"Since when can you do that?" Victoria asked Eli as Iris and Autumn made their way onto the field.
"Level 20," Eli replied, "haven't had a chance to use it yet though. Not many animals shoot magic."
"As the team medic," Titus stepped up beside Eli, "I don't condone sending her out there to get her ass kicked."
"She might surprise you," Eli said, watching Iris blip across the field, "she's a squirrely one."
Iris's anticipation faltered as she took her place across from Autumn on the battlefield. Autumn's eyes gleamed and an excited smile covered her face.
"You're gonna take it easy on me, right?" Iris asked nervously.
"Sure," Autumn replied before cracking her neck.
"Keep the pressure on her, Autumn," Eli shouted from the sidelines, "she needs the practice."
"Hey!" Iris shouted, "don't tell her that--"
"Students ready!" Victoria shouted.
Autumn dropped into a crouch, placing her hands flat on the ground.
"No, no--" Iris stammered, frantically reaching into her bag for her training sword and accidentally pulling out her walking stick again, "hold on!"
"Final call!"
Iris swore and tossed the stick aside, then turned towards Autumn in panic.
"Begin!"
Iris blipped. Small rocks jutted out of the ground in two jagged lines that spread out from Autumn's hands, moving out to either side before wrapping around towards Iris, who hopped and twisted in panic to avoid tripping as she appeared over one of the lines. She blipped again, appearing nearby and breaking into a sprint. She ducked down as she ran to scoop up a rock. She spun and hurled it, it blipped across the gap between them and reappeared in front of Autumn, who smacked it aside with her hand.
"Really?" Autumn asked incredulously.
Autumn used her high strength to launch herself into the air towards Iris, who blipped away just before Autumn crashed into the ground with a crater. A rock hit Autumn in the back of the head. She grunted and spun around to an empty field. Iris appeared beside her and slammed a fist into her cheek, which did nothing.
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Iris stepped back and clutched her hand before looking up in fear at a very angry Autumn. She blipped away as Autumn stomped the ground and a large rock jutted out of the ground where she had just been. She appeared far behind Autumn and lobbed another rock.
"This might go on for a while," Victoria observed from the sidelines.
"Good," Eli said, "either Autumn figures out how to do more than throw herself at the problem, or Iris figures out she can't win fights by running away."
"Oooh," Titus winced as Iris came out of a blip in full sprint into a rock pillar that rose up in her path, "that's probably broken ribs."
Iris stumbled, blipping backwards to gain distance while she wheezed. Even as she gasped for breath Autumn came crashing down above her. She blipped away again, this time feeling the pressure of a mana headache.
"Stop running!" Autumn shouted, slamming hammer fists into the ground to send a zigzagging line of jutting rocks towards Iris, who blipped away.
She reappeared in a forward stumble, head spinning from low mana. She tripped over one of the many small rocks jutting out of the ground across the field and landed hard in the dirt. She coughed and gasped as she climbed to her hands and knees in time to see a shadow growing around her.
She threw herself to the side, rolling away as Autumn landed with a powerful stomp. The ground bulged around her landing and launched Iris into a rolling tumble. She came to a stop on her back and groaned, staring up at the sky in a daze.
Autumn approached, blocking the sun as she loomed over Iris, "surrender."
Iris managed a meek smile, with her arm resting on her chest she opened her palm towards Autumn.
"What are you gonna do? Blast me?" Autumn mocked, "I already know both your powers, dork."
The walking stick clunked into the back of Autumns head, who stumbled forward. Iris rolled into Autumn's feet and tripped her. Autumn crashed into the ground awkwardly but quickly recovered, climbing to her feet to see Iris sprinting away.
"You little shit," Autumn grumbled, then shouted indignantly, "fine! The hard way, then!"
Iris dared a glance over her shoulder, unsure if she should be more or less afraid that Autumn wasn't chasing her. Still, she ran, gaining distance while her mana recharged. The ground rumbled beneath her feet, and rocks began to rise out of the ground around her and float into the air over head.
"Here we go," Eli said eagerly.
"I'm gonna need a mana potion to heal this," Titus said in disappointment.
Autumn grunted and clenched her outstretched fists as dozens of rocks rose into the sky. Even as veins bulged in her arms from the strain, she activated another power. Her mana rapidly drained as one by one the rocks began to glow red with heat. Soon they were floating globs of magma suspended above the battlefield.
"Titus, be ready," Eli said.
Autumn screamed and swung her fists downwards. The globs of magma began to rain down, splashing outwards as they crashed hard into the ground. Iris yelped as she hopped to the side to dodge droplets of magma from a nearby impact, then blipped as she glanced up to see one heading straight for her. The fire storm continued even as she reappeared, and she awkwardly spun as she ran to sidestep a puddle of cooling magma.
"SURRENDER!" Autumn shouted.
Iris blipped again and again, trying as hard to protect her robe from singes as she did herself from burns. Her head spun from the exertion, both mana and physical. She blipped past a glob that landed in front of her.
Autumn collapsed to her knees as the final magma globs landed. Her vision blurred as the last of her mana emptied. The last thing she saw before blacking out was an exhausted Iris collapsing to the ground in the distance.