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  [colpse]Chapter One Hundred and Nine - Civility

  “Entering the third round of this petition, the first semifinal bout of the day, is Broccoli.... Bunch!” Zac shouted. “Arusty chair!”

  I stepped onto the stage, waved at the crowds that had, if anything, grown bigger sihat m, then focused really hard on my breathing. I set my chair down to the side, then sat down on it with a plop. I folded one leg over the other, then twisted and sat iher dire. It didn’t make it any more fortable.

  “Oh my, it seems our little bun is nervous. And no wonder! On the right, one of the most powerful mages in this petition, the Lord of Dust, Weatherby!”

  The crowd roared as, with a huge burst of dust that spun into the air like a tiny cye, a man jumped up and crashed onto the far end of the stage.

  He was tall, with salt and pepper hair and a rge white coat that had a bit of a b-coat look to it. Beh that, he was wearing normal clothes with tons of pouches sewn into them. He shifted where he hen reached up to adjust the rge gsses perched oip of his nose.

  “Greetings, Miss Bunch,” he said.

  “Oh, um, hi,” I said. “Sorry, that was rude of me. I should have said hello already.”

  “Nonse’s fine if you were merely a little slow. After all, it seems as if you’re paralyzed with fear. I assure you, while I fully io defeat you, I won’t do so while causing any damage that ot be healed or teo.”

  “Oh, thanks,” I said. “But I’m not afraid?”

  “Miss Bunch, ys are trembling in terror.” Weatherby shifted so that he fell into a sort of fighting stance, arms by his sides and legs bent just-so.

  I felt my cheeks burning up. “That’s not ‘cause I’m scared,” I said. “There was a li the bathroom and I’ve been drinking a lot of tea.”

  Weatherby didn’t seem to know how to process that.

  I grit my teeth together and tried to think dry thoughts. “ we just end this?”

  “Oh-hoh,” Zac said. “It seems as if our bun is doh the backtalk. The walls are going up... the st bets are ing in... and the fight begins!”

  Magical walls sprang up all around us and I got off my chair and shifted into a sprinter’s stance, ready to cut the distaween myself aherby.

  “Well then, I suppose we ought to begin,” Weatherby said.

  Twin pilrs of brownish-bck dust burst out of the oversized pockets of his coat, shot out towards the ers of the arena, then with a forward swipe of his arms, the two pilrs came rushing down where I stood.

  I took one lunging step forwards, then rolled to the side to avoid one of the bigger pilrs before hopping above the sed as it swept over the ground. Where it passed, the stone surface of the arena was scoured .

  Landing on the balls of my feet, I prepared to run towards Weatherby, only to see the man raising a hand my way while a meter-long spear-shaped dust struct hovered over his shoulder. “Oh, shoot,” I said.

  I tried to twist out of the way, but I khere was no way I was avoiding that. Weatherby had me pinned right where he wanted me. I grit my teeth and jerked a knee upwards while bsting a wave of ing magic forwards.

  Amaryllis had said that sometimes magiterfered with id could help mitigate some of the damage. I just had to hope for the best.

  The dust spear rammed into my thin barrier of ing magid instantly broke apart. Particles of dust still pelted me, but with none of the force I had been expeg.

  I stumbled to the side then regained my bah a swing of my arms. Had my ing magiegated his Dust magic? Could that even happen?

  Hopping backwards to make some room between us, I kept an eye owo dusty tendrils. When one of them snapped forwards I shifted to the side and fired a ball of ing magito--and through--the magical struct.

  It worked!

  Dust fell to the ground, some of it evaporating like water being spritzed onto an open fire.

  Still, that didn’t mean I could block every blow... not unless I used my aura.

  Biting my lower lip, I waited for the dust o e, but Weatherby was a clever man, and he fired three bolts of magic all at once.

  I funneled magito my ing aura and brought an arm up to intercept one of the bolts. No way was I going to stand there and take the blow head-on.

  The bolt burst apart a dozeimeters away from my palm, turning into little more than glowing ashes that passed with as much strength as someone blowing air really hard.

  I grinned. I was covered.

  Running up towards Weatherby, I narrowed my eyes and ighe two dusty tendrils as they came crashing down ohe air filled with glowing motes. I jumped out of them and aimed a snap-kick towards my oppo’s chest.

  He spped my foot aside while taking a long step bad to the side. “Aura magic?” he asked.

  “ing,” I expined.

  “Iing. My Dust Magic is at Journeyman, I didn’t think simple ing magic could do anything against it.”

  “Mine’s at Expert,” I said as I moved closer to him.

  Weatherby chuckled. “I see. I didn’t think I would witness onized ing magic. What an iing twist.”

  “Thanks!” I said. “I just work with what I’m given.”

  Weatherby nodded along, hands slipping into his coat. “Impressive,” he said. Then a whole pile of dust flew towards my face.

  I pushed more mana into my ing aura, turning the dust into little more than a cloud of sparkling motes. A cloud that parted when a staff came rushing out of it.

