ILIAS PAYNE

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Asher shot a look at me. “Looks like we’re against each other.”

“I don’t know what you’re capable of and you don’t know what I’m capable of. It looks like this fight will be balanced.”

“I certainly hope not. I hope it’s in my favour. Six exams I’ve been through, I don’t want to go through any more.”

The both of us went to the arena—which was full of craters from Chris’ Stray Cat Strut attacks and shattered rock from Thaddeus’ boulders. The ground had been relatively even, but after the first fight, it was far from it.

“Do both of you know the rules?” Ivan asked.

We nodded.

“Begin!”

Asher studied the field, standing calmly. “I’ll stay still for the next five seconds. Make 'em count because you won’t get another chance.”

It’s a trick. He wants me to get close to him or see what I can do.

I shook my head.

“Smart. You should never do something you’re opponent tells you to.” Asher pointed at me. “Thunderstruck!”

Suddenly, a yellow humanoid appeared hovering beside him. It had the head of a bird and a long rat tail connected to its user's tailbone. It was the same exact size as Asher too, though skinnier. Its entire body was also covered in feathery sparks.

He’s a Familiar user!

The Familiar, which was named Thunderstruck, punched the air towards me, generating a lightning bolt. I loosened my stance and summoned a gust of air to my left, causing me to fly in the opposite direction and dodge the lightning barely in time.

The ground it struck became charred with thin smoke emerging.

This is my first time going up against a Familiar User.

I was told they were unable to use jynx, but they would get a powerful summoning in exchange. A Familiar must stick close to its user and in the case of Asher’s, his was connected to him.

Whatever I do, I must avoid close-ranged fights.

I was hoping I could fight him up close, but that was clearly out of the picture. His lightning attacks were way faster than I could ever be.

I levitated broken shards of boulder and sent them flying at Asher using a gust of powerful wind.

Thunderstruck hovered in front of its user. “Hazazazazaza!” it cried as it deflected the shards with a barrage of punches.

“You really think it’ll be that easy?”

“Nope, but I was hoping it was.”

Ever since this battle began, Asher hadn’t moved even a single step from where he had been standing. He was content with staying in the open as he knew Thunderstruck could protect him.

He didn’t have to worry about exhausting his gates either since he could simply dispel and resummon his Familiar.

There was no way I was touching Asher with Thunderstruck protecting him. But Familiars were bound to their users. The greatest chance I had of beating him was attacking the Familiar he was bound to.

I pointed my wand and aimed for Asher. Thunderstruck leapt in front of its user to deflect my upcoming attack.

“Water Cannon!”

Instead of blocking the jet of water like I predicted, Thunderstruck disappeared. Asher was barely able to step aside and dodge my spell.

Why didn’t Thunderstruck tank the damage?

Unless…

“Thunderstruck gets weak if it touches water, doesn’t it?”

Asher glared at me.

“Of course, water absorbs lightning.” I pointed my wand at him again. “Water Cannon!”

Asher dodged the blast at the last second, summoning Thunderstruck to send lightning into the stream. The zap was instantaneous as it travelled through the water, causing me to involuntarily chuck my wand to the ground.

While my wand was away, Thunderstruck took the moment to send a lightning bolt at me. I leapt into the air to dodge it, hovering. It then attacked me with another bolt.

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It looks like he can only shoot one bolt at a time.

I held a hand out. “Songbird!”

The Fetish-bird materialized under me, tanking the lightning and disappearing into a puff of smoke.

I lowered myself to the ground, picking up my wand in the process and grasping an understanding of how lightning worked.

It doesn’t matter if Asher sent lightning at me from any direction. The lightning will always flow to the ground. The reason why it flows through me is because my body is conductive—it’s the path of least resistance.

Thunderstruck will get neutralized if it's drenched in water.

Since the lightning always heads for the ground, it means that the lightning will never touch me as long as something that is more or equally conductive than my body is at a lower altitude.

“It looks like you’re trying to figure out how Thunderstruck works.” Asher began running towards me. “I ain’t giving you the chance!”

I swung my wand like a sword, each hack producing an Air Slash that headed straight at Asher.

Thunderstruck floated right beside him, gliding in front to punch out all the attacks I sent. “Hazazazazaza!”

When they got close, Thunderstruck began punching me. Its ability may have been lightning, but its punches were not even close to the same speed—giving me enough time to dodge each hit.

