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Seeing as I got nothing better to do, I watched the mana-screen too. It was a close-up of the two combatants:  a tall black-haired Middle Eastern woman – wearing a white halterneck dress with green trim and cuts on both sides of the skirt that ran from the base to a few inches below her waist, revealing chocolate skin, mostly covered by black, wide-rimmed thigh boots – was hurling balls of light at a blonde-haired Northern European woman – wearing a black leather suit and coat similar to the one Kate Beckinsale wore in the Underworld films – who was defending herself with a simple, black staff,. The both of them were a good distance away from each other and up above, was a glaring ball of light powered by mana, maybe. They were both, very sexy in their attire. I wouldn’t mind being beaten by them—really? What is going on with me? Where was Manami, anyway?

“This is a very boring match. The Egyptian is Alina and the Icelander’s Liv,” Shura said from beside me, “I’ll give you their information, later.” I looked at him, he was looking at the match, intently too, and so was Thea. At least they’ve stopped arguing. I stared back at the match. It looked like the crowd was very bored and so were the commentators.

The grump grunted from beside, as if agreeing to Shura’s sentiment.

I stared at Shura for a moment. He was tracing something on the air with his finger while the combatants were still doing what they were doing."What're you doing?" I couldn't help but be curious. Rune-making is a very hard thing to do, and here he is just fiddling in the air with it.

“You’re going to help them, Shurie?” asked Thea. Now, I want to know what he’s doing. How can he even help them from here? “Aren’t you abusing your powers as President of Duel Committee, again?” Shura's a president of something?

“Don’t really care.” He stopped his finger and the trace he made was replaced by a glowing version of it, sticking neatly on the counter-table. He then muttered some words – perhaps they were Latin or maybe I just think that all languages are derived from Latin and thus, everything sounds Latin to me – and small wispy streams of blue glowing light went flying in all directions. “Made a Wave-Amplification rune and I just requested some spirits to hack into the PA system.” He turned, a brief Grinch’s smile on his face. It creeped me out, then he looked back to the fight.  Numerous runes were now hovering around him, flickering like broken light-bulbs.

“Is this a duel or a spar?” Shura's voice was booming throughout the Arena. Is this legal? Hearing Shura’s voice, I could see on the mana-screen that the girls had a slight smile and picked up their pace.

“Oh! Folks, looks like Vordi-ur-Amrasa has seen fit to make this match, a bit more exciting,” the male commentator said from the mana-screen, causing the crown to go wild. Was Shura, perhaps, someone famous?

Alina made a sideward sprint while simultaneously, making larger balls of light trail after her very step. With each successive step the preceding ball of light hurled itself towards Liv with astonishing speed, much faster than before, exciting the crowd.

“What fast incantations, to conjure those many light-orbs,” the female commentator remarked, “Those must really be eating her mana-cap.”

“Be a propeller, Liv!” Shura's voice bellowed from the large speakers hanging overhead the Arena, “and be careful of Alina's traps. You always fall for those.”

From the mana-screen, Alina was looking directly at the camera and flipped the bird at its direction while running around, leaving hostile balls of light in her wake. Now, I may not know the exact nature of their relationship but I can guarantee that I knew who the intended target of that gesture was.

Liv did what Shura said and spun her staff in front of herself while slowly angling her upper body, to catch the incoming missiles like the blades of a rotating fan meeting a thrown tennis ball but with less damage to the fan – or at least that's what it looks like to me – and when the balls made contact with her staff, they exploded into harmless sparks.

Alina’s mutterings could be heard from the mana-screen, and she spread her arms wide and on her palms: light quickly gathered, forming a sword on both of her hands. I could tell the light-swords turned solid because she was holding them now, even twirling them like rotors. The swords were weirdly-shaped, it looked like a very distorted question mark, or a hook, or a sickle. It looked awesome though, and I wanted one... or two, because it would look more bad-ass.

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.

I snapped out of my fantasies, when I saw Liv leap like a cat towards Alina, her staff prepared for an overhead swing as if chopping a log but Alina blocked it with her two swords. They were now having a bout of strength with Liv having the pressing advantage while Alina knelt on one knee, slowly losing ground.

“It looks like Badi' al-Zaman is having a hard time! It appears that Freyjasdottir’s staff has been enchanted with some pretty intense runes,” said the mana-screen in a male voice.

Alina then had light gather around her arms, making her skin glow a glimmering yellow. She pulled her blades like someone opening an elevator with their bare hands, and Liv's staff was torn apart.

“Wonder who made those enchantments,” the mana-screen said but this time with a female voice, “because, he’ll be enchanting another one again!”

Liv retreated and in her hands, an identical staff materialized. She was holding the staff with one hand, just above the base, like it was a sword instead of a staff. Her free-hand was moving in a small, circular path, kind of like, she was wiping a window, and then her free-hand glowed purple.

“Low-intensity stun spell?” Thea asked, and Shura nodded.

Alina stood still, and then with a devilish grin made a ‘come at me’ gesture with her hand, while holding the blade, which I remember was a khopesh.

Liv threw a purple ball at Alina and dashed forward, following it.

The Egyptian's feet glowed and she leapt back, then threw her swords to the approaching stun-ball, destroying it, and waved her hands around, balls of light surrounded her as swirls of light formed above her, converging into the form of  a levitating sword.

Seeing this as a chance, Liv ran faster, both hands now dragging the base of her staff, trailing blue mana-sparks, ready for a swing.

“Oh, it looks like Freyjasdottir didn’t see the trap,” a commentator remarked, but his voice was barely audible among the shouts of the audience.

Maybe she couldn't hear, or the momentum she was building up was too invigorating for her to stop and listen to the comments of spectators, but when she closed the distance, just a third away, the moment her foot stepped on the floor – the approximate spot that Alina stood just a moment before she leapt away –, it glowed and went boom: catapulting the Icelander away before she stomped her feet on the ground, halting her from being hurled away any further. She regained her balance, dusting the dirt off her clothes and saw that the distance between them was now twice as far as it was before she ran forward. Staff dangling in her left hand, she palmed her face.

“Liv’s done for,” said the grumpy-looking, young man from beside me. He spoke in a posh English accent that was unlike English accents in most films that had non-Englishmen portraying Englishmen.

On the mana-screen, Alina grinned, the blade of light now half the size of the fighting grounds. The sword was floating above her, parallel to the ground, and with a raise of her hand, it lifted itself. Alina looked at the camera’s direction and from her screen: she winked and brought her hand down. The sword swung downwards, a seemingly earth-shattering strike.

Shura waved his hand and the runes disappeared into particles. Presumably, his voice wasn't connected to the PA, anymore. “It’s over.”

“Well, folks, it’s Badi al-Zaman’s eight consecutive win, and Freyjasdottir’s first loss. I don't know about you, Lily, but I'm looking forward to next Friday’s match, between: Dom do Mundo and Roimh an Gaoithe!”

On the grounds, the sword had done its part and vanished, leaving the other side of the grounds covered in smoke while pieces of floor and wall and fiber-glass lay scattered all over. Fortunately, the barrier spell that was around the dueling grounds shielded the audience from the destruction.

I turned to Shura, a worried look on my face. “Is, um, the blonde—Liv going to be alright?” I asked him, he nodded. If I was hit by that I’d be dead, already... or not, I seem to have a knack getting in mortal danger. I looked at the mana-screen, the smoke had cleared and Alina was helping Liv up while the crowd was chanting their names.

That was a magical battle, huh? Wonder how I’ll survive.

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