Lurona city [southern shores of Fuminao Legacy Kingdom], local time [1794.01.11]

“…in the under-level-one-hundred match of craftsmen specialized in alchemy. Please place your bets carefully…”

Zeph’s brow raised in surprise at the words. He looked at Makani as the announcement continued in the background.

“They really paired us this specifically? What does an alchemist’s Duel even mean?” he asked, feeling that he should’ve asked more during their ride to the stadium. He wasn’t that interested in the challenges of the others, though.

“Yeah,” Makani said, without taking his eyes from the window pane. “It only determines what Classes and Professions the combatants have to have. We can use whatever during the fights,” he explained dismissingly, waving Zeph away.

Nodding, Zeph focused back on the window.

The announcer started to count down from ten and the view returned to the neutral position before zooming in again. During the brief transition, Zeph noticed that the windows on the other side of the stadium were all tilted slightly in different directions – mostly facing down. And from their point of view, almost all reflected the surroundings, hiding possible observers sitting behind.

A realization struck him. The optical mechanism inside their widow wasn’t doing anything outrageous – it was merely zooming on certain glass panels that reflected the battlefield below to show it from different perspectives. It explained the blurry image as the mechanism adjusted, as well as the small distortions he happened to notice.

But before he could start to contemplate the scale of such a mechanism and possible technical challenges stemming from such perfect workmanship, the countdown reached zero.

The two combatants started throwing glass spheres all around them, causing multicolored smoke to rise and hide both from view.

The window’s innards shifted and the surface darkened visibly. The colors changed, almost as if shifting to negative. Two brightly pink silhouettes became visible, both slowly moving forward while throwing even more reagents into the grass field around them.

The two were standing around 50 meters away from each other; on a grassfield filled with knee-deep vegetation and big, white boulders that sparsely dotted the flat land. Not many obstacles were in their way. The ‘forest’ and ‘marsh’ areas were quite ways away for people moving as slowly as they were.

But the chemical show—as Zeph decided to call the display—only confused him. The arena was vast, so there was no way the chemicals could have any significant large-scale effects. And he couldn’t see a reason for the two to cover their positions with noxious gasses of their own making. Not with that distance separating them. The clouds’ effective range had to be only slightly larger than the visible haze.

But his confusion quickly abated as P’pfel’s form suddenly rushed forward, speeding up with every second.

A moment later, a big sphere rolled out of the toxic smokescreen. Half of the viewing window shifted the colors back as it happened, painting the sphere silver.

P’pfel was rushing in the direction of the opponent, using a very unconventional method of transportation. But he wasn’t aiming at the center of his opponent’s gaseous cloud, rather trying to place himself between it and the forest while closing the distance.

Zeph also noticed some unnatural movements in the grassfield around P’pfel’s starting position, but he couldn’t be sure what was causing them, even with the almost-overhead view he had.

The enemy suddenly shot up from their cloud in a blast of gasses trailing his trajectory. The man was aiming for the area with more trees, just as P’pfel seemingly predicted. It took a second for the air to clear enough—and for the viewing panel to adapt—to see the man’s form floating away using something eerily resembling a jetpack. The device was quite bulky and didn’t produce much smoke.

“Ah, they applied smokescreens to cover their first move and prevent an immediate melee!” he exclaimed, making sense of what was happening.

“It only starts,” Aisha said seriously. “P’pfel didn’t throw any explosives yet…”

Zeph’s eyes widened as the opponent fired an arrow with a glowing, brightly red tip right into the middle of the multicolored cloud he left behind.

A powerful explosion rolled over the field, throwing P’pfel’s rotating form to the side. After a moment of sliding through the grass—leaving a black trail in the air and a dip gorge in the soft ground in his wake—he managed to regain control over his spin and correct his trajectory, changing course for the forest.

The view followed the two as more projectiles started flying around. The soaring guy was using some form of repeating crossbow, while P’pfel used his rotational momentum to release spheres filled with colorful liquids.

Only two or three bolts managed to hit their alchemist, but all seemed to just bounce off of the quickly rotating silver sphere. But P’pfel’s ammo didn’t fare much better. Besides the horrendous accuracy, the timing of the evidently pre-programmed shattering of the vessels was all around the place, filling the air with colorful clouds as the liquids reacted with the air.

Zeph grimaced. “Such a waste…”

“Are you sure?” Ghrughah said with mirth. “Just like that explosion before, none of the reagents are useless for people like them as long as they don’t dissipate entirely.”

Makani waved his hand dismissingly. “The chemicals are all gaseous, what can they do? This situation could be advantageous only for people able to control the airflow.”

“Heh. Right on point, I suppose,” was all the giant said to that. “And who said they are only using visible reagents?”

Makani paused, spending a moment to look at their overqualified Blacksmith.

But Zeph knew how it could be done – P’pfel showed him his enchanting expertise fist-hand – so instead, he asked about a more pressuring matter. “How and why is he spinning?”

Ghrughah shrugged. “The interior doesn’t move. The batteries should last him for a few more minutes… The electric motors you showed me are rather energy-hungry,” he said, shocking Zeph. “As for the why, ask him afterward.”

