Raymond P.O.V
Thomas quickly backed of. Leaving both me and Zachary alone.
Zachary's eyes locked onto my wand like a hawk. While I watched Zachary's sword as closely as possible.
Right now, I only had a rough idea of Zachary's current strength. Even then it might not had been accurate due to butterfly effect nonsense.
Stuck in a battle of nerves for a bit, I prepared my own ice magic during this brief downtime. Deciding to make the first move, with the wand in my right hand. I immediately raised it and pointed it at Zachary.
Several spikes of ice each the size of a fist formed themselves in the air behind Raymond in a perfect grid formation.
Launching two rows of spikes at Zachary, I quickly jumped back to build as much distance as I could.
Trying to fight a warrior like Zachary in close combat was basically asking to lose!
He laughed slightly as he charged at me, a massive smile on his face like he had been waiting all his life for this.
Seeing him swat away some of the spikes while charging at me. I quickly modified the spell and launched another row of the ice spikes towards him.
This time, rather then simply moving in easy to predict trajectories I modified the spell to add zig zags to the flight pattern.
It used up quite a bit of his mana but seeing them cause trouble to Zachary was worth it!
"Stop running you coward!"
His expression snapped from caution to slight anger. His boots thundered as the same golden sheen covered his body as he ran.
Seeing him running towards me in a straight line, I immediately pointed the wand tip at him.
'Freeze ray!'
Launching a ray of frost out of the tip of my wand, I could see it clearly on a trajectory to hit Zachary.
"That wont work on me!"
With a loud roar, he swung his sword. The golden sword aura flared in response to the freeze ray. Cutting it and dispelling the magic.
Seeing Zachary rapidly catch up to me with his charge. I knew i couldn't run for much longer.
Pointing the wand at myself, I cast several types of shield spells on myself.
Mana shield, barrier, slicing resistance, tough skin. It didn't cost much to be overprepared but it definitely cost a lot to be underprepared!
Steel and gold flashed as he lunged at me with a final step. His sword tip aiming straight for Raymond in a stab.
For a heartbeat, everything seemed to freeze in time. The sharp tip glinted in the light of my magic.
Bang!
Colliding with the earlier barrier i set up, his sword faltered as it stopped in place. With a flash of light, another crash could be heard as I launched an ice bomb straight at Zachary.
The air shimmered, the ground and surroundings gradually turned into a light blue as my magic slowly turned everything around us into an icy arena.
Pointing my wand at Zachary, I launched another ice bomb straight at him while he was still recoiling from earlier.
Standing up already, he immediately saw the ice bomb being launched at him. Holding his sword like a bat, he twisted his shoulder and waist as he swung at it.
"Nice try Raymond!"
The ice bomb instantly was launched far off into the distance, exploding mid air releasing a small rain of ice. He smiled crazily as he raised his sword again.
Rushing towards Raymond again, he pressed forward. He refused to give me any of the space i needed to cast a proper large spell. A smart decision on him.
Launching the last of my ice spikes at Zachary, I took several large steps back. The timing was a bit tight but i had bought myself enough time.
Drawing upon my mana reserves, I held my wand and pointed at the ground. Mana poured out of me and into fueling the spell i casted. A slight tremor could be felt a the earth shook.
With a sweeping gesture, the ground in front of me erupted as two massive walls of ice launched themselves out of the ground and at the charging Zachary.
He grunted slightly, seeing the tides of ice rush at him. He braced his feet and jumped up as high as he could. The ground heaved as my walls of ice destroyed everything in their direction
Narrowly avoiding the first wall, he landed on the ground again and leapt into the air again to avoid the second wave. He only seemed to get happier as the fight progressed.
While in the air, he swung his sword in a horizontal motion. Sending an arc shaped aura blade at Raymond.
I closed my eyes, my shield spells could handle his attack. He was just trying to distract me from casting!
Right as he landed, I aimed my wand at him again. Several large pillars of ice erupted themselves out of the ground around Zachary before joining together at the top.
Success! Seeing Zachary caught in my spell. I closed one eye as I took aim at him again, this time for accuracy. Drawing upon my own mana reserves again, this time I held nothing back.
Instantly a blast of pure frost erupted from the tip of my wand. Crackling with the sounds of ice, I waved my wand again. Sending another blast of frost at him.
The two blasts combined with one another while flying towards the cage. Combining into one massive, powerful force of nature.
His face grew slightly serious now, trying to break free from the ice cage. He stopped when he realized he couldn't break free in time.
