Intimancer

The first thing Rick did when they got home was to set Tyr aside.

There was much to do that evening.  The least of which was to whip up a feast to celebrate Sade’s first victory in the tournament.  Before that could happen, he had business with his elven lover.

“I want to apologize for the way I spoke to you earlier.”  He said without preamble.

The towering amazon sucked in a great breath before letting it all out slowly.  “I know.  Yer not the sort ta strike unless it was warranted.  But I would like ta hear yer reasoning fer it.”

Rick inhaled his own fortifying breath.  The conversation was going far better than he originally hoped, but there was still time for it to go all tits up in the end.  Still, she deserved to hear his answer.

“I’ve been around you long enough to sense true bloodlust from play-acting.  You were actually going to attack that man.  I needed to find a way to knock some sense into you with a blow that you couldn’t just shrug off before it was too late.”

Tyr let out a snort of amusement.  “That wasn’t merely a smack upside the head.  Yer words hit me like a kick ta the dick!”  She cupped her groin for emphasis before her expression immediately sobered.  “... But as much as it hurt, ya had a point.  I coulda ignored him, just shrugged it off like ya said, but I didn’t.  I’m just sad ya had ta point it out the way ya did.”

“Tyr, I-”  Before he could say anything further, she held up a meaty palm.

“Don’t.”  She warned.  “Low blow or not, it was something I needed ta hear.”  She gave a wry smile and looked up towards the ceiling, like she could see the night sky through all the layers of wood and plaster blocking the way.

“Me whole life, I’ve been told how our tribal cousins are snooty and arrogant.  How they would stop at nothing ta see us brought low before them at every opportunity.”  She let out a tired sigh.  “I never once questioned it.  When I finally saw a high elf fer the first time, I acted without thinking in the way I’ve been taught before she could even utter a single word.  A preemptive strike if ya will.”

She fixed Rick with a piercing emerald stare.  “Don’t ever feel bad fer calling me out on me shitty behavior.  I’d rather hear the harsh truth from the man I love than sweet silence.  How can I claim to be above those uptight pricks if I don’t strive ta be the better person?”

Rick nodded.  “True.  But there’s pointing out your flaws, and then there’s harshly shouting it out in front of said pricks.  Next time I’ll try to be at least more tactful in my criticism.  Deal?”

Tyr gave a toothy smile.  “Aye.  I suppose that’s fair.”  She swung her arm around to smack Rick's shoulder so hard he nearly stumbled.  “C’mon!  Time ta hand the night over ta Sade.”

He rubbed the spot where she gave him a ‘love tap’.  “Good idea.  You know, you’re taking this all a lot better than most of the people I know in their seventies.”

The older woman let out a short bark of laughter.  “Don’t ya worry there.  I’m still young after all.”

The two of them snickered together and rejoined the others in the dining room.  No longer in the public’s eye, Sade finally regaled her friends and lovers about her self imposed wardrobe malfunction and its impact on how she fought her poor opponent.  Not a single person could successfully stop their lips from curling upward with each word she added to the tale.  Tyr was clutching her belly with tears streaming down her face in great rivers by the end.

“There were quite a few idiotas chatting about your fight in the stands too.”  Daniela chuckled after Sade got to the point where her classmates started to get rowdy in the waiting room.

“I’m not surprised.  Even with proper education, it’s rare to find someone who knows about the technique.”  Lilie commented.  “If it wasn’t for the study group, I’d have never even heard about it.”

“Even the wee magus didn’t know what she saw.”  Tyr added, still chucking.  “Although her parents certainly did.  Best ta assume she won’t be underestimating ya nearly as much as the rest.”

Sade waved her hand dismissively.  “This is all within my predictions.  If it were not for the dire circumstances, I would not have even shown this much of my skill.”

Rick looked at his dark skinned lover curiously.  “Just how much are you planning to hold back?”

Sade’s smile turned wolfish.  “As much as I can.  It would be bad form to end the final match in only a single blow after all.”

The following morning, Rick and the others eagerly awaited the start of the second round of matches.  Unlike the day before, there was another section of the stands set aside for the previously eliminated contestants to sit and watch the remaining tournament.  This made sense.  Sade had told them about the hologram in the waiting area for competitors to view the fights, but seeing the actual thing was probably considerably more preferred.

Once again, the dean and Professor Armondo took to the field to welcome the spectators.  “Hello people of Shatak!  I hope you have enjoyed the show our wonderful students have provided so far.  I for one have been thoroughly impressed by their skill and mastery of magic.”

The crowd gave a sizable cheer in response.  Apparently they had enjoyed themselves so far.  Rick knew that he and his friends certainly did.