“When did you found the time to—"

“Where are the Air-Mana Spells, tho?” Makani interjected, leaning forward to see better. “I can’t see any indicator of one…”

“So, our work wasn’t for nothing, Ha!” the giant guffawed. “Let’s just hope it’s the same for the Rubella guy…” he finished more seriously.

The discussion ended here, as the fight started to intensify.

Both combatants reached the forest, and Rubella’s strategy became immediately evident as he landed in the canopy and started to drop even more reagents all around. P’pfel stopped right before the forest and redeployed the shield. Until now, he was holding it vertically inside the front opening in his shell. A moment later, a crossbow poked from above it.

Seeing that, Rubella quickly took out his own, small crossbow and both fired at the same time.

This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it

Both projectiles missed their mark but exploded right after. And while P’pfel barely felt the attack, Rubella almost fell from his tree as shrapnel riddled his armor and satchels with holes. The tree he was standing on swayed dangerously. It was evident whose explosive was more powerful.

Rubella immediately took to the air, moving deeper into the forest, and P’pfel gave chase.

The view shifted once again as the two started a wild game of tag, filling the forest with multicolored fog. It quickly escalated to the point, that an occasional explosion was a better indicator of their positions than the blurred outlines displayed on the dark background.

The image blurred once again, for much longer this time. When it came into focus, the view shifted to a much closer, moving observation point. The colors also returned to normal. Because the artificial forest wasn’t that dense and lacked any shrubbery, the spectators could now see the two combatants much better.

The current situation didn’t look too good. Most of the gasses drifted to the forest floor, forming a thick carpet of opaque, gray fog. But the air seemed to be filled with the same greenish and violet reagents that Rubella used at the beginning of the match.

Still hiding in the canopy, the man was in the process of loading another bolt with a red-hot tip.

P’pfel was trying to interrupt him by firing another explosive bolt, but it only managed to damage the tree trunk behind which Rubella was hiding. That explosion wasn’t based on heat, but on the old enchanting trick that Zeph invented, so it didn’t have a chance to ignite anything, allowing P’pfel to use it freely in these circumstances.

Just before Rubella was ready to fire, P’pfel finished the job with an enchanted Spell, probably of Force variety, and broke the tree trunk.

In a panic, Rubella activated his jetpack and jumped sideways as half of the tree started rotating and falling down. He managed to blindly fire his bolt and despite flying almost vertically, it still pierced through the cloud of chemicals.

The air ignited, sending a blue flame all over the area in a wave, but it wasn’t enough to cause an explosion. The blast of hot air shook the canopy in a vast radius and pushed away some of the fumes, but that was all.

Rubella landed on another tree; confusion obvious in his body language.

“Hmmm, our win, then,” Kwan suddenly concluded.

Zeph wasn’t sure what just happened, but could see where it was going. P’pfel probably modified the composition of chemicals in the air to suit his purposes. And what Zeph just saw indicated what method he chose to deal a deciding blow - suffocation.

The technology on Corora’s surface stratum was developed enough to produce a functional air tank, barely. But the contraptions were unreliable and bulky, not suited for a fast-paced fight if one didn’t have a vehicle to move them around safely.

Like the one P’pfel was using.

Most people preferred filters augmented by Skills and Spells, or body enhancements that dealt with the problem automatically for them.

But even if hazardous substances couldn’t harm you, if there was no oxygen in the air it meant nothing.

And as P’pfel continued to fire the explosive bolts, Rubella noticed that as well. The moment he started to lose balance and coordination, he immediately engaged his jetpack to move up and away.

It seems the oxygen levels have been decreasing for some time now if he was affected that quickly, Zeph noticed. Don’t tell me… P’pfel had burned through all reserves in that part of the forest? The idea would be ridiculous if he didn’t know that some Air-based Spells were at play. Isolating such a big area from airflow isn’t doable but… the air is full of different chemicals. How far ahead was he planning?

He didn’t have time to wonder any longer, though, as the conclusion of the Duel was nearing. Rubella managed to push through the canopy but his jetpack started failing. Whenever it was because of bad chemical reactions, physical damage, or lack of fuel, it wasn’t important for the man.

In a valiant attempt at changing the playing field, he flew back to the grassland. Initially, it seemed that he would be able to make it safely, but at the last straight the jetpack almost stopped working entirely.

The man crashed heavily, breaking some containers with the reagents as a result. They didn’t explode into clouds of toxic fog this time, though, instead leaving thin trails of smoke behind.

He rolled a few times, losing parts of the bulky jetpack and some satchels, before finally stopping, face-down in the dirt.

For a moment, he was laying there motionlessly. Not obscured by threes and clouds of chemicals, the spectators could now notice a multitude of holes, lacerations, and stains of different colors on his—once perfectly white—attire.

P’pfel was closing in quickly, though, and the man seemed to realize that as well. He stirred, then sluggishly raised to his feet. He had visible problems with catching his balance and was breathing heavily. His back was hunched miserably – as if the man was supporting a great weight; barely winning with the gravity. Still, he turned in the direction of the forest.

