Ever since that duel with Guiche, Louise had not been able to make Marianne enter Duel Mode. Even when ordered to, it refused because it detected no opponent. It had been three days and through very limited trial and error, she wrote down her guesses in her notebook. She was confident in her guess that Marianne was a Dollmaker, capable of summoning various other creatures for a limited time. However, those creatures seemed to be made purely of magic, paid for by her own Willpower if defeated. On an unrelated note, she did manage to find out by pure accident that Marianne was able to tell the time of day and measure it correctly. Since finding that out, she had tasked Marianne to act as an alarm for her to wake up to in the morning. The blaring sound of horns was the first thing to go and subsequently replaced with the gentle jingling of musical bells when it was first tested.
On another page, she penned down her uncertainties. She was uncertain if Marianne was some sort of ancient magical relic, perhaps used when duels were not yet outlawed. Was it used as a training tool for aspiring students who wanted to practice in the art of dueling before they did the summoning for their formal Familiar? It was highly possible. She was also unable to view what type of creatures Marianne was able to summon and outside of dueling, she was not sure what sort of command Marianne would respond to, other than asking it to keep track of the time.
***Line Break***
Louise changed her daily routine to always bring her Familiar along with her at all times. It needed very little care, only requiring a little polish to keep its shine. She ignored the rude whispers of her classmates as usual and focused on her classes diligently. Today was a day for reviewing previous lessons they have already been taught and they were on the subject of the elements of magic and their level of ranking.
"How am I supposed to know what Marianne can do if it shows no relation to the elements of magic?" Louise muttered under her breath after the teacher allowed for self-study for the rest of the class time. She nearly fell out of her chair when Marianne's jewel lit up and displayed the cards of monsters again with its magical light.
"All Monsters are aligned to one of the six elements: Fire, Water, Wind, Earth, Light, Dark," Marianne abruptly started its own lecture about the elements of magic.
"MARIANNE!" Louise shrieked in outrage. "Do not speak of such blasphemy! There are only five elements, and one is lost! It's the holy element of Void, not Light and Dark!"
"Louise, dear. Why don't you let your Familiar continue instead of interrupting it so rudely like that?" Kirche suggested snidely with a sly smile. "Who knows, you just might learn something. Or maybe not, since any spell you learn turns into an explosion anyway." She then laughed haughtily, and the whole class followed except for Tabitha and the teacher. Louise turned red with humiliation and was about to give a lashing retort when the teacher called for their attention.
"Quiet down, children. Allow the Familiar to speak. We are perhaps hearing knowledge that has been recorded into the Dollmaker. It might bring a new perspective for us to consider," the teacher told them. A simple Levitation spell casted on the key to the classroom gave a clear message to the students. Another outburst from them and the whole class would be punished with detention. "Miss Louise, if you will."
"Familiar, continue," Louise ordered and only silence answered her. Snickers from her classmates was heard and she cleared her throat to chase away her growing embarrassment at forgetting her Familiar did not respond to orders until she addressed it by its specified name. "Marianne, continue," she corrected herself.
"All Monsters are aligned to one of the six elements: Fire, Water, Wind, Earth, Light, Dark," Marianne repeated itself, lighting up the card of the monster that was aligned to said element one by one. "Light and Dark elements are collectively known as the Void element."
Every single person in the room was stunned into silence. Did... Did the Familiar just imply it had recorded knowledge of the lost element of Void?
"Void element is more commonly known as the non-elemental element. Monsters that do not fit the four primary elements are sorted into the Light and Dark elements based on the nature of its being."
"Marianne, stop," Louise ordered, her bangs shadowing her eyes. There was no possible way that explanation was true. If Void magic is simply non-elemental magic, then what about her magic that turned every spell she attempted into an flameless explosion? She could easily connect the dots. They were all non-elemental explosions, which meant if what her Familiar said was true, she was using Void magic. So her magical affinity was... Louise shook her head violently. She did not even want to entertain that line of thought, nor even want to consider it. No... No, she had to be aligned with either the Light or Dark element, not the Void! She had to be!
