Chapter 97 - Challenge End

Jien kept the pressure on their interlocked blades as he released the seal on the rabid vine that made up his rapier's guard. Almost immediately there was an abrupt change as a vine shot from the interwoven pattern of the vine guard, aiming to strike at Jien since his hands and arms were closest, holding the rapier. This surprised not only Bernard but all of the visiting nobles. Who would use something that risked hurting you in a way that wouldn't affect your opponent. They could see the point in the use of the concoctions and taking in a bit to ensure your opponent was taken down but this seemed to be a different matter entirely.The calm expression on Jien's face brought them back to attention. Jien was used to the way Vine Guard acted after the time he had spent training while using it. It was not something he used often because it was the same as loosing a wild wolf and expecting it to follow your orders like trained puppy, but that did not mean that he hadn't learned how to use it in its current state.As the vine went to lash out at his main hand and arm, he raised his offhand expending a bit more mana to create several mana strings as he had been trained by Runa. The threads spread from his fingertips in moments and spiraled around the vine, connecting to the brown and green thorned vine in several places along its length. Once they had connected, he chanted a short two phrase wind spell beneath his breath, causing a small amount of wind to wrap around the vine as well, hardly visible to the naked eye.This was the result of his training with the Vine Guard. The plant was unruly by nature and liked to strike at whatever was closest, which would always be Jien since he had to hold the blade to use it. The mana strings that spiraled the plant would allow for finer control in all dimensions, ensuring that he wouldn't be restricted in how the vine would act. The wind would act as a light buffer to force the plant away from attacking him. The combination allowed him moderate control, which was the best he could hope for with this particular creature. He was still considering how to do better if he were to try to create another, but he wasn't sure as of yet.Jien manipulated the mana strings and wind buffer to redirect the lashing vine in Bernard's direction, forcing the boy to disengage and take several step backs to escape the thorned vine. What he didn't expect was for the vine to expand at astonishing speeds and catch up to him in a matter of moments. Since it couldn't get at Jien in the first try it decided to go for the only other creature nearby, using the moss's ability to expand to stretch quickly.Jien used both the surprise of the expanding Vine guard and his opponent's distraction to quickly close the distance, forcing the vine to reach for Bernard's arm while avoiding the boys' sword. He had never tried to cut the vine of his smithing project, and he didn't want the first time to be during what was supposed to be a pleasant and social event. There was no saying what would happen if Bernard actually managed to damage the vine but both Serpent Vine and Creeping Moss were considered rather violent plants.Luckily Jien had practiced quite a bit in this area so his control while not as fluid as the plant acting on its own was still fairly refined. The vine kept Bernard's attention, dodging his sword strikes nimbly while approaching his wrist while Jien moved around Bernard to his back as quickly and discretely as he could.The fight lasted a few minutes longer, eventually ending in a pincer attack on Bernard by Jien and the Vine Guard. Under Jien's guidance the vine eventually was able to wrap around Bernard's covered wrist and using its thorns anchor itself there firmly while Jien made his way up from behind and placed his blade to the other boy's throat, sweat trickling down his brow and breathing a little ragged but expression as calm as usual.He hadn't had much mana left over to begin with. He had used most of it in these short few minutes, so he was relieved when the match was called in his favor, and he was able to force the vine to release Bernard before sealing it back in the form of a guard for his rapier. Only once the vine was back in its most controlled state did he relax, sheathing the rapier with a sigh of relief. This had all been too exhausting and he was glad to have this formality over even without knowing the final results.The adults came onto the training field from the sidelines and the other noble children followed suit. The adults went to discuss with their children and Jien wasn't an exception as Earl, Runa, Mark and Emily all made their way toward him. They all seemed to be rather happy despite the early mistakes and though he wasn't positive he felt that it was because he had either done well or been the overall winner. He wasn't sure of which because he had not been paying much attention to the other matches outside of his own.That being said they were going to hear the results soon as they were all invited back into the manor to clean up, rest a bit and enjoy some mid-morning snacks as the competition had finished a few hours before their planned lunch.