Chapter 52

Chapter 52

Author's note: Had a little trouble with this chapter, both mental and physical. My lkeft hand has been hurting, making typing difficult, and the chapter had a little trouble coming togehter in my mind. Anyway, I hope you enjoy.

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Aneirin watched with anticipation as Neleh entered the arena. She could hear the cheers of the ghostly spectators, even if she could not see them. The mood was quite jubilant among the audience. She had heard about Nelehs annihilation of the winning team of the team competition, and understood that the audience thought Nelehs victory was almost certain. Neleh had defeated five skilled magicians of the Solaris magic academy by herself, so how could Aneirin alone accomplish what the team of five could not? She was still confident though. Aneirin wasnt the ace of the most prestigious academy in the elven lands for nothing. She had skills the others did not. She wasnt called a genius for nothing.

And it seemed Neleh was not putting her full power into this fight. She had not brought the sword she used to defeat the Sun Elf team with her to this fight. Was she looking down on Aneirin?

You didnt take along that sword of yours? I dont want to hear afterwards that I didnt defeat you at your best. Aneirin said while frowning.

Well, for one that sword isnt mine, although I helped in making it. It belongs to my mother. I only used it against the others because of their disdain towards warriors. You however are too smart to look down on warriors like that, so theres no need to use a sword against you just to make a point. Besides, I have a feeling that you want to face me as a magician and not as a warrior. Im not sure of the reason you seem so set on facing me, but it would be rather rude of me to not accommodate you. Neleh explained.

The beautiful Chosen was right. Aneirin did want to face her as a mage, so her compliance with her wishes was good news for her, but the girls certainty in her own power irked her. Neleh was able to face her as just a mage because she thought her powers as a mage were enough to defeat Aneirin. Otherwise she would have used her full power, and also used her skills as a warrior to avoid the risk of losing in front of such a large audience. So either Neleh was unjustified in her confidence, and underestimated Aneirins abilities, or she was justified in her confidence, a thought that chilled Aneirin.

Aneirin herself was unable to fully explain the strong obsession she had for defeating Neleh. She felt that this was something she had to do. Part of it was an attempt to retain her pride as a senior student and an upperclassman, as someone older and supposedly more skilled than Neleh. Part of it was her diminishing faith in her own abilities. She had always been thought of as a genius, and she wasnt someone to let that go to her and rest on her laurels. Instead she worked hard, and utilized every bit of her genius to hone her skills and had become one of the youngest fifth circle mages in the history of the Rhianon academy. One of the youngest sixth circle mages as well, if she wanted to graduate, although she chose to stay in the academy, in part because of Delia and in part because there wasnt anyone strong enough to take over her position as the head of the discipline squad.

Yet here was Neleh, someone who seemed to be beyond the word genius. The girl seemed to overtake all achievements with effortless ease, breaking all records almost without a second thought. For Elunes sake, the girl wasnt even at the age people usually had their Awakening ceremony yet! Aneirin wasnt one to rest on her laurels, but she was someone with unshakable resolve in her own abilities. Unshakable, that is until Neleh came along. Neleh had destroyed her confidence in her own abilities. The only thing she still had confidence was her abilities as a mage, which is one of the reasons this fight meant so much to her.

And then there was Delia. Her feelings concerning Delia, herself and Neleh were too tangled to even start to unravel into coherent thoughts. She just felt the need to show her abilities to Delia, to show that she was superior to Neleh at least in some way. She didnt know if that would actually fix anything, but she felt that she would not find peace until she did this.

You seem to have a lot on your mind. Neleh observed to her in a quiet voice. That could prove to be problematic if you cant focus at the task at hand.

Dont worry about my focus. You just bring your best, and let me worry about the rest. Aneirin snapped back.

Thats the other thing! The girl had such an annoying confidence in her abilities. One could think that she was being arrogant, but Aneirin knew there was a difference. Arrogance was born out of overestimating your own abilities, and projecting that outwards. What Neleh had, was certainty and confidence. When she did something like not taking the sword with her, it wasnt because she was looking down on Aneirin. It felt like she had been in the same situation a hundred times, and knew exactly how it would end. Well Aneirin would show her! It was time for Neleh to taste the same uncertainty she had tasted because of the girl.

The judge made sure the two duelists were ready and gave the signal to start the fight. Aneirin struck with the same brutal efficiency she had used to get this far. She had been hiding her biggest trump card. A dozen orbs of black and yellow energy appeared around Aneirin and were launched towards Neleh. She had seen the farce of a duel between the girl and Lucian, and knew Neleh was skilled at unraveling spells. How she had acquired such skills was a mystery to Aneirin, but there were ways around it. There always was. Unraveling was a technique that required a high level of understanding, so it was not a surprise that the countermeasures were also something that required a lot of understanding.