"Wait, does that mean that all this time Louise the Zero's magic element is actually either the Light or Dark element?" Montmorency was the first to start questioning Marianne's words. "All the spells we have learnt up to this point were of the primary elements. If that was the case, then Louise's magic must have been confused and didn't know what to do, so it exploded with no element attached to it."
Murmurs from the other students discussing the subject started, with approximately half agreeing with Marianne's claim of there being the sub-elements of Light and Dark that made up the Void element. More religious students disagreed, stating that the Void element was declared lost for a good reason. Others suggested that there were known spells that were officially designated as generalized magic, meaning there was no element attached to the spell. Another student who supported that statement casted a general spell to light up the end of her wand for the simple purpose of brightening her immediate area, the spell name aptly named Light, and claimed that perhaps this particular spell was of the Light element instead. Following that demonstration, a different student added that perhaps Levitation was of the Dark element since it prevented gravity from affecting them and the target could only be moved by the caster's will. By that phrasing, it sounded rather ominous and thus dark in nature and of the Dark element.
'Is that really true? Is my magical affinity really not of the primary elements but of Light or Dark?' Louise dreaded the answer as she questioned herself. What if she did attempt to cast those spells with a new perspective of magic and they still blew up? She could always test it for herself in the safe privacy of her own room where nobody would know if she succeeded or failed, but quickly realized a success meant little in that environment. They would brush it off as her empty boasting which she always failed to back up. She had to demonstrate to all of them at once so there were be no more doubt! She took a deep breath to calm herself down and turned to her classmates with resolve shining in her eyes. "Right here, right now, I will successfully erase the title of 'the Zero' from my name!"
All discussion immediately stopped and all her classmates screamed and ducked for cover, yelling at her to stop. Tabitha once again just ignored everyone and left the classroom. Louise slowly recited the spell for Light. As she did so, she repeated to herself in her head like a mantra that she was casting a Light element spell over and over. With the final word chanted and a small tilt of her wand, everyone screamed at the inevitable explosion. When they heard nothing, they peeked from their covers and witnessed a miracle. Louise's wand tip was shining brightly with a light. Louise was staring at it fervently, her eyes shining with awe and the widest smile anyone had ever seen on her face. She stopped her spell and immediately started chanting for the Levitation spell. Only this time, she imagined it as a Dark element spell. And instead of an explosion, she started floating off the floor.
"My spells are working! They're working!" Louise cheered out, flying around the classroom with unbridled joy. Her happiness only lasted until the teacher announced the end of her class. After an excited episode of flying around in the courtyard after classes were over, Louise asked Marianne about the levels of magic. Marianne displayed four monsters as an example, finally allowing her to see what creatures Marianne had at its beck and call. She was amazed to see that the creatures her Familiar was able to summon were indeed ranked Dot, Line, Triangle and Square. The higher the level, the more exotic, beautiful and powerful the creature appeared to be. Just like what she prayed for during her Summoning ritual!
***Break Line***
On Void Day, Louise had a restless sleep, no thanks to that Zerbst having her night flings again. Every student in the dorm they were staying in knew to use the Silence spell whenever it happened. The only one who could not escape the noise was Louise because when she tried, her spell exploded and disturbed everyone's sleep, leading to a formal complaint against her. She never tried to do so again. It was especially bad this day because Zerbst had more boys come over than usual. What few hours of sleep she had was disrupted by Marianne's alarm. Grouchingly leaving the comfort of her bed, she prepared herself for a trip to town. She wanted to purchase some rare magical reagents as ingredients for Potion-making classes next week.
To her immense displeasure, Kirche had snatched up one of the last few reagents she needed. Tabitha was accompanying her as well and did not seem to have bought anything for herself. It was just her rotten luck that they happened to be done shopping at the exact same time at the exact same place. Louise sulked the entire way back to the Academy, watching jealously from her horse as Kirche waved goodbye to her in a mocking fashion as she hitched a ride on Tabitha's Familiar, a Rhyme Dragon, as they flew on ahead. When she returned to her room to review her options, no thanks to that despicable Zerbst, she discovered the potion she had intended to mix needed the reagent that Kirche had or the potion would fail.
