SHYFACE vs MILKMAGE

-.

-.

The two young magic fighters faced each other all the way across the ring. Linze raised her wand even as Sarah raised her orb-tipped staff. Linze took a step to the side trying to circle around and Sarah matched her by stepping to the left.

They began to circle around, waiting for the other to begin. Unlike fighting with weapons or fists, in magic duels it was casting speed and power expenditure that was most important.

If you only had a single strong affinity, then it was fine – cast whatever you want immediately, it's not like you have any other option. But if you and your opponent have multiple affinities, then certain spells are simply more efficient against other spells. Wind, for example, is much faster than Earth but almost useless to stop Fire. Water had flexibility, with liquid or solid attacks, but lacked true speed or explosive power.

The first person to call out their element like "Come forth, [Water!]" would have a small disadvantage.

There was also how unlike fighting with blades, which could be done with dulled training blades or to relatively harmless first blood, magic always had the risk of being godawful lethal.

Linze waited silently. This affinity matching issue was not a factor in her duel with Charlotte, because the Court Magician massively outmatched her in skill and power. Unfortunately, Sarah was just as cautious and did not underestimate Linze at all.

She had the patience of someone who knew her place in the world, and that stepping outside of it would cause pain. Being proactive had too much risk of being hurt, being notable was detestable, one always had to cling to those with power in order to feel safe.

.-

("… I do not despise commoners. In many ways, Sarah is proof that any commoner can rise to become better, more productive, once they shed the fetters of laziness, the blinders of their ignorance, and learn their true place in the world.")

("So there is some room for social mobility in your human pyramid scheme after all. Can't even commoners become nobles too, as the King might reward? That's why I don't find this divide between nobles and commoners too important – it is only a pity that nobles can't lose their status from being useless sacks of flesh.")

("Ugh. I cannot dispute that. That vexes me as well. Those of us who wish to live to the standards of our noble blood are debased by those people.")

("I have no inherent objection to the system of nobility, and heck, if you want to think us Adventurers are honorless unscrupulous people I am fine with that, because at some level that's what we accept for our mercenary freedom. But even the King can't so easily scold a noble for misbehaving. There is no easy system to punish crimes against the smallfolk. If you just kill people, it's a pain in the ass to replace them. If you let them get away with this, they're just going to get even more shameless about their shittiness.")

And that was why democracy was the worst of all systems, except for all others that have been tried. At the very least, a system of appointees was better than any inherented post. Constitutional monarchy for the win, maybe?

("Kindness without power will only be trampled upon. Power in the hands of the unworthy destroys the peace. But commoners who have false ideas about their station are more dangerous than nobles.")

("I can't dispute that either, we could go full Bolshevik here if things get really bad. Nobles should know their place too, that swords can't make bread. Fealty is owed for protection, that is the reason why they are raised high in the first place.

("And on that note, I'm seeing a pattern here. In what way did you help Sarah into your service?")

.-

It was easy to see how much Linze and Sarah were similar… and how much they differed in their common features.

Linze had a broad face with kissable lips framed well by her short hair that urged you to torment her a little bit and watch her cutely moan for mercy. Sarah had ample curves in all the right places and her long braided hair made her bosoms look disproportionately large for her height. Her clothes were similar to farmer attire but the deep blue of her leather corset emphasized the swell of her breasts and the shortness of her skirt. Her braided pigtails bounced with every step.

She looked so soft that you were tempted to just grab ahold of her until she squealed.

But her eyes had no such softness. She had the implacable calm of slaughterer.

.-

("Is it not obvious? She was desired by a petty lord, and normally that would be the end of it. As a woman myself I find it execrable, but this is the way of the world, and the life of a bastard child is a pitiful one. But this lord had a reputation for breaking and killing his women one he grows bored of them, and so Sarah decided to flee instead.")

("Jesus Christ the people in this kingdom. I have a feeling the only reason the King didn't start purging without a good excuse was that if he started with killing his asshole nobles he'd never be able to stop…

("That is horrible. But that aside, talented people are valuable to the whole fief too! Three affinity magic, that's… Ugh.")

