Z: "So this is Cosmatral Silo."
Katachi appeared from the warped space and entered Cosmatral Silo.
K: "... Oh."
Cosmatral Silo was a stark contrast from the other planes. Everything looked metallic. The air was full of dust and it stained the presumably blue sky's azure into something between a sickly green and brown. The platform they were brought to had already been damaged and reduced into abstract art.
There were dents and cave-ins all over the floor, there were broken parts of the footing here and there, there were even shards of crystals littered over the ground acting as a hazard. Strangely enough, there were no 'sharp objects' to 'impale' them with, so Bael's meaning was unclear.
Z: "Remnants of the previous battles?... Don't they ever take care of this place?"
K: (Floating islands of steel... A retelling of the Grave of Segus? This is the battlefield that Bael prefers?)
The place literally reeked of death and would offset anyone that relied upon the natural elements to battle efficiently. Large mounds of metal floated peacefully in the background, equally scarred and worn out by the previous students who set foot upon the plane. The air was stagnant and reeked of rust, both from the pieces of corroded metal and the bloodstains on the ground.
It was completely stale – Cosmatral Silo was a battlefield that imposed the restrictions of one's mobility by the obstacles on the plane as well as the deprivation of fresh air available to the competitors. It truly befitted a battlefield for testing the power of magi who properly honed their image power, not those that relied on finesse, affinity, brute strength or anything of the sort.
To Katachi, that did not affect him as much given his passive nature. He used the dagger to deliver the dangerous blows that decided his victory, so given his almost-negligible capacity at offense, the drawback mattered little. He need only create an opening and strike from there.
*** ***
Katachi faced his opponent who was seven meters away, dagger in hand poised to strike. Zirco reached for his wooden sword's rough position to ensure that he had a way to fight Katachi at mêlée range should he decide to close the gap like in the previous rounds.
Z: (He struck down Cillian, Nea and Deku with his dagger so I should assume the same will happen again. Once he reaches anywhere closer than four meters I should be ready to draw and retaliate.) "I originally planned to use the sandy plains of Cosmatral Tlod to my advantage. This just means that my spell will lose out in its efficiency, but that can be recovered with a little image power."
Zirco clapped his hands together twice and began reciting his spell.
Z: "Hear me, students of Sage Raufid Magus Academy. Hear the cries of I the man, and Katachi the fool."
K: (He's marking me with a specific name, of the 'Fool'... From what I can recall right off the bat there are dozens of tales that use 'man' and 'fool'. It's a pity I didn't get to see his semi-final match. I need more clues if I want to know what tale he's deriving his spells from. He's also using the image power of the students to offset the lack of an advantage... Like sand, perhaps?)
Many clues could be derived from his simple actions, but filtering them to find the right answer was the real problem.
K: (Maybe it's an elemental spell which suggests his eagerness to compete in Cosmatral Tlod? There are nine stories I know related to sand with 'man' and 'fool' within... That's only if he's actually using the sand and not some additional component from Cosmatral Tlod. Dust, perhaps?)
Zirco held his hands up towards the green sky and continued his chant.
Z: "The man treads lightly, and is thus protected."
K: (There are three stories I know relevant to sand, man and fool. Aleksei and the Wiseman, Braver of the Dharan and Tholneus forsaking his village. At least that narrows down the scope I have to guard against. I have to prepare for whatever he's doing and derive the tale's origin appropriately before I properly strike him.)
Z: "While the fool stomps and leaps, happy-go-lucky as he ever will be."
The metal beneath Katachi's feet began to shake.
K: ('Protect', 'Stomp'-! Caution and bravado, contrasting movements! Aleksei and the Wiseman! If that's what he's using as a spell base, then I have to move right now!-)
Z: "And so the flames spewed forth from beneath the fool's feet!"
Katachi leaped away quickly to a clearing on the platform. Where he once stood the metal creaked, tented upwards and exploded like a pie with too thin a crust, fire erupting erratically from that spot. The air above cleared for a moment before it was consumed by the faint green miasma-like gas once again. Zirco carefully observed the effects of his actions while Katachi took the time to reorganize the new information from his spell.
Z: (The metal isn't soft like earth, so it takes longer to crack open for the flames to spew. The place where the fire gushed out from is still hot and I'm not going anywhere near the eruption zone so that's going to be to my advantage. My attacks are going to be delayed in here, though... The fire seems to be equally strong even when the air isn't fresh.)
