Conducting the Storm

The gentle snowfall began to thicken, heavier flakes tumbling down at a faster pace.

And Jace had no intention of making things easy.

With the terrain under control, Jace moved to his next layer, an aura spell. Two condensed spheres of ice began to orbit him, spinning with a low, dangerous hum. They were clear threats, punishing proximity, ratcheting up the pressure with every rotation.

He then started the next layer of his plan.

Ice bolts formed one after another, each launched with unerring precision toward Igor. As the most basic Ice spell they normally couldn't accomplish too much, however that also meant they didn't take much mana, allowing one to use them constantly while minimising their mana usage.

The steady rhythm of ice striking stone echoed through the arena, shards zipping past as the storm above continued to swell.

Igor ducked behind another pillar, narrowly dodging a bolt that whistled past his ear, exploding against the wall behind him.

The cold was biting now.

It wasn't just weather, it was an oppressive chill that sapped the warmth from the air. Numbing one's fingers, slowing their reactions.

This contradicted everything Igor had read. Jace was supposed to be an emotional barrage caster. Not this calm and collected control based caster.

He'd expected a flash of brilliance, a chaotic rush for the win. Instead, he was being ground down by cold logic and relentless pressure.

Igor clenched his jaw. He couldn't keep this up, not if he wanted a chance to win.

He was going to have to break this rhythm… And fast.

Igor's eyes narrowed, his breath clouding in the frozen air with each breath. An ice bolt slipped in closer than expected, exploding against the wall and spraying his shoulder with shards of frost.

"Enough."

He whispered the word like a promise.

A burst of Wind magic launched him from behind the pillar, propelling him into a wide arc. He wasn't silly enough to go straight at Jace, his reactions were too fast for that.

But his movements were anything but slow, his form blurred as he zigzagged between cover, the forming storm actually assisting in accelerating his movement.

Jace adjusted his aim, launching to strike Igor mid run.

But right as a bolt was about to strike Igor shadow coiled around his feet, as he vanished into it. The bolt striking harmlessly against the stone.

One moment he was there… Then gone, a faint silhouette melting into the darkness.

Luckily Jace was familiar with this spell, Shadow walking.

But the real question was where was he going to emerge?

That's when Jace felt it, a faint flicker in the shadows behind him. But there was something wrong, those shadows were too far to strike him, but definitely close enough that he would notice.

He could feel it, it was a trap.

He made a call, ignoring the flickering shadow. Predicting that the attack would come from the other direction, if he was wrong… It would mean a guaranteed point.

But he was confident, he had seen Selene do it enough times, he was confident that he could tell.

With all his focus on the other direction, he noticed immediately as there was a surge of wind.

Igor reappeared launching a Wind Blade as he did, the spell slicing through the air with a purpose.

Unfortunately for Igor, his actions fit perfectly into Jace's predictions.

Another grin creeping onto his face, he used one of the rotating orbs to absorb the impact.

Igor's wind blade shattered harmlessly against the spinning orb of ice, scattering even more frost into the already snowy air. Jace was already acting.

Kneeling low he pressed one palm against the ground, his ice flared outwards in a thin sharp line, an ice bolt skating low across the arena floor.

Igor's eyes widened. Jace had predicted his angle of attack. He tried to redirect himself with a burst of wind to his side, but it was too late.

The bolt slammed into his ankle, causing his leg to buckle. Ice spraying outwards from the point of impact.

Ding.

Igor shook off the pain from his ankle, standing back to his height. "How did you predict me?"

"Unfortunately for you," Jace said, repairing his damaged orb, "Selene's a better Shadow walker."

Jace didn't pause longer than that.

He was already adjusting. The storm thickened, and the orbs spun faster—his defenses rising like a silent dare. Igor was going to have to do better.

Igor gritted his teeth. The cold was starting to cut deep, slowing his wind magic, making the shadows that he's familiar with harder to feel. It felt like Jace was turning the entire battlefield into his own element, one snowflake at a time.

But Igor refused to back down.

He clenched both fists, drawing on both his elements simultaneously. His wind howled behind him. His shadows pooling at his feet.

Jace backed off as Igor was readying himself, instead of trying to increase pressure, he summoned two Earth orbs, slotting them into his defensive ring. There was no need to press; the freezing terrain was already doing that for him.

Igor narrowed his eyes as the two Earth orbs joined Jace's orbiting ring, adding weight and force to the defensive formation. Between the biting cold and swirling shield of magic, getting close was becoming more and more dangerous.

"He's stalling," Igor thought to himself. "No… he's locking the field down, letting the snow itself wear me down."

The snow was now thick enough to obscure his visibility, the ground slick with ice. Every step was a risk. Each breath came out in a steaming cloud. And above all, there was Jace, standing at the center of it all. Commanding the storm like a conductor at an orchestra.

Igor's options continued to narrow. He knew he couldn't just wait Jace out. The longer this went on, the stronger his opponent became. He had to force an opening, and he had to do it now.