This world respected power above all else, as such it should be no surprise that dueling was still apparently fucking thing here. A simple fact I would have liked to know before insulting a lord's son, not that I regret it; besides how was I supposed to know Reinhart obviously figured this would be a good time for me to “learn a valuable lesson”.  

Though I guess if had just kept my mouth shut, I could have just avoided all this for the next few years, I was only 12 after all it's not like they were planning on shipping me off immediately; if I would have thought about it, I knew I couldn’t even be married off until I was 16…

I really should have argued with Riley more about my bag. I ground my teeth as I was led to the “arena”. Can’t say I’m surprised the damn castle has a designated spot for shit like this. I was shown to a spot where I was told to stand there and pretty much try not to die. 

I was sure there were more rules to this all but what good was there in explaining that to a magicless girl in a mages duel. “Hold on, do we just stand here and throw spells at each other?” I asked the attendant before he could run off, “Like… can I move around, you know dodge?”

The man actually looked surprised but answered, “Well it is a fight, my Lady. You can utilize the whole arena if you wish, but leaving the designated area will be considered a forfeit.”

I glanced around the massive patch of dirt, a clear line around its perimeter made it clear where the bounds were. Then again even without it the stone wall just past it with seating around its rim was a pretty big indicator of where the arena ended. “I see. Any other… rules I should know about?” I asked as people filled in, apparently word travels fast when two children of Lords are going to have a duel. 

“That is something normally discussed before the duel by the challenger.” He said, motioning to the wiry boy being led in by an attendant of his own. “They will be announced before the official start. Best of luck, Lady McGrave.” The man said with a swift bow before exiting. 

Great, so bean sprout gets to choose how we are going to fight. Hopefully it’s not going to be to unfair. I scanned the growing crowd and found Reinhart sitting next to the portly man and… who the hell is that! 

In between the two Lords were two seats, one empty while in the other was what could only be described as a goddess! A woman who had to be every inch as tall as Reinhart sat with her hands folded in her lap as if she didn’t belong in a painting. Her long flowing golden blond hair was swept back, held in place by a solid gold band around her head leaving her flawless face on full display. Even from across the entire arena her sharp sky blue eyes seemed to shine with power as she scanned the crowd with a bored expression. Her white and gold dress was both eye-catching and tasteful if you asked me, covering her completely though it left no room to doubt her shapely figure as she stood to address the gathered masses. 

At her commanding voice the world itself seemed to stop, unlike Reinhart’s trick where he flooded the area with magic to get people to listen to him, this woman’s presence alone demanded attention.

“We have gathered to bear witness,” She did not yell, hell I doubted she even raised her voice, yet as if carried on the wind itself it filled the area and everyone rose to their feet. “Geffroy Hinsdale, and Emilla McGrave, you both have agreed to this duel on your own accord, upon this very soil you shall leave all differences aside and lay bare your resolve. Though due to your young age I must impose the restriction of life upon you please understand that though you both will survive today, no grudges shall be held from this moment forth!” 

A golden light erupted from the woman, coating the entire arena in a shimmering glow that settled onto our skin like glitter before sinking into us. A faint tingling sensation prickled across my entire body before settling into a slight warmth. It felt… Wrong, like there was a thin film just beneath my skin.

“Do keep in mind that though my spell will offer some protection it will not shield your body completely, if you sustain too much damage even my protection will not spare you.” she intoned before sweeping her arms to her sides, “I leave the power to concede in the hands of your guardians, they alone hold the responsibility of your wellbeing. Now, let us bear witness!”

The entire arena intoned her final words, the rumbling vibration breaking my trance as I turned my eyes back to the man…

“Weren’t there supposed to be some kind of rules!” I nearly screamed as he held out a pulsing red hand towards me. 

I didn’t need to know magical formations to understand exactly what the hell that was as a tiny red ball whizzed towards me at blinding speed. 

I barely had time to react as it slammed into my chest, the heat from the fire ball washed over me as my hand thrummed. My spell shield ring heating up as it vibrated on my hand, “Fuck!” I hissed as I felt the small metal band go still. The warm metal, just this side of actually burning my skin, fell inert as the glowing red inscriptions dimmed. 