Even after the effort he invested into the storytelling, it did not produce the result he desired.
Z: (Perhaps the image power received from the students only intensified the flames, not the spell's speed. Maybe the inflection on 'flames' was too heavy compared to the emphasis on 'spewed'. I wanted this to be a swift victory, but the unexpected turn of events screwed it all up. Setting up the Peony Flame Ritual will be difficult if the flames are this delayed.)
The consequence of preparing himself for Cosmatral Tlod's atmosphere bared its ugly face far too soon.
Z: (If only I knew the battlefield's going to be comprised of metal instead I would simply have settled with another spell... No point in regretting what's done. I'll just use this spell as I just had.)
K: (The tale of Aleksei and the Wiseman... Aleksei, a happy-go-lucky Auser fool who traveled onto a mountain where he met a Wiseman crossing a volcano as well. They landed into deep trouble because of Aleksei's foolishness, but the Wiseman helped Aleksei move about without disturbing the volcano's delicate peak.)
There was a very useful application of the spell that could be derived.
K: (If he's the wiseman, then he needs to shout 'Tread with care, young fool!' or his spell will affect me. It's often used as a generic spell for training magi to dodge attacks from the ground, and the safe sentence protects the trainee from being damaged by rising columns of flame.)
But Zirco's application of the spell was contorted.
K: (He's using it offensively where the Wiseman would never need to scream that line... I can't use the Vapour Domain spell Bertund recommended – He can probably surround himself with flames intense enough to disperse the mist before it even reaches him. I guess the only other option I have is Croxa's spell. That's assuming he doesn't have any other spells up his sleeve.)
Katachi tucked his dagger back into his clothes to free up his hands for evading Zirco's spell. Zirco saw that as a window of opportunity and quickly took to the offensive. Clapping his hands even tighter than before, he began his incantation.
Z: "And lo, the fool jumped out of the pennsic and into the flames."
K: (! It's not specifying anything, so it must be a continuous spell-!! Not good, I better move!-)
Katachi began running around the battlefield quickly in large circles, hoping to outrun and avoid the attacks erupting from the floor. The flames were gushing out in a tracing ripple – Wherever Katachi stepped on the fire would spew from that piece of metal a moment later for a few seconds. It formed many, many medium columns of flame and it pursued him relentlessly, the only saving grace being how short-lived the attacks were.
Round and round he went, forming lots of cracks on the ground and dividing the battlefield's border between him and Zirco. But a defensive play like that was subpar at best and he exerted no pressure on his opponent with the passive strategy and buying him the time he needs to set up a bigger spell.
Z: (One stagger or one stumble is all I need. The moment he shows any instability, I can use the Peony Flame Ritual immediately.)
K: "Gh!" (He's going to make me waste my stamina, the main weakness of most magi. Fine then! Let's see how you'd handle this!)
As he ran and dodged the flames, Katachi began reciting his own spell.
K: "From beneath her feet, an unending stream flowed."
Water started pouring out of Katachi's hands and eyes. They flowed and covered the metal field with water all over. The flames were still spewing regardless, but the water made the metal platform cool rapidly so Katachi wouldn't feel the residual heat on his soles.
Additionally, the heat dried and reduced the water puddles fast enough for Katachi to re-run over the surface without feeling the slippery texture and eliminating the risk of skidding and losing balance. It was a calculated decision that allowed him to last longer while frightening his opponent with the possibility of a counter-attack.
Z: (! What the-!! Urdythari's unending tears!? That requires her rune to cast, but he's invoking it without any form of guidance? Did he tattoo her rune onto his skin or something!? Or did he cheat and bring in a rune prepared beforehand?!) "Are you cheating!?"
It was that or the rather unlikely possibility that Katachi truly understood what it meant for Urdythari's tears to flow for her beloved. But surely, that could not be! To lose one's beloved, and to weep at that which could have been was a sadness that he couldn't possibly have experienced. From the start, a sinner such as himself had nothing of the sort to lose… Or did he?
Zirco lost his focus upon unearthing the seemingly impossible trick. His hands which were clapped together tightly loosened, and in accordance the pillars of flame stopped. But Katachi's palms and eyes were still releasing water like a busted tap and it was now dressing and blanketing the metallic floor in multiple puddles.
The water poured from his hands like a ceaseless fountain and changed the floor into a mirror-like surface. It flowed into the dents made by the previous students. It flowed into the cracks made from Zirco's spell and it seeped towards wherever he was swinging his arms at. Katachi calmly walked around the battlefield, coating the water all over as though it were icing.
