Honestly this might have been a bad idea, iskander thought to himself, not that he could not beat Leon without the use of his warlock powers or his demons but nonetheless with a town above his head he had to be carefull. If Iskander slipped up and used too powerful magic he would probably cause an earthquake and if he lost control of his emotions too much he could accidentally release demons.

Once Iskander had liked to fight, to use his magic and all his wits in combat but those days were long gone, the carefree happy Iskander who had only feared his fathers wrath was no more, he was a warlock who had thousands of fiends on contract, if he made a mistake those would be released and not all of them would follow his commands.

Actually right now he felt stupid, he should have immediately done that which he now had for his emergencyplan but it was a little late for that now. He had no idea if those apprentices of his were watching this room, it was safer for now to try to beat Leon in a duel, if things went south then he could do it in the hope that he would not make matters worse.

He looked to the other side of the room where Leon stood with his staff and an arrogant smirk on his face, Iskander would have laughed if he had not been in this kind of situation where he had to be extremely carefull with his powers to not summon demons or to destroy the town.

…………….

Leon smiled at the youngster on the other side of the room, he did not even know his name and he didn’t care, an insignificant mage was like a bug in front of a magus like him. He had to admit that he was impressed by the control this kid had over his magic spells to be able to manipulate their effects, but still he was a mage, a beginner compared to him, a magus close to becoming a wizard, to him a mage was nothing.

Leon had been surprised by his skills when he had been trapped by them in that alleyway, if he could get this kid on his side he would have a verry powerful underling. Leon lifted his hand and almost felt nostalgic when he called upon his favourite low tier spell he had used since his youth to burn people’s houses down, a fireball spell, rookies especially used this spell because it looked cool and got themselves caught up in the resulting fire explosion.

Leon was no rookie, he had always used spells for the best situation, and a fireball was a good spell to cover a wide area but also to mislead your opponent. Leon smiled and a ball of orange fire shot at his opponent, Leon quickly prepared another spell…

……

Iskander knew what the magus tried, a classic of good magic duellists, using a fireball as a distraction was something he had seen many adventurers do when trying to attack him already. The thing with the fireball spell was that while it was not a bad spell it was a dangerous one, originally meant as a way to rapidly spread fire on a single large target or to attack more than one person.

The more experienced magic user only used it in the right situation and not as a normal low tier spell like lightningbolt spells were. Iskander was not so dumb to believe that an experienced magus like Leon would use a fireball to attack a single target.

He felt the mana surge through his body as he raised a magic barrier around himself, a transparent bubble that would easily stop the fireball, as the spell hit his barrier the flames masked his surroundings, he could no longer see his opponent. Iskander quickly raised more barriers, when the flames vanished and he could see his opponent again he had made five of them, just in time for projectiles of magical energy shot at him from Leons staff and slammed into his defenses.

Iskander saw four of his barriers vanish into mana before the spell ended and before Leon flung another fireball. “Damn that magus, Iskander mumbled and he looked at a place next to the magus before gathering his mana and vanishing from within the barrier that broke. He reappeared a few meters away from Leon who seemed surprised.

……..

Leon thought he had gotten the arrogant kid with that magic missile spell, Had he not made more barriers then Leon would have been victorious. His second attempt had also failed as the boy had managed to use the blink spell, a low tier spatial magic spell that even higher ranked casters still used often.

“you are more competent than I imagined kid, he grudgingly said to him, you’ll make a fine subordinate of mine.”

Leon saw the kid smile, clearly unimpressed, this brat did not really think he could win from him did he? Leon pointed his staff at the boy, “I’ll finish this right here and now!” He felt the mana around him crackle with energy as he shot a large lightningbolt straight at his opponent. Leon was a magus, he was no mage and he knew that the power of this bolt of lightning was far above what a mage could cast.

He thought that the kid would be finished, after all a small barrier did not stop lightningspells, but instead he almost had a heart attack, the boy called a bubble of purple energy around himself, an arcane shield, still low tier but still a hard spell to use, the lightningbolt hit and even though the impact made the room tremble the arcane shield held, “Enough!”

Leon had enough of it, this boy was just plain annoying, every time he thought a spell would get him he managed to counter him somehow, no matter how useful a minion he might become he was Leon Demort, he could not have a hard time against a mage! He snapped with his fingers and pulled the mana away from the shield, it was not even a spell, it was something every magus could do, hence it was not cheating, he grinned fiendishly as he pointed his staff at the boy.

……….

Iskander had not seen this coming, he hated to admit it but for a second he forgot what kind of caster he was fighting right now. Honestly he had been so busy with keeping his abilities in check, countering spells and trying to prevent the demons inside his grimoire from watching this fight (which he failed to do) that he forgot it was a magus which he faced.

A magus was the next step after mage on the path of becoming the apex of arcane might, they were able to control mana in a short distance around them and to use it for spells or to create buildings. Those magi who had more control over the mana than others could also interrupt spells of other casters, that was exactly what he realized too late when Leon snapped with his fingers and made the shield vanish.

He felt really pathetic for a second, after all he was the one who had an army at his command, he was the one who could wipe the floor with this pathetic…. Iskander blinked for a second and forced back the pride demon who had been about to escape, hence not being able to prevent the wind bullets that Leon shot at him.

Iskander was flung through the air into the wall, the spell was meant to do that, he could feel that the magus wished to humiliate him, not that Iskander cared about his reputation but some demons and devils inclined to pride would probably escape if they felt humiliated by his actions or if he lost control over his emotions.

Iskander stood up again and looked at the magus who smiled like he’d won already, Iskander cracked his neck, he would finish this right now! He felt torrents of mana flow through him as he materialised a barrage of spells aimed at the magus head.