With a look as sour as someone biting into a lemon, Louise made her way to Kirche's room and knocked.
"Oh, what a surprise to see you! What can I help you with, Louise?" Just the way she spoke irked Louise.
"I need some of the reagents that you have," she stated her demands.
"I'm sorry, but I have need of them too. Sharing them with you isn't possible. Oops!"
"You don't need all of them! I saw just how much you bought! There's no way you're using everything at once!" she snapped at her flippant dismissal. "I'll buy them from you, so just give me some!"
"Hmm..." Kirche put a finger on her bottom lip in false thought, causing a tickmark to appear on Louise's head. "No deal, Zero. Instead, how about doing me a favor instead?"
"What favor?"
"Nothing too hard. Just let me play around with your Familiar for a day."
"I WILL NOT HAND OVER MY FAMILIAR TO YOU!" Louise screamed in outrage. How dare she! How dare this... this harlot! How dare she make such a demand!
"Come now, don't be such a stiff girl. It's not like your Familiar is a living thing. At best, it's just a really fancy toy for nobles."
"Marianne is not a toy! How dare you!" Louise was seeing red. Despite the bad blood between their families, she had been willing to put that issue aside for a simple barter. But of course it could not be simple with Kirche. She just had to go too far with her insults. A golem, no matter the form, was never a tool simply meant for play. To refer to one as such was a grave insult to its creator and/or master, and Kirche had just insulted both. Unfortunately, she did not have the physical stature to prevent Kirche from laying her hands on Marianne and trying to take it off. "Let go of it!"
"Unauthorized handling detected. Activating emergency protocols," Marianne's announced before a circular barrier emerged from its jewel and surrounded the two girls, startling Kirche into letting go.
"What is this?" Kirche exclaimed, both from seeing the sudden barrier that was trapping them inside as well as the magical chain link wrapped around her arm and connected to Marianne's jewel.
"Forced Duel engaged. Further attempts at forceful removal from Owner Louise will result in detonation of the chain and loss of arm." Marianne's voice had never sounded so menacing to Louise before despite the artificial tone. "Please relocate to an open area for the Duel."
"H-Hey, Louise. We don't need to go that far, do we?" Kirche's voice was wavering with false cheer, attempting to hide her fear of Marianne's threat. She tried to pull her arm away to no avail, the chain simply adjusting itself to keep them connected. "Alright, I get it. I'll sell you the extra reagents. Can you please call off your Familiar?"
Louise's bangs covered her eyes in shade as she lowered her head. Marianne's announcement had snapped her out of her rage. Kirche was now being threatened with her arm being destroyed for touching her Familiar without express permission from her. Magical prowess aside, Louise was under no delusions that she could physically fend off Kirche. She could struggle but she would ultimately lose. If Marianne had not erected the barrier from its self-defense protocol, Kirche would definitely had taken off with it. Only after being presented with a threat of fatal injury did she start to act pleasantly. Louise would not stand for it. But first, she wanted to do a little bit of prodding on Marianne. This was a chance like no other.
"Marianne, can I call off this Duel?" she asked.
"Because of the activation of emergency defense protocols, calling off the Duel is denied," Marianne answered. "As this is a Forced Duel, Owner Louise cannot declare surrender."
"Can the opponent surrender?"
"The opponent can declare surrender. In a Forced Duel, Owner Louise may choose to refuse the surrender."
"What happens if I lose?"
"In the event of a loss in a Forced Duel, defense protocols will be deactivated for one day. Unauthorized handling, theft, and illegal change of ownership will not be contested by this unit in that period."
"And if I win?"
"In the event of a victory in a Forced Duel, all parties will be marked by a binding contract. If either party has no intention of fulfilling the conditions agreed upon by both, detonation will proceed on the offending party. In the case of the Owner breaking the contract, this unit will self-destruct as well. Removal of the contract can only be done by the Owner of this unit upon fulfillment of the conditions set."
