Frozen Out

Shadows began curling around Igor's feet as the wind picked up behind his back.

This time, he faded into the darkness not through deception, but with practiced skill, calm, focused, and deliberate.

Jace didn't move from his perch.

He didn't need to.

The four elemental orbs continued their steady orbit around him like silent sentinels. The stone wall beneath his feet offered both elevation and cover. The storm raged on, snow thick in the air, muting vision and muffling movement. With each passing second, the battlefield bent further to his will.

He let out a slow breath.

This was his domain now.

Even with Igor vanishing into the shadows once more, Jace remained steady. He understood this magic. He'd trained with Selene, he knew the cues, the distortions in air pressure, the cold slither of magic before it struck.

So he waited. No new spells, no wasted motion.

His defenses were already in place. Any reckless attack would cost more mana than it was worth.

And although his mana reserves were deeper than most at their level, even Jace had limits. He'd kept his casting lean, efficient, but he was nearing his personal warning threshold. Enough to finish the duel, certainly, but the time for patience was drawing short.

The terrain magic, still active and enhancing his storm, drained mana slowly now. Most of its cost had come from the initial cast, and keeping it sustained only took a trickle of power.

For the moment, he chose to wait. Let the pressure he'd built force Igor to act.

Then it happened.

A sudden lash of air cut through the storm, sharp and fast.

Igor burst from the shadows behind him, wind launching him upward in a spiraling strike. A blade of condensed wind coiled around his arm, aiming to carve straight through Jace with enough force to cleave stone.

But Jace was already reacting.

One of his Earth orbs surged forward, intercepting the wind blade mid flight. A sharp crack echoed through the arena as the two forces collided, scattering dust and shards of stone. At the same time, Jace turned and stepped off the edge of his stone wall in a controlled fall.

Both Ice orbs swept behind him, forming a sweeping trail of frost in his wake. It not only blocked Igor's forward momentum but also obscured his line of sight.

He landed softly, the freshly fallen snow absorbing the impact with a muted crunch.

Jace felt it then, this should be the end of the match.

Igor was fast, skilled, dangerous even… but the battlefield had shifted too far in Jace's favor. His terrain magic had reached a critical point, and without Ice as one of his elements, Igor was paying the price.

Jace exhaled slowly, steam barely visible in the air. His body, already attuned to the cold, radiated little heat by comparison.

To anyone watching, the effects were clear. Igor's movements had dulled. His breathing was heavier, his stance more cautious. Even his shadow movements, once fluid and confident, now appeared sluggish… hesitant. His Wind magic struggled to cut through the very storm forming around them.

This was the pressure Jace had been building toward. He knew he couldn't do this in every duel, not without burning through his mana, but against an opponent without natural resistance to the cold, it was devastating.

The air itself seemed to vibrate with power. Snow thickened into sleet, then hardened further into jagged ice shards, joining the elemental orbs circling protectively around him.

With a final burst of mana, he unleashed them.

The shards shot outward like a horizontal hailstorm—an uncountable barrage of razor-edged ice, flying at Igor with the relentless fury of a gatling gun.

To his credit, Igor reacted.

Slower than usual, yes, but not without resolve. He threw his arms forward and summoned a massive gust of Wind straight upward, attempting to redirect the incoming ice over his head in a roaring updraft.

His spell worked. The updraft successfully pushed the majority of the shards upward, sending them whistling harmlessly over his head.

However, one larger shard had been camouflaged among the flurry.

His eyes went wide as it pierced through the wind like it wasn't even there, striking him cleanly in the chest.

Ding.

With the third point scored, the duel was over.

Jace exhaled, his shoulders relaxing as he stepped down from the battlefield. He walked over to Igor, summoning a gentle wave of Fire magic to melt away the lingering cold around him.

"Thanks," Igor said, breathing in as the warmth flowed through him. He hadn't even realized how frozen his body had become.

"Well, I figured since I was the one who froze you out, I might as well thaw you out," Jace replied with a chuckle.

Igor's entire body began to tingle as sensation returned to his limbs.

"It felt like there was nothing I could do near the end of the match."

"Sorry about that," Jace said, rubbing the back of his head. "I was trying something a little new and wasn't totally sure how strong it would be."

"Nah, don't be," Igor said, starting to shake out his limbs now that they'd fully regained feeling. "It was a strong spell. Once you really get control of it, it's gonna be terrifying."

"Thanks, man. Good luck in your next contest," Jace said, holding out a fist.

Igor bumped it without hesitation. "Thanks. Hopefully next time we don't draw a Rank 1 team," he added with a laugh as he made his way out of the arena.

Jace just shook his head, a small smile tugging at the corner of his lips. Personally, he was hoping for Finn's team next.

Or any of the Rank 2's, really…

He wasn't picky.