“Hah! This is fate, PPG! I am glad to close out the semester with one final bout!” Alara stood on the far side of the dueling arena, hands against her hips. As compared to just about everyone else in sight, she was markedly less armored or armed. That hadn’t stopped her from trouncing most of the other students though.

I looked over to the holographic ranking list that had been conjured up after the first class of our final duels. Some fancy spellwork ensured that it auto-updated whenever a duel ended, and I idly wondered how much farther I’d have to go before I could cast something that complicated.

Four lines down from the top was a familiar name.

Alara’Valis - 52 W, 10 L

While I’d known the Dense Brawler was strong well before the semester had begun, I hadn’t realized quite how strong. She was an excellent counter to most mages, as she easily shrugged off their spells. When it came to close-range fighters, she dealt with the bulk of them with a single tap, throwing them to the floor.

That she lost at all was a testament to the diversity of classes everyone had. Just about the only ways I’d seen her lose were non-magical entrapments like nets, and highly agile long range fighters like archers.

Sadly, I was lacking in the “net” department. Hopefully I fit the second category a tad better.

For my part, I was fairly shocked with my own performance. While not quite as strong a showing as Alara, I only had to go down a few more lines to find my name.

Tess’Astorius - 44 W, 18 L

I’d been winning a solid 3/4ths of my fights since getting a bow and upgrading Overload Weapon. My opening salvo of a supercharged arrow was often enough to decide a match by itself, and with my defenses both physical and magical, I was only consistently losing to opponents with control skills of some sort.

Regardless of Alara’s superior record, though, I was brimming with energy. This wasn’t just the last time we would be dueling each other for the class; this was our final duel of the class, period. Win or lose, it would be another course we were both done with for good.

Doesn’t mean I’m not trying to win, though. I had a few new tricks up my sleeve since last we’d fought, after all.

I stilled my pre-fight nerves, we signaled our readiness to one another, and at last, the fight began.

Instantly, Alara leapt forward, her prodigious Strength and control over her mass working as a good stand-in for Dexterity. In a flash, she nearly closed the distance between us.

Of course, having fought her before, I’d expected this. Just as quickly as she’d pounced, I’d summoned up my bow. I hardly had time to overload the shot much, but I enhanced it with earth mana, adding to its mass. When she was midway through her jump, I fired.

The arrow flew faster than Alara could respond to, and before she could increase her mass, it slammed into her. As light as she was and as heavy as the arrow was, it blasted her backwards, almost all the way to where she started. Alara rubbed at the spot where it had hit her. The earth mana blunted the arrows slightly, so it hadn’t pierced her skin, but no doubt there was a nasty bruise under her clothing.

“Impressive, PPG! That one packed a punch! Allow me to congratulate you with a friendly hug!” She readied herself for a repeat performance, but this time around, she was at a disadvantage.

I rapid-fired more earth-enhanced arrows at her, forcing her to dodge instead of closing the gap between us. Sadly for her, I wasn’t quite in the mood for a hug right now.

For a second, she managed to zig-zag forward, dodging while nearing me. At a certain point, however, her lack of Perception and Dexterity caught up with her, and it became nearly impossible to get out of the way of the arrows in time.

One hit, then a second hit, then a third.

Damn. This is kind of easy with a bow, isn’t it? There was a serious chance I’d be able to win just like this.

Of course, Alara had no intention of making it that easy for me.

“A brutal strategy, PPG! If you intend to go all out, then it is only right that I join you!” Thus said, she stomped a foot to the ground, and a ring of energy escaped her. Instead of expanding out towards me, though, it stopped about a meter around her. Identify Skill triggered, letting me know what I was up against.

Mass Field

Allows the caster to alter the mass of any objects within their field. Greater effect on objects with low mass. Caster may choose whether to maintain an object’s force or to solely change its mass.

The next arrow I fired entered the field and rapidly had its forward momentum arrested as it plummeted to the ground. I fired another a bit higher in hopes of counteracting the effect and it seemed to work too, before the arrow harmlessly bounced off of her.

Did she lighten it? Evidently the acceleration stayed the same, but the mass had drastically decreased. The end effect was that I might as well have been firing tissue-paper arrows at this point.

Still, I felt like I had the upper hand. As long as I didn’t enhance or overload them, my arrows were completely mana free. I could keep firing as long as I wanted to, and her skill had to have some sort of cooldown. I’d just keep her hunkered down there until it ended.

