The Illusory Construction burning away was like a dome disappearing. At the edge of the patch of night sky, the [Illusion] was disintegrating into ashy flakes that vanished before touching the ground. The trees around them didn’t change for that matter, only they came into a sharper focus.

“I yielded already! Can you get off me now?” Prinse hissed at Isyd.

Isyd apologised and let him go. Even if he’d been lying, Isyd didn’t think Prinse could do anything to them. The young man looked like a sickly version of himself; his skin was pale, his lips were dry and his eyes were bloodshot. He tried to get back up, but didn’t have the strength to do so and simply dragged himself against the stump of a tree.

Marzena limped closer and put a hand on Isyd’s shoulder for support. To her surprise, he didn’t recoil at her touch, like he usually did. Instead, Isyd turned to her, looked at her from top to bottom, and then averted his gaze. He swiftly took off his greatcoat and handed it to her silently. First taken aback, Marzena then glanced down. Her own greatcoat and shirt had been burned by the blue fire and in the heat of the moment, she hadn’t realized she’d been running around with only her breastbands to cover her. A fierce blush, as red as her hair, coloured her neck and her face and she bit her lips hard to avoid screaming in embarrassment. Isyd’s greatcoat was too big for her, but she took it on nonetheless with a thankful nod.

Trying to distract from her mortification, Marzena reported her attention on Prinse.

“You look awful, Krovtur,” she said. “You may want to drop by the Spital after this.”

Isyd was thinking the same and it must have shown on his face because when they locked eyes, Prinse smirked bitterly.

“Do not pity me! I knew the cost of what I was doing…” he said.

Marzena turned to Isyd. “Is that a common effect of Legacy Arts?”

Isyd shrugged. “Not necessarily, but it isn’t surprising. They are powerful [Spells] after all and it is normal that they take their toll.”

He knelt next to Prinse. “Your Legacy Art is based around the Spirit Essence, isn’t it? It isn’t intuitive since at first glance, it just looks like a fire that burns abnormally hot, but then it wouldn’t explain how it interacted with our [Spells]. Not burning them but nullifying them. It was as if your flames fed on it, no matter their Essence. Now, it’s difficult to imagine how a [Fire Spell] can feed onto a [Water Spell] even with a huge disparity between their Openings.”

“What’s your point?” Prinse growled.

“The Spirit Essence is the purest form of the Holy Grace – the quintessence of all other Essences, if you will. Your Legacy Art uses it as its core Essence. This allows your flames to bypass the normal affinities of the Classical Essence and to feed on other Artystic constructions by reaching directly to the Grace composing them. This is how your fire burned all our [Spells] instantly but burned her clothes like normal flames would. It also explains how flames could burn the [Illusion]. Illusory Constructions are mainly built on Spirit Essences.”

Prinse didn’t confirm nor deny but Isyd didn’t need him to. The bitter glare he threw him was enough.

“If you are right, then his Legacy Art is practically unstoppable!” Marzena said. “It defies logic.”

“It doesn’t because its strength is balanced by its weakness,” Isyd explained. “The Spirit Essence is also its major flaw. It is a volatile Essence, hard to capture and wield. Krovtur’s Legacy Art must consume an ungodly amount of it to do what it does. I guessed that we could outlast him. We just had to force him to maintain the flames constantly burning and he’d eventually run out…”

This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.

“That’s why you said to keep on attacking him…” Marzena said, finally understanding.

Isyd nodded. “You lasted much longer than I expected, Prinse Krovtur. Not many people could withstand the toll of having their own body serve as fuel for a [Spirit Spell]. You can be proud! Your Legacy Art is truly one of a kind!”

Prinse rolled his eyes and smiled bitterly. “Now I have to suffer being praised by a Junior? Please, spare the humiliation…”

Isyd smiled and reached inside Prinse’s undercoat. Even if the young man wanted to protest, he didn’t have the strength to do so. From the inner pocket, Isyd pulled out three tokens. He got back up and presented them to Marzena.

“With the one I recovered from the canopy, it makes a total of four tokens,” he said.

“Good! It makes the splitting easier!” She took the two tokens Isyd offered her before a thought crossed her mind. “Hold on! With those two, you now have four tokens in your possession. And with your intact Blysht…”

She trailed off in front of Isyd’s smirk. He had a total of 18 points. He craned his neck southward at the sky. Past the naked canopy, he could see the outlines of a flare that had burst in the night sky earlier. There was only a single one up there, which meant that no one else had qualified while they’d been trapped in the [Illusion].

Marzena seemed to arrive at the same conclusion. Her face was a grimace, halfway between a smile and a pout; she wasn’t sure if she was happy or annoyed that Isyd – the 1st Year! – qualified before her.

“There’s still place for one last person after I qualify. You two shouldn’t give up yet,” Isyd said, growing pensive. “I enjoyed this little competition… It was informative. Your Mother of Thorns was very impressive, strong and versatile. As for you, Prinse, your Legacy Art is not something I have ever seen before. I believe we only saw glimpses of it tonight and I expect you to have more under your sleeve…”

Marzena and Prinse exchanged a long look in silence.

“Does he often talk to his Seniors with that much arrogance?” Prinse asked Marzena with a raised eyebrow.

She shrugged weakly and readjusted the greatcoat on her shoulders before pocketing her tokens. Her eyes wandered briefly to Isyd’s left wrist where his [Limiting Arcane] was. She was contemplating. She then looked up to see Isyd watching her. Daring her.

Marzena blushed and averted her eyes.

“What they were saying about you was true, Wybrany,” she drawled. “You truly are a peculiar individual...”

Prinse had regained some of his colours and he managed to get back up on his feet. He passed a tired hand through his blond hair and sighed.

“Let’s be honest with ourselves here,” he said. “I, for one, do not have much chance of making it anymore. You broke my [Limiting Arcane] with your Resonance stunt earlier tonight and you took my tokens now.”

“You can resign if you want, Krovtur,” Marzena said. “It’s one less person for me to worry about!”

He glared at her. “No, I don’t think I will. I would hate to give you this pleasure, Tchepwa.”

He turned his back to them and walked toward the woods with a hesitant step. Suddenly, he stopped, with a hand on a tree for support, and turned to Isyd.

“You may win here tonight, but don’t think it is the end, Wybrany,” he said. “We will face each other again and this time, I will not underestimate you.”

Isyd nodded respectfully as a Junior was supposed to do in front of his seniors. As Prinse resumed his walk, Marzena hailed him.

“Don’t forget to drop by the Spital after this!”

Prinse didn’t acknowledge her. Marzena then turned to see that Isyd had already crossed the Little Stream. This section of the river had been drained by her [Mermaid’s Spear] and it would take some time for its flow to return to normal. Before she could think to thank him, Isyd had already disappeared back into the woods. She looked long at his retreating figure before sighing and heading in the opposite direction. She still had 6 points to collect and her Ringmates counted on her.