Z: (He wants to wet the entire field so the spell becomes ineffective? That won't work because the flames burst through the metal-...)
It took a while for Zirco to work out his ploy. The visage was vague, but Katachi was indeed drawing the water on the ground in a defined shape.
Z: (! Sharyu Zuku's rain call!! He wants to douse my spell completely by wetting the entire field in a rainstorm! I'll just increase the sun's intensity to- !!)
Zirco finally realized what Katachi was planning, and acted to dispel the potential disaster. With his hands held close Zirco recited a spell quickly in a desperate attempt to stop, or at least impede the process.
Z: "Flames born unto his palms, and took the form of a ball. With a rampant intensity, it expanded!"
A ball of fire was created in the gap between his hands, and it grew larger and larger until it was about a quarter of his body size. Zirco held it high above his head-
K: (Vesja's Will of the Flame? What a disappointing sight. As if a real magus would give you the time to set up properly!) "Her tears poured forth, and paved into rivers!"
Katachi side-stepped to an area outside of the circle and swung his arms wildly at Zirco from four meters away. The arbitrary streams of water whipped out towards his opponent in a turbulent bloom. It doused his spell while soaking his clothes and face with water – It was merely extinguishing his spell by flailing about randomly in his general direction without any precision training of the sort, but it was enough to interrupt his spell thoroughly.
Z: (That was an unglamorous move for a magus, but... Shit. He planned for this! He's going to turn the field into one where fire spells are unfavorable. If I let him use the rain call as he pleases, I won't be able to use Aleksei's spell properly. That's the safest spell I have since the flames erupt from the floor. If he smothers it with rain it will weaken a lot, and I won't be able to cast other flame spells easily because of the rain obstructing the other spells.)
It was Zirco's turn to be in a pinch, even though Katachi had yet mustered any real offense.
Z: (Not to mention, he's soaked my clothes so my movements will be sluggish and both my magic and sword will be impeded. But if I strengthen the sun, it will strengthen his Child of Sun's powers.)
Zirco, though raised in Mielfeud as well, heard and knew so little of Katachi that he would blindly believe the child's faith in Soltak. What bitter irony it was, that alienating him was perhaps the greatest boon Katachi had.
He was tempted to use the free-spirited Mother Rinnesfeld as a form of blackmail and intimidation against him, but that would disrespect the nun who took care of his family during a period of distress. Also, their voices were projected back to the students watching and Minister Lein himself; the unbecoming act would likely destroy any of his chances to be viewed in a favorable light.
Z: (Is he betting on Soltak's Reincarnate Art to guard himself against the flames? I don't have much choice. I would rather fight him at full power than risk being weakened!)
Zirco recited the exaltations of a Soltak worshipper and began a Clear Sky spell.
*** ***
K: (... is probably what he's thinking. If I guessed it right, then it should play out perfectly.)
*** ***
Z: "Oh, great mighty Soltak, you who embody the holy sun,"
K: (He's begun reciting... I need to play along as well.) "Sharyu Zuku, spare us pain. Heed our call, goddess of Rain."
Katachi began counter-reciting with his hands cupped together in prayer while the water soaked his uniform and pants thoroughly. Zirco raised his hands above his head in reverence to the sky imitating a Soltak follower as close as he could.
Z: (He's pouring the water onto himself so he doesn't draw anything excessive... Smart move, but you should have kept refreshing the water on the circle.) "Grace us with the glory of the bringer of hope! Let the sun purge the foes of the darkness which we fear!"
K: (Will he shorten his spell before I finish mine to evaporate the magic circle? Or will he finish later to replace the weather? I'll keep playing along. Either will be strenuous for him.) "Bless the fields and grant us hay, grace us water, every day!"
Z: (Faster! Before he can complete the ritual!) "Clear the skies, so we may observe your magnanimous love toward us all!"
A strange light radiated from beneath the platform they stood upon and poured through from beneath the battlefield, leaking through the cracks along the floor. The light emanating from the base of the mound of steel they stood upon was one so pure that it blanketed the floor in a giant shadow.
That lasted for a few seconds. When the light faded it blew away and evaporated all the water on the platform and the green, unhealthy air cleared out revealing Cosmatral Silo's true appearance – A vast, beautiful space with glittery clouds of shredded metal high above their heads that reflected the light back down to them, surrounded by a sky of the purest azure. It was a beauty that captivated even Sage Raufid himself when he was still alive.
