Sorcerer in a fantasy world
Chapter 102

Chapter 102: Chapter 102

"I’ve got nothing." Làidir admitted.

I let go of my magic out of sheer humour. She who had boasted and sealed a deal to be fuck buddies had come out with nothing. I laughed. Forgetting I too did not know where the Unseelie were.

"I found one of them at the Roman camp." I said.

"Not a huge surprise." Morgana replied. "Good to have you back, my Paragon. I think you used enough magic for a while."

"We’ll see."

"Indeed." She said smoothly.

I didn’t want to bother her more, so I kept the magic down for now. It wasn’t an immediate help anyway.

We discussed the matter some more and came to the conclusion.

"We’re stuck with no clues." Morgana concluded.

"Pretty much.

"Kill the Romans." Làidir said. "That you have the power to do."

We went from hunting Unseelie to mass slaughter.

"Mass slaughter isn’t right." I insisted. "If I could target Mars take out their commander alone I would. But killing all their soldiers and leaving Mars won’t save the city. It will only buy time until he gathers another army through fear and duty."

I sighed and continued, "There is value in having more time to prepare and grow. Our main issue is not a lack of time, but the sheer power and number of enemies out to get us. If we deal with the Unseelie I concentrate on the Mars. But, if I go after the Romans then the Unseelie will continue to strike us."

"They do so anyway."

"I know." I shouted. "But I don’t want to just kill all those Roman men out there." I thought. "But, if most of us agree we should then I will. They are not innocent and if most of us think I am wrong then I won’t force my discomfort and jeopardise your safety."

"What are you saying, Master?" Umbra asked.

"We should vote. In secret. Should we eliminate the Roman soldiers. A yes or no."

They had a couple of more clarifying questions but everyone in our family agreed and everyone got to vote except Samiya due to her age. This included Iris, Morgana, Umbra, Làidir, Tulisa, Tara and Byrette. We also included Rebecca.

One day I hoped to extend this sort of democracy to all of our people. But for now this was a comprise.

I said vote in secret, but no one cared for that and so we simply raised our hands for yes and did nothing for no. Iris, Tulisa, Umbra and Rebecca for no. Morgana, Làidir, Tara and Byrette voted for yes. With my No vote the No’s won and the Roman soldiers were spared instant crushing.

"No." Làidir said, slamming her first.

I raised my eyebrow, "No?"

"They all deserve to die."

I nodded at that and looked down, not braving enough to look her in the eye. I couldn’t say she was right, but I also couldn’t deny her rage.

"It’s been decided." Morgana said gently.

"No!" Làidir insisted again.

I sighed again, "How a duel. The one you always wanted since we first met. If I win then the soldiers are spared. If you win, then I will kill them all. Any disagreements."

No one did. Why? Umbra and Tulisa only said no because of me. Neither Iris nor Rebecca could lead a counter against the majority of the group. They would accept the killing because there had been so much already against us even if it wasn’t their preference.

So a duel it was.

We journeyed to one of the open fields. The dead cows had been moved and there was only grass blowing in the breeze and rolling hills. Everyone watched Làidir and I.

Morgana doing her thing decided to be the judge, "I will start the duel with the call. No deaths but you already know that. Should either of you surrender or be able to continue the fight then you win. Best of luck to you both. Clan Penmagi’s future rests on the outcome. Fight with everything you have for your chosen ideals."

"Let’s start already." Làidir complained.

"I’m ready." I replied.

Morgana took a breath.

"Start!" Morgana shouted.

Làidir charged, pointing her tip of her halberd towards my chest.

I deflected the attack with a wave of metal.

She spun round and swung down with her Halberd.

I flew back using the pull of metal.

She was far too strong for me to dare take a hit from her. I’d live, in fact, I wasn’t certain she could kill me. Still, it would hurt and Morgana might judge me as having lost.

I thought to start with trying some of my new magic.

I nearly paid for thinking. Làidir attacked relentlessly, and it was only through my easy command of metal that I was able to keep just out of her reach.

I wanted to try one of my new magic psychic attacks. If I wanted her to quit the fight then the way to go was to create fear. But I wouldn’t dare to repeat Jack’s attack as it is practically lethal in the sense of mental death.

I pointed my staff at the ever approaching Làidir and shouted, "Terror!"

I cast a powerful wave of fear inducing magic.

Her eyes fully dilated and a terrible grin formed, rather than flight her body screamed fight.

"Let’s go!" She roared with even greater enthusiasm than before.

She unleashed a lethal blast of her red beam power. Where before she used it as a kind of extended thrust, the power seemed tied to her very being and emotions, I had perhaps amplified her with my fear spell. This time she held the beam and used it in a slicing motion. She cut off the top of a nearby hill.

I didn’t even attempt to block it, but merely flew above it.

"Too far, Làidir. Do that again and I will judge you as a cheat." Morgana shouted with a little, restrained terror in her voice.

"Pah!" Làidir replied, but did not disagree.

If fear failed perhaps a hypnotic suggestion.

"Hypnosis: Surrender the fight."

She was confused for a second and the first syllable escaped her lips, but then hardened determination set on her face.

"That was a close call. Mind tricks, eh? Looks like that abomination gave you some terrible ideas. But your cheap tricks won’t work on me."

