Okay, so, what do I do from here? Well, that's an easy question to answer, heal. If I'm going to be honest, having your back burned, even if you have armour to protect yourself, hurts a lot. While white steel does absorb mana like its counterpart, it doesn't absorb temperature.
Okay, we're far enough away, I'll use a healing spell.
"Light Magic: Soothing Light." I cast the spell in question, a mass of light particles surrounding me, and healing my injured back in no time.
"Whoa! Is that seriously Light magic? I've only heard of that stuff in fairy tales and stuff!" Tanya seemed interested, her smile growing wider, "Hey, what do you say, after all this, why don't you join my team?"
"Nice offer, but I refuse," I responded, running at her once again. Although I'm following the same actions, I'm not going to let the same thing happen ago.
"Aw, isn't that a shame? Well, if that's so..." Out of nowhere, she came off of the defensive, attempting to attack me with her own weapon, "I'll just have to win!"
Win, huh? Well, that's most definitely not going to happen, I and the others are going to be the ones who win, I'll make sure of that... strange, why am I so determined to win this? It's not like I'm going to gain much... the reward is rather vague, after all. Apparently, you can ask for one thing from the king, though I don't know what that entails.
Oh, I'm getting distracted. Thought Acceleration might be really good, but even so, I shouldn't forget the fact I'm about to be attacked. I move out of the way just in time, somewhat changing the direction the spear is attacking with my sword so that not to get hit.
However, she only continues to send out attack after attack, all the while casting a spell.
"Smoke Magic: Blinding Smoke!" And, once she finished the chant, a field of smoke came from her general area, inhibiting not only my vision but my ability to sense mana in the given area.
Because of the fact this spell releases a large amount of mana around the user, it seems it makes it so Mana Sense fails, meaning I can't detect her at all. With that, I won't be able to regenerate my mana stores since I can't sense it. It's a troublesome spell, I have to admit.
So, how do I deal with this? Well, simply, I can't. If I was Akane, I could simply use wind magic to scatter the smoke away from here, but I'm not her.
I could just run out of the smoke, but she'd stay in it, meaning we would be stuck in a stalemate.
Because of this, the only thing I can do is wait for her to attack, dodge, and counterattack. Though, when that'll happen, I have no idea.
Oh, her spear comes at me to my waist, I quickly deflect it and go to attack back... but, nobody's there, and, I'm pretty sure that spear was thrown.
Damn it, behind me, Tanya appears, casting another spell.
"Fire Magic: Flame Javelins!" Spawning in her hands was what seemed to be a javelin completely made out of the fire, which she threw at me immediately.
The only thing I could do in time turned to see the magic coming right for me, without enough time to dodge, I was definitely going to get hit.
Then again... perhaps I have a different option.
I put my sword in front of me, attempting to slice the spell in two. And... oh, it actually worked. I didn't expect that if I'm to be honest. Though, if I was using a normal steel sword, It would probably have melted or at least be damaged.
"Hey, that was super cool! Do it again!" I heard her voice from behind me, her beginning to cast the spell once again.
Alright, now that I know where she is, this shouldn't be a problem to slice in two. Sure, I could dodge it quite easily now, but there's no reason not to practice my hand-eye-coordination a bit.
So, I aim my sword in a way to slice in half again, and it crashes right into my sword again, dispelling the spell...
Or, that's what I'd like to say, but the fire spell, at the very last moment, changed its trajectory, dodging my sword and hitting me in my chest.
... Alright, I guess that bit of me saying I'm not going to fall for that again was a lie. So, obviously, she has two spells that have the same name, or she just didn't use that particular aspect of the spell the last time to trick me, maybe she didn't believe it necessary. Either way, this is extremely troublesome.
Without the ability to see her, I can't hit her with any spells, and since she has opted for ranged attacks, I'm completely unable to attack.
Unless... ah, I've got it. While I'm unable to hit her with any of my present spells at the moment, that doesn't apply to a new one.
"Light Magic: Holy Whips." Extending from both of my hands were long ropes of light, length even further than the field of smoke.
So, now, all I have to do is spin a bit, and not only will it probably hit her, it'll dispel the smoke because of the wind the whips will create.
Oh, great, it worked and judging by the feeling of striking a person, the attack hit her too.
The smoke eventually all cleared up, giving me a clear view of her on the ground. Considering that the spell should be harder than most metals, her current state is understandable.
She stood back up, all the same, a smirk still on her face. However, despite what I would believe, instead of casting the same spell as before, she ran at me, grabbing her spear on the way. That, though, was the wrong choice. Using appraisal on her, her mana is high enough to cast that spell at least once more, and mine is so low that I wouldn't be able to cast any spells while in the smoke.
This means... I've basically won. In a fight of pure skill, she'd probably win, but due to my higher stats, she's at a huge disadvantage.
She goes for an attack to my chest the moment she gets close enough, and I simply step out of the way. She reacts almost instantly, turning a bit while attempting another offensive move. I deflect the attack with my sword, kicking her spear away in the momentary lapse in her guard.
With her weapon no longer at her disposal, she jumps away. However, that is exactly what I expected her to do, so I simply followed her, moving even faster than her at that. Before she fully regains her composure, I trip her, managing to get on top of her to prevent her from attempting to retreat again.
"A complete victory! Ohre Team Wins!"
>Chapter Y.9, end.<