SSR - Chapter 87: Finals (2)

Please keep giving me feedback on these chapters. I'm going back and editing the tournament chapters to try and add more anticipation and hype, like what I did with Evenon (but on a lesser scale). I'm not making major changes, but I've already written an edit to introduce Hayden much earlier, and I'll add more from his PoV. I'll tell you guys when I'm done. Enjoy the chapter!

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Rylan dashed to the side and leaped over a large rock. He widened his eyes in mid-air. Without even stopping to think, he trusted his instincts and twisted his body. A heartbeat later, a Magic Missile went through the place where his left shoulder had just been.

He rolled as he landed on the floor, narrowly dodging another Missile. Rylan looked at Hayden, filled with surprise. A third Magic Missile had already almost taken shape.

What is this casting speed?

Even though Magic Missile was the most basic spell, he hadn’t faced anyone in this tournament capable of casting it so quickly. He scoured his memories. Only Gerard surpassed Hayden’s casting speed when it came to Magic Missile. Rylan let out a whistle of admiration, then lunged to the side and started to run. There was no time to stop and think about how this was possible.

Rylan neared a stone pillar and spun around it, using it as cover to block another Missile.  He left the column’s shadow with large steps and dashed behind a stone wall, his back against it. As he let out a breath, the sound of air parting reached his ears. Roland’s instincts took over. He took two steps forward, moving away from the wall but still staying behind it. A moment later, a Magic Missile curved around the wall and hit the ground where he had just been, drilling into it. It only disappeared after creating a hole that was almost ten centimeters deep.

After throwing the hole a glance and gauging its depth, Rylan started to run. His chanting never stopped. As he got out of cover, the ground in front of him shook. Rylan reflexively jumped to the side instead of upward. The ground caved in and then rose. It moved toward his legs in earth tendrils. He jumped again, but the Earth Grab followed his movements, even though he was meters away from its origin point.

“Magic Missile,” Rylan cast.

The Missile took shape and tore through the closest earthen restraint, sharp mana forcing its way through stone and earth. This allowed Rylan to leap to the side and avoid the remainder of the spell. He looked at Hayden with a furrowed brow.

Some distance away, the boy’s expression was completely calm. He chanted unceasingly, waving his wand as if he were the maestro in an orchestra. Rylan frowned.

This is going to be difficult.

Hayden had only used First Circle spells so far, but they had been troublesome enough. His casting speed made him much more dangerous than any of the other Mages Rylan had faced in the tournament. Rylan clicked his tongue.

“Earth Spikes,” Hayden suddenly said.

Rylan bent his legs and readied himself to move as quickly as he could without the Falling Snow Steps. The floor around him rippled as the Spikes tore their way out of it, pointed at his legs and torso. The first one arrived, piercing through the air straight at his belly. Rylan sidestepped it and tilted his body to stand parallel to it. It only managed to graze his shirt. He kept his guard up. Given Hayden’s skills, this wouldn’t be the end of it. The Earth Spike’s side rippled like the ground.

A smaller Spike rose from the body of the previous one as if it had been submerged into the stone. It went for his chest.

As expected.

Alongside it, another of the large Spikes arrived. His concentration reached its peak. Rylan smiled.

Hayden had surprised him, but there was no reason for him to lose his cool; it would only lead to mistakes. Letting out a breath, Rylan took another step to the side and spun. The two Spikes were avoided, but they bubbled like boiling water. Just like the first, other smaller Spikes ripped their way out of them. Rylan was forced to tilt his body and step backward. Two of the Spikes cut his chest, drawing lines of blood. With a light jump, he dodged the one that was about to pierce the back of his knee. He watched the nearest Spike as he landed on the one he’d just avoided. It aimed straight at his chest.

Instead of dodging to the side, Rylan jumped backward, getting even closer to another Spike that sought to pierce his back. Its structure was completely different from the usually straight Spikes; it had curved, as if the stone and earth that constituted it were liquid, making it look like a tentacle with a pointed tip. It drew a half-circle around Rylan.

He slid on the ground, grinding to a halt with calmness. The Spikes continued to approach him at high speeds, one from the front and the other from the back.

Now.