Z: (Beautiful.)
K: (He's not paying attention to me even when the match isn't over? Looks like he's nearing the end.) "As he touched the river they first met at, the water crept upwards."
Zirco turned to face Katachi who was now coated with undulating blobs of water.
Z: (!? First the Poetic Eddum of Diehl Und Urdythari, now the Prose Eddum? Did he focus his studies on the excerpts instead of the whole tale?)
K: "It enveloped his limp dead body like living armor, the same way his love embraced him."
The water took the form of a full set of body armor, spare the helmet and Katachi finally withdrew his dagger when it enveloped him and settled down.
Z: (A protective spell of Diehl Und Urdythari... It's well-remembered because it was one of their most dramatic tragedy scenes, but its usefulness is rather limited. It's good against the flame spells, but if I use the wooden sword I should be able to swing right through the water. Is he trying to make this a close-range battle again? My sword has a much longer reach, so he's at a severe disadvantage if he attempts it.)
K: "I was just joking, Zirco." (Confuse and disorient. Don't give him the liberty to recover.)
Z: (Joking?) "I do not understand this joke you speak of, scum."
K: "I didn't actually learn Sharyu Zuku's Rain Ritual."
Z: "! You... Didn't know the spell." (Shit! He made me tire myself out. He simply made a fool out of me by setting up the scene without actually casting anything!)
It was like placing tomato-smeared clothes on the floor and pretending that a murder took place. Zirco over-reacted to the possibility of the threat and focused his attention on the Clear Sky spell when there was never the need to.
K: "I didn't. Besides, even if I did, haven't you noticed it in the skies above? There are no clouds I could have used. The 'clouds' above us aren't made of water."
Zirco felt like he had been slapped on his cheek so hard that the sting would tattoo upon his skin and linger for life. While he was made to believe that he was countering the opponent's play, he boosted his opponent's power exponentially and fell right into his trap while exhausting himself with Aleksei's and Soltak's spells.
Z: (He's bloody right. Those aren't normal clouds at all.) "... So, all that-"
K: "-Was just to throw your breathing off so you couldn't use Aleksei's spell."
Zirco consciously checked his breathing – It became erratic from reciting the spell after Katachi finished his, in an attempt to limit his moves as much as possible. Moreover, to cast a spell specifically meant for Soltak followers without their stamina or physique was debilitating for him, especially when the amount of energy the impersonator had to exert must be equal to the object of imitation.
Z: "... I figured as much." (He distorted my breathing on purpose while maintaining his own stamina, forcing my body to tire out... Shit. I predicted this scum playing underhanded tricks, but something this elaborate? It's almost scary how well-planned it actually is.)
In a duel between magi, it was the better evil to be over-prepared than otherwise... Lest that ignorance became an opening to thwart one's efforts. Zirco could feel his victory slipping from his fingers over the strategy Katachi prepared. It truly was unthinkable and frightening for a plan to resemble the modus operandi of an agent from the Findel Magus Association, to the point that Zirco felt more comfortable believing that Katachi's scheme was not his own.
K: "Seeing as how you're tired right now, how about a story of Croxa's reincarnate, Sigurd?" (This should give him no time to relax and rethink his strategy at all.)
Zirco was once again pelted with another problem – Should he listen to Katachi's story? Usually, listening to a story was a bad idea because the image power of that story only served to empower the opponent's tale further. That made the image produced more effective which empowered the magic, just as how Zirco used the same trick when their match started by declaring Katachi the fool to fuel his Aleksei's spell.
But, not listening to the story would mean not knowing what the spell was capable of, and not knowing what to expect nor how to counter it. It would be a different scenario if and when fighting a stranger with no witnesses or bystanders, but this was not the case.
Since everything said in Cosmatral Silo was projected onto the coliseum, it was certain to gain strength through the image power from the audience anyway unless he knew of some mass silencing spell he could cast on the spot. If there were 217 students at the coliseum, listening in would empower the story's spell with the thoughts of 218 people; whereas not listening would empower it by the beliefs of 217 others while he knew absolutely nothing about it.
Yet another gamble. Katachi cornered Zirco with all of his traps well in place.
Z: "Speak then, you bloody sinner. For this shall be the last time you'll ever step into the finals."
K: "... Okay then. Croxa's third reincarnate, Sigurd, was one of his lesser-known reincarnates. He didn't fight an epic battle with Sha'koth's impersonators, but rather he died being kicked in the head by a horse in an accident. His technique was also considered the weakest among Croxa's reincarnates. But, he did perform something interesting while he was alive."
