The fact that Arcus was capable of playing this contest by ear spoke to a deep understanding of the Elder Tongue. That was impressive enough in itself, but Claudia was more surprised by how skillfully he handled his aether. Though he had cast a wide variety of spells, he hadn’t mis-incanted once. A lot of first-years arrived unable to use magic, and those who could tended to have poor aetheric control. Skill and experience were the only explanations for Arcus’s performance. Inexperienced casters would become distracted by their opponent’s incantations, weakening their grip on their own aether. Supposing they already struggled to control their power, it didn’t take much to imagine the consequences. Arcus’s control, however, bordered on perfect. How much practice must he have put in to show such capability at his age?
The spectators were exchanging hushed questions.
“I don’t get it. First-years don’t get to practice combat for ages.”
“You stupid or something? Arcus has an Order. They say he thrashed an entire magic troop during Nadar’s revolt.”
“Isn’t that just a rumor?”
“I dunno. Lady Claudia’s never had a duel go on this long, has she?”
“I don’t remember any of the spells he’s using from the textbook either.”
“How did he get behind her like that just now?”
“Good question. I didn’t even see him move...”
The audience seemed just as impressed as she was. It was rare to see supporting magic used in duels, but he was mixing it in without hesitation. He had nullified her spells and even repelled them. Claudia had no idea how he had turned her Crimson Wildfire into something so explosive. She had heard of top-level magicians creating violent reactions when pitting powerful fire magic against high-volume water spells, but this was different. Their spells should have been too weak to create such a phenomenon, yet Arcus had seemed confident it would happen.
Claudia had not expected their duel to be anything so sophisticated. This boy was displaying power comparable to a graduate. Still, she couldn’t just throw her hands up and admit defeat. Her time analyzing him was done; she needed to end this now. She selected a spell that was powerful enough to do so without contravening the rules.
“This duel is over!
Valley winds. Mountain winds. Summit winds. Devour, coil, churn. Call for the billow that will contort the heavens and come down, cornerless crowbar. Shatter the stone wall. Crumble the mud wall. Overcome and flatten the armored helmet. Achieve perfection in one swing.”
Claudia kept this spell as a last resort; it was stronger than Aeolian Hammer. It would have taken four extra lines for it to show off her true power, but a duel wasn’t the time for that. Given Arcus’s strength, something would have to go terribly wrong for it to deal a lethal blow.
Her opponent had started to chant before she was finished.
“Blow, o wind. Blowing wind, bind. Return. May Gown’s grief urge you on. May his song be amplified to reach the skies from the dirt. Answer an eye with an eye, a tooth with a tooth, a billow with a billow.”
“Anvil Drop.”
“Tornado Vengeance.”
Their artglyphs whipped through the air, forming magic circles. Both were green, one closer to the purest shade, and the other bluer in tone. Arcus held his hand up to the sky. The wind above the duelists’ heads started to give off a stormy rumble. A powerful gust spread out, waves of pressure scattering in its wake. The spectating students were holding themselves low so they wouldn’t be blown away. They clung tightly to their hats, shawls, skirts, and cloaks. Nonetheless, they were pupils of the Institute, and they did not turn their eyes away from the duel.
Claudia’s stormy winds twisted into a vortex and took on the shape of a hammer. Arcus’s, meanwhile, were starting to carry a melody. It was one that was quite familiar, reminiscent of the tune that Gown sang in the cemeteries. The song seemed to shake the air around it as it flung dust into the sky.
It was Claudia’s hammer against Arcus’s whirlwind. The two finally clashed. It was clear to everyone watching that the hammer would come out on top.
“What?!”
Her Anvil Drop, the spell she had been saving as her trump card, was again canceled out by Arcus’s spell. The students began to chatter again.
“No way that would’ve been enough to cancel out her spell!”
“What just happened?!”
“This doesn’t make any sense! His spell barely used any aether, right?”
Though they questioned it, the truth was undeniable. Despite his weakened magic, Arcus had managed to counter her spell. It was not a question of aether, but of his command of the Elder Tongue and magical theory. That wasn’t to say Claudia was happy leaving it at that.
“I do not understand. How is it that you can analyze your opponent’s incantations so easily?”
“Of the nine spells you have cast so far, four have been aligned with the wind. I surmised that you have a penchant for wind magic, either in general or when it comes to dueling.”
“You seemed to have a more detailed understanding of my spell than that.”
“Wind magic doesn’t lend itself to a wide variety of phenomena. It can blow something away, rip, draw something in, or transform the atmospheric pressure. Knowing all that, all I have to do is listen closely to the incantation. There’s a lot that can be guessed, like the words that will be used or the spell’s length. In this instance, it was relatively simple, because Your Ladyship used ‘summit winds.’”
“You mean to say that you predicted the spell’s effects from its incantation?”
Claudia supposed it was possible to have a counterspell in place once you knew the attribute of your opponent’s magic. Hearing the first part of the incantation would help you to predict the rest if you were familiar enough with the compatibility between words and phrases. All you needed to do next was improvise appropriately, or cast a spell you had prepared to counter that specific magic.