looked worried.

“How do you know that Ariwyn’s a magus?”  Rick asked the dwarf.

“T-that spell.  You saw how it had all those shifting colores?  That’s a telltale sign the spell was constructed with unattributed magic.  Magic that uses all six sources.  Only known vocation that can use unattributed magic is the magus.”

“And let’s not forget just how quickly she was able to pop out that ridiculous spell.”  Lilie added.  “You know full well that some spells have a bit of a wind-up like Sade’s favorite lightning spell.  Well guess what vocation cuts that time in half?”

Rick nodded his head.  He was finally beginning to understand just why Sade was so embarrassed by her decision to become an intimancer.  A magus was extremely powerful, not to mention extremely rare.  It was an odd trade indeed to give that up.

“Yer underestimating our girl too much.”  Tyr stated firmly.  The other three looked to see the forest elf staring down at the retreating back of the high elf woman with a wide smirk on her lips.  “That pup may be strong, but in all me years, I’ve never met anyone more cunning and devious than Sade.”  The grin on her face twisted into something quite wicked.  “Those poor fools have no idea what’s waiting for them.”

Rick and the others blinked at Tyr’s sudden declaration.  After a moment, Lilie’s musical laughter rang out.  Daniela’s own frown slowly morphed into a grin, followed soon by soft chuckles.  Finally, Rick got caught up in the moment and joined in the mirth.

“Damn… I almost feel sorry for them.”  He said at last.

“It will certainly be fucking entertaining.”  Lilie giggled.

Tyr leaned back into her seat, a hand resting on her belly.  “I can’t wait to see the looks on their faces.  Their cries of horror and disbelief will be like sweet music fer me ears.”

The next few matches were considerably less one sided than the opening bout.  Rick noticed that each mage prioritized evasion over outright blocking or negating the spells thrown their way.  It was entertaining in its own right to see students in bulky robes rolling around and diving out of the way of incoming fireballs or shards of ice.

Aside from all the improvised acrobatics, it was interesting to see just how varied each mage’s fighting style was.  Sade’s classmate Hattepa favored spells that involved tangling roots to suddenly pop out of the ground or growing twisting vines that acted like whips to damage and entangle her opponents.  One enterprising student actually ran in close to defeat his opponent with a swift punch to the face.

“That guy’s pretty interesting.”  He commented after the match concluded.

“Aye.  Interesting, but nothing special.”  Tyr yawned.  “If the lass he hit wasn’t all skin and bones, let alone a frail mage, then things would have ended differently.”

“Honestly Rick, you could probably beat him without casting a single spell.”  LIlie added.

Daniela snorted.  “That’s a no-brainer.  I bet he could even beat the kid with just his spellcasting too.”

The other two women nodded in agreement.  Rick merely shook his head in exasperation.  He had gained quite a lot of useful combat experience since first coming to Parva, but he had precious few opportunities to fully test his skills against a trained mage outside of sparring with his friends.  In his own opinion, he wasn’t quite so confident in his ability to handle a dedicated melee mage.

“And now, here is the final opening match for our talented first year students!”  The dean announced.

“Yay!  It’s Sade’s turn!”  LIlie squealed.

The crowd cheered loudly as two more figures stepped out and approached the center of the arena.  Rick and the others shouted words of encouragement as they saw their friend and lover look up in an effort to find them.  When their eyes met, a warm smile blossomed on Sade’s lips and she gave a slight wave before she took her position away from her opponent.

The dean looked over the two mage students.  “Are the two of you prepared?”  He asked quietly.  Both nodded their heads.  The old man looked pleased and raised his hand into the air.  “Very well.  Ready… Begin!”