“A student of the magical Mrs. Vrai, a woman described by her teachers as exceptional, infallible, an absolute delight to have in the classroom. From the Mountains of Fairingsly! The soon-to-be most powerful in the WORLDDDDDDDDDDD-”
The showwoman kept that last syllable as long as Tempas kept her hand rolling. Internally she rolled her eyes but it wasn’t much of an issue. The egotistical preferred to inflate themselves where they could and a stage just like this was the air they needed. If the upstart wanted to bring it, she was prepared to bring it.
“-DDDDDDDDD! Tempas! Castigo!”
15 straight seconds of having her hold that note before Tempas let the flares loose. Shining bolts were sent flying through the air which erupted in a flash of multicolored lights. Her outfit was nothing fancy, the robes of a magician lined with purple and black to fill in the center. A necklace held a jewel of dark blue, one made for water. Castigo’s clothing gave off the aura she assumed she had earned. The aura of a true Warlock.
“And on this side, the man of the hour. He hails from the fields of Agha Baile to the Towers of Shah Malik! The enrapturous, the kingly, the last true star of Odi àárò Gaia! “
“Rick! Saturn!”
Ring us Saturn! *clap clap clap-clap-clap*
Ring us Saturn! *clap clap clap-clap-clap*
The fans were on their feet and ready to get their energy flowing. Fire-tipped hair at the end with robes befitting the bastard son of a duke dressed him. He was a shimmering bright-
The tanned man from across the land narrowly dodged the fireball sent flying at his head.
“C’mon sistah! You can’t just go for the ending that quickly! The people want to see a show!”
“I’ll make a show of your face!”
Tempas kept up her flurry of fireballs Saturn danced around them, each coming within a hair's breadth of the man yet not a hair was singed. Each flare flew by as he ducked, dodged, dipped, dived, and dodged through everything she had. Each flurry seemed to leave him less and less pressured and Tempas more and more frustrated. As she let off a series of medicine ball-sized blasts with one hand, Saturn ran backward from the flurry.
“Saturn, Saturn, Saturn!”
“Go to Hel already!”
With her free hand, she sent an oval of bright white flying towards his side. Saturn had no choice but to fall to the ground and let it pass him by.
All according to plan.
With a tight grip of her free fist, the oval exploded in a brilliant white. Leaving the volley from her finger test to target the space where Saturn once lay. A straight volley of firepower lasting 15 seconds flew straight towards him, leaving a heap of dust in his trail. As the dust settled, it revealed his body lying motionless, arm bent over back and one leg sticking outwards.
This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.
“And that! Is how you handle a jester.”
The showwoman rolled her eyes and started on her script. Dead Kittens, the flu, the saddest sad play imaginable.
Mi mi mi.
Tone set.
“I can’t believe it… Sentient Beings one and all, Tempas has truly slain Rick Saturn.”
The crowd held their breath as the corpse of Saturn stood on moving.
“By the laws of this court, we’ll have to count.”
1!
2!
“What laws? This was to first knock out or submission.”
3!
4!
Tempas had read the rules for this tourney correctly. It was to the first knockout and at the referee’s discretion. None of this counting business. What was this garbage?
5!
At this point, the body of Saturn had started to twitch, he reset his body and was firmly on his stomach.
“My goodness! It looks like Saturn is not dead yet!”
Saturn! Saturn! Saturn! Saturn!
Tempas had no time to think about the amount of fuckery at work and instead proceeded with another barrage of bright force. It pushed Saturn back into the wall, kicking up the dust and debris as it pounded into the side, the magical barrier keeping the audience from being covered in the worst of it. Yet as the dust settled, Tempas saw no sign of her foe.
“What?! Then where?
Tap Tap.
A feeling on her shoulder made Tempas turn around quickly only to find no one there.
“Behind you!”
She tried to follow the sound but no one was there.
“Ohhh so close!”
Again she turned around only this time to see his smiling face.
“How you doing,” he asked only to slap her in the face before she could react. As she fell back in shock, Saturn pivoted on his heels to face the crowd.
“Hah!”
Hah!
“Hah!”
Hah!
“Hah!”
Hah!
“Who’s the King?”
Who’s the King?!
“The King with all his Rings!”
“That’s the King! Saturn!”
“That’s fucking right!”
The rain of cheers came down on the ears as his calls were responded to with fervor. The people were clapping that their rascal had once again made it out of another scrape.
All except one.
One that was steaming. Fuming. Scalding even.
Yes. Scalding. That was the thought racing through the mind of Tempas as she felt the flow going over her hand. If he wanted to play with dirt, then she wasn’t afraid to play in the mud. With the man’s back turned, she flung a spitz of water directly into the back of his head.
“Hey, Jester!”
The man turned around and in an instant found the top half of his engulfed in a flood of water. His body was thrown into the other side of the stadium, as the waves rushed over him. The waves shifted from a torrent to a whirlpool, turning Saturn’s experience from walking against a typhoon to trying not to suffocate from the mud and air coming straight for him. As he barely stood his ground against the flood, he looked over at the announcer.
She nodded.
It was time and the look in her eyes told him what he needed to do.
“Make it look good.”
Step by step, he fought against the storm. Mud and rocks and water whipped against his face and tore his skin. Saturn could’ve sworn she was trying to drown him, but he wouldn’t let up. Slow and steady he moved as he kept pushing towards the source of the flow, feeling the pressure begin the waver as the young magician began to fault her abilities. The skillful cuts against his attire began to lose focus as the water turned to full monsoon. She was losing it, and eventually, she would-
“You dare stand against the might of a Warlock? Then stand against this!” Drawing on the power of her jewel, Tempas put all she had into one final tidal wave.
“Atta girl”, Saturn thought, before finally losing himself to the waves.
“And your winner by knock out. Tempas Castigo!”