Staring at the two waves of ice being launched at him, his eyes glinted. His hair was messy and his body was sweaty. Yet he had never felt so excited before!
"Raymond! Lets be friends after this! Lets fight all day everyday!"
Holding his sword in a defensive stance, he took a deep breath. The aura around his sword flared with energy once again.
With his back to the wall, Zachary stood his ground. His golden aura pulsing in anticipation. He raised his sword, panting, but his eyes showed a fire like never before!
He swung at it with a loud battle cry—his golden sword cut through the wave of ice! Scattering it into two and leaving an empty space in the middle.
The two blasts had completely destroyed my own cage i made around Zachary, but it had already fulfilled its purpose in temporarily restraining him.
He straightened his back, trying to continue the fight. But that was it, he was utterly spent now. His fingers were weak. Letting go of his sword, it dropped to the ground with a soft thud.
The fight was over, he caught a brief glimpse of me. My calm expression, and his excited look clashed. He broke into a massive grin as he stared at me.
The balance of power was clear to anyone watching. I had utterly dominated throughout the whole fight.
I lowered my wand, my eyes calm. But i still prepared another spell just in case.
I remained quiet at what Zachary last said but he seemed to take it as a confirmation.
"My full name is Zachary Golde! Lets meet up in the academy!"
That was all he said, before he disappeared. Teleported away by the magic the academy used.
I looked at my own mana reserves and winced slightly. That one battle had used up around one third of my mana. The last two blasts especially had taken up the most.
Staring at the empty spot where Zachary was, i could see that his sword was still there.
The area they were in now was quiet, though the air still shimmered occasionally. The grass was torn up, with large expanses of ice covering everything in a 50 meter radius.
Dust and soil was kicked up and curled in the air, visible only with the sunlight. The battlefield was silent. Yet the scars of their fight was still there, the clash of my magic against Zachary's sword.
Looking around, he could see several candidates all gazing at him wide-eyed. Thomas Incane, stood with them. Seemingly in awe of Raymond's strength.
With as menacing of a snarl as i could put on my face, i looked at each one and angrily yelled at them.
"You guys want a fight as well?!"
Instantly they scattered. Several even choosing to run away for fear of me deciding to eliminate them.
Thomas stayed however, slowly raising his hands. He clapped at me with a awe struck expression on his face as he slowly approached me.
clap clap clap
"I'm glad i didn't choose to fight you. I can tell, you haven't even went all out yet have you?"
"Yeah, I'm glad that you have brains at least and aren't a battle maniac like others."
He chuckled a bit at my statement, offering his right hand for a handshake towards me.
"My names Thomas Incane, nice to meet you."
"Raymond Vance, nice to meet you too."
I accepted his handshake, right now I didn't want to do any fighting. Even if i could beat them easily, doing nothing was far better then doing something easy.
Walking over to where Zachary dropped his sword, i picked up the metal sword he used and examined it a little.
It was relatively damaged, but still useable.
Swinging it a little bit, i checked its weight and center of gravity. A bit different from what he had learned but he could manage.
"You use a sword before? i thought you were a mage?"
"I practiced a little," I shrugged at his question. "here and there."
It was a bit awkward not having a scabbard for it but that was a small issue.
"If you intend to join me then i have to apologize, right now I still need to go meet with my master."
His raised an eyebrow in confusion for a bit before remembering something and nodding in understanding.
"I see, well I'll take my leave now then. Lets meet up in the academy soon, I'll treat you to a meal as an apology for Zachary."
I smiled, meeting someone who was actually normal felt like a breath of fresh air after working in coal mines for years.
"I'll take you up on that offer. See you soon then."
With that, Thomas turned and left. Leaving me alone in the icy wasteland that i had created.
With Zachary's sword in my left and the wand in my right hand. I probably looked like a joke to any mage or warrior right now. But unfortunately I had no method to store the two and just resorted to holding them in my hands.
Walking out of the icy wasteland I had created, I could see several other battles going on around the base of the mountain.
Looking towards the forest, I could see more people continually leaving. Far above the tree line was a massive translucent red wall.
The border continuously shrinking lead more and more people to exit into the plains. Leaving everyone exposed with no cover to hide behind.
'Invisibility.'
Casting a quick invisibility spell on myself, I strained my eyes but failed to spot Ellen.
Adjusting my hold on the sword and wand, i broke out into a light jog. Aiming to circle the mountain base.