From what I understand, Gordon’s Blessing has two main principles. First, he can manipulate how certain things are perceived, be that sight or even heat, feeling like you’re burning alive, which is really nasty. Thankfully, this power isn’t absolute and can be resisted depending on how well you see through the deception.

  It’s all about information and willpower.

  Then there’s the even more problematic part… I’m not completely certain, but I think using the Blessing on himself does more than just create an illusion. He can manipulate his own powers, temporarily relocate some of his attributes, or bend his Skills.

  That, or he’s hiding all his abilities at every step, holding back and possessing a ridiculously wide variety of Skills. Which is more likely I can’t decide.

  Thankfully, like every Blessing, his is not omnipotent either. He can elect a single target, be that a rock, a person, or himself, and change three aspects tops.

  Or again, he’s just faking it…

  That begs the question… What is he? A spell-spear, conventional Warrior, a Mage perhaps? Or even a Rogue downplaying his speed?

  Martha was right, this place really is exciting.

  “On my mark!” Melena’s voice makes my heart beat a little faster in anticipation. “Fight!”

  But, unlike usual, Gordon and I don't carelessly rush at one another. His specialty is deception ,and mine is countering whatever is thrown at me. How the two deviant combat styles fare against each other… Well, that’s the exciting part.

  There are a few things I need to find out.

  I need to feel out his range, how long he can keep up the fight – because I’d be willing to bet money on that devilish Blessing of his goblin up his resources – and last but not least… How far can he push me?

  After the one-sided battle against Magnus, I’m yearning for a good fight.

  I decide to take the lead and give him something to work with. At the same time, I’m aware the boy might not even be standing where his image is. Truly a nasty Blessing…

  To make sure I hurl a bolt of lightning his way, swift, feeble, and completely useless as a proper strike. And as expected, it flies through Gordon’s chest without any resistance.

  This might prove a little problematic… Mana Perception is not picking up anything because it isn’t really magic I’m dealing with, and Premonition can only warn me about things I’m aware of.

  But that does not make him immaterial. All I need is an early warning system. A layer of swirling dust coupled with a flimsy dome of arcane for simplicity’s sake… He’ll have to make his way through those first before getting to me.

  “Let’s play!” I cackle.

  I whip up the winds, making vicious blades of gale tear through the ground and air all around. But I don’t plan on staying on the defensive. Our segment of the arena, meant for just the two of us is only so big…

  Enjoying the moment, I begin to dance, a lithe and joyful whirl where the wind is my dress, my partner, and my stage. Each step causes the maelstrom of blades around me to lash out, to tear through a segment of the arena.

  Methodically, from left to right, I invite the air to join me in my performance and rip to shreds whatever refuses to dance to my rhythm.

  After about a third of the arena already bears the mark of my attention, Gordon finally decides to show his face. He’s seemingly fleeing from the deadly zephyr of my doing while closing the distance for a counterattack… Seemingly.

  That particular Gordon lacks any flare or life to its movements, doing only the bare minimum to stay alive and advance. It’s obviously just meant to elicit a reaction from me…

  While I keep my eyes on the image, I continue scanning all around with Mana Perception because although Gordon might not have a mana signature, his Skills he intends to strike with might do.

  To my irritation, the impasse where I offhandedly strike at the fake Gordon while he refuses to reveal himself persists for quite a while. Then, as I stop and truly contemplate turning the arena into a large furnace, another Gordon appears. This one rushes at me much faster and with a spear poised to strike.

  I instantly turn my efforts toward restricting his movements, pushing a wall of deadly wind his way and commanding the earth at my feet to rise against him. My opponent proves agile and deftly dodges a number of the blades, getting ever closer.

  But even he won’t be able to weather an assault both from above and below.

  Invisible whistling cutters swoop down and fangs of stone tear through everything in its path. A surefire method in case he were to have anything tricky up his sleeves to save his skin. But the spells converge, rage and.…

  And he’s unscathed.

  The attacks tear through what seems to be Gordon and turn into nothing but a costly waste of resources. The figure keeps charging, but I pay it no mind. He can only manipulate one thing at a time, so if this one is fake, then the other…

  My thin cocoon of a barrier shatters, and by the time I turn my head, Gordon is lunging at me already. His spear is poised to strike, and the wind swirls around him like an aura of swift death.

