"Do you wrost, la mierda!"
That's right, I've picked up some Spanish. And yes, it was all swear words. Maria thought that it was a great idea to teach Shel Spanish curse words to add to her repertoire. And obviously, she used it on me everyday.
It was a tame insult. But somehow, it actually managed to get a bit of a reaction from Rico.
He readied himself for another charge.
"The first exchange was intense!" Mark said, now at the edge of his seat. "Now it's looking like Rico will continue to take the offensive."
"Andrew's movements have been odd," Selena wondered. "Rico's been jumping all around the arena, but Andrew's barely moved."
Mark flipped through his notes again to find some information. "Ah! According to his medical history, he had a recent Mana Circuit transplant. After months of rehab, he was able to use magic again, but his range of movement was limited."
"Mana Circuit transplant?" Lunora asked in disbelief. "How's that even possible?"
Mark shrugged. "I don't know, but Andrew's living proof that it's possible."
After casing me out, Rico's legs propelled his body like a bullet. I only had precious milliseconds to defend against his axe with another explosion of air.
"Woah! Andrew used expanding air this time to parry Rico's axe. What quick reflexes!" Mark exclaimed.
"Out of all the elements, wind magic has the most versatility," Lunora explained. "But this Andrew... he's using very advanced Magical control and Scientific theory to produce effects like this. Who's his magic teacher?"
"I believe it's his mother, Audrey Roberts," Mark replied.
"Audrey..." Lunora ruminated. "Why do I feel like I've heard that name before?"
"Well, tell us know when you remember something, Lunora because the fight's starting to heat up again!" Mark said.
Rico continued his assault and with each swing, I responded with an appropriate amount of explosive.
"What's wrong huh? Can you only defend?" Rico taunted.
"What about you? Can you only hit air?" I responded.
Rico gritted his teeth and an obvious vein popped out of his neck. His swings became more heavy, faster, more intense. But I could still defend with my wind explosions.
"Hey, I could see their lips moving. Can we have a mic pic up what they're saying?" Selena requested.
"That's a great idea," Mark responded and with a few snap of his fingers, a team ran down to the arena to fulfill the request.
After a few exchanges, I was finally used to Rico's fighting style. Shel's first lesson in hand-to-hand combat is to figure out your opponent. The way they swung their weapon, the way their power flowed in their bodies, the way they used magic, even the way they breathed, figure out everything. And at this point, I had a good understanding of Rico's basic abilities that I was confident enough to counterattack.
"Hey, Rico," I called out to him. "Grit your teeth."
I stretched out my hand and grabbed the air as his lungs pulled them in. Then, with one jerk of my arm, I tore it away from him.
He staggered briefly from the lack of oxygen. And with his breathing interrupted, his swing was weak and off-beat and his torso stumbled forward. All I had to do was put out my cane and focus the air molecules at the end of it. Then, as soon as he was close enough, the compressed air burst with a deafening roar. Rico's body zoomed away from me and crashed with a crack at a distance. Dust and rocks burst like a geyser and covered the entire arena with a brown cloud.
At the same time, the recoil pushed me with equal force. Fortunately, I learned from mom to always keep a cushion of air behind me whenever I pulled a technique like this.
"And again, the exchange went to Andrew's favor!" Mark shouted through the mic. "I never thought I'd see this much destructive power from a wind mage."
"That's right! I remember!" Lunora exclaimed out of nowhere. "Audrey Notus! His mother's Audrey Notus isn't it?"
"The Tempest?" Selena gasped.
"The son of a legend!" Mark added. "With the skills that we're seeing, that makes sense."
With the three commentators' expert discussion, the crowd's excitement reached an all time high. The vloggers were mouthing off words more than their brains could handle. Hundreds of cameras circled all around us.
Meanwhile, I was still reeling from the recoil of my last attack. I guess I still need to tweak it.
"Oh, you must me feeling pretty good about yourself eh?"
Rico, who I thought took enough damage to knock him out, chuckled from within the cloud of dust.
His voice was no longer that of the passionate, impulsive man I knew. No, it was a voice steeped in rage and a hint of madness.
The dust parted with one swing of his axe, revealing his bloodied body and an equally crimson aura that filled the space around him.
"Oh? This must be Chakob's technique [Mind Over Body] in action," Mark said. "Even after he's taken a lot of damage, Rico seems to be getting even more powerful."
"This is not good..." Selena, who was cheerful this entire time, clutched her body and shivered. "His emotion... Pure rage. If we don't evacuat-"
"Calm your tits angel girl," Lunora interjected. "If it becomes too bad, I'll personally knock him out. Just let it play itself out. I'm curious how The Tempest's son is going to handle this."
While I recovered from the recoil, Rico just stood there. His energy was palpable, like boiling steam that singed my skin as it reached me. The mana around him was constantly being converted and absorbed by his body. And as it did, his muscles bulged until he was three times larger than before: a ten foot tank of pure muscle.
But while his powers grew stronger, his heart was beating beyond what they were able to handle. His breathing has also gone increasingly shallow.
"Rico! Stop it!" I yelled. "This is dangerous!"
He smirked. "Aww is the hombre pequeño getting scared?" he taunted.
"GET YOUR HEAD OUT OF YOUR ASS!" I screamed as loud as I never thought was possible for me. "IF YOU CONTINUE THIS, EITHER YOU KILL EVERYONE HERE OR YOU KILL YOURSELF!"
