'This is going to be fun!'
Dom and Gerard entered their preferred stances. Gerard's looked very basic, but with potential to be fast, as he had his body turned to the side slightly with the rapier pointed at Dom and ready to strike at any time. Dom's stance looked like a boxer with his fists up to his chin and his elbows tightly tucked in.
The mayor stood off to the side, describing the rules to the crowd and the combatants. "Remember, the most important thing is no killing! The first to surrender or get knocked out loses! Now then... 3... 2... 1... FIGHT!!!" Once the mayor finished the countdown she leapt back, while Dom charged forward. He knew he lacked experience so he wanted to be aggressive. When Dom got close Gerard raised his sword slightly and launched a barrage of swift stabs.
Dom continued forward, he protected himself from most of the strikes with the gauntlets. Some managed to get through slicing him, but nothing major was damaged. Despite getting slashed several times he seemed to not have cared. However, Tu wore a displeased expression. "He's already hurt Barrett..." Barrett felt a hostile aura coming off of Tu and gulped. Dom managed to get close and threw a punch at Gerard who dodged it swiftly.
Distancing himself, Dom was thinking of an advantage. 'I guess I can't beat him without magic...' Dom thought while panting slightly, he knew magic could be the big deciding point in this spar. So he charged forward again. Everyone couldn't tell if he was dumb or crazy, and honestly Dom didn't know either! He had what he believed was a good plan and this charge was the start of it.
'Is he not gonna learn from our previous exchange? I don't even need to use magic to beat him.' Gerard thought as a cocky smile appeared. Dom saw how conceited his opponent was and smiled inwards as he knew his plan was working. Just like before Dom got close and Gerard began his barrage of stabs, but this time Dom got even closer and did an even wider more exaggerated move. Gerard saw the opening and stabbed his rapier through Doms torso, but Dom didn't stop or flinch and when his fist got right in front of Gerard's face, Gerard moved to the side to dodge it successfully.
But, contrary to what Gerard thought, Dom smiled brightly before Gerard saw a bright purple flash in his peripherals and felt a massive heat wave assault the side of his face. There was a pressure that caused him to be blasted away, leaving his rapier in Dom's torso. Everyone was shocked, not because of the explosion of purple fire, but because it was summoned without chanting. "How..?" Some of them mumbled, and for once the generals expression changed from stoic to surprised. He stared at the purple flames with a slack jaw before Tu explained to him.
"So that's it... the kid not only has unique eyes, but can cast purple fire without chanting..." Barrett glued his eyes onto the arena to make sure he missed nothing. Gerard quickly got back on his feet and looked at Dom in surprise. He glanced at Dom's hand and saw a purple ball of fire and a smile on his face. 'How did he do that...?' Gerard couldn't repress his shock, but Dom wanted the fight to continue. So, he grabbed the rapier and pulled it out of his wound, causing blood to flow vigorously. He then tossed the rapier to Gerard before saying "Let's continue, I think you better get serious!"
Gerard finally shook off his astonishment. 'I'll find out later!' He began chanting a spell and wind swirled around his legs and rapier, he then brought the sword to his face and straightened his stance to salute his opponent. The crowd saw the wind and how it was blowing his hair, one of the girls couldn't help but mutter "How elegant..." with starry eyes. Dom entered a stance that looked like a beast was about to jump on its prey as a ring of purple flames surrounded him and flame leaked from his breath. His hands also gained a ball of fire each. Another girl couldn't help but comment on Dom,"I actually really like how savage he is..." She said while biting her bottom lip.
Tu heard everyone and said "So it's the Savage Brawler Vs. the Elegant Swordsman." Everyone heard her clearly and couldn't help but nod at the youths' new titles. The other young adults attending the party made a mental note to spread the titles at school.
Dom looked at Gerard as a smile grew on his face making him look insane. 'Finally we are gonna go all out!' Dom thought. Gerard on the other hand looked at Dom's twisted grin and sighed deeply. 'He looks just like father... well, I'll have to give him no room to breath!' Gerard thought as he and Dom signaled that they were both ready. Dom wanted to charge straight at Gerard but was surprised when Gerard took the offensive and closed the gap with extreme speed. Once the youths were face to face Gerard began stabbing rapidly at Dom, forcing Dom to guard as much as possible.
Blood was pouring from Dom's wound but against the offensive he had no time to care. He managed to get a few hits in against Gerard by boosting his speed with fire, but Gerard's offensive began to overwhelm Dom. This continued for what felt like an entire year to Dom but must have been at most a minute. A seed of frustration sprouted in him as he felt a burning sensation in his chest. It felt like a heartburn and it only continued to grow as Dom got more and more frustrated.
The sensation and frustration caused Dom to get distracted, and Gerard saw his chance. He threw in a new attack, jumping high and proceeding to execute a horizontal slash as he flipped over Dom. The slash landed straight on Dom's face and it was like a splash of cold water woke him up. The wound was actually very deep and went from cheek to cheek across the bridge of his nose, his nose wasn't cut off but blood surged out from his nostrils.
That was the last straw for Dom's frustration. As he turned to Gerard, everyone felt the mana surge in Dom as he took a deep breath in. All the members in the room instinctively chanted and made a wall of wards (a ward is a protection spell that creates a shield that acts like a force field). Gerard did the same thing, trying desperately to fend off Dom's rage.
Everyone knew the next attack would be powerful but they had no idea what it would be like. All Gerard saw was a large purple flare escaping Dom's mouth as a terrifying roar echoed through the gallery. Gerard was swallowed in a vortex of flames and had to increase the size of his ward to protect himself. Meanwhile, the roar deafened everyone and shook the walls, causing paintings to fall and windows to vibrate. When it finally subsided, steam could be seen rising from all over Dom's body as traces of fire lingered around his mouth. His gaze was calm, disturbingly so.
When the fire cleared and the guests saw Gerard, everyone sucked in a breath. He was covered in light burns, his hair was singed, and his clothes were burned in some places. Gerard looked extremely tired, and the reason was obvious, he expended all his mana on the ward.
Both the boys took an exhausted step forward. Dom's eyes were still calm, but suddenly his face paled and he stumbled before falling to the ground with a thud. The guests looked shocked and so did Gerard. The mayor saw the results and, suppressing her emotions, shouted. "V-Victor! Gerard!" Almost everyone cheered, except for the families of both contestants. They rushed forward to check on Dom and Gerard, Barrett let out a sigh of relief when he saw that Gerard was fine for the most part. However, he was taken aback by a bloodcurdling wail.
"He lost too much blood!" Tu cried out with fear.