"Silva Oroboros!"
In stark contrast to Klea, when Silva heard her name being called out, she was excited for the chance to prove herself. But, when she looked at the screen, she realized her opponent was going to be that girl, Emery's annoying friend who was glued to him like a leech most of the time.
"Alright, Silva… Just calm down, just think of it as a friendly match to see which one between the two of us is better… No need to make it weird, just smile, smile and enjoy the good fight…" She muttered.
Silva gritted her teeth and steeled her expression, forcing herself to smile through her frustration on her way to the arena.
Unexpectedly, the bronze-skinned girl did not share the same idea. She did not look civil at all, let alone friendly.
"Be cool Silva, be cool… This is not worth your time…" Silva mumbled to herself right as she felt her rage bubble up yet again.
Klea, seemingly unaware of Silva's predicament, walked closer with haughty, measured steps and shouted her challenge.
"Why are you mumbling? Do you want to fight or not?!" Klea snapped.
"…"
The anger Silva tried to keep down burst out like a broken dam.
"I was trying to give you the opportunity to save face because I know you're Emery's friend. But now, you are just being rude!" Silva replied in a harsh tone. Though a small part of her regretted the outburst, Klea kept on pushing her buttons, and her control over her emotions was slipping since she saw their names together.
In contrast to the fuming Silva, Klea stood tall with confidence, with both hands on her waist. She grinned and replied to Silva.
"Hah! Rude? First of all, I'm not being rude. Second, I'm not Emery's friend. I. Am. His. Lover!"
The sudden declaration of the girl shocked Silva and if she could, her jaw would literally drop to the floor. She looked around them towards the audience currently watching and shook her head.
"Damn, you really are crazy and shameless, aren't you?"
Klea laughed at Silva's insult. She looked at the other girl from top to bottom and said.
"Well, now at least everyone knows he's mine. So, don't you dare flirt with him."
This situation elicited a mixed feeling in Silva's heart. On one hand, her first thought was to deny the accusation and her attraction to Emery, but on the other hand she felt a weird feeling when she tried to voice her denial.
"I don't care whatever you are to him. Just do what you want!"
"Ah? Glad to hear we're in agreement, then." Klea grinned.
Seeing the cocky grin, Silva felt something was strange. What is the girl trying to achieve by bringing up his connection to Emery. Around Klea, bits of pink mist swirled before disappearing into the air, a common indicator of a mind-altering spell being used. From the looks of it, it seemed Klea managed to cast [Enchantment] during their conversation.
"That slimy bitch really wants to play with my mind, huh?" Silva muttered again.
Thanks to her half-blood status, Silva has a good resistance against mind spells and thus she was not as affected as she could be considering the duration the spell must have been going on while they talked.
Silva decided to stop playing along with Klea and concentrated to cast the opening spell for the battle.
[Leaves of Steel]
Energy coursed through her spirit core and dozens of leaves started appearing in the air all around her. The leaves glowed in green energy and glinted under the light of the arena before dashing towards Klea at high speeds.
Seeing the leaves rushing towards her, Klea decided to cast the tier 1 wind element spell she mastered recently.
[Wind Walk]
Energy swirled around her and covered both of her legs with a light breeze. With the help of the spell, her speed was increased significantly, allowing her to dodge all the leaves at the last second.
"I thought you're just my opponent for Emery's love, but you're doing sneak attacks now? You're a shameless bitch!" Klea shouted.
"What…? Me? You're the one who started the attack, you crazy hag!" Silva no longer cared about the audience watching. It was clear that the two were incompatible since the first time they met. This was the inevitable conclusion.
"Not only you're shameless, but you still dare lie to my face, you rude whore!"
[Lightning Bolt!]
Klea raised her hand, letting blue sparkles form right above her. The sparkles made the air tingle with static before she sent the bolt towards Silva. The blue bolt whizzed past her like an arrow too fast to follow with the naked eye.
Silva raised her hand and casted [Wall of Thorns], causing spiky plants to grow through the arena and twirl together into a wall that protected Silva. Some of the spiked vines did not go into the wall and instead flailed in the air for a while, before all of them dashed towards Klea from all directions.
"Bitch, you have crossed the line!" Silva said, while moving her hands to direct the thorns.