"I see," Louise responded unusually calmly at such a grim explanation. "A noble's agreement that if broken, results in harsh consequences." She raised her head to stare fiercely at Kirche. "To Vestri Court, then. We'll settle it there." She made no comment even when she noticed the barrier move with her as she turned around to leave. Kirche's protest was silenced when the barrier forced her to move at Louise's pace.
"Alright, Louise. I admit I was went a little overboard. Can we just end this peacefully?" Kirche asked. "We don't need to have this Duel. I'll just surrender and I'll even give you the reagents. Are you satisfied? We don't need all this unwanted attention."
The bright light of the blue barrier that encased both girls as they made their way to the open court had already attracted curious students who caught sight of them. Now there was already a crowd surrounding them and standing just beyond the barrier's perimeter and gossiping about a duel between Kirche the Ardent and Louise the Zero.
"I share your sentiments about the unwanted attention," Louise glared at the excited spectators with distaste. "But I won't let this go. The only thing I asked from you was the extra reagents you bought, likely on purpose just to spite me. I had all the intentions to purchase them from you in a fair exchange. Instead, you asked for an outrageous favor!"
"There's nothing outrageous about me wanting to play with your Familiar! You're blowing things way out of proportion!" Kirche argued.
"And I said no! And you wouldn't accept it for an answer!" Louise snapped back. "Not only that, but you insulted my Familiar! So what if it takes the form of an oversized, unflattering bracelet? Marianne is still a Dollmaker golem, and you called it a toy! All nobles know that to call a golem a toy is a huge insult to its creator and master! I won't stand for it, not only for myself but for Marianne's creator as well! I refuse to accept your surrender! If you want to get out of this, then defeat me in this duel! If you win, then you can do whatever you want with Marianne!"
"...Fine," Kirche released a heavy sigh and drew her wand. Her worried expression from earlier disappeared, replaced with a frown. Her eyes hardened to reflect the same determination shown by Louise. "If you win, I'll give you your reagents. If you don't want to play nice, then don't complain when the playing gets rough."
"Duel Mode, standby," Marianne announced as its jewel shone brighter, projecting five gigantic transparent cards in front of Louise. The barrier, previously small enough to confine the two of them in relatively close distance, had now expanded to give much more room for movement and forcibly pushing back students that were too close to the perimeter.
"DUEL!" both girls declared the start of the duel at the same time, almost as if they heard an unknown signal.
"HOLD IT!" a stern voice yelled out loud before either of them could make a move. They turned to face the voice and it belonged to a very livid Colbert. "What do you girls think you are doing?" A few concerned students had rushed to inform the faculty that a 'fight' had broken out between Louise and Kirche. "In case you thought differently because of the previous time, duels are forbidden! I will not allow this to continue!"
"I tried to stop the issue from escalating, Professor! I really did! But Louise the Zero used her Familiar to trap me in this barrier!" Kirche explained.
"Only because you tried to take Marianne away with force!" Louise countered. "Professor, this barrier is my Familiar's emergency defense spell! It only activated because she tried to take it!"
"And I assume a duel is the only way to remove the barrier?" Colbert asked. As angry as he was with both girls, his scholarly mind was still curious about the magic in play. "What of the magical chain attached to your arm, Miss Zerbst?"
"It's a binding contract. Both parties have to fulfill the wager made before the duel. If they refuse, the chain will explode and destroy the offending person's arm," Louise explained.
"All the more reason to stop this before one of you is irreversibly hurt!"
"But the contract was made the second Kirche tried stealing my Familiar! If anything, she started this whole thing and I intend to settle this slight against me!"
Before Colbert could speak further, the secretary of Headmaster Osmond, Longueville, annouced her presence and whispered into his ear. His face turned displeased at the news he got before Longueville excused herself to return to her duties.
"I have just received word from Headmaster Osmond that he will allow this duel to proceed on the condition that any and all resulting injuries are not to be of a permanent nature," he told them. "Are we clear? If either of you injures the other with fatal intent, there will be severe consequences!"
"Yes, Professor!" both girls answered.
"Marianne, are you able to restrict the damage done by your creatures?" Louise asked her Familiar nervously, not wanting something like Silver Fang mauling Kirche to death.