As Katachi continued his story Zirco tried to regulate his breathing and regain his stamina and rhythm. He could feel small bursts of energy returning to his fatigued body, more than enough to squeeze words out of his lungs.
Z: "What 'something' did he do?"
K: "Sigurd had a pastime which was dabbing his finger onto one drop of water in a cistern and pulling it to another drop. These two drops then fused to create a bigger drop of water. It was a base for one of his most offensive attacks of surrounding himself with electrified water and charging at the opponent with frenzy, but this discovery also led to the creation of the water-powered systems we see today."
Katachi could see the piqued interest in Zirco's eyes and continued his explanation.
K: "Our bathing area does use Urdythari's unending tears as a water supply, but what makes the water flow out is actually Sigurd's discovery – The showering hole has a small pocket of water right before the pipe leading to the wall. That pocket can merge with water from the tank to 'pull' the water from the large tank towards the shower hole."
Z: (I see. I always wondered how the water system at the bathing spaces worked, since there were no water towers about.) "You may be a bastard child, but you research well. For that and that alone, I give you credit."
K: "Yes, and thank you. But, you see, Zirco-"
Without warning, he phased forward and traveled towards him. Fast! He was still listening attentively to the conversation but Katachi had already appeared at point-blank range, right before Zirco. Within half a second he covered the five-meter gap between the two contestants at an astonishing speed almost invisible to the eye. Katachi punched his throat with his right hand clasping the wooden dagger tightly before Zirco could even flinch from the coiled snake strike.
Z: "Khaahgh-!"
Zirco clutched his neck as he fell backwards. He coughed twice before Katachi placed the wooden blade against his throat and performed a swiping motion with the dagger. That day, a standing ovation was conducted for the child who thoroughly played his opponent like a fiddle.
*** ***
Z: "Damn it. I should have blown away the water on my clothes."
K: "It would have been useless anyway. Even if your clothes weren't wet, even if I wasn't wearing water armor, the spell would have worked regardless. People drink water, after all. Everyone has water within them."
Z: "! You don't mean- !!"
The devilry of his plan finally bore its portentous form in the most unsettling light imaginable.
K: "Yeah. I could have used Sigurd's Water Linkage at any time. The only thing I was concerned with was that you would have defensive measures against such a straightforward attack, so I considered lowering your stamina first."
Z: "But, that speed... I could never catch up to that level! That is way too fast even for my fastest-casting spell-!"
K: "Then, I suppose you've already lost this battle the moment you stepped in here. You keep focusing on what you can see, and not on what eluded your eyes. In the end, you worry yourself over the effects of my attacks, not the cause. Is that your extent as a magus?"
But what was perhaps the most frustrating fact of it all was that Katachi could have opted to conceal that truth from him. Zirco could have spent his whole life thinking that Katachi's success was a fluke, continuing his supercilious attitude without ever realizing the true genius behind his strategy.
He didn't need to pretend that he was executing the rain call spell. He didn't need Zirco to exhaust himself first. He didn't even need a set-up as obvious as coating Zirco or himself with water.
It was horrifying to imagine meeting an untimely end out of nowhere without even knowing how one died, had the weapons they used been real. In a sense, Katachi unveiling the technique instead of keeping him in the dark was another form of his kindness to help him mature and grow. But Zirco did not have the temper of a saint.
Z: "Kh-!"
Slamming his right fist into the ground, Zirco expended a good bit of his remaining energy.
Z: (Losing, to the likes of this bastard child? Losing, to this inferior?!)
K: "... I hope this changes your attitude. Please stop calling me scum or bastard child, or cry-baby pisspants. I will tolerate your abuse no more."
Katachi started walking out of Cosmatral Silo-
Z: (Losing, to this heretic?! This, this despicable little runt defeated me!?!? ... You... YOU ACCURSED BAAASTAAARRD!!!) "And lo, the lava spewed FORTH from beneath the fool!!"
Zirco expended most of his remaining energy to enact a spell – One that was cast when the tournament match was over. That was a direct means to an expulsion, but it didn't matter. If Katachi could die, it didn't matter. If he could get rid of that eyesore permanently, it didn't matter.
Lava gurgled and burst out in Katachi's place. Everyone in the coliseum saw the scene through the receiver as the molten globs of heated, liquid earth eroded and melted anything it touched. Katachi melted.