With difficulty, he reached under his lab-like coat. The big, black brick he retrieved was plain and unremarkable – basically screaming ‘last resort’ to all watching.

He gripped it with both hands, turning sideways to the forest, as if readying to throw it at any moment.

He waited.

And waited.

And waited…

Finally, he straightened a little, dropping his guard. P’pfel wasn’t coming.

The spectators could see – the Gremling stopped at the border of the forest, hidden behind vegetation and residue fumes. But Rubella was visibly confused.

The stalemate was broken when Rubella took one, unsure step towards the forest.

Suddenly, a small hive of rakes jumped out of the high grass from behind. The dozen flying rats flew the short distance, surrounded the man in the blink of an eye, and latched onto his neck and limbs.

The surprise attack caught Rubella unprepared. In a panic, trying to get the rodents off of his neck, he threw the black box away. Not a second later, a dozen small explosions flashed all around his body, covering the area in black smoke.

A sound similar to a warning siren resounded through the stadium and the barrier above started sparkling, painting the arena in colors of the rainbow.

“Lesser Landlord Avery Rubella lethally wounded!” came an announcement as red sparkles erupted from the man’s vicinity. “Medical team deployed. Winner of the Duel - Sepia Familia!”

Zeph released a breath he didn’t know he was holding.

“He should’ve surrendered,” Ghrughah said grumpily.

“I don’t think any of them will without exhausting their options…” Aisha noted.

“Yeah, P’pfel played it perfectly. I am a little scared about the purpose of that black box…” Makani wheezed out with relief.

“How did he make the rakes ambush him like that?” Zeph asked curiously.

“Ah, that’s actually my doing,” Pavail said with a bittersweet smile. “I was testing our rake hive reactions to different stimulants… It’s quite easy to put them into the hunting mood, and even easier to force an all-or-nothing response. Normally, they wouldn’t even try to attack a human…”

“P’pfel left a trail of bait behind himself to lead the hive,” Ghrughah added helpfully. “It seems he stopped releasing the bait before he entered the forest, but managed to place some of it on the Lesser Landlord at some point. The rakes were geared with mechanical backpacks we made. The stimulants’ release mechanism can be controlled at a distance through magnetic impulses. Same with the explosives.”

Zeph blinked slowly. “Jeez… You absolutely overdid it. I doubt our opponents could've come up with a trap like this…”

“Ha! Thanks,” Ghrughah said jovially, not at all abashed.

A delicate sound of bells came from the direction of the doors. This whole room was reserved for the leadership of their Guild for privacy, so attendants weren’t allowed to freely enter inside. Besides Pavail and the six Department Heads, only two trusted people from Kwan’s gang were present. That, combined with the direct attention of Onji Tiwaz, made them quite comfortable in speaking openly about their inventions – something they would never do in public space otherwise.

“I guess it’s my cue,” Makani said, standing up. “Wish me luck!”

“You don’t need luck,” Zeph said. “Just calm head.”

“Heh, let’s hope so…”

As Makani was leaving the room, another announcement was made about a half-hour break. Normally, another pair should be ready for the fights already, but the first six fights between the leaders were too important to rush things.

As the rest continued the discussion, Zeph read some more about Makani’s opponent to better understand what he was put against.

P’pfel showed up ten minutes later, dressed in a little-too-big toga.

The whole room cheered as he entered.

The discussions shifted again to the last fight, and the small Gremling absolutely loved the attention. Of course, P’pfel the wild was at the forefront for most of it, gloating in praise and glory. P’pfel the professor had his hand in the fight, but the majority was done by his other self, so he allowed the scoundrel to have this moment.

The half hour of break ended all too quickly and another announcement came as the participants were delivered to the field below. This time, to the ‘marsh’ area.

“…On the north side, Challenger Makani Borre, the Head of Aeroplanning and Ingeniators of Sepia Familia Guild…”

In this case, Makani couldn’t use his Tower allegation, and as much was obvious in the name presented. Even if everyone knew he was a part of Blackwind Tower.

He was in his standard green-and-gold robes, but this time he also wore an enclosed helmet and white gloves. The helmet didn’t fit with the rest of his clothes – just a standard silver can with golden accents – but he learned his lesson after the incident in the Brenn forest. Any other equipment prepared by their Guild was hidden under his floaty attire.

“…Contested by Lesser Landlord Lavinia Naidaya Lurona-Kazotaro Yardan, representative of Landlords’ faction.”

The woman was decked in heavy-looking, exotic attire. It loosely resembled a belly dancer's clothing, just without uncovered skin. It was mostly thanks to the ornamental fabrics and decorations that covered her tightly fitting, full leather armor set. It was dark brown, almost golden in color, and decorated in gold and emerald. Of course, her face was hidden under the helmet – only her green eyes, glowing ominously, could be seen from behind the thin slits. Two broad falchions were hanging from her belt, but more weapons could be found all around her form.

“Taking a stance in the under-level-seventy-five match of Spellwielding. Please place your bets carefully…”