Luffa braced herself for the right hook she couldn’t avoid. It felt like a runaway freighter had just crashed into her face. The impact sent her sprawling and the only saving grace she had was that her wards healed most of the damage before it had a chance to negatively affect her. Sarada chased after her, arm cocked for another strike. The stone encased fist crashed down into the ground next to her and Luffa caught motes of mind magic as the soil stitched itself back together.
She popped her aura in a radiant burst, buying her some space and pushing herself into the air. She spun tightly and landed on her feet. Luffa wove together a light and fire spell bolt and mixed them together, creating a plasma sphere and then added an extra point of aether to it. The spell grew in size. Sarada rushed in and feigned, throwing a strike she knew wouldn’t land, and spun to avoid what she hoped would be Luffa’s counter. Instead, Sarada came back around to eat the charged spell right in the face. Luffa roared as the beam hurled Sarada away.
Sarada skipped off the ground like a ping-pong ball making an escape. Since the landscape was clear of any obstacles, like flora or buildings, it made it easier to track each other. Lufa had an idea. She created an orb of fire and then fused it with light. Light gave life. She knew void flame burned away until there was nothing left, but what about a fire that never extinguished? She hurled the orb and created another and hurled it, too.
The bolts crashed into Sarada’s stone covered skin and burned. They didn’t melt the stone, but Luffa saw the stone glowed a dull orange and Sarada’s movements labored as she burned more AP to hold off the injuries and pain. She circled around, peppered Sarada with a few more of the spells. She’d dropped herself to half her remaining AP, but Sarada was nearly close to fumes. Spell Warriors were not known for their deep reserves of magic. Primal spell warriors had even less because they were front heavy on their magic use, channeling defensive and buff spells.
Sarada tried to pat out the flames before she wove several earth signs and raised her fists above her head. A column of stone erupted from the ground, engulfing the primal, then sank back down into the soil as Sarada lowered her hands in a steady descent. Luffa cursed when she saw the steamy wisps of the living fire she’d cast snuffed out.
Sarada snarled as she closed ranks with Luffa again, punching and kicking, and used her body as a weapon. The full assault forced Luffa to keep a constant flow of AP into her wards, effectively mitigating her greater AP advantage. Luffa lashed out with a kick that blunted all of its force against Sarada’s stone skin armor. This wasn’t working, and she needed a better solution.
Retributive damage. A magical parry. Rather than attack, she could let her opponent’s blistering attack be her own downfall. Luffa leaned back, avoiding a stone encased fist, started a backwards handspring before canceling the movement and lashed out with her feet, nearly knocking Sarada down and standing on her before she jumped into the air for some much needed space. She channeled her fire and light aether. Increasing her strength and healing any injuries. As a result, her AP diminished, but she remained healthy.
Strength surged through her, and her aura radiated with power. Luffa gazed down at Sarada, who’d stood back up and glared at her. Her aura was tighter, being made of only light magic. Still trouble, but less so than Luffa. Slowly, Luffa settled down to the ground.
“Do you want to know the difference between you and me?”
“No. But tell me anyway.”
“You’ve already lost. You just don’t know it yet.”
Sarada scowled. “That’s your problem, Luffa. Always thinking you’re so much better than the rest of us.”
Sarada howled like a banshee as she rushed, her fists growing massive stone maces. She swung for Luffa’s face, who made no move to dodge. The blow landed squarely on a latticework of wards. That part didn’t surprise Sarada. It was the detonating flame shield that blasted Sarada back in response. Sarada bounced off her back like a skipped stone and slid to her side before coming to a halt. She groaned and pushed herself upright.
“Yield.” Luffa said. Not just a request or plea. It was a command. The first time she’d spoken with such authority. Her aura radiated with it.
“No.” Sarada growled and rushed again. When she struck, the shield blasted her away, super heating her stone skin. Sarada grit her teeth through the pain. The repeated blasts of fire and light were heating her stone skin up. She was fine against piercing and crushing damage, but the heat and astral damage weren’t completely soaked. Her HP was dropping about as quickly as Luffa’s AP. In a race to the bottom, having her HP against someone else’s mana wasn’t ideal. She’d already burned most of her AP on defensive buffs and spells, and that was barely just taking the edge off of Luffa’s assault. And yet somehow, Luffa was punching through all the same while remaining fine.
In a race stamina race, Sarada wasn’t entirely comfortable betting her life against Luffa’s aetherpool. She’d known the spell weaver to have prolific reserves in her training during her time in the Spell Weaver college. The magic college had produced some of Eryn’s best weavers for thousands of centuries. That kind of legacy wasn’t one that Sarada wanted to underestimate, but the problem was that she already had without even realizing it.
Hastilly jumping into a duel with Luffa without even knowing the full potential the weaver possesed had been a grave mistake. While she was a capable warrior, Luffa was smart and powerful. Luffa had the strength to back her spells up. True, Sarada’s defenses were second to none, but what good was durability and endurance when your opponent could power you out of the fight with retributive damage alone? If she wanted to win, she needed to be creative and decisive.