("There are only two reasons a man might desire a strong woman. The first is to dominate her. The second is to bear strong children. But if it is not the second, then the more precious and beautiful a thing is… the more powerful is the feeling of destroying it.")

("I really wish I could say I didn't understand why such people even exist… but that would be lying. And then what happened? So did you happen to help her escape?")

("Her father and brothers were tortured and killed while she was away. Their bodies were hung outside their village as an example.")

("I… see. Damn. Like the wannabe xianxia edgelord protagonist you are, I am really hoping you did something about that lord. If it is too politically inconvenient even for you, well… some people might have some free time and invisibility magic.")

("Hah! Why should I confess anything to you?! You suspicious person roaming around the inner court!")

("Heh. Fair enough. Don't give me anything that can be used against you.")

.-

And really that was the reason why the Xenovivi family could get away with so much shite in this kingdom. They were the King's wolves on the border. Because for all that they were annoying, they were also capable of some deep skullduggery. If anything, their brash behavior lead many to think they were just too dumb for such things.

("Your girl stands no chance. Sarah Lanyard has tasted the need for power, but if she had just gone alone she would have just died uselessly. They would have played with her until she turned into a mindless sow and threw her body out into the fields. Is it not a better place in the world to be my weapon against all those who wreak evil?")

It was Linze who lost her patience first, and cast "Come forth, [Water!] A frozen field! [Ice Pillars!]"

At the same time, Sarah cast "Come forth, [Water!] Obscuring mist! [Call Fog!]"

So their opening moves were mutually to remove line of sight. Smart, because that was how magic aiming worked. Bad, because now how does one attack?

Both of them used this time to call up independent attack magic. "[Dancing Flames!]" for Linze and "[Brilliant Pebbles!]" for Sarah. Dancing Flames created hovering fireballs, while Brilliant Pebbles threw out little stones that acted like landmines.

Linze ran and struck at the ice pillars that she put up to cover the field. The Piercing Flames exploded against the ice pillars, turning them into flying shrapnel. Sarah gave out a staggered "Eeek!" from behind the fog.

"Come forth, Water. Frozen cover, [Ice Sheet]!"

She couldn't just approach because the [Brilliant Pebbles] were hard to see through the fog. But by freezing the ground in front of her, the small explosions could be much reduced. The piercing flames of the [Dancing Flames] had speed and potency but were limited to three shots, but while destroying one's footing was about as much you could expect from [Brilliant Pebbles] magic-users typically didn't wear armor and many shins would hurt.

But a support spell like that wasn't a spell that was spent making Sarah keep her head down.

"[Earth Needle Wave!]"

Linze didn't have a Wind affinity, she couldn't just blow the obscuring mist away. She ducked behind an ice pillar.

"I'm sorry about this…" Sarah's voice came out from the gloom. "But this is no game. I'm going to try not to hurt you too badly, but milady is right. The world is not kind and you need to know whom you can trust."

Ice blades shot forth from the left while Sarah's voice came from the right. Linze ducked and slid down the ice sheet she'd laid onto the ground.

.-

("This is kinda boring, we can't really see much of anything. We can see Linze somewhat, but her opponent's hiding as much as being inside a fighting ring is possible.")

("Hey, Playa… isn't it odd? This sort of magic, it doesn't look like battlefield magic. It looks like fit for, um, assassination? But somehow, I think, that makes me feel better about things?")

("Heh. You know, this would probably be a lot more unnerving if Linze didn't already know how to fight someone who /didn't need to use their eyes/.")

.-

"Come forth, Water! Cover me in majesty! [Water Cloak!] [Water Sense!]" Linze yelled.

Water fountained out from behind her back like a pair of wings. Then she chanted again "Come forth, [Water!] A frozen field! [Ice Pillars!]" but then began to jump from pillar to pillar, with her [Water Cloak] flapping behind her allowing her to double-jump.

The ice pillar she was standing on rose higher and higher as she fed its growth with [Freezing].

"[Fire Arrow!]"

Linze jumped off the pillar and towards where the pair of fire bolts came from in the fog. "Small Spiral Barrier! [Aqua Shield]!"

