Chapter 65: A Wandering Soul - Rider 1.9
The small group remained silent long enough that I began to question if my display had been a little over the top. Arya's original demonstration, despite being a million times less impressive than mine, was enough to send the Twins running on its own.
Mine might've potentially broken several fundamental rules for their system of magic.
Oh well, too late to put that particular genie back in a bottle. I'll just have to deal with the fallout as it comes.
Their silent reactions mostly varied by how familiar the individual was with magic. Despite their status of being a Rider and Dragon pair, neither Eragon or Saphira were knowledgeable enough to know exactly what I did, save that it was incredibly impressive based on Arya's reaction. The elf was actually stressed enough that she was covered in a sheen of sweat, her hand never leaving the hilt of her sword while she watched every slight movement I made. Orik and Fredric were completely lost. The only thing they could do was brandish their weapons and look back and forth uncertainly between Arya and myself.
"...So, if you all don't mind, I'm going to go look for a sparring partner…" I trailed off awkwardly. "Unless one of you wants to give it a go?"
"What was that?" Eragon was the first to break the silence, his natural curiosity too strong to not ask about the strange, by their standards, display of magic.
"A pretty basic spell called Gradation Air." I replied with a shrug. Of course I wasn't going to tell him that while the version I used was so far removed from the original spell it was like comparing the Ford model-T with an F-1 race car because they both had wheels.
...Of course I would need to use a more relevant comparison.
"So Eragon, if you're done with your magic tests, do you want to spar? I need an opponent and I don't think anyone here is willing at the moment." I waved at the other three.
"I will be the one testing him." Arya interrupted, finally finding her voice. "And do not lie to us. That was no 'basic spell'."
"Maybe if you're an Animancer," I admitted. "For a Magus it really is a basic spell, one taught to nearly every apprentice. Though I admit I'm a little better at it than most."
I had some mixed feelings about the elf at the moment. Sure, she was treating me one step away from an outright enemy but that was understandable since the only thing she could possibly know about me is that I entered Tronjheim with Eragon and then escaped from Ajihad. She was also probably told I couldn't use magic, but then I pulled something not even the most powerful of her race could do and made it seem like it was a casual thing. Anyone sane would absolutely not let their guard down around me under those conditions.
The only real complaint I could make against her was her willingness to hand me over to the Twins...but realistically there was no way for her to stop it. From what I could remember, Arya wasn't a member of the Varden. She was an ambassador to them from the elves, and while the leaders of the Varden probably respected her opinions, she most likely couldn't order them around as she pleased and I actually had escaped, so it wasn't like she could decide the Varden was being unreasonable. Interfering could cause issues politically for her.
I was just annoyed she kept staring at me like I was about to attack them all. It was rude and completely uncalled for.
"What's an animancer or a magus?" Eragon asked.
"An animancer is a magic user like you or the elf here," I explained. "You both use your own life energy to fuel your spells. A magus, or mage, like me uses mana. That and we need to shape our spells differently beyond just a chant, so don't try replicating anything a mage does without truly understanding. At best you will be drained to the limit. At worst...well I expect you know that already."
"I've never heard of either of those terms." Arya said.
I shrugged. "I'd be surprised if you did. I'm not in this part of the world by choice and I doubt many magic users are travelling here after what you Mad King did to his order. Assuming they are even aware your countries exist."
Eragon opened his mouth, probably to ask more questions, but Arya must have been on something like a schedule and dragged him off to the dueling grounds before he could ask them. An action that meant there was a good amount of attention on our group. Not many of them got to see a Rider and an Elf spar afterall. Not to mention the other eye-catching members of our group. Eragon and Arya began their duel, with the Rider quickly realising going easy on the Elf would be a bad idea, and it drew a large crowd as most of the other warriors stopped their own training to watch.
It started off pretty awkwardly. Eragon was hesitant and Arya made him pay for it. His weak probing attacks were smashed aside and he was barely able to react in time from the elf's retaliating strikes. Arya never took advantage of the openings in his stance after she attacked though and the young Rider caught on that Arya was looking for a full demonstration of his skills. From there the duel became something fun to watch. Despite the short time he had been trained in sword fighting, Eragon was a natural. He was able to move through several sword forms smoothly and was even starting to mix them together.
None of that mattered to his opponent though.
Arya was practically dancing around the Rider, despite his best efforts. The other warriors watching might've been caught up in the spectacle of the fight but it was clear to me Arya was far more skilled than Eragon even without her superior strength and speed. Of course if the elf had been less skilled than a human that had picked up a sword for less than a couple years at most I would've been massively disappointed.
She was simply holding back enough to give him the illusion of a chance and it was making my hands itch just watching her. Arya was good. Top ranking Soul Reaper good even if she didn't have the raw power to match up to one of them, and I really wanted to have a match with her. She was simply perfect for my goal of finding out where I stood physically at the moment.
The duel ended predictably. Eragon lasted far longer than I was expecting but thirty minutes of intense fighting took its toll and he made an almost sloppy lunge forward. Arya easily sidestepped the red blade and snapped her own up to rest on his jawbone, ending the match.
