Chapter Twenty-Six
Sparring couldn't be done at the academy. Duels were forbidden, and the Academy did not want to risk their students lives with a spell poorly aimed. Even Wardes, for all of his skills, was nervous about this. The Void day was spent in the morning seeking out potions to heal oneself from the alchemists of the capital -they weren't the type that filled one's health point bar immediately, but simply ensured bruises and scraps would be gone before the end of the night.
Then, since we had all the space in the world in the stretch of land between the capital and the school, we found ourselves a secluded spot away from the eyes of the travellers on the road and tied our horses to a nearby tree.
"Thinking back, what I did back then was foolish to the extreme," Wardes said suddenly, "Perhaps this isn't a good idea at all."
I raised an eyebrow. "Well, we went through all this trouble-most certainly, I'm not seeing the problem. Worst comes to pass, claim a fallen noble attacked us both and left me for dead."
Wardes' eyes widened in disbelief, "That's-rather than saying that, wouldn't it have been better to say something like, if it's you, Jean-Jacques, I'm sure nothing bad will happen?"
I blinked back in answer, and then shook my head. "Didn't you say it had to hurt for it to be real?" to which he nodded. "Then, how can hurt not be something bad?" I chuckled. "Come on, Jean-Jacques. I'm not a kid."
We took our distances from one another, and as we stood face to face, I raised my wand and he did the same. The gleaming tip of the swordwands that encased both of our wands had been rendered magically blunt, but if it hit an eye, it was still going to carve it out, so head-attacks were a big no-no. "To first blood," Jean-Jacques said in the end, "At the count of three-two-one-go."
As Wardes closed the distance, I could hear him chant even as I did the same. In the end, a duel between mages was all about concentrating about it, especially if they were both well-versed in the usage of a swordwand. While thrusts and blocks and deflections went on the physical part of the confrontation, the mental part was taken over by the need to chant, understand what the opponent was saying, and yet not stop chanting while also thinking about the best way to direct the spell in question in order to either deflect the incoming spell, or hit the enemy.
He raised his swordwand slightly up in diagonal, deflecting my incoming thrust before closing in with his shoulder. I answered by bending further down, twisting my body to deliver a roundhouse kick to his ankle.
"Match." The tip of Wardes' swordwand was poised to strike my neck, the older boy grinning even as he stopped his chant. I exhaled, stopping my own chant. Neither of us had managed to throw off a spell, too quickly had the match ended.
"Giving my back was stupid," I acquiesced.
"That it was," Jean-Jacques remarked. "Perhaps keep the pirouettes for the dances?" he added, even as I chuckled and shook my head. "Now, once more."
The blades met with resounding clangor, "Wind blades born of the surrounding air, be my swords against those who bar my path-" as I spoke hurriedly, twisting blades of air formed around me, just as Wardes' own chant came to an end and a powerful blast of air cancelled my own blades, sending me to skedaddle backwards, my ass hitting the dirt with enough strength to make me gasp. "Gaah." I opened my mouth to say something, and found the tip of Wardes' swordwand inside, resting atop my tongue.
"Match." Wardes was smiling about this, even as he removed the swordwand.
"That was quite lewd of you, Jean-Jacques, putting your swordwand in my mouth like that," I coughed out the metallic taste of the swordwand, even as Wardes had the decency to look shocked.
"I went looking for that," Jean-Jacques said. "I really did, didn't I?" he laughed, and I joined him in his chuckles too even as I stood up.
"Once more," I said, "With feeling, this time!" I brought my left hand behind my back, bending my knees as I made a few thrusts in the air while Jean-Jacques resumed his position. The blades met each others and parried, blocked, and created sparks. "Swirling gales, freezing breezes, twisting clouds, I call you forth to hide me from sight-" as fog began to spread out from the tip of my wand, Wardes simply smiled, and then said two simple words, "Air hammer-" the chant was longer, but that singular gust of concussive wind force was enough to blast the fog away.
Since he hadn't said the full chant, it wasn't at full force, so I quickly resumed my attacks. "Hammer of air born of the highest winds, come blast my foes away from me-" I chanted, and by the time the spell was ready to be thrown, Wardes had already moved sideways using a Fly spell to avoid the blast. Differently from levitation, flight was faster, but required concentration to keep up.
Used like this, he immediately landed and resumed chanting for a air hammer spell.
"Gales of wind, grant me speed-" I chanted as I rushed forward to close the distance, "swiftly, grant wings to my feet-" my feet left the ground as my speed increased. In a split second, I was upon Wardes. In less than a split second, Wardes swatted my blade away, grabbed me by the arm, and then proceeded to throw me over his shoulders, slamming my back on the ground with a gasp on my side as the speed met the ground and resulted in the laws of physics earning a victory over me.
"Match." Wardes' voice was a mixture of teasing and triumphant.
"You understand, this means war," I said quite firmly. "Now...help me up, please." I extended an arm, and Jean-Jacques quickly caught it, helping me back up. I dusted myself off, and cracked my neck slightly. "All right, no more games."
One minute later, Wardes would say match once more. Two minutes later, it was the same result. The third time wasn't the charm. Neither were times numbered four and five. By the sixth, I was pretty much beat.
"You are...a horrible person..." I gasped amidst lungful of air, my forehead covered in sweat. "How can you be...pristine...even after all..."
"I will give you points for persistence," Jean-Jacques said with a chuckle, "but since you haven't even hit me once, it's obvious I would not be dirty."
I raised a hand to dismiss away the issue, and then hung my head low. "I'm sorry I took away your entire Void-Day."
"Don't be, it is something I will write later tonight in my exchange diary. I am sure your sister will enjoy having a good laugh while I recap your glorious...attempts," Jean-Jacques pointed out. I gave him a flat stare, he looked back at me with a warm smile.
"I'm going to be upfront about this, Jean-Jacques, so please be honest in turn," I said with a sigh. "What are my chances of reaching Line before the naming ceremony?"
Jean-Jacques scratched his chin, and then smiled. "Well, if we keep this up, perhaps we can manage in time."
"Are you sure? Wouldn't you rather enjoy your Void days with your friends?" I asked, only for Wardes to draw near and proceed to put a hand on my shoulder.
"Henry, you're my friend too. And I see them regularly throughout the week-it's not like they're going to miss me terribly if I take one day off them to spar with you," he grinned, and I blushed. That was cheesy, Wardes. Cheesy, and underhanded.
"Then, I'll be in your care," I said as I exhaled. "You didn't use lightning once, though," I remarked.
"Let's keep Line spells for when you actually have a good chance at dodging them," Jean-Jacques said, "Now let's get back before they start serving dinner. Unless you're full?"
"From eating the dust?" I retorted, rolling my eyes. "Please, I could keep this up the whole day." I raised my chin slightly higher. "Covered in dirt or dust, as long as one has done his due, then it's not grime, but glory he is covered in."
Wardes said nothing, but it was clear by the way he was smiling that he simply found it amusing.
I hummed contently.
Everything was going better than I expected.
