Rematch of the Mages

On the battlefield, a large circular opening was left between the clashing troops that only held two individuals standing at opposite ends. On the southern end, Ariane stood with her large staff by her side and on the northern side, Kara stood with her own staff.

The two mages only afforded each other a glance as they immediately cast their respective spells.

"Ground Zero!"

"Salamander's Lair!"

Two extremely powerful third circle spells were cast as soon as the magic duel began. A thick layer of ice spread from Kara and instantly covered half of the circle. While on the side, a spiral flame with scorching heat spread around Ariane as it covered the other half of the circle.

The two spells collided exactly on the line that divided the circle in half. The display of power was also accompanied by an astonishing display of control, as not a single spark of fire nor did a single flake of ice got outside the limits of the circle.

The fire tried to melt the ice, while the ice tried to swallow the fire, but neither managed to gain any significant ground. At last, the two spells established a firm border that cleanly bisected the circle, before dissipating. Where one side was scorching hot while the other was freezing cold.

The two mages moved again to cast another set of spells.

"Blue Orc Guardian!" Kara once more cast the spell to summon the giant water construct as water formed from the water vapor in the air and this time the beast reached a height of full five meters as the ice spell from before had prepared a suitable Environment for it.

"Frozen Armaments!" Kara did not stop there as she cast another third circle spell. Once more, large amount of water vapor gathered and this time froze around the water guardian, forming a full set of plate armor and even forming a huge ice shield and a two-meter-long ice Greatsword.

The finished product looked like a five-meter tall dark blue Orc behemoth, clad in full plate armor made of light blue ice. A white mist rose from the ice armor, even further enhancing the beast's terror. The five-meter tall giant had such an effect on the battlefield that all those fighting on the periphery of the circle stopped their fight and stared in terror at the menacing figure. Orc and human, alike, did not dare to move in its presence.

However, the mage that was standing opposite to Kara, didn't even show a shred of fear. Instead, her cute little face was adorned with a creepy smile as she completed her own spell, a little later than Kara.

"Halos of the Red Ember!" As the spell casting finished, tremendous amount of mana was pushed out of Ariane's mana core and channeled into the spell. Less than a second later, three huge halos of neon red light formed above her head. The three halos of red light were spinning at tremendous speed and emitted an extreme amount of heat, even more than spells she had cast before.

However, the spinning discs of red light failed to impress the onlookers, who were more afraid of the towering figure that dominated the landscape. Yet, when all of them failed to recognize the significance of this spell, Kara did not, as her smug look vanished.

The blue guardian ran towards Ariane, his greatsword pulled back, ready to destroy the mage in a single swing. The red halos also flew towards the giant orc, and the two spells crashed into each other at the border of fire and ice.

The giant ice clad warrior swung his sword, intent on cleaving through the red halos. Instead, the halos passed through the sword as if they were ethereal and in the next moment, the greatsword fell to the floor in several pieces, yet the halos hadn't even lost an iota of power and continued towards the ice giant.

The halos once more passed through the blue guardian like they were made of mist. This time, however, the halos turned back and passed through the ice giant once more and again and again. All this happened under a single second and as a result the guardian fell to the ground shattered into a million pieces.

All the spectators were left flabbergasted at the outcome of the clash of spells, but the caster of ice magic accepted her defeat gracefully. It was akin to swallowing poison for Kara but she had no other choice. It was all because the orc mage realized the single spell that took down her combination spell of two elements, was not a fire element spell but an ember element spell, the most destructive element of all.

The Ember element was the variant of the fire element, and as such it was the most unstable and destructive element known to man. Its destructiveness far surpassed even that of the lightning element. Kara now had to play her cards carefully if she wanted to come out of this alive.

On the other hand, Ariane had on her face an expression that can only be described as a mixture of pride and cruelty. She had finally used her hidden ace and completely destroyed the orc mage's confidence.

The fight resumed once more as all humans and orcs returned to their battle and the mages began to cast another set of spells. Kara focused solely on her top tier third circle spells. Although they had high mana consumption, meaning she could only cast a few of them, this was not the time to reserve her mana.

Ariane also prepared her ember element spells, while also making sure that none of her allies will be caught in the aftermath of her spell.

"Ember Shards!"

"Great Ancestral Lance!"

A six-meter-long ice lance formed above Kara's head and in response three razor sharp shards, a meter in length each, made of the same neon red light appeared above Ariane's head.

With a wave of their wands, the two spells flew towards each other and collided at the edge of fire and ice. Once more, the more destructive element of ember destroyed the mighty lance as one of the red shards expanded into a huge red sphere of light, swallowing the mighty lance before disappearing. The remaining two continued on their path towards the Orc mage.

Kara saw the two shards flying towards her, each containing the power to swallow a powerful third circle ice spell, and the mage desperately cast the third circle shielding spell she had prepared.

"Glacial Wall!"

Immediately, a three-meter tall, three meter long and three meter wide wall of ice appeared in front of Kara and the two shards crashed collided into it. The two shards created two huge spheres of red light which vanished a moment later, taking with them huge chunks of the ice wall.

Kara breathed out a sigh of relief when the wall managed to stop the attack with only a foot of the wall remaining. Unfortunately, for Kara, while her wall remained strong, her luck had run out. She sensed a presence behind her but it was too late as a steel sword came out of her chest, piercing through her heart.

The orc mage looked over her shoulder to see, the raven haired swordswoman behind her, "Coward…"

Her last words left her mouth and the flame of life was smothered in her eyes. "Honor does not win you wars." Freya replied as she pulled out her dagger and let the lifeless body of the orc mage fall to the ground. Her 'Blessing of Mana' trait allowing her to resist the cold of the third circle spell.

"Finally!" Ariane shouted out as she came to the side of Freya. "If I had to fight her anymore, I would not have enough left mana to help you guys anymore."

"Let's move to the next location." Freya said, and the mage nodded before following her

[You have killed a level 42 Orc, 'Kara'. +8490 Exp.]

[You have levelled up to Level 29. +10 Distributable points.]

[You have received an Epic spell book.]

Freya saw the message from the corner of her eyes and distributed the points before continuing to her destination.

[Stats Increase: +5 Strength, +5 Agility.]