"Master Arthur has a chance to give Second Master Ovior a death blow. If he kicks the ice statue of Second Master Ovior, his body will shatter into pieces. He will die just like that."
Veronica shivered at Dave Morton's comment. 'Thank goodness, Arthur and Ovior aren't enemies. I don't want to imagine them fighting for some mere title with their lives depending on it. Arthur cares more about his friends than power.'
She smiled while she thought how caring Arthur was. 'Now that I have noticed, I've never seen him power hungry before. To him, I always came first. Because of me, he went all the way to summon the Devil himself. If he needed power, he couldn't have done that a long time ago, but he didn't. Even now, he is fighting against Ovior but not heavily injuring him. He truly cares more about relationships than power.'
Sweetness spread all over her heart. 'Should I mend our relationship, or should I wait a little while? If I make up with him right away, he might not take this seriously. Let's just wait and see what he is capable of. I want to know the true Arthur behind this mask.'
She opened her mouth to say something when her eyes were stuck inside the ring. Ovior was turning into eyes. However, red light emitted from his heart and spread his entire body. In the blink of an eye, he melted the ice and freed himself.
He flew up and faced Arthur. "Did you think that I wouldn't be able to read your moves after all this time? You underestimated me."
Arthur smiled upon hearing his remark. "I knew you were smart, but I didn't think you were smarter than I expected."
His nonchalant attitude made Ovior furious. "Are you trying to say that you are looking down on me?" Gradually, his entire body began to emit fiery fire. The fire spread his long silky hair too, and yet his body wasn't burning. Slowly, he raised his hand.
At that moment, Arthur was surrounded by small fireballs. As if he knew it was going to happen, he created an ice wall around him. The ice wall created sharp spears, and they were all aimed at Ovior. They were both still, waiting for the right moment to strike.
The moment the firewalls attacked Arthur, the ice spears attacked Ovior. They charged each other mercilessly without holding back. While striking each other, they created protective walls around them so that their opponents couldn't hurt them.
Just like that, they went on for minutes, minutes to an hour. They used lots of energy and power. Even so, none of them got tired. None of them gave up.
Veronica robbed a temple. Her head began to hurt as she kept looking at red, yellow, and white flashes. 'I think I need to stop this,' she thought. She stood up from her chair and loudly declared, "The players are both powerful and promising. I announce this match as a tie."
At her loud voice, the audience became quiet. The same went for the players who were firing at each other. After all, the Mistress of the Magic Tower said so. That much power she held in her hands. The match concluded just like that.
The match was over. The magicians went back to their works. They excitedly discussed the match.
"This is a legendary rematch."
"I never thought Second Master Ovior was so powerful to have a tie with our Master Arthur."
"It is truly unbelievable. Maybe master Arthur held back while fighting."
"That could be the case." Others agreed to that comment.
Dave Morton bade Veronica goodbye and left the room. After giving him a slight nod, Veronica walked toward the ring. The fire surrounding the ring already died down. Arthur and Ovior both looked all right.
Arthur didn't lose the match, but his expression was gloomy. She found out the reason very soon. "Why were you supporting Ovior?"
'So, he is jealous.' Veronica crossed her arms. "I supported neither of you. I just found a seat and sat there to watch the match."
Arthur's expression turned normal. He held her hands and curiously asked her, "Did I look cool when I was fighting?"
Ovior furrowed his eyebrows at his question. He didn't imagine his friend to be this shameless. 'What is there to boast about anyway? It's not like he won. I should have used more power,' he regretted.
Veronica was surprised at first and then averted her eyes. Arthur's eyes were full of expectations like a child waiting for a birthday present. Her face heated up. She suddenly felt embarrassed. 'Where did he learn such words?' she wondered.
Noticing that he still waited for her answer, she answered, "That was an amazing fight. If I was a magician, I would have taken you as my master."
Arthur learned from his fellow magicians that girlfriends and lovers liked it when their boyfriends fought a match and won the game. The women would fall for their lovers even more thinking their lovers were heroes from the romance books.
Upon listening to their advice, he realized that Veronica hardly saw him fighting in the actual war. That's why he played with his friend a little. He wanted to show his wife how heroic he was.
However, he didn't think his wife would want to take him as her master to learn magic. The smile from his lips vanished. "You don't have to fight," he stated. "I will become your sword and shield."
'See? I knew this would happen. I shouldn't mend our relationship soon,' Veronica thought. She took away her hands and said, "Arthur, I want to be your sword and shield when you are fighting against your enemy. The last thing I want is to become someone useless who burdens others."
Arthur quickly started, "You are not a burden."
Veronica snickered. "At this rate, I will be.. Anyway, talking about fighting reminded me of something. Did you bring my belongings from the resort?"