The crowd burst into loud cheers at the conclusion, a certain dragon making sure to add her voice to the group. Both Fredric and Orik left me behind to go congratulate the exhausted Eragon, both of them praising him on the match. The Rider didn't seem particularly happy about it, probably due to the fact he lost or maybe because Arya seemed perfectly fine to continue. I couldn't tell.
I was prepared to catch Arya on her way out to schedule a match at some point, but the elf beat me to it. While everyone swarmed around Eragon, Arya managed to sneak through them and stand next to me.
"I have spoken with Ajihad." She said as an opening, and I felt a little bad for Eragon that his best effort wasn't enough to warrant the full attention of the elf if she was able to have a telepathic conversation in the middle of the spar. "If you are willing to give us a demonstration of your skill and swear to not harm the Varden during your stay here, he will overlook your trespass and allow you to stay in Tronjheim."
I smirked.
Translation: we are really scared of the unknown magic that breaks everything we know about the subject and are willing to ignore you as long as you give us a peek at what you can do and leave us alone.
Oh, I'm sure there were some advisors screaming at Ajihad to arrest me or kill me, but if the rest were willing to leave the scary magic user alone I would be happy to return the favor.
"I don't mind a bit of exercise. Although I would recommend we limit things to just some basic tricks. I don't want someone to get hurt by accident."
Arya blinked at my wording. "Is your magic so uncontrollable that that is a possibility?"
"Yes." I said seriously. "I wasn't joking earlier about the differences between your magic and mine. You are much more flexible but what I can do, I do very well. And most of that includes some very damaging spells you don't want going off in a crowded field. Not unless you want a lot of injuries."
Arya contemplated that for a second. "How should we proceed in your opinion then?"
I shrugged. "For today why don't we just focus on swordsmanship. I admit I was looking for the chance to face you myself after that display. We can find a more secluded area for me to show off a bit of magic later."
We went back and forth a bit on what the limits for the both of us should be. Arya and the Varden obviously wanted as much of a demonstration as they could get, but I was serious about the potential for collateral damage. A careless strike from almost any of my enchanted weapons could accidentally kill one of the spectators that were guaranteed to hang around and I didn't have the materials for setting up a Bounded Field to make sure the observers would be safe.
In the end we decided on a similar match to the one she had with Eragon, mostly out of consideration for the surrounding trainees than anything I said. Although we both agreed to allow utility spells as desired. For instance if one of us was disarmed, we could use magic to either retrieve the weapon or in my case, summon another one.
As expected, the warriors on the training ground circled around us when it became clear Arya was going to have another bout. There was plenty of confused muttering when they saw I was her opponent though, especially when they saw I didn't have a weapon.
That muttering turned to cries of shock when a near-exact replica of Arya's sword appeared in my hand, the only change was the blunted edge to prevent me from cutting anything. It was a bit petty but I enjoyed the surprise in Arya's eyes at the sight of the weapon even if it wasn't anything special. It might have just been a blade given to her to replace the one she lost when she was ambushed, but copying it showed that I wasn't limited to 'obviously glowing magic sword'. I wondered if anyone was going to go looking for the bow they had taken off of me and realise that it had already vanished.
The elf was the one to start things off.
She danced forward and slashed at my ribs, clearly lighter than when she faced Eragon. I caught her balde on my own and easily threw her off.
My message was clear. 'I'm not weaker than he was.'
Arya definitely understood since the next attacks were faster and stronger.
We traded blows back and forth for a while, both of us getting faster as time went on until I started to outpace her. I idly noted I could still move a bit faster without Reinforcing myself as I ducked underneath a retaliatory slash. It definitely answered my question about how my base state compared to the warriors here but I also took the possibility Arya was still recovering into consideration. She was in pretty bad shape the last time I saw her after all.
That didn't mean she was losing out to me in terms of skill though. Every feint, every trick, the elf responded fluidly and without hesitation. I was having a blast. There were no sudden bursts in speed, no suddenly elongating swords, and we were even using the same sword! This was more like a sport fighting demonstration than actual combat, so I decided as a reward for letting me enjoy this so much, I would show off my airwalk spell.
An angled yellow spell-circle materialised behind me and the crowd got very noisy at the sudden display of magic. Arya was already moving in for another attack and was unable to stop in time.
My plan was to kick off the circle behind me, recast it in the air and surprise the elf with an attack from behind.
I got as far as kicking off the circle before my foot continued straight through it with only the barest resistance. Off balance and suddenly confused, Arya was able to attack me uninterrupted with a blow strong enough to rip my sword from my grip. Unwilling to let her win because a spell suddenly failed, I threw myself at her, grabbed her sword arm, and quickly placed a Traced dagger up against her ribs. Both of us froze for a second before Arya nodded in recognition that the bout ended and we both separated.
The observing warriors broke out into cheers again at the conclusion of the match, but despite that I couldn't help but be in a bad mood.
One of my spells wasn't working as expected. Which meant more might have the same issue.
And I had no idea as to why…
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