But it was the ropes that caught Bryan's attention since they weren't natural ropes. Instead, they were made out of water-like liquid and looked like tubes surrounding the boy. As Circe went into the middle of the pit, Amani steered the beast to jump into position.
Once more, Circe brought up her bow and pulled back the bowstring made out of flames. The ends of her outfit burst into flames while a small stream of fire came out of the droplet of amber and into the bow. It then formed a sizeable flaming lance for Circe to use against Amani.
Amani's beast, the Wendigo, was a humanoid creature with large antlers and snow-white fur. Wherever the beast had his four limbs touching, ice and frost would form at those areas. The beast started growling at Circe, but Bryan could not sense any hostility from the two.
Understandably, since the two children were the only ones to have complete control during the first rounds with Rina as their trainer, the Slayer shook his head and concentrated. But, of course, anything could go wrong, especially in the heat of the moment, so it's too early to decide.
"Arsonist's Arrow: Cinquefoil... Bright Burning Shout!" exclaimed Circe as she released the bowstring.
A colossal shockwave came out from the child as the force of the string being released felt heavy enough to blow away some small animals. The large lance of flames came tumbling towards the Wendigo's face, but both beast and master didn't seem fazed.
As the lance neared the boy, it divided into five thinner arrows of flames, but Amani was prepared to take all five at once.
"Summons Of The Cards: Wendigo's Song Of Ice And Snow!" roared Amani, tugging at the reigns of the ice beast.
The Wendigo lifted its head and opened its mouth, letting a giant ice ball and snow out towards the burning arrows. The ball was large enough to catch all five burning arrows and stopped their path toward Amani.
The two spells clashed, creating a colossal tremor that could be felt above ground. Bryan leaped back not to get caught up in the clash. After a few seconds, the ball of ice and fire arrows dispersed, allowing the two children to spring into action and dodge each other's attacks with ease.
Bryan was impressed that Circe had the grace of a swan as she dodged Amani's attacks while also pulling some stunts of her own. Circe backflipped into the air at one stop and turned around the next second to launch a few arrows while being upside-down.
Meanwhile, Amani and the Wendigo remained on the defensive side if Circe launched any arrows. But Bryan found something concerning. The girl would be left vulnerable for a few seconds whenever Circe had released an attack.
The child needed time to pull back the string to release the attack. Afterward, she also needs more time to load up the weapon again. It's the same dilemma that Ashley had against Minwoo. Projectile weapons need time to load up and fire instead of melee weaponry.
And the advantage is to the beast in close quarters combat. Amani was using the Wendigo's Ice Ball as a form of attack to prove to Bryan that he was also capable of attacking. However, despite the odds against Circe, the fire child stood a better chance of winning against the beast and its tamer.
The children were robust and agile in their movement in their ways. Circe could dodge the Wendigo's Ice Balls, but her attacks could not break Amani's defense spells. And with Amani as its rider, the Wendigo could hop around the battlefield and not look like a mad beast.
Bryan mentally noted all of these observations as the fight went on. But both were at stalemates since the defender wasn't attacking and was negating the attacker's spells. Then, as Circe shot out the umpteenth arrow, Amani decided that it was time to introduce a new toy into the duel.
Forcing the Wendigo to vanish into icy dust, Amani halted the duel by pushing Circe away from him. As the icy dust concentrated into his opened palms, Circe wanted to take this opportune moment to form up a large spell to aim at the standing boy.
But Amani's Aura grew stronger while forcing the battlefield into a different climate by freezing everything over. Circe looked worried but did not stop herself from formulating the next attack. The Slayer instantly caused his body temperature to go up when the temperatures dipped again.
Bryan wanted to halt the fight, but doing so would be unfair to both Amani and Circe. After all, this battle was free reign, and once Mages hit a certain point like the Founders, their Auras would possess crippling effects that act as weapons on the battlefield.