……

Leon grinned after he had flung his opponent against the wall, it felt good to show lower casters their place in the caster hierarchy. Leon looked as the boy stood up again, a pathetic mage who had dared to challenge him, a magus, to a duel of skill.

Suddenly Leon felt the mana in the room stir, he knew that feeling, it was the feeling he felt when someone was going to cast an offensive spell on him. But what could this mage kid do, throw a fire ball, maybe an earth bullet or something else? Leon waved with his hand and a barrier surrounded him in an instant, if this kid thought he could defeat him he was wrong.

Then it happened, the boys eyes were glowing with blue light, around him materialised arcane bolts, magic missiles and ice spears all flying straight at him!

Leon acted quickly, his barrier shattered due to the arcane bolts but not before it stopped them, He flung a missile spell at the missiles making the room shake as the spells collided in mid air, the icespears he simply evaded by blinking away. “Is that all you got boy, Leon laughed as he looked at the kid, a couple of easy to counter low tier…..” Suddenly the boy pointed at him with his hand and a column of fire shot at Leon. The magus tried to raise a barrier but it was already too late, the scorching ray spell hit him right in the face!

……

Iskander could not help but smirk in satisfaction as the scorching ray hit his opponent right in the face. When he saw the magus again though he felt less happy, Leons beard was not only partially on fire but the eyes of the magus spoke of a murderous intent, Iskander felt the mana in the room stir at the magus rage.

He knew what he’d just done and he could blame no one but himself for it, Iskander readied his stronger low tier barrier spells and shield spells, this opponent was clearly not going to use anything low tier anymore but Iskander could not afford to lose control over his powers right now!

The magus roared with rage and began throwing with arcane bolts like a madman, Iskander countered them with bolts of his own but he realised that the magus now knew that Iskander was not as weak as he thought!

Iskander readied another low tier spell ,a simple wind blade, and shot it at the magus, Leon swung down his staff and shattered the blade into mana particles "Enough boy, the magus roared, I won't hold back anymore, face my wrath!" Leon began chanting and runes and glyphs circled around him, Iskander paled, he knew some of them, the glyphs for "destruction", "earthquake" and even one saying "avalance", around the magus Iskander could see the air move.

Leon was using the mana in his surroundings, Iskander raised an arcane shield around himself just in time before the ground started shaking and icicles, arcane misiles and even a deadly reaper curse were flung at him. His shield held but the curse dispelled it before vanishing again. Iskander looked at his opponent, he knew he could take this guy down easily but quickly realized that would mean using his warlock magic or magic that would destroy this room, causing destruction to the town!

On the other hand there was the fact that the spells Leon was using right now would also end up destroying this town, why had he even thought this plan had been a good idead again? Iskander shook his head, he should have never even tried doing this, time for plan B!

………..

Leon suddenly slammed his staff on the ground and the room shook as sharp arrows of stone shot at Iskander, He threw up a barrier and caught them in time but the spell had been but a distraction from Leons real attack!

Iskander felt it coming but he closed his eyes and let it happen, it was all part of the plan that at first had seemed horrible but now seemed the best possible way to solve this. He had hoped that he could win of Leon without using this plan, but he did not really have a choice, this town was going to be destroyed if they kept on fighting.

Roots suddenly burst from the ground and wrapped around him, the magus laughed and now sent another lightning bolt straight at his opponent. Iskander however broke free, the roots drained of life and let him go, as soon as the lightning bolt was about to hit him, Iskander suddenly vanished in thin air, Iskander was not holding back anymore now.

Leon watched baffled as his spell hit the wall and exploded, where had the boy gone? The magus looked around, had the kid used a blink spell, or had he…..? He shook his head, there was no way this kid could telepo….

Leons mouth fell open, after he had blinked with his eyes he now no longer stood in his arena but in a forest! “t-teleportation?” Leon muttered, it couldn’t be, no that kid could not possibly have….” Then he looked behind him and he felt shivers go up his spine, there stood the boy, but he was no longer the same.

The brown hair was now white and his eyes were no longer green, his face had also changed a bit, Leon had never met this person but he had heard about him, the man that held Frienia in fear with his existence. “Y-you are, Leon began while he paled now realizing who had challenged him for a duel.

“Yes, the youth said, I am the wicked warlock, nice to meet you Leon.” Iskander felt almost guilty that he enjoyed how the magus paled as he looked at him. Iskander felt like he had been stupid, he should have revealed his identity sooner, but at first he had thought he could win and then walk away.

But by now he realized that even if that had gone well, the magus would still be in town, perfectly able to cause him trouble afterwards. Iskander was planning to stay in town for a long time and after those first minutes fighting Leon he concluded that he did not want a magus around who could alert Iskanders foes. That was another reason he now revealed himself to Leon, to make sure that he would leave the town without even trying to bother him afterwards.

Iskander walked closer to Leon, "the magus Demort, feared in the south and east grovelling at my feet, pitiful." Leon was now paler than a ghoul who had been living in a crypt from the moment he was born, the magus was terrified of him, it disgusted him but at the same time he felt pride. That disgusted him too, the fact that every time he used his powers or he saw people scared of him he could feel his demonic side influencing him, the thing every warlock was feared for, the corruption that affected you after you bound your first demon.

Iskander shook his head, it was a part of him, a part that needed to be controlled but still a part of him. A part of him that would now give him the courage to speak to this Magus that thought himself to be so mighty.

“Well Leon, Iskander said, I have a deal for you and I hope you won’t be so stupid to refuse!”

The magus prostrated before him, “please do not kill me, I’ll do it, whatever you ask!” Iskander smiled, “verry well, this is what you will do….”