"Adjusting the damage levels..." Marianne announced, followed by the musical notes indicating it was performing a task. "Damage has been adjusted to the mininum level. All attacks will be reduced to blunt impact and damage to the opponent's willpower. Is this acceptable?"
"Yes, that is fine."
"Settings will be saved." A short jingle later and the changes were saved.
"Are both combatants ready?" Colbert asked, acting as the referee. After both girls nodded their consent, he announced the start of the duel. "BEGIN!"
Kirche immediately began chanting while Louise was sweeping her eyes across the six cards in front of her. She must have missed Marianne's draw and the announcement when they were explaining themselves to Colbert.
"This one!" Louise swiped her hand at a Monster card she wanted.
"Miscast. Summoning denied," Marianne denied.
"What... Why! Now is not the time!" Louise yelled at her Familiar.
"Line-ranked Monsters require the tribute of power from one Monster. This is called a Tribute Summon. A Tribute Summon is treated the same as a Normal Summon."
"Ugh... Fine!" Louise chose another Monster, Dark Gray. It was a weird... combination of various animals, looking a little hideous. "Attack!" It bleated out a cry of challenge... and was immediately defeated by Kirche's Fireball spell and destroyed before it could even charge at her. She gasped at the loss of Willpower from the defeat of her Monster.
"It will take more than a goat to stop my flames of passion, Louise!" Kirche taunted as she waved her wand to prepare another spell.
'That was too quick! I'm defenseless for 15 seconds! That's too long!' Louise panicked internally as she ran to avoid Kirche's next Fireball which impacted one of her cards. 'I wanted to summon that earlier!' It was unfortunately the Monster card she attempted to summon earlier that got destroyed. She took out her own wand in an attempt to fight magic with magic while she waited for Marianne's prompt for the next draw but to her horror, she could not feel her Willpower flow to her command. It was being forcefully fed to Marianne, presumably for it to function in Duel Mode. She yelped in surprise as another of Kirche's Fireball destroyed another of her cards while she was distracted.
"What's the matter, Louise? You're down to only three cards now. Are you that incapable without the aid of your Familiar?" Kirche laughed haughtily. At this rate, she would remove all of Louise's options before she had a chance to retaliate.
"S-Shut up! I'm still learning about what Marianne can do! Just you wait!" Louise snapped back with angry embarrassment.
"Draw," Marianne announced as a new card appeared.
"This is...?" Louise stared at the new card. It was not a Monster card. She looked over it and noticed a line of text just below the name of the card. Her eyes widened in surprise when she realized it was a Spell card! She quickly breezed through the description of the spell and swiped her hand at it. "I cast the spell 'Swords of Revealing Light'!" she called out proudly. Marianne had her own spells as well, and they were hers to use freely.
Swords of white light rained down on the field and surrounded both Louise and Kirche. Kirche was startled and attempted to disrupt the spell but was shocked when her Fireball fizzled out just as she tried to launch it. Fearing to touch the swords in case of self-inflicted harm, she demanded Louise to explain what she had done. Except Louise was now on her knees with a hand on her head like she just suffered a severe dizzy spell.
Louise's vision was blurry and swimming, almost making her sick, not to mention her body suddenly felt really heavy. She did not know using that Spell card robbed her of so much of her Willpower. She whispered weakly for Marianne to explain what happened. Fortunately, she did not need to raise her voice as her Familiar responded by stating that Swords of Revealing Light was a Triangle-ranked spell. No wonder it took so much Willpower from her. Once the nauseous feeling had passed, she ordered Marianne to explain what the spell did.
"The spell 'Swords Of Revealing Light' prevents both parties from attacking for 60 seconds," Marianne did as tasked.
"So you're just stalling for time, Louise? Not that it's going to do any good since it looks like it took a lot of Willpower from you," Kirche said, unimpressed by her opponent's actions thus far. She was just about to tease her further when she saw Louise swipe her hand across another card and summoning a Monster but left it without any instructions. "Oh no...!" she just realized what Louise was up to. The spell she had just cast prevented attacking but it did not mention any other restrictions. Louise was free to summon Monsters in that one minute!
