"Greetings Lord Barda, my name is Lady Trian. Did they explain the rules to you?" The lady asked.
"Nope, Would you do the honors, Lady Tian," Barda replied.
"You are in what is called The Conjuration Square, which is found in the Conjuration hall. In the Square, we hold conjuring tournaments.
You are currently holding a Conjuring Staff. With that staff, you will be able to conjure an elemental being based on the element you prefer. It is done like this. Go ahead, try it," The lady proceeded to conjure up an ice elemental being that looked exactly like her, without the facial features.
Looking at the being that had been conjured, Barda saw that it was fully made of ice, like an ice sculpture. The only difference was that it seemed to be alive.
Barda then decided to channel 1% of his Magical energy into the staff. To his pleasant surprise, an elemental being appeared beside him. It was humanoid and reaching up to his height. It looked like him, facial features and everything. The only difference was, it was made of fire.
"Impressive Elemental in your first attempt," Lady Tian complimented.
"What now," Barda asked.
"Now, we fight! Your goal is to get your elemental being to the point of striking me. If my Elementals so much as touch you, you lose. Understood?"
"Crystal clear," Barda replied. Lady Tian did not hold back any longer and commanded her Elemental to attack.
***
As all this was happening, The Queen and her entourage had been led to the Conjuration Halls where they could spectate on the match. This was a common sport in the Order, and regular competitions were organized among rank and position.
Among the Student disciples, none was better at conjuration than Lady Tian. She was a summoner by talent, which aided in her conjuration. She had excellent control over her elementals and she could spawn as many as thirty Elemental beings at once.
The problem was not conjuring since one could even conjure a hundred balls. The problem lay in controlling the Elementals once someone had conjured them. One could fully control their conjuration if it was one, but the more there were, the difficult it was to control.
For Lady Tian, controlling 30 Elementals at once was an extremely impressive feat.
Many wondered why the professor would choose Lady Tian for the competition. She was by far the most skilled opponent to be put in front of Barda.
"Professor, why choose Lady Tian as his opponent? Are you not giving him a chance?" Lady Leleanda asked the professor as she walked to him.
"While I get that, why choose Lady Tian? I am sure Kiton or Wertaff would have suited him fine as opponents as well," Lord Jarin weighed in.
Kiton and Wertaff were relatively new in the order. They could be said to be in their sophomore year. However, they had made quite a name for themselves in the conjuring arena, becoming the next big thing.
No one could dethrone Lady Tian from her throne. She stood supreme and ruthlessly defeated anyone.
Lady Maara sat quietly watching Barda. From where she was seated, she could hear the mages discussing among themselves. She half suspected that they were talking intentionally loud so that she could listen to them.
Now she knew that this was somehow a trap set for Barda, and she had led him into it. She didn't have too much hope for him, especially after discovering that the school star was involved. However, she also knew that Barda was no pushover either. These people were in for a show.
***
Watching the Ice Elemental charging at him, Barda commanded his Elemental to charge at the opponent as well. Barda determined that Lady Tian was 100 meters away from where he was standing.
Closer and closer the elementals drew near each other until suddenly! They collided in a spectacular impact.
After the collision, Barda's Elemental was extinguished, leaving behind only smoke. As for Lady Tian's, most of it had been reduced to steam and water. However, it was regenerating at an impressive speed, and within no time, it was whole again.
Seeing this, Barda injected 2% of his Magical Power into the staff, and another Elemental Being appeared next to him. Barda had tried to conjure it closer to the opponent or at least where the other one had fallen, but he could not.
Barda realized that he had lost ground, and the conjured being was almost on him. Barda decided that he would not directly attack the Ice Elemental since it had proven to be too powerful. Instead, he attacked from the sides, swinging kicks and fists at it.
Curiously, the kicks and fists did not seem to slow it down at all, and the Ice Elemental just passed the Fire Elemental on its way to attack Barda.
Just as it was 20 meters away from Barda, the Fire Elemental did a leg swipe. It melted the feet and ankles of the Ice Elemental, sending it tumbling to the ground.
Seeing her Elemental fallen, Lady Tian did not hesitate and conjured another one. At the same time, she reformed her fallen Ice Elemental's ankles and feet and commanded it to rise. However, Barda was not giving her a chance.
Seeing Lady Tian conjure a second Elemental, he too did the same, injecting another 2% into the staff. He had considered it briefly but decided against it. It could have been against the rules for all he knew. Doing the math, he could conjure 50 such beings without tapping into the reserves, which gave him some bit of cushion.
Barda's new Elemental ran towards Lady Tian while the other one took care of the rising Elemental. Barda was not going to allow an enemy this close to himself.
As the elemental rose, Barda proceeded to decapitate the Elemental, eliminating all its limbs and then jumping on the torso. To make his fullback stronger, Barda increased the Energy to 4%, doubling its power.
Meanwhile, the other elemental was about to meet Lady Tian's summoned Elemental. As they approached each other, Barda's Elemental ducked hard to the left while kicking at the Ice Elemental's knee fiercely. It did not stop and continued running to its target.
The Kick had been so well aimed that the Elemental tumbled down, having lost its lower leg from the knee. Seeing this, Lady Tian frowned. She had been going easy on this guy and he wanted to bully her, the nerve!
"Seems that he's got some skills," Lady Leleanda commented, bringing a smile to the Queen's smile.
"Let him show off, I am sure she is just taking it easy on him," Lord Jarin commented. "it looks like she's getting serious now."
Instantly, she summoned an army of 10 Elementals and sent them rushing at Barda. Their coordination was not as smooth but they still kept upright and running.
Seeing the oncoming army, Barda did not panic and did the same, adding another 10 Elementals to the 2 he already had.
"What is the fool doing, does he think he can control that many Elementals just because he saw her do it?" Lord Jarin mocked sneering heavily at Barda. He had dabbled in the sport, and he knew how taxing it was to control 2, let alone 10. Seeing Barda try it, he could only shake his head.
Barda's lead Elemental was just about to meet the oncoming army. Seeing the fierce charge of the elementals, everyone thought the elemental would be destroyed in an instance. Against such fierce opposition, there was no getting out.
Barda too saw the risk his Elemental was at, so he decided to divert him, sending him around the army of Ice Elementals. On seeing the tactic, Lady Tian did not alter the course of her army but simply generated 2 Elementals to deal with the errant Fire Elemental.
Using his superior Reaction Speed, Barda was able to map out the movements of the new Elementals and plot the path to dodge their attacks. Barda started kiting the 2 Elementals as he wove his way to where Lady Tian was.
At the same time, when the 2 armies of Elementals met each other, it sounded as though 10 pressure cookers were steaming at once. The 2 whittled each other until they ended each other's momentum.
Barda was pleased to see that at 4% power, his Elementals could go toe to toe with Lady Tian's Elementals without being at a disadvantage. Next came the hand to hand combat.
"He is a true warrior indeed," Lady Leleanda complimented as she enjoyed the show. This was a rather unexpected turn of events.
Lady Tian had been well trained in fighting, but in terms of combat experience, Reaction Speed and Combat Techniques, she was heavily outmatched, a factor that shocked many.
What was shocking was not that Barda could out-fight Lady Tian, but the fact that he was doing it while controlling as many Elementals as she was. His control was both smooth and appealing to watch, as compared to Lady Tian's which seemed to be more mechanical and clumsy.
Needless to say, Barda was able to put down the Elementals, while evading Lady Tian's guards. In a moment, he saw an opening and lunged at her, ready to end the fight.