James stepped forward, "ok, now time to test out your intermediate spell. Create an ice wall in front of you. Intermediate spells are different then basic spell control, so you can create it instantly now."
Becca returned to being serious. She chanted, "ice freeze."
A large wall of ice formed in front of her. It was about a foot thick, more than I would have thought. It could should hold up well against most attacks.
James continued, "good job, now try to freeze my feet to the ground."
James was about 50 feet away from her. Being able to freeze people at will would be a very useful ability.
Watching Becca use her intermediate spell in various ways made me thing about my own intermediate spell. Of all the intermediate spells that a mage could have, the lightning spell is the most melee focused.
The other 4 intermediate spells all had a long range component to them. Even though I could extend my lightning blade, it was predictable since it could only come from the way my blade was pointing. My abilities only got overpowered once you add my advanced teleportation spell.
Maybe I could use the assumption of lightning mages being melee focused to my advantage if I ever fought with someone who didn't know my identity and thought I was only an intermediate lightning mage.
While I was contemplated my own strategies,
"Ice freeze."
Ice appeared at James shoes. He let the spell settle before trying to move his feet. He pulled with all his strength and still could not break out.
"Good job. That should be able to stop most people in their tracks. I'll use my fire to melt the ice now."
Even with his fire, it took about 30 seconds to melt off all the ice.
After he was done, he turned to Becca and said, "from what I saw of your abilities, I think you are definitely Royal mage material. However, both me and my Lord do not have the final say.
Once a month, there is a Royal mage test where aspiring Royal mages come and spar each other to show off their skills. The minimum requirement is being an intermediate mage and you do not even have to win your fight. As long as the judges panel believes that you are strong enough, you will be accepted. The last test was on your wedding day, so the next one will be in a little less than a month.
You will need to be stronger than an average Royal mage, since people will look down on you for being a woman. Your abilities are strong enough, but you lack battle experience. I will spar with you for the last test from me today."
Becca looked hesitant, "but…"
James laughed softly, "Don't be scared, I will go easy on you, since I know it's your first time sparring."
I scratched the back of my head. Didn't James know that Becca's water had an elemental advantage over his fire?
James also told me before that he was a weak intermediate mage and today he said Becca was a middle tier intermediate mage. Doesn't that mean Becca's magic was stronger than his? Was he being overconfident just going off his years of experience?
His overconfidence fired up Becca, "bring it on!"
James began by explaining the rules of the spar.
"In a spar, you should not try to deal any more damage than what can be healed with a single stamina potion. If you are about to deal a significant blow, pull back right before hitting and that will count as your win. If you can no longer fight, surrender by tapping out. Everything make sense?"
Becca nodded, "yep, let's get started."
James took his stance, "ok, I'm going easy on you, so I will not leave this spot."
Becca smiled at his words, "your confidence will be your undoing."
"We will see about that, fireball!"
James shot his first fireball at Becca. She was able to stop it with a water shield.
James started to shoot multiple fireballs at her. He used the forward shot spells to send a dozen fireballs in rapid succession.
Becca was starting to look overwhelmed. She expanded her water shield with one hand and tried to send an ice shard his way with her other hand, but because she was too focused on defense, the ice sailed over James' head.
James laughed at her attempt to attack back, "in a real battle, there are multiple things you have to deal with. When you split your focus, your accuracy will plummet."
Becca was angered by his words and went on the offensive. She used a couple of ice steps to give herself the high ground and started to shot as many water stream spells as she could.
James wasn't worried because he used a tall lava wall in front of him to evaporate most of the water, while some errand shots missed the wall all together.
James taunted her, "is that all you got? Use some more of your ice. Maybe it will work this time."
Becca replied, "I don't even need my ice to defeat you!"
This ticked James off, "be realistic! Your water can't do anything if my lava evaporates it!"
"Let's see about that!"
Becca started to bring a huge amount of water out from her palms. As she was doing this, she started running full speed at James.
James saw this and shot a few warning fireballs at her.
She used a small part of the water she was gather to stops the fireballs from reaching her as she keep sprinting closer to James.
James prepared himself for her attack as she reached him.
Becca took the all the water she had conjured and made it into a bubble the size of James and encased him with it.
When James saw what she was about to do, he laughed, "that's your big plan? I can just evaporate all your water with my lava."
But the moment the water bubble encased him, it changed to ice instead and he was completely frozen up to his shoulders.
James was stunned. "What the heck happened?! I was reading your lips and you never used your ice freeze spell since that first missed shot!"
That first missed shot…I looked past where James was standing frozen and realized that there was a trail of ice behind him that come up to his feet.
Becca had the most brilliant smile. "Haha, I tricked you into thinking that I missed that ice spell when, in reality, it landed exactly where I wanted it to. I left the ice shard about 20 feet away from you, so you wouldn't notice anything suspicious.
I then got a high ground so I could see behind you started to miss random water shots, so that the water trail would freeze from the ice and get closer and closer to you. Then with my final large water ball, the moment it touch the freezing ice at your feet, the water also dropped its temperature and turned into ice without me having to use my ice spell.
Haha. I have spent so many hours alone in my room imagining ways to use my magic in a serious battle. I always wanted to do that sneaky ice plan for real.
Whenever I thought about it, the hardest part would be how to trick someone to standing in the same spot for long enough for the plan to work, but you saved me the trouble by handicapping yourself. All I had to do was slowly spread the ice to your feet without you noticing and I would instantly win. Do you surrender?"
James sighed, "yes, I surrender. It will take me a few minutes to unfreeze myself and you could do significant damage to me in that time."
Becca jumped up in the air in triumph, "alright! I won my first spar."
She released the ice from James and he used his fire to heat himself back up.
"Ok, I am done with my tests. Becca should do well in the Royal mage test in a month. She just needs to keep up with her training to stay sharp."