The Forsaken Hero

The tournament progressed swiftly throughout the day, the audience’s energy growing with each match. The first round of fights was intentionally designed to be one-sided to weed out the weaker heroes early. Interestingly enough, I had originally been intended to face off against Korra, which allowed her to progress to the second round without competing. As the second round began, the atmosphere in the arena grew tense with anticipation, and the crowd’s excitement was palpable. Spectators eagerly observed each bout, analyzing techniques and predicting outcomes.

At long last, Korra stood and stretched, reaching her arms high over her head. I couldn’t help but glance enviously at her well-developed chest, straining against her robes due to the pose. Catching myself staring, I tore my gaze away and blushed softly, wishing her luck in her match. The Storm Hero, Grace, rose to join her, and the two descended to the arena floor.

Grace was someone I’d never interacted with, although she seemed friendly with the others. From her introduction at the banquet, she matched or perhaps exceeded Soltair in physical abilities, being at the peak of seventh-level, but her spellcasting left much to be desired. Small strands of electricity arced around her eyes, giving her a mysterious aura that overshadowed the small smile dimples on her cheeks.

When they both settled in their places, Grace drew her rapier, drawing a finger along its length. Lightning crawled after her touch, crackling menacingly as it clung to the blade.

”I’m looking forward to testing your magic,” she said loudly, swishing her sword through the air.

”And I your sword,” Korra returned, ”I hope you don’t find yourself at too great a disadvantage.”

Her words, while arrogant and overbearing, were logical. Spells provided infinitely more variety and adaptability than direct combat, theoretically giving a spellcaster an edge. Of course, that theory was rarely applied to heroes, proven by the next second.

Right as Korra raised her hand, the words of a chant dropping from her lips, Grace exploded into action. Lightning trailed behind her sword as she darted forward, closing the gap in an instant. Korra scarcely had time to throw up a second-circle spell before the Storm Hero arrived, slashing down across her chest.

A spurt of water erupted from the ground, exploding into steam as it met with the sparking blade. Korra disappeared into the sudden smoke screen, leaving Grace looking about wildly. After a moment of hesitation, she chanted the words of a first-circle spell, summoning a gust of wind to clear the steam.

By the time she finished the incantation, Korra ran out of the cloud and summoned four magic circles. My eyes widened in recognition as several jets of water sliced forward right as Grace appeared in the thinning steam.

The spell took her by surprise, but the Storm Hero reacted quickly, cutting through the water with her sword. Another cloud of steam erupted from the contact, closing in around her once more. Alex laughed softly, obviously amused by the unbridled frustration on her face.

As Korra began casting another spell, the steam blew apart, disintegrating as Grace released her aura. The fact that something as mundane as steam hindered her to such a degree was rather startling, and revealing a glaring weakness in her combat style.

Once again, by the time Grace recovered, Korra’s spell was finished. ”Avalanche!” she called, her clear voice filling the arena.

Grace paled as a massive magic circle appeared over her head, its mere presence flooding the air with numbing cold. It was smaller than Soltair’s, but still enough to cover over half the arena. Raising her hand, she clenched her fist, and a sudden updraft caught the frigid air, throwing it back up into the magic circle. Immediately after, car-sized boulders and chunks of ice rained from thy sky, smashing through the wind’s resistance and plummeting onto the Storm Hero. Her rapier danced as she gracefully avoided the avalanche, striking down anything she couldn’t dodge.

A cloud of ice and dust billowed up as the debris settled, but it was rapidly dispersed as a powerful air current churned about the arena. Korra frowned, her dress and hair flapping in the wind, but clapped her hands together. Over thirty magic circles appeared at once, rotating quickly around the Storm Hero.

Cries of shock and disbelief rumbled around the spectators as jagged icicles emerged from the circles, filling the air with a loud keen as they launched forward. Once again, Grace was forced back, her sword busy deflecting the ice as it strafed the ground around her. Although none of Korra’s tricks had managed to damage her, she panted heavily, obviously exhausted from the constant evasion. Korra wasn’t much better, burning through spell after spell to keep the Storm Hero away.

After another round of exchanges, Grace’s frown deepened, and she raised her sword high. Black storm clouds spewed forth from the tip, darkening the sky as they swirled upward, forming a disk that overshadowed the area. The Sun disappeared behind the impenetrable mass of seething clouds, which began to drizzle lightly.

Grace lowered her sword and wiped the sweat from her brow. ”If you can defeat this, I’ll admit my defeat,” she panted heavily.

