章 60: Chapter 58
As Zakaria crashed down onto the solid part of the arena, a crack appeared in the skin on her face.
I frowned. Something wasn't right. Odd for an ordinary person, sure, but even more so for a wizard with our heightened magical awareness.
"Is that… long-lasting sustaining charms? Not an artifact… but she doesn't have the magical strength for spells like that… Laid on by someone else? Sustaining magic is allowed, but…" I muttered, trying to make sense of it all.
It was fascinating. Zakaria's entire face was covered in sand, perfectly mirroring her facial features and expressions. It defied not only physics but most magical principles too. Such a finely-tuned balance between transfiguration and long-term ritualistic magic — Sustained spells are one thing, as Siduri's quicksand demonstrated (it had already reverted to the arena's stone floor), but this — this was far beyond her capabilities based on what I'd seen of her skill with sand control during the duel.
"Ptolemaic Skin," Medea interrupted my mental scramble, and I glanced at her, waiting for more. "A hereditary spell, devised by Ptolemy himself after he took the Egyptian throne. Tied exclusively to his bloodline. Essentially, their blood partly mimics the qualities of sand, making it so that other wizards would need masterful control to replicate the effect. But you understand…"
"...At that level, such a defense would be useless. Zakaria doesn't even need to expend significant effort to maintain it, which makes these spells valuable even in a real fight." I nodded, watching as Siduri was slowly ensnared by Zakaria's tightening sand bindings until she finally yielded. So, whatever more powerful trump card Siduri had planned, it required a longer setup than she could afford here.
True to her researcher's nature, Siduri even seemed to lose precious seconds analyzing the Ptolemaic Skin, trying to make sense of it.
"Mmm. Winner: Zakaria," Semiramis declared, with a wave of her hand dissolving the bindings and allowing Siduri to stand. "Generous, weren't you, Cleo?"
"Blood ties offer certain advantages," Cleopatra replied with obvious satisfaction.
"Show your best. Make sure there are no doubts, and they'll leave us alone," Medea murmured with a hint of genuine appeal, which surprised me.
"Gu Mingjin and Adalbert. Give us something impressive, boys," Semiramis surveyed us in turn.
"Understood," I murmured to Medea, stepping up the half-meter incline to the arena.
Mingjin and I exchanged a silent look, nodding slightly in mutual acknowledgment that neither of us was interested in playing mind games here.
Dressed in red with gloved hands adorned with black bracers, Mingjin began flexing his fingers. I could sense his bracers were the source of his magic, serving as a unique catalyst.
Unusual — even compared to all the substitute wands I'd studied and used — but, well… with the Chinese, things often go against convention. That test certainly proved it. The way I racked my brain over those questions reminded me of some girl's endless dilemma over whether or not to date the town's bad boy. Mundane or magical, they're like aliens to the rest of us.
"Looks like the boys are ready to show off for a crowd of ladies," Semiramis quipped, earning herself two thoroughly unimpressed looks. Mingjin and I both understood that none of the witches here were remotely interested in our antics, and should we miraculously win one of them over, we'd end up under her heel in no time. No chance.
"Fight!"
Not waiting a moment, we dove right into what we'd each practiced. Mingjin moved his hands with impressive speed, fingers flashing as he weaved his spells. I spun my wand.
The following explosion of lights and spells was nothing short of spectacular. Spells in every color clashed mid-air. We hadn't yet moved from our spots, but it was clear that soon we'd be leaping around like mountain goats, relying on physical endurance instead of magical stamina.
The advantage of offensive spells over defensive ones was becoming more apparent with each second.
I sidestepped to dodge a peculiar spinning top, tethered to a short stick, which first flew wide before veering sharply to attack my flank. As Mingjin performed an acrobatic roll to dodge a row of metal spikes erupting from the arena floor, I sensed a threat and quickly transfigured a metallic disk from the arena's stone, levitating it to shield my face.
Good call — the pale red beam punched straight through my magical shield, slamming into the metal plate instead.
Tsk. Not quite dangerous, but it was unnervingly close. A spell based on Avada Kedavra that bypasses magical barriers without killing is formidable. The disk even grew uncomfortably hot.
Casting a powerful shield, I blocked several flaming arrows shot from Mingjin's palms. Thankfully, I'd lowered the disk from my face just in time to see the attack coming. I seized the disk mid-fall with levitation, spinning it rapidly and sending it hurtling toward him, trailing several quick but weaker cutting spells in its wake.
It was a tactical experiment — many magical shields, to conserve power, only block magical attacks. And vice versa, most barriers against physical objects won't stop magical ones.
So, a simultaneous assault of material and magical strikes should, if not break through, at least drain him. After all, universal shields are complex, draining more magic than I'd spent on the disk and cutting spells combined.
But a series of nimble jumps and rolls allowed the acrobat to evade the disk and cutting spells, only clipping a bit of his long hair and tearing his red robe.
Tch! Damn acrobat. Fine, fine — let's see how he handles a pure AoE spell...
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