The fire bolts were deflected away and slowed her descent. Then she changed her grip on her wand. "Come, weapon of ice and light! [Chill Saber!]"

Fssh-crink. The top of her wand froze up and a long shining ice blade extended out from the tip. It shone from within with a cold blue light.

Linze dived into the fog and soon there was only the clanging sounds of metal upon unnaturally resilient ice. Magicians as a rule did not like to go into melee. Linze was just another squishy mage.

And that was unacceptable.

Absolutely no one expects to face Wing Gundam Linzero.

.-

("Wait… can it be… are they actually somehow evenly matched?")

("Well mistress, it's not like the Adventurer ranks are power levels. It only shows the number of missions completed and the difficulty of missions survived. Sarah already did well being Red rank at only twenty years old.")

("Sarah… knows staff fighting. She'll be fine. I think.")

("Damnation, what are these vicious girls? Where did they really come from?")

("Uh… the Refreese Imperium?")

("Inconceivable!")

("Heh. You keep saying that word... Someone who speaks that people are not born equal should have expected this. Talent and training and temperament create a variety of outcomes. Equality of opportunity, because it is our differences and talents that make life interesting. There is no inherent fairness in the world, except for what we make of it.")

-.

-.

This fight would not be won by whoever had more magic power or skill in casting. It would be a matter of whose passions rang stronger.

Was it Sarah, who was willing to give her life in the service of her savior's justice?

Was it Linze, who was willing to give her life in the name of unreasonable love?

.-

.-

Experience counted for a lot. There were many who thought magic combat necessarily meant taking your time to think, due to the length of casting chants. Unlike fighting in close combat, you can't just allow your muscle memory and instincts to take over. But one who doesn't practice and get experience could easily become confused and make a major error, or take too long to make a decision and suffer the consequences.

While magic fighters didn't build the same level of reflexes, combat experience still gave lot in the sense of timing, in the flow of battle. There was no other way to acquire this except by good, honest repetition.

But if you don't have that… if you only have a month and a half of any real combat experience, the only way to compensate was through sheer viciousness.

Sarah Lanyard grit her teeth as she parried a thrust to her face. She winced some more as the metal of her scepter-wand chilled on contact to a painful level. That glowing cold blade [Chill Saber] was actually more of a rod than a sword, and lacking an edge it should actually have been foolish to fight with it. But the chilling touch would seep through armor, and at full power would lock joints and freeze flesh. It was quite clever a way to make protective metal armor a hindrance, actually.

All it needed was for the magician to completely discard all good sense and charge straight into battle like some naked barbarian lunatic.

"S-so! I didn't expect this, but don't think I'm defenseless! This isn't a magic duel anymore, but that's fine too!" This could only work against other mages, any real weapon fighter would surely be able to knock holes in that defense.

Sarah tried to disengage, but Linze pursued relentlessly with her massively distracting glowing blade. She had six years of experience! She had suffered for this strength, she had cursed her body and swore that she would never be so helpless again. She had nothing more to fear. She was infuriated that a novice could pressure her so, it exposed a certain fault in her own training.

Clack. Clack. Clack.

Staff techniques didn't work quite as well against Linze because her round ice shield blocked return strikes. It was for good reason why sword and shield was the most defensive of all weapon styles, the foundation for ancient Regulus' dominance over the continent.

The humming glow passed in front of her eyes for a moment, and Sarah recalled a different sort of blinding light. Her brain just whiting out with rage and sorrow.

.-

She screamed and cried onto Zorah's embrace. "{It's all my fault…!"} she cried back then. {"I shouldn't have been born if this is just what happens… milady, I'm sorry. But nobles… nobles are…!"}

And Zorah replied {"The strong take from the weak. This is the one truth of the world. But a noble is not strong just because he is a noble. To kill unreasonably, to sate one's lusts like an animal, that is not strength. A poisoned, false conception of the world… that too is a worm that does not know his place…"}

.-

Sarah blinked and smiled as she disengaged. "I see now. So milady intended this to be a lesson for us as much as it was supposed to be about teaching you." She spun her wand-mace around in her hands like a cheerleader's baton and pointed. "Viciousness is fine, but if you don't know your place in the world – then you have no stability. You can't stand tall while standing on the mud of f-false conceptions and uncontrolled passions!"