”Then I won’t hold back either,” Korra replied, taking a deep breath before chanting.

Lightning snaked through the clouds above, illuminating the arena with pale flashes of light as the clouds continued to churn, growing darker with every passing breath. Seven magic circles sprung up behind Korra, vertically oriented with their edges touching, making a circle in the sky. They began to spin rapidly, creating a small sphere of water in their center. It started no bigger than a hand, but quickly swelled in size until it brushed the magic circles at its circumference.

I balled up my fists, overwhelmed by the sheer power manifest through the eyes of Fate. The combined might of two seventh-level effects eclipsed Soltair’s Solar Flare, and I watched the wards nervously. Priests ran around the massive crystals, casting spells and pouring their mana into the enchantments. I edged closer to Soltair, readying my own spells should the unthinkable happen.

Korra’s shoulders slumped as her spell was completed, the sphere of water hovering just behind her. Tendrils of water ruptured the surface of the ball, winding out from every available surface, They twisted together, forming shapes and growing ever larger. I fell back against my seat in shock as four clawed limbs took shape, followed by a tail, wings, and a terrible, horned head.

”A dragon?” Soltair asked, jaw dropping in shock. ”For real?”

The dragon flexed its wings and roared, rearing its head to tower hundreds of feet above the ground. Its titanic body filled most of the arena, wrapping protectively around Korra. Grace’s eyes flickered for a moment, but her courage burned bright as she raised her sword once more. The skies grew quiet, letting the muted cries of the audience flutter through the air before the clouds began twisting again. They writhed together in a black mass, funneling downward and tapering into the Storm Hero’s sword. In the blink of an eye, the sky was clear once more, the sun’s rays glistening as it caught the rain still falling from the sky.

Grace’s sword blurred with blacks and grays, surrounded by a thin nimbus of wind and vapor. The magical density was unlike any spell I’d seen, and it became apparent the entire storm had condensed on her blade.

”Storm Sword,” she shouted, kicking off the ground.

The dragon roared again, reverberating in my ears and making me wince, and darted forward, meeting the Storm hero mid-jump. She was scarcely the size of one of its teeth, but she cried out fearlessly, brandishing her sword and slicing downward.

A razor-thin wind blade curled off the tip of her sword, sweeping downward and striking the dragon’s chest. The creature screeched, its head darting forward. Grace cried out it caught her in its maw, swinging her sword wildly until its jaws closed with a crash.

Everything was still for a moment, the audience’s eyes riveted to the rescue ward, responsible for retrieving a contestant before their death, but all remained still. Korra sighed in resignation and threw up a watery dome above her head.

The dragon froze, the nearly imperceptible cut across its body trembling violently. Visible through the translucent water of its flesh, lightning and wind raved its insides, working to open the wound further. Another wind blade sliced out from inside its neck traveling until it struck the barrier around the arena. The entire barrier quivered, but held, and Grace crawled her way out of the laceration. Wind rose to catch her as she jumped, softly floating down to land triumphantly beside Korra. The dragon cried out one final time, then collapsed in a storm of lightning and wind. The water forming its body began to dissolve, but before filling the entire combat space of the arena. Towering waves crashed against the barrier, obscuring the floor in a veritable maelstrom of water.

Several minutes passed before the remaining water evaporated, and Korra admitted her defeat. As they left the Arena, I sat frozen stiff, unable to comprehend the battle that had taken place. My small, fifth-circle spell felt so small and insignificant compared to the godlike powers they displayed, I once again doubted my ability to stand beside the other heroes.

”How’d I do?” Korra asked, taking a seat beside me.

”Incredible,” I breathed, unable to take my eyes off the empty arena. ”Simply incredible.”

”Yeah, I underestimated her a bit, which resulted in my loss. I thought the dragon would be flashy enough for the crowd, but not too overkill. Live and Learn, I guess,” she sighed, laying her chin on her hand.

”Good match,” Grace called, ”Let’s fight again later. The first half showed me I have a lot to learn when fighting spellcasters.”

”Sure. But I expect you to return the favor. Although I kept you tied down, I have no idea how to land a hit against someone so skilled,” Korra agreed.

”Next time it is, then. Maybe we can meet up at one of those Demon Gates and swap pointers.”

As more matches ended, the heroes’ mood only increased and friendly banter like that became common. Soltair put Ronin out fairly easily, starting with several full-powered attacks before the War Hero’s ability could stack up to full power. After that, he faced Grace in the finals, emerging victorious and cementing his place as the leader of the heroes.