She willed her stone skin into a large shield projected from her left hand. There, now, she could deal with Luffa’s spell. Satisfied, Sarada rushed forward, stone hand mace crashing into Luffa’s wards. A loud, deep ringing echoed out like a struck gong. Then Sarada was flying again. The ground rushed up into her left shoulder and it sent her tumbling. Limbs flailed uncontrollably until her momentum finally arrested itself as she sprawled out on her face. The shimmering translucent pinkish lavender of the arena floor rippled like solid water in front of her face.
“Yield.” Luffa commanded again.
This time, Sarada was less inclined to bark back petulantly. She rose to her feet wearily. Her legs shook gently, and she did her best to mask the weakness. Her aura and stone skin defensives were waning. Her aether pool was nearly depleted, and she lacked armor or potions to make up for the difference. She was powerful on her own in short bursts, but she lacked sustainability, and burst damage to punch through Luffa’s wards.
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Sarada slowly pushed herself to her feet. As her strength ebbed, so too did her stability. She hated Luffa for being able to stay so poised. Floating there like their fight didn’t bother Luffa, while she swayed on her feet. Sarada’s left arm dangled limply, draped in front of her like stressed fabric. She spat at the ground in response to Luffa’s command.
“No.”
“Sarada, please. You’ve lost. This doesn’t have to end in bloodshed. There’s a way forward for all of us. Together.”
“You want to risk ruining the one good thing that’s happened to our people all because you can’t trust Ominek!”
Luffa drifted down to the ground, her radiant, burning aura retracting to a restrained level. Calmly, Luffa strode to Sarada, who collapsed under the strain and fatigue she felt. A disappointed frown creased Luffa’s expression as she kneeled down and sat opposite Sarada.
“That’s precisely the problem. I don’t trust anyone to do right by us. Least of all Ominek. We need allies, yes. But we don’t need to sell him our souls. We should be able to trust our allies.”
“Like your friend who’s AWOL?”
Luffa smiled softly and cradled Sarada’s face. Some mild bruising began showing here and there. Blows Sarada’s stone skin blunted, but didn’t stop completely.
“Sarada. I want our people to thrive. I want a home for us. But I want us to find that together. Not because we’ve been told or ordered where to find it. You don’t have to understand me. I’m not even asking you to. Trust that I’m looking out for all of us. I got us this far, didn’t I?”
Sarada weakly shook her ok. At that, Luffa channeled some of the last of her AP to heal her opponent. Sarada shuddered as the golden white magic sank into her body. Bruises lightened, and small cuts closed. Luffa gave her a warm smile.
“There. Let’s go back to our people then, shall we?”
As Luffa rose, she felt something strange. The arena gave a portion of magic to her. A champion of the duel, but also the newest declared First Prime that they could remember. It swirled and flooded throughout her body, infusing every cell before returning to pool and collect in her breast. It was dark and numbing. She could feel her native light magic, almost magnetically repelled by it, and the fire almost blending in at the edges with it. She’d been gifted void magic. The magic of entropy and translocation.
As the Arena field lowered and true reality settled in around her and Sarada again, she swayed. Sarada gave her a questioning look.
“I’m fine. Just…different now.” She had more pool now. More total magic she could cast and channel. She also had access to even more destructive forms of magic. Void Fire, and it’s more destructive cousin Amaterasu’s Fire. She examined her hand and could actually veins of the magic coursing through her body. She’d gained an infusion as a reward for winning the duel in the arena.
“Are you ok?” Amara asked, trying to keep the concern clear of her expression.
“I’m fine, and so is Sarada, right?” Luffa asked, turning to Sarada with genuine concern.
Sarada returned the nod but appeared slightly conflicted. That was to be expected, she supposed. She may have won the right to decide, but truly winning over Sarada would take time. Time she planned to invest, provided they had the time.
“So…what now?”
“We start small. We follow the plan and go to the Brotherhood and turn ourselves in, as well as the magi-nukes. If Ominek wants to slaughter innocents, he can come get his own hands dirty.”
Luffa looked to the others for any further challenge and was instead met with nods of approval. No one else wanted to challenge her. She’d earned the right to command her own people. The First Prime.
“Ensure the ship is prepared. We’ll be exiting the umbral plane shortly.” Luffa ordered, and her people snapped to attention and go to work. As her people left, Amara leaned close.
“You seem different. It’s good for you.” Amara whispered.
“Thank you. Earning the title of First Prime was unexpected.”
“How did you manage it? I was sure she’d rush you down,” Amara said.
“As did I, but I found my determination during the fight. Along with a little tactical insight thanks to Erlaut’s training, and I could win the bout.”
“Well. I’m glad you did, for your people’s sake. Now, let’s go pay the price for our choices.”
Luffa regarded Amara curiously. “It doesn’t bother you? The prospect of facing up to your friends for the theft of their ship and gear?”
Her friend frowned and shuddered with a heavy sigh. “No. I think I’m just ready to finally face it. I haven’t been this afraid in a while and I played right into the Remover’s hand. It’s time I take charge and make my own choices. Take control of my destiny.”
Luffa smiled, patting her friend on the shoulder. It tempted her to remove Amara’s magic suppression collar, but banished the thought. She didn’t think the others were in a place to accept that kind of move yet. She just needed time.
“Exiting the Umbral Plane now.” A voice rang over the ship’s internal com. A detonation threw them all into the deck face first.