Their footsteps echoed in the hush.
Eric Vale and Neria Vaelric, standing beneath a sky slowly thickening with clouds.
As opposite as dusk and dawn. As soil and stone palace.
The audience fell silent. No cheers. Only eyes.
"I don't care who you are," Eric said quietly as they faced one another in the arena.
"It's not you who cares," Neria replied coldly. "It's everyone else in this place."
She raised her hand snow began to swirl. The air turned sharp, biting. Her combat robe fluttered in the freezing pressure of her elemental magic, honed with noble training.
She moved first.
Shards of ice erupted toward Eric in a wave surgical, relentless.
Eric didn't back down. He had no noble lineage, no elite training. But his feet were steady. Magic of earth and wind circled him simple, crude, but solid.
He struck the first wave with an open palm shattering it.
Dodged the second with a roll.
Blocked the third with a shield of stone he summoned from the very ground.
Neria narrowed her eyes. "Stubborn."
"Stubborn keeps you alive," Eric said.
"It's either that or die in a field like my father."
Magic clashed again. Neria conjured a spear of ice and launched it aimed not at Eric directly, but at the ground surrounding him, turning it into a slick trap of frozen death.
Eric slipped knee to the dirt.
Neria rose above, forming her final spell midair.
But from the ground, Eric slammed his fist hard into the earth. A wave of stone erupted upward, smashing into her leap and forcing her to break the spell midair. She hit the ground hard and staggered back her composure cracked for the first time.
Eric slowly stood, breathing heavily.
"I don't win with a single blow."
"But I don't fall just because a noble casts fancy spells."
Neria held her breath. Then smirked.
"Good. I'm tired of opponents who give up after the first strike."
They charged.
Magic exploded between them. Ice against stone. The earth broke and froze, steam rose from shattered terrain, and the spectators stood entranced by the collision.
And when it was over dust rising from the aftermath they were both still standing, Bloodied. Bruised. But upright.
Magister Halvran stepped into the arena.
"Enough. The duel ends here."
"Both remain. Both... are worthy."
The crowd roared.
No victor.
But no defeat either.