The referee waited for Master Ardan’s Fire Summon to dissipate before raising his white baton. Water still poured down from the buzzers, slowly extinguishing the remaining flames.

“The Shishi has been eliminated. 1-0 for the challenger!” he said in a neutral tone. “The defender has five minutes to call his next Summon or forfeit the match.”

Sekuheim’s Master was clearly in pain; he clenched his jaws, his hands trembling. Elem struggled to look at him. He wished that he could run to his father and somehow alleviate some of his pain, but even if he could, contact with any active duelist was strictly forbidden under Global Summoner Association rules.

He wondered what Summon his father would call next. The Minotaur would make most sense. If Ardan still had enough Essence left, a fresh Minotaur could waltz through the damaged Cockatrice with ease but his other Summon could deliver a more sophisticated strategy.

Master Ardan didn’t use the full five minutes to rest. He swayed his hands before his torso and took a few deep breaths, cycling his Essence throughout his entire body and forcing himself into a meditative trance.

“I wish he’d take longer to recuperate,” Elem commented. His father had already endured heaps of damage and was likely running out of Essence by now. If he kept going, he was at risk of prematurely burning out.

Aja made a dismissive sound with her lips. “In between rounds, resting is a double edged sword. Every second the Master rests, his opponent recovers too.” she pointed at the Cockatrice. “And look at that thing, it desperately needs a break.”

Elem wasn’t so certain. Sure, Ferran’s Wind Summon looked bruised and battered but it was still dangerous. The Cockatrice’s eyes still had the vicious glare of a crazed predator and its wings were flapping just as triumphantically as they had from the start.

A misty white took over Master Ardan’s eyes as he called his next Summon.

“I summon the Sylph, Wind Summon; the Embodiment of Air.”

The Sylph immediately materialized before its Summoner, appearing in the form of a collection of white clouds. It was a beautiful Summon, the clouds compiling its body constantly shifted and morphed, sometimes manifesting as a vaguely humanoid figure and at other times arranging themselves in the shape of an elegant woman.

An interesting choice, Elem thought. So Master Ardan was saving his Minotaur for last after all. It wasn’t a bad choice. The Sylph was elusive and hard to hit; such an approach could take advantage of the Cockatrice’s exhaustion.

As soon as the referee gave the start sign, the Cockatrice’s eyes lit up and locked on its opponent. The Sylph didn’t even seem to notice; the Wind Summon carelessly drifted across the battlefield like passing overcast, unaffected by the challenging Summon’s glare.

“Excellent strategy,” Ferran said. His words sounded like a genuine compliment. “Sending out a Summon without eyes.”

The Sylph’s cloudy head elongated into a strange snake-like form and observed the Cockatrice from all possible angles. Ardan was in no rush to make a move and he wanted Ferran to know.

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The challenger eagerly took the bait. Ferran sent his Summon forward. The Cockatrice’s wings whipped up a powerful gust with its wings and launched it at the Sylph.

Master Ardan casually cracked his neck. As the wind attack slammed into the Sylph, its foggy body simply danced along without taking any real damage.

Elem and Aja exchanged a hopeful look. It appeared that Ferran had no clear idea how to hurt Master Ardan’s unorthodox opponent. He would have to probe to find the Wind Summon’s weakness, expending valuable energy and Essence.

Screeching with anger, the Cockatrice bolted to the other side of the hall. Water splashed all across the wet floor. The creature was surprisingly fast for such a large Summon and in no-time had flanked Ardan’s Sylph.

Before the Master’s Summon could even respond, the Cockatrice slashed the Sylph with its tail. The move sliced right through the opposing Wind Summon’s cloud-like body.

Ferran grunted. His Summon’s attacks, although extremely powerful, had no effect on a being with no tangible body. But the challenger wasn’t out of ideas yet.

Next, the Cockatrice tried its poison breath attack. The acid hit the Sylph before the graceful Summon could evade. Without making a sound, the Sylph staggered back, its cloudy shape darkening as if a storm was brewing inside of it.

“There it is,” Ferran noted. “Everything has a weakness.”

Elem couldn’t stop his lips from curling into a smile. He had seen this strategy play out before. One of the Sylph’s abilities was its stormbody. The moment a Sylph incurred damage, a storm began brewing within. This gave the Wind Summon access to its vigorous thunder attacks. The only downside was that until the storm had truly formed, the Sylph’s offensive capabilities were practically toothless.

“Use mirage…” Master Ardan commanded.

The Sylph stretched its body, forming two dupes of itself. The copies each followed suit, duplicating themselves until the entire hall was filled with indistinguishable Sylphs.

This is good, Elem thought. This would win the Master time to load up his stormbody.

But Ferran had different plans. Another poisonous breath was launched from the Cockatrice’s beak, landing on one of Ardan’s Wind Summons. Steam sizzled up from the Sylph as it faded into nothingness.

In search of the real Sylph, the Cockatrice ran through every Sylph that its poison attack could reach. One after another the cloud figures all disappeared.

The Sylph and its indistinguishable copies grew darker and darker, showing small flashes of light from beneath their cloudy bodies.

The Cockatrice kept screeching and sprayed its poison around in a rage. The acid hit the walls, mingled with the wet flooring, and nearly hit some members in the audience. Before long, only one of the cloud figures remained.

Ferran chuckled as his Cockatrice ran towards the last standing Sylph, poison dripping from the Summon’s beak.

This time, Sylph didn’t try to avoid its opponent. It moved forward, pushing through the burning acid until it reached the Cockatrice. Its clouds were so dark now, the Summon almost resembled a large shadow.

“It should be ready now…” Elem murmured. He was so nervous, he nearly bit through his lip.

Before the two Summons could crash into one another, a flash lit up the entire hall followed by a deafening thunder strike. Conducted by the wet room, it hit even harder.

The Cockatrice hit the ground with a slam. Its enormous body spazzed, clearly unable to continue any further.

The audience of Sekuheim disciples erupted before the referee could even make his announcement. Elem jumped up, cheerfully hugging Aja as if he hadn’t seen her in years.

“The Cockatrice can longer compete. 1-1!” the referee called out. Even he couldn’t mask his excitement. “The challenger gets five minutes to select his next Summon.”

Elem was ecstatic; the score was even now and his father was still in this.