Beaten At His Own Game

Aayla slowly walked towards Lyse's blind spot. She kept her breathing slow and footsteps soft. All of his attention was focused onto the professor. With her suppressing her naturally low mana, Lyse didn't even notice her. Maybe he didn't think of her as a threat, or maybe Lyse simply didn't notice her. Either way, that was his big mistake.

Lyse walked over the scorched earth. A clear set of smoldering footprints was left in his wake. Each step clearly crunched as he went forward. Aayla frowned. Soon, she would need to make a choice. Walk over the scorched earth and risk alerting Lyse with the noise. Or walk outside of the impact area to avoid the noise yet risk not getting close enough to strike.

Lyse concentrated mana into another orb on his hand. He slowly looked at the students moaning on the ground.

"Oh~ dear~ professor. Those students don't look to well. Why did you all have to get in my f***ing way?! Every. Single. Time. Someone always gets in my f***ing way. How dare you, you filthy commoner insects!"

Aayla was still several feet away. With her eyesight, she could see Lyse's hand shaking. Would he take out the professor first? She glanced at the professor. The man stood firmly in front of his patient. He probably understood Lyse's condition much better than she did. Yet, he continued to stay defensive.

So, Lyse was still a threat. If the professor moved to protect himself and the other students, then those behind him could die. If he stayed still, then he would take the blunt of the artifact's power or Lyse could attack the other students.

If Aayla decided to walk outside the scorched area, Lyse could see her if he chose to target other students. Thus, ruining her surprise. Still, he likely wouldn't attack the other students given his current fixation on his intended victim.

Aayla decided to take a chance. She stepped on Lyse's first footprint just as he took another step. The scorched earth slightly cracked under the pressure. Lyse didn't notice a thing, so Aayla took another step. Then another.

As Lyse continued to loudly mock the professor, Aayla prepared her ambush. She took one last step. Any further could expose her. She was now four feet away from Lyse. When he started to cast his spell, Lyse would lose.

Sure enough, the orb flared to life. He must have recharged enough mana. Aayla carefully dug her toes into the ground. Lyse lifted his hand over his head. She pounced.

With a hard smack, Aayla rammed her shield into the back of his head. Sparks flew as a barrier appeared around him. Lyse flew sideways. The spell was interrupted. The incomplete orb flew towards the building and exploded on impact.

Both were knocked away by the force. Aayla quickly jumped after Lyse. Before she could restrain him, some force knocked her back again. Clearly, Lyse had some sort of defensive artifact. Furious, he finally got onto his feat after shaking off his fall. That barrier stayed wrapped around him.

"You dare attack me from behind?! You filthy commoner!"

"Just 'you filthy commoner' again? Geez, you really need to expand your vocabulary. Have you tried a thesaurus? They should have some in the library."

"You! How dare you!"

Oppressive heat emanated from Lyse. Aayla rolled out of the way as lightning struck her previous position. His breathing was getting heavy, and his mana control more erratic.

"How rude. I'm just trying to be helpful."

"You dare to mock me?! I'll kill you, you low born peasant!"

"And that awful temper of yours. Are you sure that you're not a toddler?"

Aayla could have sworn that she heard a blood vessel burst in his head. Lyse threw as many spells as he could as fast as he could. The angrier he got, the worse his aim and mana usage. Aayla silently absorbed as much mana as she could into her bracelet. There was no way that she could compete in mana with him.

However, Aayla clearly had the edge in physical ability and emotional stability. She quickly stepped back, weaving from side to side. Whenever Aayla couldn't dodge, her shield could take. They slowly got farther away from the professor and the other students.

Aayla suppressed her frown. What now? She's got him good and mad, but has no real idea how to beat him. He didn't go down on the first strike, and she has no idea how much mana he has left. Suddenly, Lyse grinned viciously.

"You lowly bug! I'll finish you off here and now, then I'll go get rid of that foreign rat."

An enormous amount of mana flowed into his ring. The heat emanating from it began to melt the stones underneath his feet. Aayla noticed the barrier around Lyse flickered. Is he withdrawing mana from the barrier to power that spell? She had to stop him now.

With a sharp kick towards the ground, Aayla rushed towards him. Surprise appeared on Lyse face. She's fast! Lyse ran backwards. Isn't she a wizard? Why on Tellus does she keep trying close combat?! Still, it's no use. His barrier may be overdrawn, but it can still handle a fist or a kick.

Just as Aayla got near him, Lyse sneered. Heh. She wouldn't be close enough to interrupt him in time. Aayla realized this problem as well. So, with a sneer of her own she stretched out her left hand. Her mana reached out and grabbed firmly onto Lyse's ring.

Lyse's smile faltered when he saw that bracelet. Why is she so confident? That artifact has very little mana. It couldn't possibly beat his own. To his horror, he felt a tug at the mana in his hand. Like pulling the plug out of a drain, all of the mana began to slip away.

His eyes widened in shock then he glared at Aayla. Fine. He would just send her to the afterlife now. The mana that he still had was more than enough to kill with the special ability of his ring. The orb in his hand erupted with a brilliant light.

Aayla raised her shield to hide her eyes. That insane spell was coming. There was no time to delay. She removed all of its limiters. Her New Moon Bracelet was still hungry for mana, and it had never seen such a feast.

The light immediately dimmed at an alarming rate. Lyse gritted his teeth and pulled in even more power from his barrier. All of his attention went into getting more mana. The orb flickered on and off for several seconds. These few seconds were all that Aayla needed.

She caught up to Lyse in a heartbeat. By the time he noticed, Aayla could almost touch him.

"Dodge this you commoner!"

"Reverse!"

As soon as Lyse threw the orb at her, Aayla reversed the flow of mana into the New Moon Bracelet. It was clever little trick that Aayla picked up recently. Just as the New Moon Bracelet could absorb mana, it could also release it.

Mana surged out of the bracelet. Released from its cage, the fire element mana dragging the orb up into the sky and pushing Lyse away. Without his shield, Lyse was defenseless and bore the full brunt of the tsunami of fire element mana. He screamed as he crashed and rolled on the ground. A second later, the orb exploded into a brilliant light.

When Aayla could finally see and hear again, her dress was on fire. She hurriedly rolled on the ground. Lyse was still screaming in pain. Aayla had no time to worry about him though. Just like the mana on person she treated, the mana on her clothes was also very sticky, corrosive and flammable.

Her own mana had run dry. It was not enough to trigger the New Moon Bracelet. She quickly tore off her outer garments and kicked them away. Aayla grabbed a nearby flowerpot and dumped the dirt on top of her now furiously burning clothes. She did not want to risk the grass catching on fire.

Aayla stomped on the dirt and clothes to put out the fire. The flames soon turned into a smolder. With that finished, she turned towards Lyse. Should she help the lunatic that tried to kill her?

Fortunately for Lyse, Aayla didn't need to answer that question. He had some nasty burns, and his clothes were in tatters. However, the fire was already out. A soft blue glow surrounded him as he laid on the ground. Lyse furiously glared at Aayla.

"How dare you! You witch! I am Lysander Foryl! Do you know who my family is?! I'll bring your family to ruins and have you begging for death! You are nothing –"

She immediately tuned out his ranting. Of course, the rich young master would have a secret method to save himself.

Someone must have finally noticed all of the commotion. A familiar deputy headmaster of security was running over with some security guards. Aayla sighed. How was she supposed to explain this?