Linze paused.

"There is no peace, there is passion," she whispered. "Through passion I gain strength."

"Passion is bright, but it burns out fast! Strength doesn't come from wishing for it hard enough! Know your place in the world and you! Can! Move! Mountainssss!"

Sarah's wand was wrapped inside a metal sheath, with open crystal and wood running up and down the shaft serving as contact points for magic. The head of the magic rod with the magic stones was encased in a heavy blunt mace head with holes in it for the magic to come out.

She smashed the mace-head onto Linze's ice-shield and shattered it, and almost Linze's arm behind that. The only thing that saved the slight, white-haired girl was that her shield was angled to deflect blows instead of blocking hits outright like with a real steel or wood shield.

Then Sarah skipped back and hurriedly chanted "Come, Fire and Water!"

At almost the same time, Linze said "Come, Water-"

"A boiling spray, [Steam Explosion!]"

"Barrier of Eternal Ice, [Ice Wall!]"

Fire was actually not that fast. Water, unlike Wind, had weight and required momentum to move. But combine the two – they formed Steam. And Steam was almost impossible to guard against. Unlike Fire, the heat sticks. Unlike Water or Ice, the danger seeps through armor. You could stand quite close to an open flame or a rushing river – but a spray of hot steam? Never.

Sarah had aimed down, so that even if Linze hadn't managed to raise an [Ice Wall] in time, at least it would not cause such disfiguring injuries. Her magic repertoire was indeed very similar to an assassination style, and had a lot of spells that made armor useless and could reduce even the strongest unarmored person to a screaming wreck.

Once again the battlefield was covered by a billowing concealing fog.

.-

("The Sith Code? What? Monika the Sith are a bunch of hopeless edgelords with a stupid self-defeating philosophy, why you do dis?")

.-

Fsshk-vmmm.

A glowing red blade lit up through the obscuring hot mist.

.-

("Okay. That is intimidating as hell, I admit.")

.-

Sarah was an experienced adventurer, and fought all manner of beasts and men. She trained with actual combat veterans from the War against Regulus. She thought she'd break so many times but each time she was pushed through, her willpower was not to be dismissed. She had six years of real, hard-won power, yes!

But Linze had inflated standards. Duchess Ellen Ortlinde and the Court Magician Charlotte were far and above normal combat trainers available to House Zenovivi. She often fought to match someone who had practically infinite magic power and the ability to perceive everything happening within his range. She was taught swordplay by a true expert in her craft, and had a sister who was practically a superhero.

She was incredibly squishy compared to everyone else. But that was why everyone was so concerned that she should be able to defend herself in case she was ever caught alone.

One month versus six years, that wasn't fair.

"How… how are you so strong? What pains did you go through to get this far?" she breathed out.

It should be nowhere close to enough to narrow the gap.

Except for one thing.

.-

("… I admit that I should not have looked down on your girls. What sort of tragedy lies behind that sweet face? What elevates these commoners from the ranks of the mundane into the realm of heroes? If you say it is mere accident of inborn power, then know you support the lineage of the nobility.")

("What, do you think heroes are only born from suffering? Heroes are born from /need/. I know many heroes. Most of them are /dead/ without achieving victory.")

.-

The only thing necessary for success was mental toughness. It was simple instinct in a human being to avoid pain and boredom.

There was only one real way of training magic power, and that was to cast spells until you're dry and on the verge of falling unconscious. Just like muscle developes by microtearing and rehealing with more mass, tougher and stronger, so did one's internal power increase the more you dig into your reserves.

The problem that kept most people from leaving their weak magic affinities as almost useless cantrips was that unlike muscle training which you could train daily, waiting for your magic power to refill involves hours of sleeping it off. You could literally spend hours in combat drills, but magic training could see you run dry in under an hour and be useless for the rest of the day.

