I guess I just happen to know a bunch of people who do. Not sure if that’s a good thing, but anyway...
“Orb of fire, purge with raging flames — Flare! ”
Roxas switched back to the fireball, but again it failed to find its mark. Flare’s enhanced power also required a longer casting time. Previously, Sain wasn’t able to get out of the way in time, forcing him to defend against it head on. This time, he was ready.
Alicia’s magic is so much stronger .
He sidestepped the oncoming fireball. Though they both used fire magic, hers was on another level. Fireballs from her were hot enough to burn someone half to death just by grazing them, and she could throw those out nonstop. Compared to Alicia’s, Roxas’s spell was like child’s play.
As the comparatively lukewarm fireball flew toward him, he rolled out of the way and counterattacked.
“Darku! ”
“Ugh?!”
The dark bullet slammed into Roxas’s shoulder, causing him to stagger. Sain immediately closed the distance and drew his sword. A series of diagonal slashes forced Roxas to keep moving, preventing him from casting another spell.
“Damn it! You little—”
Roxas drew his own sword and there was a sharp clank as their weapons met. Perhaps melee combat made for better entertainment, or maybe it was just rare in the magic battle expo. Either way, the clash drew a wave of excited commotion from the crowd. Neither contestant, however, was particularly adept at close-quarters combat.
Sain was no stranger to the sword; he used it often when fighting as the holy knight. Nevertheless, his actual skill was amateurish at best. With the blessing of the goddess supercharging him, it didn’t really matter how he swung the thing; it was going to cut through whatever it touched anyway. He had never trained properly in swordsmanship. Roxas showed no signs of any particular expertise either, suggesting he was in a similar boat. Even so, he demonstrated a basic grasp of the techniques required to keep an opponent at bay.
“Hyaah!”
Sain brought his sword down in an overhead swing. When it was blocked, he immediately crouched and pulled his sword around for a rightward sweep. Roxas reacted accordingly and pointed his sword downwards to parry it.
“Don’t get too cocky!”
Roxas lunged forward for a wide horizontal slash. When Sain leapt backwards to avoid it, he quickly followed up with a spell.
“Spirits of turbid water, grasp what you seek — Worta Halden!”
This time, it was water magic. The spell produced watery arms that rose from the ground and grabbed foes, restricting their movement. Melia had used it before, but again, Roxas lacked her finesse.
Melia’s magic is so much more accurate.
There was a refined efficiency to the way Melia used this spell. It pursued its target with deadly precision, lashing out at the exact moment when it was most difficult to escape. Even if the target avoided capture, there was always another arm coming. When she used magic, it was both skillful and calculated.
Countless arms slid across the ground at his legs. Sain waited for them to get close before leaping into the air and pointing his hand down.
“Darku Shot! ”
A cluster of dark pellets struck the swarm of watery arms. He landed just after the last arm was destroyed, breathing heavily but still unharmed. Roxas gnashed his teeth at him. The more they fought, the better they understood the extent of each other’s abilities. Roxas possessed neither Alicia’s fight-ending clinchers nor Melia’s tactical prowess. His balanced approach extended only to his magic, not his overall capability in battle.
Objectively, nothing had changed. Sain still couldn’t afford to lose, and the match still rested on a knife’s edge. The slightest lapse in concentration could spell disaster. The stakes were as high as ever, but somehow, Sain’s spirits were even higher. He’d never been in a battle where the odds had been so even.
So this is what a real fight feels like.
“You damn loser!”
Roxas roared again as water gathered in his hand and lashed out in a sharp crescent. It was a spell Sain hadn’t seen before, but he was pretty sure a direct hit was going to leave a nasty gash. He wasn’t worried though; he had this sword. Just as he’d done against Flare Shot , he blocked the spell with the body of the blade.
Marni’s magic is so much scarier.
He recalled his mentor, whose masterful control over dark magic put him to shame. Her spells always had an enigmatic quality to them, unbound by the frameworks they were taught in school. They were unconventional and therefore disorienting, which was why every time she used a new spell during their training, he’d been left hopelessly vulnerable, suffering strike after strike until he learned to evade it through sheer experience. In comparison, Roxas’s spells were lifted straight out of the textbook. For Sain, who spent almost all his days learning magic, they were laughably predictable.
“Let’s gooooo!”
He raised his sword and charged boldly toward Roxas. What moved him wasn’t arrogance, but a sense that he could now see to the bottom of his opponent’s well of potential, and it wasn’t that far down. So long as he remained focused and composed, he could deal with Roxas’s magic.
“Y-You little—”
Roxas hastily swung his sword up.
“Too late!”
Sain’s sword flashed first. There was a loud clang, and the opposing blade soared through the air in a wide arc.
“Orb of gloom, devour with shadow and darkness... ”
“Eep!”
He thrust his arm out at a defenseless Roxas and, ignoring his squeal of terror, pushed as much power as he could into his spell.
“Dardia! ”