Rion immediately pointed his wand at Lie and fired off a blast of pure magic. In response, Lie gently raised her staff and launched a sphere of water.
The two projectiles collided mid-air, bursting into a thin cloud of vapor.
"You can cast without a chant now?" Lie exclaimed, a look of surprise on her face.
Rion only grinned. Without hesitation, he aimed his wand at the ground in front of Lie and fired again. The blast struck the dirt, exploding on impact and kicking up a thick veil of dust.
Lie instinctively took a step back, her vision now obscured. But Rion had already taken aim before she disappeared into the dust cloud. He fired another shot straight through the haze.
Just before the attack could hit however, Lie summoned another sphere of water at the tip of her staff and swung it sideways, intercepting the ball of magic with ease. Then, in one smooth motion, she whipped her staff back in the other direction, flinging the absorbed attack right back at Rion.
The shot cut through the dissipating dust.
Rion's eyes widened and he barely ducked in time as the shot passed over his head before curving to the right and crashing into a nearby tree.
Before he could regain his footing— to his suprise, Lie was already upon him. Rion barely had a moment to react as she stood over him, staff raised high.
Then she brought it down in a sharp swing. Rion leaped back, narrowly avoiding the strike, but Lie wasn't finished yet. She immediately followed up with another attack—a sphere of water aimed at his right foot.
Ican'tdodgeintime!! He thought.
Rion braced for impact, but instead of an explosion, the sphere of water encased his foot, dragging l it to the ground with a sudden, heavy weight.
"What the—?"
Before he could react, Lie launched a barrage of small water bolts. Rion did his best to reflect them, shooting back, but hidden among the bolts were more water spheres.
One encased his left hand.
Another caught his left foot.
Now, aside from his right hand holding his wand, Rion was completely immobilized.
"Time to end this!" Lie said to herself as she circled him, still firing, preventing him from freeing himself.
C'mon, workalready! Ifshegetsbehindme, it'sover! Rion frantically thought to himself.
Rion may have looked like a sitting duck, but he had a plan—one he was frantically trying to pull off.
"Looks like I—"
Before Lie could finish sentence, Rion suddenly surged magic through his legs. With a burst of energy, he finally fired a pulse of magic from his feet, shattering the water spheres holding them in place.
Then, he pivoted, twisting his body toward Lie, his wand aimed directly at her—Rion's face lit up with a brilliant grin.
"You—" Lie started, but then she smiled.
Rion went to fire— But before the blast could leave his wand, something struck his cheek.
Splash!
A sudden burst of water exploded against his face.
"GAH!"
Rion stumbled back, his balance lost as he collapsed onto the ground, water dripping from his soaked face. A small puddle formed in the dirt beneath his head.
"S-She… used the sphere still on my left hand?" he mumbled to himself. "I didn't know she could still control that…"
Lie let out a laugh. "Hahaha! Looks like I win!"
(And thus, Rion's adventure continues…)