“Why don’t you strike me with your lightning?” I asked. “It’d be easier, you know?”

Thunderstruck continued to punch me without using its lightning-based attacks. After a while, I pressed my hand against the Familiar’s chest and launched myself back using a gust of wind.

“Could it be that you’re susceptible to your own Familiar’s lightning?”

Asher gritted his teeth. “And you could’ve shot water at us, but you’re out, aren’t you?”

He’s right.

Spamming Water Cannon in the hopes of hitting Asher would be nice, but the water for the spell had to come from somewhere. In the earlier instance, I was pulling moisture from the air.

The Water Cannons I shot out earlier had made the air in the arena less humid. It wasn’t possible for me to shoot out another Water Cannon unless there was water nearby.

But there was…

The water I’d shot out accumulated into pools and puddles within the craters in the ground.

Pulling a move out of Thaddeus’ book, I sunk Asher into a quagmire, trapping him up to his knee.

I raised my wand in the air, spinning it in circles. “Twister Of Souls!”

Powerful wind spun in an invisible circular pattern. It became visible when it picked up dust and debris as it struck down where Asher had been standing.

The twister took a while to form, giving Thunderstruck time to punch Asher out of the ground and escape to a safe distance.

“Did you really think an attack head-on that’s slower than lightning can take me by surprise?”

I pointed at where the twister was. “I wasn’t aiming for you.”

The twister sucked up the puddles before dissipating and drenching the arena in light water. The droplets were spread thin enough that they started evaporating instantly, causing the humidity to return.

It looks like I can shoot out two Water Cannons.

Asher ran straight for me, stopping a couple of metres away and summoning Thunderstruck. I aimed my wand at the Familiar, but in the corner of my eye, Asher pulled out a knife and aimed for my side.

“Book!”

Talking Book poofed right beside me, catching Asher’s knife between its pages. I then had Talking Book twist the knife away and float between me and Thunderstruck to protect me from its lightning punches.

The metal knife absorbed the attack, directing it into the ground. The Familiar’s punches were still strong, forcing me to back up with every hit. But all Asher had to do was wait for a second and have Thunderstruck land one well-placed punch—which was exactly what he did.

Talking Book tanked most of the damage, but the impact caused it to fly into my chest and launch me several metres back.

“Thunderstruck, finish him!”

The Familiar charged its punch, its fist zapping with sparks.

“Water Cannon!” I screamed.

When the jet of water shot out, it missed Asher and Thunderstruck by quite a large margin.

“That wasn’t even close,” he said.

“Again,” I pointed at where the water landed, “I wasn’t aiming for you.”

Asher glanced at the ground where my Water Cannon hit before a geyser of water shot out beneath him, colliding with Thunderstruck’s chin. The Familiar and user crashed to the floor and were sprinkled by the water emerging from the ground.

Thunderstruck screeched like a distressed bird as water drizzled on it. Burn marks appeared on Asher’s body matching where the droplets on his FamiliarFamiliarFamiliarFamiliarFamiliarFamiliarFamiliarFamiliarFamiliar had landed.

So water is like acid to Thunderstruck.

“What the hell?” Asher wailed in agony. “Out of the hole? How? Where did that come from?!”

“Don’t you recognize that hole?” I grinned. “It’s where Thaddeus popped out of the ground when he revealed his location to Chris. When you thought I missed, I was actually aiming for the hole he made when he went into the ground. Don’t you see? The two holes are connected.” I unsummoned Talking Book, throwing the knife it held aside. “If water enters one, it’ll come out of the other.”

“I see, you had me knock you back because you had me where you wanted. And you knew that I’m weak at close-distance fights and that I wouldn’t move towards you.”

“You were watching me closely, but you weren’t seeing what I was planning. That’s your mistake.”

I levitated myself and used a gust of wind to propel me right into Asher. I wrapped my legs behind his back and pointed my wand at Thunderstruck’s head.

“You can’t unsummon your Familiar when you’re restricted or distressed, so even shooting a measly Water Ball at Thunderstruck will hurt you. But if you decide to shoot lightning at me, I have my legs wrapped around you. And since you’re touching the ground, it’ll hurt you more than it hurts me.”

Asher sighed, raising his hands. “I surrender.”

“Ilias wins!” Ivan announced.

The whole crowd erupted into cheers. The military side of the audience roared while the noble side applauded.

I did it! I passed all three phases!

From now on, I’ll be known as Ilias Van Payne!