  “Eep!” I ducked to the side, barely avoiding the staff before it stopped, then shot off to the side.

  Two dull ‘ths’ sounded out and I winced as I stumbled back. He’d ed my ears!

  “Terribly sorry. That must be rather painful. I’m rather surprised you didn’t pull them back,” Weatherby said.

  I twitched my ears this way and that, then with a bit of tration mao make them fold around and back. “They’re new,” I said.

  “That would expin the sed pair of ears,” he observed.

  I looked over to the man, eying his neon with trepidation. The staff was about as tall as he was and was covered in little carvings, all geometrically precise and square. “Where were you hiding that?” I asked.

  Weatherby lifted the staff, twisted his wrists, and split it apart. “My coat,” he said.

  “That’s !” I said.

  “Why thank you. I do prefer magical bat, but sometimes rapping a foe on the head with a rge stick just works.”

  I grinned. “You’re pretty fun,” I said as I moved over to my chair. I kicked the legs and used the momentum of that t the chair up onto my shoulders. I took a moment to just catch my breath and trol my bdder. “I hope you don’t mind me finishing this in a hurry?”

  “You do seem somewhat indisposed,” Weatherby said. “I must say, this fight has been enjoyable so far. I wouldn’t want to end it on a ive note.”

  I smiled over to him. “You’re pretty nice. I’m surprised you’re in the petition. Are you o adventuring and such?”

  Weatherby raised one bd white eyebrow. “Not quite. I discovered a new dungeon and decided to ge my csses. I’m a bit old for it, but I had some iing ideas. This is merely a test to see how those ideas pan out.”

  “Ah, two new csses then?” I asked. “What’s the sed? Mine’s Wondernder!”

  Weatherby smiled bad spun his staff around. “Merely Fire Mage. I had ideas about bining Dust and Fire magic.”

  I blinked. “Are y to make dust explosions?” I gasped. “You’re making magic thermobaribs! That’s so cool!”

  Weatherby lowered his staff a little. “You’re familiar with the theory?” he asked.

  “Heck yeah! Those make huge explosions. You’ll put my little fireballs to shame.” I lu Weatherby, chair legs spearing out at him. He smacked the chair aside, and with the reverse swing of his staff, tried to hit me in the head.

  I grabbed his staff, letting go of the chair for a moment. I wao use it as a way to pivot my legs up to kick Weatherby, but he twisted his end of the staff a me with a foot-long bit of wood.

  Dug to the side, I avoided a jab, then I used the stick I now had to smack away a swipe.

  Grinning, I pushed some stamina into my legs and shot up towards Weatherby. It was only after I’d jumped that I remembered that I didn’t know if I could do that or not. A question that had kind of just answered itself as I flew forwards.

  A quiap-kick hit him in the chest, but the older man just grunted and used my position to throunch that hit me in the lower tummy.

  I stumbled bad raised a hand as a time-out. “Oh, that was mean,” I said as I rubbed my stomach. “I almost lost trol there.”

  “Apologies,” Weatherby said.

  Theabbed out at me with his shorteaff.

  I was already bending forwards, so I rolled out of the way, flicked the small bit of wood I had back towards Weatherby, and, si was close, I picked up my chair before spinning around.

  Weatherby didn’t seem to expect me to charge him headlong with my chair before me like some sort of battering ram. He nded a blow on my head, but other than making my helmet ring a bit it didn’t stop me from pushing him back.

  I set the chair down, pced a foot on it, and used it as a jumping point so that I could punto Weatherby knees first. He stumbled back, hitting the wall behind him. He brought his staff up, but I was already spinning around.

  With both hands on my chair, I shoved it forwards and pinned Weatherby in a triangle made from the seat’s bottom, its back, and the wall behind him. His arms and staff were pio his side, but it didn’t stop him from kig out at me and sending a burst of dust magic towards me.

  I ighe kick that hit my thigh with a grunt and fired off a big burst of ing magic to ward off the dust. When it cleared, I had a hand raised in a fist, aiming right towards Weatherby.

  “I forfeit,” he said.

  I paused. “Oh. Okay then,” I said as I took a step back. I pced the chair o me. “Need a sit?”

  He smiled. “I’m quite well. I merely couldn’t see a way out of that particur bind that wouldn’t harm both of us more than would be appropriate for a fight like this.”

  I nodded. “That’s kind of you.”

  He extended his hand and we shook.

  “We should get together ter, talk explosions,” I said.

  “Certainly,” Weatherby said with a knowing grin. I smiled back. There was a certain uandiween people like us.

  Zac cut in from above. “What a startlio the fight! Truly, a dispy of civility amidst bat and--”

  “Lower the walls Zac!” I shouted.

  The spokesperson froze. “Pardon?”

  I winced, legs crossing. “Lower those walls right away or... or I’ll do mean things to you! Hurry, I drank too much tea!”

  There was a lot of ughter, but that didn’t matter. The moment the walls faded away I was bolting out of the arena on a straight path towards the bathroom.

  ***