With a smile, the dean continued.  “Excellent!  Today’s matches will be structured similar to the first, with our delightful first years starting things off.  All three years will have their first match in order.  This will give the remaining competitors enough time to rest and refill their mana before they come back out for the semi-finals.  Now without further ado, let’s begin!”

The audience, including the already eliminated students, roared with approval.  With a nod from the dean, the tournament brackets shown above the arena once more, the second row the pyramids glowing slightly brighter than the rest.

First up was Ariwyn.  She and her opponent, one of the study group members Rick vaguely recalled interacting with, took their proper positions fifty paces apart.  The dean shouted for the match to begin and both students lept into action.

The high elf dodged a lance of fire and retaliated with her own spell.  The crowd gave a groan of disappointment as a familiar blob of multicolored magic lazily floated out from her outstretched palm.  The poor young man had a different reaction however.  He desperately shot out more flame bolts in an attempt to hit the caster before her spell could retaliate.

He didn’t make it.

Ariwyn’s spell exploded with colorful bolts of power, easily knocking away or neutralizing the hasty attacks before zeroing in on her poor opponent.  To give credit where it was due, the young man held back the overwhelming magic aimed his way for considerably longer than anyone expected, including Ariwyn.  With each successful block with a magical shield or a well timed counter attack to create gaps in the onslaught, her face twisted further and further from confidence to genuine concern.

But try as he might, the brave student couldn’t hope to do little more than survive the unwavering assault against his meager defenses.  Before long, his exhaustion caused his concentration to slip and that was all it was needed to seal his fate.  Rick winced as the man was temporarily turned into a magical pincushion before the barrier magic activated and the match was called.

The audience cheered loudly for the competitors.  There were even quite a few members shouting out the young man’s name, telling him how well he managed to hold on or how brave he was for standing his ground.  Rick was more than happy to salute the talented mage.  He doubted he could have done much better if he was in the arena at that moment.

Actually… Perhaps he may be underestimating himself.  While he rarely beat Sade in their sparring sessions where magic was allowed, he had beaten her.  Granted, that could be because she was holding herself back or wanted to perform an experiment of some sort in the middle of the fight, but the fact remained that he had bested one of the best mages he had ever seen more than once.  It was a firm reminder that he wasn’t the same helpless boy he was back in the forest.  Rick had changed, more than just physically.

The next few matches were longer affairs.  Trish had the unfortunate luck to be paired up against Hattepa.  The gloomy woman was no slouch when it came to slinging spells around, but the coyote-kin and her nature spells were just a natural counter to Trish’s shadows and illusions, since plants lacked the required senses for those spells to be fully effective.

At long last, it was Sade’s turn to shine.  Across from where she stood, the self-styled melee mage stood tall with his olive toned arms crossed over his broad chest, a confident sneer plastered on his handsome face.

“You’re more than welcome to surrender now before that pretty face of yours gets all scuffed up.”  He called out.

“I thank you for your concern, and the compliment.”  Sade shot back sweetly.  Tyr had to fight hard to hold back her laughter when relaying the short exchange to the rest of the party, since neither student had their voices amplified and only her ears were sharp enough to hear what they said.  Rick and the others couldn’t help but chuckle as well.  Few people ever expected the insanely talented mage to retaliate with a sweet and innocent act, and her lack of apparent care for their barbs only seemed to rile them up even more.

Which was precisely why she acted that way in the first place.

The other student, Ferdinand, looked like he just swallowed a lemon.  Professor Armondo chuckled at his reaction.  “You better work on your banter boy, I’ve seen her hang out with forest elves.  It will take a lot more than that to rattle her.”

The dean gently signaled his dwarven colleague to be silent.  “Now then, are you both ready?”  He asked with that magically resonant voice.  Sade shouted her affirmation and adopted a ready stance, her face a mask of earnest eagerness.  Ferdinand sneered derisively before adopting his own fighting pose and giving the signal to begin.

“Start!”

The moment the words rang out, Sade’s arm cut across her body, sending an arc of golden energy flying straight towards Ferdinand’s neck.  The man ducked and tumbled into a roll that quickly morphed into an all out sprint.  Sade threw a few more arcs of magic his way but he batted them aside with arms suddenly covered in iridescent crystal gauntlets.

Ferdinand stuck his armored hands out like he was trying to grope Sade’s chest despite him being several meters away.  To the surprise of everyone watching, his gauntlets exploded, sending a spray of razor sharp crystal shards hurtling towards Sade.

The curvy woman hardly seemed phased.  Before the first projectiles could land, she held out her other palm.  Instantly, a bright blue cloud of energy in the form of a flat oval appeared in front of her.  Sade’s spell seemed to freeze the majority of the shards in place, while several more ricocheted or shattered against its surface like it was a solid object.  With another flick of her wrist, she sent the trapped crystal pieces flying back towards their creator.