Thankfully Geffroy was staring dumbfounded at me as I shook my hand, plucking the hot metal from my finger as I swore. 

“Should probably make it a bracelet so the power can disburse over a wider area.” I hissed, tossing it into the dirt and stomping on it, like that would help cool it off. 

“How?” The boy across from me muttered, apparently having been caught off guard by my survival. Then again, Reinhart had told them I couldn’t use magic, didn’t he? 

Well, I’m not going to look a gift horse in the mouth. 

I ripped my wand from my pocket and fired off a stone shot towards him. The small rock ball slammed into his shoulder with enough force to actually knock him over, I was sure it had enough force to crack bone when I tested it but…

“I see…” He hissed getting back to his feet while rubbing at the spot I hit. “I guess I really will need to teach you your place.” 

I really should have just aimed for his throat! I thought while firing another stone that burst into flames before it hit him. Shit.

One major drawback to using a wand was I could only engrave one enchantment into it. That’s one of the reasons I have become partial to staves as of late, the larger surface area allowing me to get up to three or four spells onto a single staff instead of the single one I can get on a wand. Another drawback, however, was each individual enchantment was a single spell. This wand can only fire stone bullets, in fact, it can only fire ten stone bullets to be exact.

It might not seem like much of a drawback but that means even if I had my full arsenal at my fingertips, I lack a lot of versatility. Where an earth mage could do wonders with a single spell that molds dirt I would need a different wand or staff for each individual shape I wished to make, which is why I do have a set of wands I dubbed “the picnic party” set. One would be surprised at how difficult it is to mold chairs out of the ground if you want them to actually have legs. Riley said I was being picky but that’s a story for another time.

The upside to my wands was the speed at which they fired spells, I could put a stone down range faster than any conventional caster and it had the added bonus of not using my own energy to cast the spell. Meaning as long as I had mana stones, I could keep firing an endless volley of spells where a normal mage would eventually tire themselves out. Not that it mattered, I only had three mana stones on me and two of them were embedded in my amulet; and those two were so small they would likely only get me another 5 shots between them.  

Even if I wanted to waste them all on stone shots, I doubted it would be enough to exhaust him, meaning I really only had one option left. 

He began channeling magic into his palm again, the red rune-like lines dancing across his outstretched hand gave me a very strong feeling that I wanted to be anywhere but right here at this moment. Though given the size of his last fireball I should be able to dodge it now that I knew it was coming.

As the small red orb launched itself towards me, I dove to the side, confident I could get out of its range only for my back to suddenly be alight with pain as the heat washed over me.

I fought back the scream as the smell of burnt hair and fabric wafted up my nose; the prick had apparently held back the first time. 

If I had to guess that one was about twice the size of the first, I growled as I got to my feet, that’s fine. Just have to jump a little earlier next time. no big deal…

I dove to the side again, just barely avoiding the second fireball. Panting, I rolled to my feet. The smug look on the boy’s face as we stood nearly twenty feet apart made my blood boil as he fired another lazy fireball at me. 

He clearly didn’t even bother trying to aim at me as I dodged it this time, “you surprised me with your little toys, but this has gone on long enough.” He scoffed as I dodged another flaming orb. “Just give up and we can forget this ever happened.” He gloated with an amused smirk as another stone burnt up harmlessly against his spell shield.

I really need to get closer to him. I thought panting for breath as I tried to think of any way to close the distance without getting set ablaze. But if I get closer now, I won't have enough time to dodge… I sent another prodding shot towards his legs this time, hoping that maybe he’d think I was going to miss.

Nope, just like the others once it got within a few feet of him it burst… into flames…

Grinning, I prepared myself for his next attack. His face contorted into a sneer as I smiled at him, “Fine, then.” He hissed.

If he had bothered using anything other than fireball I may have been in trouble, but since he was clearly fond of his flaming orbs it gave me a chance! 