"Draw."
As the new card appeared in front of Louise, her dizziness had cleared enough to see a Monster she had never seen before. Taking the time of reprieve given by the Swords Of Revealing Light, she made sure to pay attention to each detail of the card's description. There, just below the name of the card, similar to the Spell card, was the rank of the Monster. It was Triangle-ranked and going off what Marianne had explained earlier, it was likely going to need two Monsters as Tribute. She was now aware that only Dot-ranked Monsters could be Normal Summoned. She summoned a random Dot-ranked Monster she had in preparation for the Tribute Summon and bided her time.
"Draw."
This was it. The moment Marianne announced the next draw, the Swords of Revealing Light would wear off. Louise was about to Tribute Summon for her new Monster when she noticed three unreleased Fireballs floating in front of Kirche.
"What!" she exclaimed in shock. She would not know what it felt like, but she could easily hazard a guess that maintaining that number of Fireballs without releasing them took more than just amateur skill. Even if she could afford paying the cost for a Dot-ranked Monster, the loss of a Tribute was not!
"You're not the only one who's smart enough to work around your spell!" Kirche told her, her face matted with sweat from the exertion of maintaining the spells. "I'll have to thank your Familiar for keeping track of how much time your spell has left!"
Louise looked through her cards again and prayed this Monster had enough to defend herself with.
"Go, Spirit of the Harp!" A harp as big as she was tall appeared, and a ghostly lady emerged from the instrument. "Defense, all of you!" Louise ordered her Monsters. The Spirit of the Harp started strumming a song and projecting a round barrier in front of her, Silver Fang took a defensive crounch in front of Louise and let out a low growl at Kirche, and Turtle Tiger just retreated into its shell.
"Draw." Just as predicted by both girls, the Swords of Revealing Light disappeared the second Marianne announced the draw. Louise watched with bated breath as Kirche's Fireballs impacted against her Monsters. She flinched back from Willpower damage when Silver Fang could not take the hit. "No...!" she cried out when the next Fireball went towards Spirit of the Harp. She was immensely relieved when her defensive barrier held up.
"Not yet!" Kirche exclaimed as she shot her final Fireball.
Louise was not taking the risk of having her Tribute destroyed. She stepped in front of Turtle Tiger and took a direct attack in place of it. She screamed in pain as she was blown back from the spell, her sleeve burnt off when the Fireball exploded on impact. She gritted her teeth as she struggled to pick herself up. Kirche appeared completely shocked by her actions and Louise took the opportunity to make her move even as the pain was enough to force tears out of her eyes.
"I offer 2 Monsters as Tribute!" she declared as her remaining Monsters reverted back to the magical dust they were made of. "Come forth, Blue-Eyes White Dragon!" At her call, a beam of blue light shot down from the skies right in front of her, blinding both duelists and the spectators with dust. The sound of large flapping wings was heard and all the dust was cleared, revealing a majestic creature that awed every person in attendance. Even Louise herself was staring at her newly summoned Monster with that same absolute awe. The dragon roared to announce its presence and glared down at its Master's opponent, Kirche.
"No way... There's no way I can win against a dragon..." Kirche lost all will she had to fight as she slumped down to her knees in defeat.
"Let's finish this, Blue-Eyes!" Louise instinctively knew how to refer to the dragon and for some unexplained reason, the name of its attack as well. "Burst Stream of Destruction!"
"THAT'S ENOUGH! Call off your dragon, Miss Valliere!" Colbert finally stepped in as referee. "I declare this duel over! Miss Valliere, accept Miss Zerbst's surrender."
"Marianne, can I reverse my decision for my opponent's surrender?" Louise asked after commanding her Monster to stop charging its attack.
"Once a decision has been made in a Forced Duel, they cannot be reversed. Refusal to abide by the conditions set will result in detonation for the offending parties," Marianne answered.
Colbert frowned heavily at hearing its words but once again reiterated that any permanent or fatal damage would result in severe punishment.