The man made a flying leap to the side, just barely avoiding all the shards thrown back at him, and landed hard on his belly.  His momentum was so great that he slid a decent distance on the sandy ground, and actually sailed past a few more golden arcs his opponent sent his way.

Sade tsked with mild annoyance.  “You are an elusive one, I will give you that.”  She called out to him before creating several glowing orbs above her head with a wave of her hand.

Ferdinand roared with fury and shot back up to his feat.  Sade hurled her mage missiles and golden arcs in his direction, only for him to dodge or deflect with those once more reformed gauntlets.

The man was rapidly closing the distance.  While Sade had yet to take a step away from her initial starting spot, it became clear that the window to reposition had ended.  When he was just a few steps away, Sade swung out another arc aimed low to take out his legs.  Unfortunately, her attempt failed as Ferdinand lept high into the air, still flying forward on a collision course with the dark skinned woman.

Sade spun on her heel, but rather than turning to run or evade, she simply kept turning.  Her arm glowed a deep indigo before erupting into a glowing transparent blade as long as she was tall.  With the extra momentum gained from her spin, her magic weapon swung around with tremendous speed and force.

Ferdinand’s eyes grew wide as he realized he had nowhere to dodge while stuck in midair.  He curled himself into a ball and formed a crystalline shield just barely big enough for him to hide behind.

Sade’s blade collided with the shield with a thunderous boom, sending Ferdinand flying back like he just got hit with a home run swing of a baseball bat.  The impact caused both magical constructs to shatter like glass before dissipating into the mana it was originally formed from.

Sade placed her hands on her knees, trying to catch her breath from all the back to back spellcasting she had been throwing around.

“Four!  You can cast four fucking spells at once?!”  Ferdinand shouted from the spot where he landed.  His disbelief was understandable.  Rick had yet to hear of any other first year with an attunement score at sixteen or higher.  Most could barely hold two spells at the ready, three at the most.

He stood back up on shaky legs, and saw the state Sade was in.  He began to stalk forward, his grin growing ever wider with each step.  “It seems it doesn’t matter how many spells you can use.  You’re probably out of mana while I…”  He flexed his knuckles, the skin rapidly becoming encased in the transparent crystal.  “I still have plenty to deal with you.”

“Oh, how heartening.”  Sade chuckled weakly.  “I would hate for this match to end too soon.”

“You still have time to make jokes?”  Ferdinand spat incredulously.

“Of course!”  She replied.  “There is always time for humor.”

Rather than continue the banter, the man dashed forward and aimed a punch straight towards her grinning face.  The crowd had seen what happened when one of his armored blows landed against unprotected flesh.  If it wasn’t for that magical barrier, then his opponents would most certainly need immediate medical attention.  Sade definitely would be in trouble.

Except the punch never landed.

At the last possible second, Sade ducked her head to the inside, letting the fist pass harmlessly right beside her ear.  Ferdinand barely had time to look shocked before Sade’s own knuckles slammed into his stomach, knocking the wind out of him.

Sade was far from done.  She quickly slid under his still outstretched arm and maneuvered herself so that she was directly behind the man.  Before he could even process what she planned to do, her arms wrapped around his waist and she yanked him up into the air.  His limbs flailed about uselessly for just a moment before Sade started to tilt backwards.  Her back made a perfect arch as she delivered her target straight back to the ground in a textbook german suplex.

The crowd was silent.  Nobody in their right mind could have predicted a mage duel would devolve into a wrestling match, especially not with a talented spellweaver like Sade in the mix.  Tyr howled with laughter at seeing the shocked looks on everyone’s faces.  Rick had to admit, there was just something satisfying about watching Sade manhandle an unsuspecting opponent.

Sade made her way back to her feet and dusted herself off.  Ferdinand lay on the floor dazed, his legs sticking up comically into the air.  Her arm glowed for a moment before the blade of magical energy appeared in her hand once more.  Ferdinand’s barrier hadn’t deployed, so the match was still technically ongoing unless the dean or Professor Armondo called it to a halt.

With a visual flourish, Sade spun the blade until it pointed downward and let it drop.  The moment the blade kissed his skin, the familiar pulse of magic destroyed the spell and Ferdinand became covered in the glowing protective bubble.

“The winner is Sade of Kanho!”  The dean of Mya University cried out excitedly.  The crowd grew wild at the announcement.  After Sade’s last match, many suspected her fight would have been just as boring to watch as before.  Not a soul present was upset to be so gloriously wrong.

With a final wave towards the onlookers, Sade strolled off to the waiting area.

She had one more match to prepare for.