Rylan suddenly crouched as they were about to reach him. The two Spikes met each other right where his chest had been, colliding and cracking with a loud noise. But he knew it wasn’t over.

As he expected, the underside of both Earth Spikes rippled, even as their tips shattered. Rylan used his crouching position to leap to the side as two smaller Spikes surged out of the rippling stone and pierced toward him, almost completely vertically. One grazed his right arm, creating a gash. Rylan frowned. He jumped again almost immediately after landing, dodging a Spike that aimed for his leg. Stepping on its body, he lightly jumped again to avoid the Spike that rose from the one he’d just stepped on.

Continuously, Rylan spun and ran around as if he were dancing. Every time he dodged a Spike, its body rippled before another rose out of it. Because of this, even though there were originally only six Spikes, he had already avoided almost fifteen of them.

Rylan felt the strain as more and more Spikes flowed out of the previous ones, creating an elaborate stone network that sought only to pierce him through. His movement paths were limited by the existence of the Spikes he’d avoided, which didn’t simply disappear or crumble.

How familiar.

This thought appeared when he dodged a large Earth Spike that had been aiming for his chest. Behind him, the structure of the other Spikes created a veritable cage. To his right, two Spikes crossed each other in an “X” shape that would force him to either jump over them and spend too long in the air or crouch under them. Right in front of him, there was the Spike he’d just avoided. Everything about this made him feel some familiarity. Roland’s memories flashed through Rylan’s mind.

High-level battles were about cutting off the enemy’s possible options just as much as they were about dealing damage.

Did Hayden understand this instinctively? It was an incredible trait for someone so young, especially because Hayden probably hadn’t had access to formal training and guidance. It was a wonder that he’d even reached the Third Circle with such limited resources, even though the Circles theory was widespread.

One Spike cut Rylan’s shoulder, while another grazed his left knee. They pierced his skin and ground against his flesh and bone. His blood stained the ground, pain coursing through him.

Without stopping, Rylan continued to dodge the Spikes with small movements, using the ones that missed him as support to step on and push himself out of the way of the others. This plan, which had worked all previous times he’d had to face Earth Spikes, had its effectiveness diminished by the ramifying nature of Hayden’s Spikes. Every time he stepped on a Spike, Rylan only had a bit more than a second to remove his foot before a smaller Spike surged and pierced it.

His injuries piled up. His clothing, which had been carefully tidied up by Sarah, was torn to pieces, as he’d predicted. His vest fell to the ground and his beige shirt was now marred by the blood from the various cuts. The stinging pain wasn’t enough to overwhelm his senses and mental state, but it was annoying.

Rylan jumped up to avoid the largest Earth Spike so far, then landed on its body. Unlike the previous ones, it didn’t ripple. He breathed deeply and raised his body, looking at the sight before and under him as he stood at the tip of the largest Spike, above the others. The Spikes had finally stopped coming after him. They had created a small stone forest that reminded him of a tree’s roots. Each of them had ramified into at least two more Spikes, which then gave rise to more, smaller Earth Spikes in a multiplicative fashion.

The Spike under his feet cracked with a loud noise. Rylan lightly jumped back and landed on the ground. All the Earth Spikes’ bodies cracked and crumbled into earth and stone, creating a dust cloud.

“Gust,” Rylan cast as he waved his wand. The wind blew the dust away.

With deep breaths, Rylan looked at Hayden, who stood some distance away. The boy was staring at him with a serene expression.

“This was a single Second Circle spell,” Hayden said loudly, almost shouting. “Draw your sword or give up here. I don’t want to hurt you more than this.”

Rylan maintained his stable posture and cracked his neck.

He’s good.

It was an undeniable fact. His previous assessment that this would be ‘difficult’ was mistaken; it would be much harder than that to win.

“Sorry, but it’s not enough yet,” Rylan said with a smile. “And I have no reason to give up. I have my own reasons to fight with magic alone.”

Hayden frowned.

“…Let’s see how you handle this, then.”

He started chanting. Rylan shot to the side, ignoring the cuts and gashes on his legs. His explosive movement only intensified the bleeding, but he only smiled.

Don’t fail me now, my body.

This was the battle he had been wishing for from the moment he joined the tournament.