"Continue your attack, Blue-Eyes!" Louise ordered and the dragon roared in obedience. Plasma breath was visibly seen charging in its open mouth before it fired it out as a beam of pure destruction. Kirche screamed in fear of her life as she futilely tried to defend herself with her arms. A sound of impact was heard and she was engulfed completely in the beam before it exploded. The spectators screamed in fear at the supposed death of one of their peers. Kirche's figure could be seen being thrown back and slamming into the end of the barrier. Other than looking roughed up and weakened, Kirche was relatively fine. Even as she stood up and dusted herself off nonchalantly, there was no mistaking the quivering of her body and her dilated eyes. She had genuinely thought she would be killed.
"The opponent's Willpower has dropped beyond safe levels. Duel Over," Marianne announced the end of the duel and dismissed the Blue-Eyes White Dragon with any remaining cards. The barrier encasing both girls disappeared as well, allowing Colbert to check on them. Other than small bruises from the fall she took, Kirche was only suffering from very low Willpower and needed a good long rest. Louise on the other hand needed to be treated for both low Willpower but not as severe as Kirche's, and the burn she suffered to her arm from getting hit by a Fireball. That needed a trip and stay in the infirmary. Now the only thing left was the chain of the binding contract.
"I trust that both of you will fulfill your parts of the wager without any issues?" Colbert asked. "As a witness to your duel I shall remind you that if the chain detonates, it only proves your dishonesty and the loss of your arm is solely your responsibility." Both girls nodded nervously as they stared at the magical chain. It eventually disappeared, but in its place was a rune marked on Kirche's arm where the chain had been wrapped around as well as on Marianne's jewel.
"This proves that both of us have no intentions of running away from the wager," Louise said. "All that's left is you keeping your end of it and me confirming you kept your word to remove the binding contract."
"I'll have a servant send the reagents to your room when you're healed and out of the infirmary. And since my arm didn't blow up, I'm keeping my word so remove the contract already!" Kirche demanded.
"Marianne, remove the contract."
"Acknowledged. Both parties have fulfilled the conditions set. Removing the binding contract," Marianne responded. When the rune disappeared, both girls released huge sighs of relief.
"Don't touch my Familiar ever again, Kirche von Zerbst," Louise left Kirche with a serious warning before being escorted to the infirmary by Colbert. The spectators were dispersing now that the duel was over and Tabitha made her way to Kirche.
"Injuries?" Tabitha asked in that monotone of hers.
"Other than taking a huge bump and my life flashing before my eyes before that dragon? I'm fine," Kirche replied.
"Dangerous."
"What is? You mean Louise's Familiar?"
"No," Tabitha shook her head. "Louise is. Familiar grants her too much power."
"You mean she might abuse that power one day?" Kirche asked, getting a nod from her friend. That was an ominous warning if it was anything to go by.
***End of Chapter***
Author's Note: I've changed certain bits and pieces of FoZ lore to hopefully make this story flow a little better. It's fairly obvious what I've changed around to fit the narrative. I've separated the Void element into the Light and Dark attributes. There's also misinformation being spread around by the students due to not really understanding what was being said by Marianne. Louise is unknowingly channeling her Void element in that same misinformed manner but because she is using the 'proper' element, her spells didn't backfire.
Monster Levels 1-4 are Dot, 5-6 are Line, and 7-8 are Triangle, generally speaking. Square-ranked Monsters are locked behind Special Summons such as Fusion and Ritual Summon, depending on what that Monster is. Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon is Square-ranked, as an obvious example.
Spells, and eventually Traps when I introduce them, are instantly paid for as soon as activation is successful. Yes, ALL Spell/Traps have willpower cost. Louise can't use them for free. The rank of the Spell/Trap card depends on its effects. Some effects will be changed around to fit the story, such as Swords of Revealing Light in this chapter. It would be stupidly unfair if only Louise is freely allowed to summon Monsters and declare attacks while her opponent is stuck. So instead, I changed the effects so that both duelists are affected by the non-aggression part of the spell.
I'm hoping that with future Duels, they won't be so tutorial-like such as this anymore. After this chapter, Louise would have learnt the basics of Dueling. Deck Construction will be available to her as well when she gets to 'unlock' more cards for use. It all comes with experience.