Rolling towards him I fired off another stone shot directly at his face, though trying to aim the shot while dodging was probably not a great idea since I messed up the timing just a little. Another wave of heat washed over me as the stone burst into flames. 

It will have to do. Springing up from my roll I dashed forward as fast as my little legs would carry me and was greeted by a wall of fire! My stone shot had apparently either missed his face or didn’t block his sight as much as I thought. 

Fine then! I took a deep breath and plunged into the flaming wall, just a few more feet to go and I can use it!

It was obvious he had not been expecting me to dive through his barrier as he staggered back with disbelieving wide eyes. 

I didn’t have to guess why he looked so shocked, I was after all clearly on fire! I could feel it searing my skin as I crashed into his outstretched arms. If he had been smart, he would have attacked, but even I can get lucky apparently.

Reaching up I tore at my throat, snatching the amulet from my neck I swung with everything I had. 

The amulet itself was nothing fancy, just two small mana stones in a small vile like metal casing covered in inscriptions that would cause them to resonate while keeping them separated from one another. If one were to say, smash it against someone’s skull, the stones would crush the thin metal divider smashing into one another and in turn, explode.

Several things happened at once. The first and most pressing matter was I was pretty sure my hand exploded, if the blinding pain was any indication as my arm was violently thrust back from the force. 

The next was I was suddenly not on fire anymore! Apparently creating a magic null zone erases magical flames! Who would have guessed. Though the sudden flash of golden light was odd, but I didn’t have time to wonder about that.

Lastly, I barreled into him with all the force my little body could muster, throwing both of us to the ground as I continued on my path. I would like to say I was able to recover quickly but the wind had been knocked out of me when I hit the ground and as such needed a moment before I was able to catch my bearings.

I rolled away from him before fighting my way to my feet. Unfortunately, it looks like my hand protected him from the worst of the exploding crystals as he also stood on wobbly legs. “What… what did you do?” He asked, looking at me with a horrified gaze. 

I didn’t feel like explaining it to him. Besides, I wasn’t exactly sure how long this magic null zone would last. So, I did the only thing any reasonable young woman would do in this situation. Hauling back, I kicked him as hard as I could in the balls before descending on his crumpling form with all the furry I could muster. 

Did I need to punch him in the face half a dozen times… No, probably not. Was it the best decision with a clearly broken hand? Also no. But damn it did feel good! Five years of aggression flooded out of me in a primal yell that shook my entire body before the panicked screams caught my attention.

Looking up I was met by stunned looks of horror as Lord Hinsdale rushed towards us from across the field in a comical display as the large man ran towards us.

I took a deep breath as I looked around the arena at the silent spectators who all averted their gaze when I looked towards them. Some even covering their mouths as if they were going to be sick?

I looked down at the swollen bloodied face of the man I was on top of, what were they expecting? It was a fight, wasn’t it? 

With a sigh I slowly excavated myself from the boy’s chest, my entire body groaning in protest as I took a shaky step away from him. The boy’s father finally reached us, gasping for air. He fell to his knees at his son’s side and began shouting for a healer. 

He should be fine, I doubted I could do any lasting damage with my tiny fist. Honestly if the kid had ever even heard of a push up, I would have been in real trouble given how much bigger he was than me. Even then, all he really needed to do was punch me once and that may have been the end of it. 

Whatever, I really just want to go back to my room now. Turning to leave I found Reinhart standing behind me, his eyes narrowed as I stepped right up to him. 

“Are…” I paused, why was my mouth full of liquid? Turning my head, I spat out a glob of blood, huh must have bitten my lip when I fell. Turning back to the man I glared up at him. “We done here?” I finished my question.

Reinhart inspected me, his eyes lingering on mine, and I swear for the briefest of moment the fucker actually smiled… No, it must have been my imagination. I shook my head and refocused on his stern expression. Since he wasn’t going to bother replying I simply brushed past him, limping my way out of the arena back to my room where hopefully Riley would be waiting.

I did have to ask several very concerned looking maids how to get back to my room, yes, I get it my clothes are all burnt but really does everyone have to gawk so openly? Just tell me where my room is so I can get back and change!