  I messed up… Or, more accurately, I didn’t expect him, his actual self, to act as bait all along. I gotta give it to him. It was a nice move, and now he has the advantage.

  “Nice.” I cackle and brace myself.

  A blast hurls me through the air uncontrollably, my sole option to avoid a direct hit.

  My vision and thoughts get all messy, and my ears ring ,but there’s no damage – besides my aching side. Utilizing what I’ve developed against Magnus just prior, I balance myself with the wind to regain my bearing.

  However, my opponent is not lenient enough to leave me any breathing room.

  A wall of earth springs up between us as I retreat but Gordon is quick to break through and continues his pursuit. His spear sparkles in the colors of blue and silver, gleaming ethereal yet possessing a cold rigidity I’m closely familiar with.

  It’s arcane.

  But why arcane? Why a Class picked by hardly anyone sane and useful for one of two purses? Crafting, preparing materials, and enriching ingredients for potions and such, or providing a buttload of Mana. Every element has an attribute or two it favors and from my experience, arcane gives some extra Willpower and Mana.

  The spear sails across the air horizontally while the wind slams into me from the other side in a pincer attack. I back off once more, forced to yield to my opponent's rhythm. A blast carries me back and takes me airborne.

  Clones of Gordon’s spear, all made of nothing but pure mana, hurl after me like arrows. I react in kind, bursting forward with another explosion and forming massive arms of blueish radiant mana.

  As a Mage, my power and control prove superior in the clash of magic. The spears snap like toothpicks, but as I smash into the cloud of dust and smoke left by my takeoff, I find no one to battle.

  Gordon has disappeared once more. That Blessing of his… it has to be chugging mana, there’s no other explanation.

  “Don’t make a lady wait!” I taunt and box the air a couple of times with my humongous arms of magic. “I don’t bite I prom- Whoa!”

  Despite my cocky taunts Gordon’s spear cuts through the arcane arm I raise to defend effortlessly. Thankfully, I’ve got two of those and decent reflexes – as well as a little help called Premonition – so after a swift dodge, retaliation follows.

  The fist slams into his side with the power of a charging oxbear and Gordon goes flying. I can only hear the distinctly muted shatter of an arcane barrier crumbling, likely a last-ditch safe from Gordon. But now he’s without solid ground to stand on, and I have the initiative.

  If you come across this story on Amazon, it's taken without permission from the author. Report it.

  Taking off my gloves of mercy ever so slightly, I let the electricity gather wildly around me. Mana Perception activates to make sure Gordon doesn’t slip away and the veritable web of obscured arcane stings reveals itself to me.

  It’s everywhere and collapsing fast.

  I’m not exactly sure if this is supposed to trap me, deter any attacks, or catch me off guard… I mean, it’s a solid trick but wholly misused against me. With a slight flex of my control, pillars of earth spring up to catch the web while I move on with my counterattack.

  The vicious snake of yellow lightning streaks through the air, decimates the web in its path, and strikes right at Gordon without any discretion. Supposedly, our uniforms are special and have some sort of bond with the arena itself as a last-ditch emergency mechanism. If not…

  Well, I think he should have enough Endurance to survive until a healer can get to him.

  But Gordon is not out of tricks either.

  His body bends almost as if his bones had all turned into wet noodles, and he avoids the deadly bolt by… well, bending out of its way.

  It’s unsettling to watch.

  A moment later, his body snaps back to normal and he disappears from my sight again. We’re back to square one, but his origin trick won’t work again. And he knows that.

  Just moments later two identical Gordons appear, running at me from different angles simultaneously. The oldest trick in the book, easily avoided by not staying in place like a moron and pelting the attackers.

  From this close, a simple scattershot of meaningless pebbles is more than enough to reveal which of the Gordons might strike back.

  Expect for the fact that neither of the bodies stop the pebbles from simply passing through their flesh. In my moment of hesitation, it is my ears that warn me of the approaching danger from my rear. The twin fakes were part of a larger illusion all along, one cast upon me, while the perpetrator took his sweet time behind my back.