If you constructed the spell in a way that covered its weaknesses, then it became much harder to unravel. Additionally the more powerful the spell was, the harder it was to unravel. Cutting a thread was easy, but cutting a rope was much harder. It could be done, but the effort was not worth it in most cases. Of course this came with the requirement that Aneirin knew how to inject extra power into the spell, to strengthen the spell itself without simply increasing its effect.

Her real trump card was her destruction element. Even more than fire, destruction element was not an element used for defense. It didnt even have the utility that fire magic provided. Destruction was all about offense and was very good at it. One of the benefits of destruction magic was that it would destroy any magical shields used to defend against it, no matter how much power was supplied to the shield. So throwing several projectiles would both destroy the shield and hit the target even if one or two missed or were somehow unraveled. Destruction magic would also destroy any attempts at countering the spells with other offensive spells. As such, Aneirin was confident in her attack, because none of the traditional methods of defense would work against it.

Neleh noticed the sudden change of mood in Aneirin. The girl was about to burst into tears in the middle of a high profile spectacle match in front of millions of spectators. She quickly formed a dome of dark energy around them, to block anyone from seeing what was about to happen. She was just in time, before Aneirin burst into uncontrollable tears. Some sort of dam had broken inside the girl, and now all the stored stress and emotion was pouring out in the form of tears.

Neleh thought about trying to console her, but she sensed that she was the wrong person to do it. Her trying to console Aneirin might just make things worse, so instead she chose to let the girl cry out her feelings. After a couple of minutes of tears, Aneirin started to stutter out her problems among frequent sobs. It was hard to follow, and Aneirin was having trouble actually putting her emotions into words, but the Neleh got the gist of it.

You know what the root of your problems is? Neleh asked, earning a glare from Aneirin who was on the ground hugging her knees. Youre comparing yourself to a wrong person. Youre always going to find someone stronger and smarter than you, or someone prettier than you. Thats simply a fact of life. Unless you are the number one, then there are people above you, and no one can ever be the number one forever. Its good that you learned this early on, because it is something that you will have to continue to deal with in the future. That said, its enough to compare yourself with your own kind, theres no need to go searching for rivals beyond your level.

Aneirin looked at her confused. My own kind? What do you mean? Were both elves are we not?

Barely. Despite what people like to think, we arent all born equal, and I barely qualify as an elf in any case. Neleh answered with a small smile.

Aneirins looked spoke volumes of her opinion about Nelehs words. Isnt that a little conceited? I know you are highly skilled, but isnt that a bit much?

Is it? You probably werent aware, but Im not just the Chosen of Elune, but Satai as well. I also have greater blessings from all the other greater gods and two of the lesser gods. I also have a high affinity in all the magic elements. Look, I cant explain the details, but theres a reason for all this power being given to me. I know it sounds conceited, but its obvious that you would lose in comparison to me, because I was specifically born that way. Its not bad to have rivals, but you really should find someone more normal. Neleh explained. Despite her words, there was no arrogance in her voice. She was simply stating the facts.

Aneirin was confused, and managed to only squeeze out a semblance of a question. What about Delia?

Well, what about Delia? I recognize that you feel jealous about the attention given to me by her, and it is true that we are closer than many other sisters. That said, have you bothered to ask her why we are so close? She has felt close to me ever since I was a baby, because she almost lost me twice. That tends to forge close bonds. Neleh replied.

So she isnt? Aneirin asked more specifically, leaving the important part unsaid.

What? In love with me? Thats not for me to say. Love takes many forms, and it is certain that she loves me as a sister at least. Is it more than that? Hard to say, but I doubt it. One type of love can turn into another without notice, but there is one thing you should remember. Neleh said with conviction.

What? Aneirin asked dreading the answer.

She is dating you, not me. I dont think shes the type of girl to date one person while in love with another. Shes too honest and straightforward for that. Though like I said, love can change. Just like love can grow from one type to another, it can also wither. The way youve been treating her lately, I wouldnt blame her for trying to find someone new. To my knowledge she hasnt tried yet, but I wouldnt take her for granted. You better get your act together before you lose her. She will always be my sister, but she might not always be your girlfriend, so make sure youre worth her. Neleh finished.

Aneirin looked up with both hope and sadness. Neleh was right, she had to do better. As she stood up, she noticed the dark dome surrounding them dissipating, and could hear the concerned noise of the audience that didnt know what was going on.

To finish things off, I think it might be prudent for me to get a bit serious and show you what happens if you hurt my sister further. Neleh said in a clear voice that was carried to the audience, where Delia was face-palming with shame and a mix of other emotions.

Neleh gathered most of her remaining power for a big spell. It was good thing they were in the Training room because otherwise this spell would do too much damage to the surroundings. Absolute Zero. Neleh whispered quietly. The arena was covered in ice and a chilling wind, the air was cracking as the water in the air was freezing and falling to the ground. The world around her had turned into a frozen wasteland of death. Neleh brought her hand forward in a graceful gesture and snapped her fingers. The ice that covered and infused everything shattered, destroying the whole arena in the process. Aneirin had long since lost the battle and moved into the observer mode due to freezing to death.