Arianwyn P.O.V.

I hadn’t been able to focus all day. Ever since last night I was all over the place, Ajax had gained something different than I had. I had managed to push my [Meditation] skill all the way to level fifty before the age of ten and gained the Genius Apprentice trait, but it sounds like he achieved something even better.

I wished that would have been the end of it but his quick thinking following the reveal saved all of us a war. Father was beyond pleased with the results of yesterday evening, not only because he had gained a lot of information at no personal cost but also because it showed that Ajax had chosen to spare an entire kingdom of elves despite the fury he had to have felt at that moment. This boded well for all of us considering that following last night’s reveal of the training method for extra stats everybody would be too busy to try and take out Gryndor.

Even uncle Aranor’s fight was barely keeping my attention. He can’t be happy about having had to use frozen touch in order to win but the kingdom couldn’t afford to not win the main tournament so he didn’t have the leeway to take risks in the fight. It was now time for my fight.

I stood up and looked across the arena at my opponent. I was slightly surprised to see our eyes met, I felt all the chaos and concerns about the future settle down. All that mattered now was this upcoming fight, everything else could wait until after.

As I stepped down the stairs and into the tunnel heading for the arena I could already make out the map that was chosen. It was the same rocky mountain scape that I had been used to but it was all slick with water. This was one of the best environments that I could have gotten, with only the snow covering being a better fit.

The moment I set foot into the arena I felt Regalia uncoil. The element of surprise was gone, even without that I would most likely have kept her with me under normal circumstances but this fight was anything but normal. My bond already started to grow to her full size as she distanced herself from me.

Regalia gave my hand a final squeeze with her tail before she put some distance between us. I knew that this was our best chance to win this but I couldn’t help but be worried. Regalia was still only level sixty-eight, she wasn’t even fully grown, most of all however unlike me killing her was frowned upon but an accepted strategy. The backlash from her death would knock me unconscious at the very least.

I couldn’t make out the human’s expression underneath his helmet but if the way his head moved between Regalia and me was any indication he was surprised to see we had separated.

We both gave the official a nod that we were ready and I could feel my grasp tighten around my staff, my mouth slightly open ready to begin casting as soon as the stone hit the ground. The human didn’t have any of his weapons out, not looking to show his hand as he could summon any of them the moment the match began.

Both of our eyes followed the stone as it was tossed into the air, time felt like it slowed down more and more the closer the rock got to the ground until it almost stopped right before it splashed down in the small puddle. As soon as it hit the water however it sped right back up as I started the chant for my domain.

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By the time my eyes were raised to my opponent he had already taken out his bow and was pulling back an arrow. I could even feel his strengthening skill already at work, it didn’t come as that much of a shock as he had already revealed that he could power it himself instead of relying on outside mana when he crushed the ambassador’s hand.

Everything was going according to plan. Before he got a chance to take aim and release the arrow he was pelted by a multitude of rocks that Regalia had smashed and thrown sent at him. He was far too strong for her to charge at him head on without my support but even something like this would be enough to slow him down and not give him the chance to end the fight before I raise my domain.

The surprise attack didn’t faze him for long, he nimbly dodged all the rocked as he pulled his arrow back once more, an odd mana type I could recognise was infused into it as the tip started to glow slightly purple before he released it.

It must have been his Shadow mana, that mana type always feels different depending on the person who is using it and its stealthy nature. I didn’t even bother trying to track the arrow as I knew my Perception wasn’t high enough for that, I simply trusted in my bond and my armor.

Unlike me however Regalia was more than capable of tracking the arrow, more than that with her Perception, Intelligence and instincts she had even managed to knock the arrow out of the air with a barrage of rocks thrown right in front of me, looks like my enchantments won’t be tested so quickly. The spike of worry I felt through the bond however had me confused however as I could feel Regalia wanted nothing more than to return to me and smother me in her coils.

Ajax seemed to have realized that his bow wouldn’t be enough to win this fight so he swapped over to a shield and hammer as he started making his approach. His early advantage was gone however as I poured out a quarter of my mana as my spell finished and I established my domain.

Unlike the previous match where I spent half my mana pool to cover the entire arena, spending a quarter to cover less than an eighth of the arena around myself made the mana density inside my domain higher than I was used to. According to Elara he mana stealing is dependent on the amount of area mana is spread throughout so this should make it so my domain will be drained a lot slower.

By making the domain so much smaller it also meant that Regalia could stay out of it, much as I didn’t like admitting it my control over my domain was even close to good enough to exclude her from the low temperatures that came with winter, at least not yet.

As soon as my domain sprung up I could already feel something latch on to it and start draining it. Elara had mentioned it felt weird but she hadn’t yet managed to gain her own domain skill. To me it felt like my will was fighting a battle to keep my domain as intact as it could as it was slowly being drained away.

This wasn’t a contest of will however, Aranor had mentioned that when two domain images both try to unleash their domains in the same space it can feel like a tug of war between the wills as one starts to subjugate the other. This was more like trying to hold a cracked glass. My palms surrounded it and tried to cover all the leaks in hopes of slowing down the inevitable trickle of water. There was no contest about who was superior, just a question of how long I can hold out.

With my domain in place I wasted no time starting my chants as I launched a quick ice lance towards Ajax. If Elara's wind had managed to leave bruises on him through those defensive enchantments he had I knew he shouldn’t be able to take a direct hit from my ice lances.

I was fully surprised to him not even attempt to dodge as he instead brought up the heavy tower shield and I felt magma mana envelope it as my ice lance smashed into it. The spell was strong enough to force him to stop and brace himself but other than that it did nothing.

As he lowered his shield he looked just as surprised as I did by how little the attack affected him. Instead of continuing to advance towards me he now simply stood ready. I threw two more lances that were just as effective as the first as I realized his strategy was now to outlast me by draining away my domain. He didn’t even need to get close to me and risk entering inside the domain.

It was a smart plan I granted him, if he could simply withstand my spells by draining them as they fly and using magma the match would be his. But that was only the case when it came to my quickly thrown ice lances, if he wasn’t advancing towards me and my domain I could also take a bit more time to build a stronger spell.

The moment my mana started to gather he was on the move again. I expected he would realize what I was doing but the direction he took off in sent a cold shiver down my back. Instead of charging towards me he had taken off straight for Regalia who was stuck outside my domain thanks to her weakness to the cold.