With the aid of her [Wind Walk] spell, Klea managed to dodge the slower-moving vines. Even though [Lightning Bolt] was a decently powerful spell, it was relatively slow, thus allowing Silva the chance to dodge. Knowing this, she decided to change tactics and used another spell.
[Chain Lightning]
Each flash of lightning formed with this tier 3 spell was less powerful than the one created with [Lightning Bolt]. However, in order to compensate for the weakness, it had a wider area of effect and a form of attack more unpredictable than a fast arrow moving in a straight line.
Bolts of blue lightning spread around the arena and attacked Silva from all directions with such speed her [Wall of Thorns] was unable to keep up.
"Damn, that's one quick spell. She really is a talented acolyte." Silva muttered to herself.
The longer the battle rages, the more she was backed into a corner. It was clear that when it came to speed, Silva was slower and her position was much worse. She decided to cast her special innate skill [Poison Spores] in order to counteract her speeds. Within moments, green bubbles surrounded her and glided towards Klea.
Klea jumped back in order to create some distance from the spell and she even casted [Gust of Wind] to blow all the spores far away for good measure. From the way she reacted, it was obvious she had seen the spell in use before.
Though her strategy to counter it was good, Silva kept on creating more and more spore bubbles. She was intent on trapping her within a barrage of poisonous bubbles.
A few of the spores passed the [Gust of Wind] spell Klea used and Silva smirked. She was sure that the tide was turning in her favor.
Unfortunately, Klea was not out of tricks either. She waved her hand and torrents of water appeared from the arena floor before spinning all around her like a fierce downward stream. Just like a cloak, the water covered Klea in all directions, ensuring the poisonous bubbles were broken before reaching its target.
[Water Cloak –Tier 4 Water Element]
The barrage of spores disappeared and Klea dismissed the spell before landing back on the ground. "Do you have any more spells you want to try against me?"
It was clear that spells alone couldn't lead Silva to victory.
Knowing this, she decided to use the power bestowed by her bloodline.
"Ye, My Queen Dowager, hear your subject's humble plea and grant me your power!"
[Keymoline Serpent Transformation – Stage One]
[Battle power increased by 10]
[Current Battle Power: 50]
Green, shiny scales crept up from beneath Silva's clothing, covering most of her limbs and parts of her face. Right as the transformation finished, she took out a blade from her ring and dashed forward in confidence, supported by her newfound strength.
Klea was still unperturbed. She casted a battle art skill to increase her strength, before taking out a staff from her own ring. The two of them met halfway in the arena.
Clang!
A piercing metallic sound resounded, but none of the two were pushed back, showing they seem to have a similar power level.
Clang! Clang!
The two of them exchanged blows. Klea used both sides of her staff to deflect Silva's blows, while Silva kept on looking for an opening by slashing in all directions. The more they fought, the more Silva realized the other girl was able to go toe-to-toe against her in close combat even in her transformed state.
Minutes ticked by and the effects of Klea's battle art started to fade. Silva was able to slowly overpower her and drive her into a corner.
"Alright, girl. You win that one. Nice moves." Klea complimented casually.
"I'll admit you're not bad as well." Silva returned the compliment.
"Consider this an honor, you're going to see my strongest spell." Klea raised her hands and smiled at the other girl. "Are you ready?"
"Bring it on!" Silva shouted with confidence and gripped her sword tight before taking a defensive stance.
Klea gripped the air with both hands. When she opened her palms, the crackle of lightning element floated on her right hand, while torrents of water spin on her left hand. The power of the spell was palpable. Perhaps, Klea did not realize it, but her feet had started to leave the ground, creating an ethereal image of a floating goddess about to rain down judgement.
[Storm Haze]
Silva instantly recognized the technique. The spell was a combination spell, a technique done by combining multiple elements for the cost of massive amounts of spirit energy. Granted, she had seen the spell in action in the Magus Games, but this time, she could feel the spell was much stronger, considering the crackles of static tickling her skin and the cold she felt just by looking at the torrents of water.
Storm clouds started gathering right above the arena and heavy rain started to pour.
Unbeknownst to them, the audience was cheering. Witnessing such a spell from an acolyte was a rare spectacle.