I mimicked her voice in a mocking falsetto: “‘Now I’m going all out.’” I rolled my eyes. “You people really don’t have new material, do you?”

  The witch's eyebrows twinkled before an evil glint appeared in her crimson eyes. As her hand moved, a spark of mana flickered, but it then vanished as quickly as it appeared. “ It’s not worth it. It’s not worth it. You aren’t worth it. The mage witch repeated those words as if saying them repeatedly would make them true. Her mana flickered in and out as if it was displaying her mental state.

  The only thing I could think that she was a tremodus actor. Her breakdown almost seemed real if not for the invisible threads of mana I could feel shooting through the air. That triggered the competitive side in me. To see who was the better actor.

  The pendant buzzed with a dull shimmer molecules of iron to small to trace appeared in the air. My range is my control of metal before it leaves my influence, 10 normally double that with the bonuses. So I’ll have to manevur a little closer quickly before she decides I’ll not in her performance enough and blows up.

  Her mana flared even more as her voice took on a sickly sweet tone. Her arms slowly spread as she floated gracefully. “ We both know you didn’t want that dwarf, so his little marriage proposal should have been ended before it was even started. But you didn’t, so which did you want, the short one, right? I took a little peek when you thought we were all locked out. That blueprint seems pretty neat. You must have suspected something before that what was it.

  Her words oozed with honeyed venom, but I caught the twitch in her left cheek—a tell. She was probing, fishing for cracks, and using him as bait. I let her monologue slide off me like rain off tempered steel, even though every word she uttered struck like a whisper aimed at old scars.

  As she floated, her arms outstretched like some grand tragic heroine, I kept moving—just a fraction of a step at a time. Casual. Relaxed. I didn’t need to rush the scene. Not when she was so eager to direct it.

  “I mean…” I tilted my head, let my expression drawl into amusement. “You’re seriously bringing up him? That’s the card you’re playing now? Marriage proposals and stolen blueprints?” I laughed. Genuinely. Sharp, bitter, loud enough to bounce off the walls. “I can’t tell if you’re trying to make me flinch, or just projecting your own insecurity with a little dramatic flair.”

  The iron particles drifted like silver mist now. Ten feet and closing. At this distance, they were threads I could play like strings on an instrument, vibrating softly with readiness, like a harp before a dirge.

  “But I’ll bite,” I said, dragging the words like silk across a blade. “You want to know what tipped me off?” I tapped my temple, then pointed to her. Then closed my fist the iron particles collapsed all at once into the floating figure.

  As my fist clenched, the iron—now a liquid silver within my grasp—snapped shut around her. Not with a crash, but with a silent, almost gentle embrace. It wasn't about blunt force; it was about control. The witch, mid-float, mid-sickly-sweet smile, froze. Her eyes, still crimson, widened in a flicker of genuine surprise, the performance draining from them like color from a fading photograph.

  The iron didn't pierce her, didn't crush. Instead, it formed a shimmering, intricate cage, pressing against her skin, conforming to every curve of her body, but leaving enough space for breath. A filigree of cold, hard metal, a second skin that held her immobile. Her outstretched arms were pinned, her fingers splayed, the mana that had been flaring now sputtering like a dying flame.

  A low hiss escaped her lips, a sound of pure, unadulterated frustration, not the theatrical kind she’d been performing. “What… what is this?” she choked out, her voice losing its honeyed quality, replaced by a raw edge. She strained against the bonds, a faint hum of mana attempting to push outwards, but the iron absorbed it, conducted it, grounded it before it could coalesce into anything substantial. It was like trying to fight a current while wrapped in copper wire.

  The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

  I stepped closer, the clicking of my boots on the stone floor echoing in the sudden silence. The competitive fire that had sparked within me now burned with a quiet satisfaction. “This,” I said, my voice soft, almost a murmur against the metallic hum of the iron, is just a divine fragment I call The Grasp of Velthorn. It’s a perfect counter for mage types like yourself.

  “The best part is that the more you struggle, the tighter the bindings will get. The system must really hate you, putting you in the same ring as me. Especially after giving me 8 weapons that are the bane of mage types. “ No harm in a little bluffing

  The witch stammered, her aura completely vanishing. But I even took your advice and kept my forcefield active - how did you do this? The witch’s face went bright red her seemingly realizing her own admission.

  A smirk tugged at my lips as her face flushed, a truly satisfying sight. The admission, the mortification, it was all so wonderfully real. Far more compelling than her earlier dramatics.

  "So, you do listen," I mused, letting the words hang in the air, a silken rope to reel her in further. "And you did keep your forcefield active. Excellent. See, I told you I was a good listener. Perhaps you should try it sometime."

  Her blush deepened, a furious crimson that clashed with the cold gleam of the iron binding her. "Just because you gave it doesn't mean I can't use it and kill you," she spat, her voice tight with suppressed rage and humiliation. The threat, though impotent, carried a genuine bite that had been lacking before.

  "Oh, I have no doubt you'd like to," I countered smoothly, my eyes never leaving hers. "But liking and doing are two very different things, aren't they? Especially when you're currently wearing Velthorn's finest. But that isn’t what you are interested in, you are wondering how I canceled your forcefield instantly. “

  How I did that, you can think of as a group project of three of my relics, two of them you know well, the other you might meet if you have any more tricks up your sleeve.

  “Oh, is that so? I guess I will be meeting this mysterious relic, then the witch said as waves of mana spewed out, only to be discharged by her bindings.

  I raised an eyebrow, a slow smile spreading across my face. "An admirable spirit, even when utterly outmatched. I like that. Though I suspect you won't be quite so eager to meet that particular relic."

  Her defiance, a fresh surge of mana, met the immediate, humming resistance of the Grasp of Velthorn. The air around her shimmered for a moment, thick with the scent of ozone and frustrated power, before the iron bindings visibly tightened, pressing inwards by another fraction of an inch. A faint gasp escaped her lips, her crimson eyes widening not in anger this time, but in genuine, unwilling submission to the undeniable power now coursing through her.

  "Velthorn," I stated, my voice losing its playful edge, becoming sharp and instructive, "is designed to capture mages. It’s a based off the original relic if it’s a cheap copy it will be strong enough to hold anything you throw at it. It’s the bane of mages. But to instantly neutralize a shield like yours? That requires a little more finesse." I gestured to the shimmering iron, then to my pendant.

  “The first step a spear that dispels mana but that alone wouldn’t been enough to completely destroy such a shield. The next step would be the cage to stop mana from escaping outward which made it bottle up. Then 1 well placed hit to the core of the spell thanks to my third relic and the spell shattered like glass charged by a roaring beast.” Then at that moment I knew I had messed up The Quintessence's mana now was gushing out in waves.

  “Her voice spoke now serenly come. You aren’t the only one to get some bonus from the system but that’s really interesting. With just three of those weapons you can instantly neutrialize a perfect spell? You said you obtained 8 of them from the system that’s odd as I only received 4. “

  Damn it she’s on to me. A thousand excuses rushed to my head but before I could find a good one she continued speaking as the cage shattered.

  “ If you can do so much with only three 8 makes you extremely dangerous enough I might have to call for some assistance. A magic circle appeared under the witch a dangerous liquid bottle filled with a unknown purple substance.Infernal-...”

  "This is why I hate witches!" I blurted out, the words ripped from me in genuine frustration. My eyes darted from the falling drop to her serene, terrifyingly confident face. "What are you doing? It's not that serious! We're basically still in the tutorial! Why are you summoning a demon!"