He ducked to the side and the icicle whizzed past him, shattering against a tree behind him.
"Is that all you can do? Just stand there and fling spells around until your delicate hand starts cramping up?" Robert taunted, condensing a bolt of lightning in his hand as he charged at her. Everyone around them gasped in shock.
Wizards below the legendary level typically fought in a straightforward manner, using their spells to, move, attack and defend themselves. But legendary wizards were a whole other story - they could not only cast powerful spells, but they were also skilled in melee combat.
Upon reaching the legendary level, wizards could make their spells take any shape they desired, be it a hand, a sword, an axe, a foot, a club, a book - any form you could imagine. This meant that they could not only cast powerful spells, but they could also fight in any way they chose. The deciding factor in a duel between two legendary wizards of the same rank was not just their magic power, but also their fighting style and intelligence.
For those below the legendary level, the outcome of a battle typically came down to their spell power, speed, magic equipment, and luck. But in a duel between two legendary wizards, there was so much more to it.
What shocked the onlookers was that Robert was trying to fight like a legendary wizard, using a melee-based combat style rather than relying solely on casting his spells from a distance. It was a bold move, and one that could make or break the battle.
As Robert charged towards her, Isa let out a laugh. The poor kid had no idea what he was getting himself into!
She raised her hands, and ice thorns began to sprout from the ground, growing between them and reaching up to the height of a tall grass. Her goal was to stop Robert in his tracks and force him to fight from a distance, and as expected, he halted his charge.
Robert glared at her and smiled wickedly. As she tried to figure out his next move, the sky above her darkened. Looking up, she saw that he was preparing to cast a thunderbolt spell, but she was too slow to dodge it. In a moment of panic, she created an ice dome around herself, bracing for impact. But to her surprise, the lightning that struck the dome was thin and harmless.
"That little son of a biscuit!" she cursed, feeling her anger rising. When she saw him charging up a thunderbolt spell, she had thought it would pack a punch - only fifth rank and above common lightning wizards could cast that spell, after all. So, she used her strongest ice defense spell, which cost a hefty 45% of her magic energy. Now, she was left fuming and feeling cheated, realizing she had been tricked into wasting her magic energy.
As she ranted and raved, a sound like crackling lightning filled the air. A bolt of lightning struck the dome, then another, and another, and another, and another, in rapid succession!
The spectators watched in disbelief. No one had ever seen someone cast spells so quickly before. In a matter of seconds, he'd forced her to use her strongest defensive spell. It was almost as if he was giving her no time to recover, and yet he kept casting without breaking a sweat. The only thing that worked in his favor was that the lightning strike was one of the easiest spells in the common realm, and its cool down time was a mere two seconds.
While his lightning spell may have been as strong as a third rank common wizard's spell thanks to Poison's amplification, the ice dome that she cast with nearly half of her magic energy was incredibly sturdy. However, after receiving the onslaught of six lightning strikes, it was on the verge of collapse. This was his chance to finish her off.
Pouring almost all of his magic energy into his fingertips, he prepared to cast a lightning arc spell.
After the sixth lightning strike, Isa opened her eyes and realized that her ice dome was moments away from shattering. She tried to use what little magic energy she had left to stabilize it, when she heard the telltale sound of another lightning bolt approaching.
"Is this maniac a lightning cannon?" she thought angrily. "If only I hadn't fallen for his decoy spell..."
The lightning arc struck the ice dome, shattering it into a million pieces. The blast hurled Isa across the garden, sending her hurtling towards the crowd of students. One of them cast a plant spell, creating a huge leaf that caught her midair and lowered her to the ground gently.
"Isa!" Parker yelled, running towards her.
"She's okay - it's just a small wound on her chest, and she's experiencing magic exhaustion," a light element student said. They were knows to be healers, and one of their signature spells was light recovery, which could heal almost any injury.
The students were now glaring at Robert with a new level of hatred. Defeating their classmate in front of them had only made them angrier.
"Now you know how it feels when someone hurts your friend," Robert said with a smug smile.
Parker's eyes turned red. "You son of a..." he snarled, his entire body bursting into flames out of rage.
"Now that's more like it. Poison I'm gonna have to use your powers now," Robert said and switched to Poison's element. His lightning element was too weak to face Parker and it's energy was nearly drained after the battle with Isa.
"Fire eruption!"
"Magnified gravity!"
They suddenly began to fight, completely disregarding the safety of the students who were still gathered around. Flames gathered under Robert's feet and was about to erupt, but he responded with a 'magnified gravity' spell from the mystic earth element, keeping the flames underground.
The students furrowed their brows, staring at Robert in confusion.
"Wait a minute, aren't you a lightning wizard?" Parker asked, his anger momentarily forgotten.
"I would have answered your question but, HAND OF GOD!" Robert yelled. Taking advantage of Parker's momentary distraction, he casted the only earth spell below the legendary realm that could assume a physical thing. In effect, a gaint earthen hand, the size of a small car rose from the ground and gripped Parker tightly.
Robert grinned, thinking he had won. But as the fist closed around him, it began to turn red-hot, melting away like wax under a blowtorch. Parker was generating such intense heat that the earth hand grasping him had started to liquefy. With a cry of "Dragon breath!" he unleashed a wave of fire, blasting the molten hand apart and sending Robert flying backwards.
"Holy cow, dude," Robert exclaimed, his voice laced with admiration. "That was amazing."
"Pyroblast!" Parker shouted, preparing another attack. He had to teach Robert a lesson first before finding out how he acquired the earth element.
A massive fireball the size of a large balloon formed in front of Parker, soaring towards Robert at an alarming speed. But before it could reach him, another earth hand erupted from the ground, catching the fireball and flinging it back at Parker. The students' eyes widened in disbelief.
They had never seen such an extraordinary move before. Throwing one's spell back? it was totally insane!
As Parker's own spell came hurtling back towards him in full speed, he quickly thought of what to do. Realising that the fire element didn't really have a defensive spell, he decided to attack and destroy the spell flying towards him. As the fireball closed in on him, Parker gathered his magical energy and formed another fireball, tossing it towards his original spell. The two fireballs collided, creating a powerful shockwave that knocked everyone off their feet, sending them sprawling on the ground. The only one still standing was Robert, who had used the gravity spell to support himself.
As Parker attempted to stand up, Robert waved his hand and cast the magnified gravity spell, keeping him pinned to the ground. Robert began to laugh as he walked up to him, the sound grating on Parker's ears.
"This should teach you not to misuse your powers," Robert said coldly, raising his hand to strike Parker. But then a deep, stern voice spoke up, and Robert recognized it immediately. It was Dean Seig.
"That's enough for today, everyone back to your lodges!" Dean Seig ordered, his voice just as intimidating and deep as his imposing figure. He gave Robert a look of disappointment, his eyes conveying a message that said, "You, wait behind."
After Parker and the rest of the students left, Dean Seig turned to face Robert, his expression stern and unyielding. Robert met his gaze and gave a sheepish smile, struggling to look away.
With a wave of his hand, Dean Seig conjured a gigantic watery hand that was even larger than Robert's hand of God spell. The hand gently gripped Robert's arm, effortlessly lifting him off the ground and carrying him towards Dean Seig.
"Sir, I can explain," Robert said with a guilty smile.
"Oh, you have a lot of explanation to do!" Dean Seig snapped and turned to walk towards his office, the water hand following close behind with Robert in its grasp.