Alara took a step forward.

The ring of her mass field moved with her.

Oh.

Well.

That might be an issue.

Repeating her starting tactic, Alara launched herself at me. I managed to get one arrow off, but between her reducing its mass and increasing her own, it was like firing a pebble at a tank.

“Did you really save this move the entire class just to bust it out now?” I was equally honored and miffed as I abandoned my bow to focus on dodging. Funneling light mana into my boots, I leapt away with Flash Feet, barely managing to avoid getting clipped by her field.

“I do not wish to reveal all my tricks, PPG, but you are too worthy a foe for me to hold back! And you are quite agile! You have grown faster!” Even with the extra meter of reach around her, Alara failed to get in range. Just as she’d said, I had gotten faster.

The bonuses from finishing my class trial came in handy here, and in a weird sense, it felt like I was fighting Armor Guy again. A single strike from either opponent could have ended me, and I was furiously backpedaling and dodging throughout the fight.

I jumped back, using my new bonuses to activate two different Mana Feet variants at once, Flash Feet boosting my speed and Friction Feet reducing the traction under me to let me slide backwards. It was a game of cat and mouse now, but with the mobility the skill gave me, the mouse was winning.

More like “not losing.” Do I have a way of actually damaging her?

Unfortunately, without getting closer, the answer seemed to be no.

Not even trying to get through her defenses, I decided to run out the clock. While running around and sending mana to my boots was a strain on my stamina and mana, I consoled myself with the fact that Alara had to be tiring too.

Why do I feel like I’m playing a game of tag instead of fighting a duel to the first lethal blow?

I’d like to say it was a wildly tense minute where I was a moment away from losing at all times, but frankly, it was not. Once I got into the groove, between my Dexterity and Mana Feet, Alara couldn’t get close.

And then, at last, the Mass Field dropped.

I grinned somewhat predatorily as the hunter became the hunted. Still, I knew I needed to switch things up. My previous strategy had been dealing damage, but a small collection of bruises wasn’t enough to put Alara down for the count.

I glanced at my mana: 290/425

The enhanced arrows and the dual-mana-feet usage had taken a toll, but I had enough.

“Sorry Alara. I picked up some new tricks too.”

Thus said, I sent a mixture of fire mana and air mana into my feet, activating both Jet Step and Featherfoot. I launched into the air, and instead of immediately falling back down, I began to gently float.

Another Jet Step brought me even higher as Alara stared upwards, gaping at me.

Mid-air, I summoned up my bow once more, nocking an arrow and enhancing it with air mana. While my form of pseudo-flight was a mana hog, it kept me squarely out of range of Alara, giving me time to charge my bow to my heart’s content.

“PPG! I feel compelled to tell you that I am proud of you for achieving flight; however, I would appreciate you coming back down where I can hit you!” Alara patiently stood back on the ground, hands on her hips and impatiently tapping her foot.

“Be down in a sec!” It wasn’t a lie, either. As I started to channel mana into Overload Weapon, I watched my available mana plummet at a concerning rate. Jet Step and Featherfoot were hardly helping on that front either.

Mana: 200/425

The arrow hummed as wind gathered around it, ready to break free and shoot forward. With Alara’s freakishly tough skin and resistance to magic damage, though, it wasn’t enough.

Another Jet Step to keep me aloft. Another dose of mana into the arrow.

Mana: 140/425

The winds around me grew rougher, buffeting me even having only charged the arrow halfway.

Mana: 80/425

This better hit. It was hardly like I’d have enough mana for a repeat performance.

The wind was now strong enough to mess up my flight, and I had to expend another Jet Step just to keep myself from getting pushed back.

Last one.

Mana: 20/425

I cut the mana to my feet, letting myself fall to the ground. I couldn’t afford to miss, so I needed to be as close to Alara as I possibly could be. Her eyes grew wide as she saw me come crashing down towards her, a caged cyclone in my hands.

The arrow roared like a beast begging to be released. Happily, I complied.

Alara was fast, but there were limits. As close as we were and with the air mana enhancing the arrow’s speed, she would have had to pull a Matrix-level stunt to not get hit.

It was a stunt she failed to pull.