He simply shook his head. My warnings entered one ear and out the other.
"How prideful you've become," he said. "You worry about your opponent and the people, but never did you think that you'll die by my hands?"
I remained silent. Ready. If Rico intended to see this through, then I'll stop him.
"STOP LOOKING AT ME LIKE THAT!" his voice boomed. "You think you can win huh? Then let me show you!"
Then in an instant, he disappeared, only to appear just inches from me in the blink of an eye.
"There's a big difference between us, human," he said as he twisted his entire body with the intent of cleaving me in half from the bottom.
"Shi-" was all I managed to say before putting up an ice wall just milliseconds before the axe bisected me.
The strength of his swing was that of a dynamite. Even after erecting a thick wall of ice, I still flew fifteen feet upwards.
I tried to use the winds to steady myself. But before I could get some aerial footing, he's already followed me.
"You're weak!" he shouted as he yanked my feet and hurled me to the ground.
I immediately formed a net of small tornadoes to catch me, but before I could recover, his axe was barreling down onto my face.
"Pathetic!"
I shot a short burst of air to propel my self sideways. His axe literally missed me by a hair and plunged itself onto the ground, fissuring it with a snap.
"So why, ladrón? Why did he choose you?" he asked while pulling his axe out.
I furrowed my brow. "What are you talking about?"
Rico gritted his teeth and swung his axe sideways. The red aura followed the path of the swing and shot itself like a bullet towards me. A quick burst of air to my side allowed me to sidestep it.
"It was supposed to be me!" he shouted as he swung another red bullet.
"I trained until my bones broke so that he'd accept me!"
Then another.
"I followed his every order to the letter!"
And another.
"And it was me who fell in love with her first!"
Then a final one.
All three bullets rushed for me. Three bullets that could end my life if it as much grazed me. Fortunately, I dodged them without issue.
Rico's voice, once filled with rage, fused with bitter sadness.
He said three crucial things there. Three bullets for three grievances.
And as I glanced to the side of the arena where Chakob and Maria watched, their knowing expressions immediately confirmed my deduction.
"You were Chakob's right hand man..." I started. "You were supposed to inherit it all didn't you. As soon as you marry Maria that is."
"Wh-what's this?" Mark gasped. "A sudden revelation from Andrew Roberts!"
"The anger... the bitterness... It makes sense," Selena muttered.
"Men..." Lunora scoffed.
Meanwhile Rico, whose body was being torn at the seams, stood still while trying to catch his breath. Unable to even hold his axe properly.
"Look, Rico, I don't know your past," I said. "I don't know how you got to know Chakob or Maria. And I sure as hell don't know how you feel about them. But please, this is not the way to express them."
His eyes pierced me. They were ice cold, deadly. Talking to him was useless...
"I'm gonna prove it..." he said weakly. "I'm gonna prove that you're weak! I'M GONNA PROVE THAT CHAKOB MADE THE WRONG DECISION!"
And with one final burst of rage, his body responded accordingly. His skin turned dark purple. His veins bulged all over. His eyes cried blood and the mana around him ran rampant.
The audience has gone restless. Some were even panicking a bit. Meanwhile, the commentators watched the events unfold like hungry lions, waiting for something to devour.
I looked to Shel who was intently watching the entire thing. Knowing my intent, she gave me a slight nod. The permission I needed to continue.
"Oh, Rico..." I sighed.
[Robe of the End "Wind Version"]
My Mana Circuits flared up. The mana around me transformed into winds and folded onto itself. Collapsing, twisting, compressing, molding, until a glittering robe of green wind energy enveloped me. And finally, a green clock hovered over my head, ticking away as time went on.
"And now, Andrew has revealed Shel's technique, [Law of Compounding Interest]!" Mark screamed. "Oh I could feel his magic get stronger as that clock ticked by."
"He's using it JUST now?" Lunora said in disbelief.
As the clock continued to tick by, I looked at Rico and tried to reach him one last time.
Fifty seconds.
"Rico... after this clock reaches sixty seconds, I'll have enough power to stop you by force," I said. "Please, stop wrecking yourself."
Nothing. He was like a beast. Primal, running on instinct. He received my final plea as a sign of challenge and charged me again.
Forty seconds.
I stretched my hand and the winds rushed to meet him. Gale force winds of up to 100 miles per hour struck at his body continuously. However, his persistence was enough to push through it and reach me.
Thirty seconds.
As soon as I saw the glint of his axe hammer down on me, I immediately compelled my robe to meet it. The two clashed and metal pieces visibly flew off of his weapon, but Rico continued to push down on me. It was reminiscent of how he attacked me at the beach.
Twenty seconds.
"Give up, Rico," I said. "You couldn't get past my winds before and you can't do it now."
"I HATE YOU!" he bellowed.
Three words... Three words that criminals always yelled at me as I put them behind bars. Three words that I didn't fully understand until a man filled with hatred said them to me.
"You must've had hope that Chakob would change his mind," I continued. "That's why you never made a move. But after the incident with Mikail, it was clear that he's not gonna back down from the plan. That he's chosen me over you."
Ten seconds.
"That'll change once I kill you!" he replied.
"That might be the case, Rico. And while it might not be you, maybe one day, someone else will kill me," I said. "But here's the thing, Mr. Delgado. I always finish what I started."
Zero.