Her mental fortitude was insane. So long as she wanted to fight I couldn’t dissuade her from the notion. In fact, my previous fear spell might have helped her resist the hypnotic suggestion when it encouraged her fight.

Frustrated that my new spells had been ineffective against one as powerful as her, I tried to wrest her halberd out of her grip. But she was too strong and held onto it. Though it did take great strength on her part.

"It will take more than that to disarm me, Sorcerer."

She kept pushing in close and closed the distance once again.

I fired off a bolt of lightning that she dashed to the side of and closed the distance between us.

She punched me in the gut, I kid you not, I floated in the air. Her fit buried into my sternum and threw the air out of my lungs. My mouth forced open by the impact and my spit flying out my mouth.

Then she uppercut me again this time to the chin with her other hand. The back of my head whiplashed to the base of my neck. I toppled over crashing onto my back.

She was not only stronger and faster; she was a better fighter.

My electricity sparked in my instinctive defence, but she bore the shocks with screaming determination.

She didn’t let up, even as I was down. She was rushing for victory. It was a smart plan, the more chance I had to try out trick her window for victory dimmed.

I forcefully conjured a metal dome between us. She pounded, knocking fist shaped dent into the dome. She kicked invertined the dome. Before I could reinforce or reshape my defences...

She ripped it apart.

I blasted her with lightning straight out from my fingers.

She blocked it with a palm, a now smoking, searing palm. But she bore the brunt of the lightning with her left hand.

Grabbing me by my hair, she pulled my face straight down onto her rising knee. Shattering my nose in a burst of blood. She was not content with that, she grabbed my dazed head in my meaty hand and slammed her elbow into the crown of my head in an over her head downward smash.

I hit the ground, jaw broken and body battered. I lay there drinking my own blood, sweat and tears. I healed and felt the pain the entire time.

"You’re stronger than most humans, but you are still human. I have faced far worse. You magic folk need time to prepare spells. Hard to do when I am up close and beating the snot out of you."

She charged again, but I threw up a wall of metal and thick mana. She tore the metal apart, I detonated the mana sending her flying back. The mana explosion went from with the force of a bomb. I destroyed the field around us and blew a crater into this hill.

She came out fine, if smoking and a little fried.

"Damn, you just keep hitting back. If only you had the training to put your power into use, but you’re just a child wielding a sharp blade."

"I don’t need to cut you. Just stop you from getting close."

The thought came to me suddenly, like a lightning bolt, I needed a prison. A straitjacket. One that could hold her, made of a metal so hard and dense it would trap her. A non-lethal means of victory. Similar to the prison I had used to contain the Romans and then Umbra but just a coffin like cage.

Anything to stop her movement.

I formed it in the sky above while I distracted her with mainly mana based attacks. I couldn’t afford to add in lightning from above lest she see what I was constructing.

She adapted far too quickly for me to the explosions of energy I could cause from detonating mana. If not for a lucky dodge, she nearly batted me to the heavens after riding one such explosion. She tried for a second swing, but I conjured a pillar of metal to hit her stomach. She buckled under the force, but held her composure and slammed her halberd down, shattering the makeshift pillar.

However, that distracted her long after for me to drop the cage.

The super hardened metal straitjacket: a more streamlined version of the prison I had used to contain Umbra, essentially a coffin and cage, trapped Làidir

I laughed. I was confident. But, she flew despite the metal straitjacket.

I rather didn’t think she could fly while covered by metal. Though slow, she was clawing away at the metal and would break free unless I repaired it. I might get the win unless she comes up with a better idea.

"She caged. I’ve won. Haven’t I?" I called out to Morgana.

"No." Morgana shouted back stern and decisive in her judgement.

Couldn’t she have been biased to me this one time? I don’t think she was favouring Làidir. She just knew like I did that Làidir was still in the fight.

A moment later, the straightjacket broke as Làidir, not clawed, but flexed and shattered my cage.

I tried to stop her, but even without her weapon, which she had been forced to drop when caged, she brute forced her way to me. Maybe, if I had been striking to kill I could have stopped her, but that logic equally applied to her.

She zoomed in close. I tried to cast a spell, but she unceremoniously held me up by the scruff of the neck, like I was a naughty cat or dog. Shock more than pain stopped me casting a spell at first. But then clarity and a solution hit.

"Don’t worry, you lost, but I still like you. I just went a little unfair." She said and winked.

Unfortunately for her, we were in body contact. My head messed up as it was, I was still able to use my body magic. I shut down her nervous system first, and then her heart.

I could have ripped the metals out from her body at a distance of miles, but I wasn’t looking to kill her. This was a competition of sorts, not a death battle. How I won mattered.

I peel her hand off my neck, and gently stroking the bridge of her nose - I sent her to sleep. Shutting down her waking body.

She sprawled to the floor; effectively unconscious.

"Sorcerer wins." Morgana called.

"K.O." I whispered to myself.

I had won through use of my cheat-like abilities. But I needed a better measure. She would no doubt find some way to overcome this trick if we fought again. Judging by how horny she was, there would be another duel. She was mad enough to enjoy this.

How did I know she was horny?

She was wet down under. Gushing one might say. If touched any of her sensitive spots she would orgasm right away. She was so worked up.