  The distance is still plenty full, and I have both ample time and room to kill the boy if I wished so. Flames sneak forth from my arms, aggressively advancing on Gordon with a flick of my wrist. However, his next trick isn’t yet another illusion to deceive me.

  A headache strikes and quickly spreads through my being, similar to when Savant bestowed new wisdom upon me. It’s sudden and paralyzing, bringing me to my knees as I groan and try to rein in my thoughts.

  If I didn’t know better, if I hadn’t witnessed many of Gordon’s suffer a similar assault, I’d be panicking right now. Pain, out of nowhere, and this potent is always a bad sign and urges instinct to override reason.

  However, my mental attributes are on the higher end, I’m aware that this is all fake, and most importantly… I’m quite pissed as well as willful enough to force my way through some mental charade.

  “That was dirty.” I grit my teeth, watching the spear grow ever closer once more.

  Ignoring my body screaming at me that something’s wrong, I burst into flames that quickly turn blue and ravage anything and everything around me. The pesky headache disappears right away and I grab the inferno, marking it sweep across the arena and burn everything black.

  But Gordon is nowhere to be seen once again.

  “Oh, this again?” I ask even though I know damn well my opponent can’t hear me.

  I’m enjoying myself, and that was definitely a little over the friendly bout threshold. Whatever comes next, he invited it.

  Sadly, my mana supply won’t be able to keep up with this forever, even though I’m still well above half. Technically speaking, it wouldn’t be impossible for me to locate or hit Gordon despite his shenanigans. I could fish for tremors or maybe body heat. Or just flood the entire arena with raw mana to search for disturbances. It’d be expensive, though…

  Nah, it’d also be really boring.

  Instead, I draw from the many buckets placed along the walls, placed for mages relying on water to do their bidding. Why water? How could it solve my bothersome problem of keeping track of my bothersome opponent?

  Mud.

  The water washes over the arena, earning a few unsavory remarks from Melana and curious glances from all around. So what if I’m running our little playground a little, the practice is almost over already?

  To speed up the mudification process I help the earth and water mix, steadily adding more all around within my reach. Still quite expensive, and very taxing, but I’m basically disabling his pesky invisibility right now.

  But man some trap inscriptions, especially pressure snares would’ve been of so ridiculous value here. Not only would they limit Gordon’s possible moves but also completely end the match once he’s caught.

  I need to figure out how to carve a few symbols at the very least even mid-fight…

  The arena is slowly filling up, turning into my new domain, bending to my will as the… Mud Queen? That sounds like something a troll or goblin would be called. Nah, I’m the Catastrophe.

  Soon, I hear and see the approaching Gordon as the mud betrays his location. He might be able to keep himself invisible, but his steps tell me everything I need to know. His speed, direction, turns, and even the hesitation causing him to waste precious seconds…

  I want to play something else besides hide-and-seek.

  He has no choice but to drop his shroud and increase his speed, rushing at me frantically. It’s clear in his eyes, he’s losing his cool. That nasty arsenal of quirky tricks of his is running low.

  Without even moving a muscle, I order the slob to grab him, cling to his legs, slow him down, and make him lose his footing. His second, wind-aligned Class helps him push through, clearing a pat,h but… this is no longer fun.

  It’s just another fight against another talented and arguably dangerous warrior.

  I raise a hand and begin twirling a finger while giving Gordon a friendly smile. He did well. Just as my index finger dances, the mud begins to gather once again. The vile mix of water and earth, the bane of clothes and arch-nemesis of mothers, rushes at my opponent like a tide in far greater volume than a warrior could hope to fend off.

  Gordon is caught, and he struggles, likely increasing his strength but punching mud doesn’t lead him anywhere. The mound grows, the prison grows more and more inescapable by the second and I begin to feel… A little disappointed.

  I hoped he had something else, another trick, something to keep me on my toes. This just feels a little anticlimactic.

  “Can you release him already Elyssia?” Melena’s voice breaks me out of my quick round of moping. “He can’t exactly tell you he’s surrendering like that.”

  I glance at the mud pile. The only surface of skin visible is Gordon’s grumpy face.