The arrow rocketed into her chest, penetrating her tough skin and continuing straight through her. The wind made what should have been a small hole into a crater, claiming a chunk of flesh all the way through her. Her right arm hung limply, with only barely enough of her shoulder remaining to keep it attached.

Archery has reached level 11!

It actually worked. Before I slammed into the ground, I reactivated Featherfoot, gently drifting the remaining distance.

I actually won. I won! Feeling a little bad that I just tore a hole in my close friend, but-

The moment I touched the ground, Alara pounced.

Blood trailed behind her and her limp arm flapped like a streamer as she moved, but somehow, somehow, she was still on her feet.

What- How? I stood there frozen for a moment, too stupefied to react. It was a grave mistake, as she seemed to be even faster than she’d been before.

I expended another Jet Step hoping that she’d only had a single lunge left in her, but was quickly disproven as she readjusted and leapt towards me again.

“A good shot, PPG! I hope you did not think that would take me out, however!” Alara’s laugh boomed out through the entire dueling area as if she was somehow not aware of the massive hole in her chest.

Was that not a fair thing to expect? I’d fought a lot of duels by now! Holes in chests were usually pretty fight-ending!

Flash Feet brought me out of range from her once more, but she pursued me doggedly, a woman possessed. I returned to our previous game of cat and mouse, staying ahead of her at every turn until-

Flash Feet sputtered out, causing me to trip at the unexpected speed change.

Mana: 0/425

Crap crap crap crap crap.

Alara honed in on me as I fell, and I knew I wasn’t going to have enough time. Using one of the only skills I had without a mana cost, I summoned up my plate armor, protecting myself as much as I could.

“Hah! I have you!” Less than a second later, the armor received a gentle tap.

I plummeted to the floor, connecting with a din of crashing and clattering.

Had this been our first duel, that would have been the end of things. Fortunately for me, however, sparring against Alara had given me a good deal of insight into how her skills worked.

For instance, only the object she touched would be weighed down. In this case, that meant my armor.

Without a second thought, I unsummoned the plate, switching to the forester’s garb. The unsummoned armor no longer dragging me down, I rolled out of the way as a follow-up strike came to finish me off.

Dodge has reached level 6!

Before I could get off the ground, another tap connected, but I was faster this time, switching back to my plate armor before I could get dragged down.

Another roll gave me just enough room to jump up, but I was too close to Alara to bring my spear to bear. Even so, I summoned it to my hands, but I could do nothing but block with it at this range.

Hastily, I did so, deflecting a blow to my head that would have truly ended things. Even as the spear connected with Alara’s fist, though, its weight shot up. I staggered even as I unsummoned and resummoned the weapon, ridding it of the extra mass.

“Almost!” Her shout came out with just a hint of a wheeze this time around, and I finally felt some hope.

Furiously, I backpedaled and blocked blow after blow, completely out of mana and with no space to maneuver. Unable to hit my head, Alara switched to more haphazard strikes, forcing me to unsummon and resummon my armor over and over again. If she’d still had two usable arms, I doubted I’d have lasted this long. A single slip up could end the fight at any time.

Miraculously, though, it didn’t. I held on, almost in a trance as I fended her off.

Finally, finally, I could see her start to slow down. Her strikes grew weaker. Her steps grew less steady.

"A good... fight..." Her words were some of the softest I'd ever heard from her.

For a brief moment, I wondered if she was trying to trick me into dropping my guard, but no.

She slumped to the ground, the wound at last taking its toll.

This time, it was well and truly over.

You have won a duel!

I did it. I did it? Wait, holy hell, I did it!

The sheer joy of going all out and winning warred with the general guilt I felt whenever I tore holes out of my classmates. Especially considering Alara was a close friend, the sight of her so battered up wasn’t a pretty one for me.

If Alara shared that sentiment, however, she certainly didn’t let it show. The healing enchantments of the arena activated, thankfully either advanced enough or powerful enough to somehow bypass her general magical resistance. The hole in her chest closed up, and in an instant, she sprung to her feet.

“PPG!" she roared. "I have been bested! Do you know what this means?” Seeming to relish having her right arm working once again, she swept me into a side hug.

“Um. No? What does it mean?”

Alara squeezed, her hug turning into an affectionate vice.

“That congratulations are in order! It means we drink!”

She bellowed out a laugh, and with that, the two of us went off to celebrate the end of finals.