  “True. I won’t hear him say he’s giving up any time soon…” But then it hits me. “Melena, you have to come here and tap my shoulder to declare me the winner, otherwise I’m not letting go!”

  Call me paranoid, but in the last few minutes, we’ve gone through more dirty illusion tricks in the book than I’m aware of. With that said, it was worth every minute, and I’d love to repeat the duel and learn a little more in the future.

  Fighting flimsy illusionists is child’s play. Mana Percation or the poor knowledge of their surroundings can betray anyone but the true veterans. Gordon’s Blessing is something even more troublesome.

  A moment later, the wolfish coach of ours is by my side to flick my ear. “Congrats, you’ve won now let go and fix the mess you’ve made!” She huffs, clearly sharing the attitude of my old mentor regarding the destruction I cause.

  It’s just like I said years ago when visiting the guards with Dad… Less mage more city.

  Undoing my swampy prison, Gordon emerges, looking all unscathed but clearly uncomfortable in his ruined uniform. I’m not sure whether that’s any better than a few bruises, but thankfully, I’m forced to cope with neither.

  “Good fight.” I reach out a hand, saying it loud and clear for him to… read?

  He’s been my most troublesome opponent yet, going toe to toe with Val who’s just simply really damn hard to take out. Their styles couldn't be any different and yet they’re both extremely powerful.

  You’re one scary first-grade student. I’m afraid you’ll beat me even faster next time.

  Words appear in the air next to his face.

  “We’re the same age, remember?” I ask, although the nasty necklace is dragging me down quite a bit. “And if you’re so worried about our next duel, just come up with new tricks. I’m looking forward to another fun brawl.”

  With the pleasantries over I return to the viewer’s area, satisfied and dead tired. My erratic practice with Magnus combined with this and the two lectures I sat through before, one of them being math… I’ve outdone myself today.

  “Nice one Eli.” Kayla scoots over next to me. “I can’t believe you won first try.”

  I’m a little too exhausted to put up with her love for chit-chat but this does pique my interest. “Why how did everyone else fare?”

  Unlike me, Kayla is visibly glowing with energy. “August was helpless, completely. Although he still is, there’s nothing in his arsenal to deal with stealth. Victor did okay… His traps work every now and then and his Blessing also helps but it’s basically a coin toss. And really boring to watch.”

  That I can imagine. A calculative bastard and a deceptive one face-to-face. Although, if it wasn’t for a battlefield, this open my money would be on Victor.

  “What about you?” I ask because the cover is very much lying about how vicious the book called Kayla can be.

  “Oh, I won every round.” She shrugs. “A good sense of smell and solid defenses turn Gordon absolutely helpless. That and whenever he stepped on my vines, I knew exactly where he was coming from. A few chonky friends and the round was mine.” She giggles.

  The one-girl army… or rather, a horde. Her weakness is also quite devastating, namely anything very long-range and hard-hitting. I wonder how Val would fare against our illusionist.

  Not to mention just how entertaining the rest of them might be.

  “Why didn’t you use fire?” Melena asks while we wait for the rest of the duel to conclude. “You could’ve filled the air with flames.”

  Well, her question is valid, I did in fact not do my best, but that’s fine. I’ve heard this question plenty of times already throughout my years in Granhall.

  “And what is there to learn from that? Brute force takes it all?” I raise an eyebrow, meeting her curious gaze. “And he wouldn’t be here if fire alone could foil all his tricks.”

  “Tsk, brat.” She huffs with poorly masked mirth.

  Heh, I like her.

  “By the way, what is Magnus’ deal? Who is he?” I ask while we wait.

  “Has he not told you?” Melena looks back at me and I shake my head. “Playing mysterious. that old bastard. Always does whatever he pleases.” She sighs, something typical for every mentor I had. “He’s one of our country’s greatest, an imperial mage, or a retired one at least.”

  “Like a soldier?” I haven’t heard that title yet.

  “Like the direct subordinate of the Emperor himself. Like the protector and advisor of his Majesty since before the rise of Valeria…” Melana whispers. “Don’t mess with him too much, please. I still need you on this team.”

  Oh fuck…