You could slowly increase your magic reserves by only partially draining your magic power, which would refill faster with your stamina, but only truly getting the Mind Down status could you improve casting power by leaps and bounds. This was the main reason real mages were so rare in a world where many people could develop some form of magic power. Physical training, learning a trade, or the use of weapons, simply paid off faster than the slow burn of developing magic power. Only nobles or those with time to spare from working could afford magic training.

The reason why Charlotte was an ungodly powerful and skilled mage was that she was made to train to exhaustion, but then her teacher could [Transfer] her magic power into her young apprentice and order her to keep going over and over again until finally the girl would collapse from mental fatigue.

Linze… did not have such draconian training. But she did also have access to infinite magic reserves, and she could drain her reserves dry, get healed, and keep going for as long as she could hold out. She could keep training for every waking moment, because Monika was monitoring her and Monika didn't need to sleep at all.

Yet even this only allowed Linze to match the magic power of a more experienced adventurer.

"Earth entwine, Ground binding spell, [Earth Bind]!"

"Ice entangle, Freezing curse, [Ice Bind!]"

Their spells met in the middle, creating this mass of frozen ice around a spire of rock like a half-melted popsicle. Sarah backed off to prepare another spell, while Linze moved to attack.

"Earth come, Blasting ground, [Stone Bullet!]"

"Flame burn, Breath of inceneration, [Fire Breath!]"

Sarah yelped and backed off again. While her [Stone Bullet] easily went through the obscuring fire, Linze just leaned away from being hit. Elze liked to throw rocks at high speed. This was nothing unusual at all.

"Are you really this strong just looking for a man? That… that makes no sense!" Sarah hissed. She gasped for breath, while Linze was just as fatigued and should have been more under pressure since she was spending magic keeping her [Chill Saber] active. "If you're this strong, at least use it for a good cause, like Justice!"

Linze exhaled and gave a sad smile. "The difference between you and me… is that I'm weak. I know I'm weak. You were lifted up by a strong person and made strong. But I don't need strength for justice… I need strength to protect those I care about. Will care about."

Linze put her left hand over her womb and thinned her lips. Sith were supposed to give everything up for power, but that was just as stupid a horseshoe similarity(1) with the Jedi foregoing attachment. Sith should just be as willing to get insanely intensely attached to people, it was just as valid a way to fuel their power.

… Leaving aside how being insanely intensely attached to a certain person was why and how Monika happily murdered her closest friends and destroyed her world, and ultimately preferred to kill herself and everything in despair.

Sarah was motivated to fight for her mistress in gratitude and never to feel powerless again. She was strong and confident in her own power. But her vengeance had already been sated. She was beautiful and womanly and would be a great wife someday, but she hated her own delectable body.

Linze was fighting for her future. The Duchess Ellen had trained her not as a battlemage but for someone who would fight as the last resort, as a mother who would die in the defense of her own children. There was no ferocity like that of a mother bear in defense of her young.

Between the two, it was Linze who was simply *hungrier* for victory.

-.

-.

Earth magic met fire magic, which moved faster.

Fire magic met water magic, which sapped energy to change states.

Water magic was sliced through by the [Chill Saber].

Explosions and mists rippled through the battlefield, and once again blocked sight. There was only screaming and the humming and brief flashes of a cold light saber in the gloom.

-.

-.

The fog faded away. Linze dropped to one knee in total exhaustion.

Beside her, Sarah lay on the ground shivering and with ice covering her chest, showing that someone had stabbed over heart and had it been a normal blade instead of an ice blade that spread frost over what it touched, she would be dead.

-.

-.

("In… inconceivable…")

("Oh my. I guess… wait. Ten seconds. Aaaand… winner! By knockout, it is LINZE SILHOUESKA!")

("Woohoo!")

("Great work, Linze-dono!")

.-

Linze grinned weakly and staggered over to us. I got up off my place at the table and met her halfway. Tired, she collapsed onto my arms. I was amazed at how far she had come since we first met.

"How… how was that?" she asked murmured to my chest. "I… was it okay? I won… was it good? Am I good enough?" She looked so defenseless, and so afraid. Dammit Monika.

"Oh Linze…" I cupped her cheeks within my gloved right hand. "You did well. You're very very good. I appreciate you so much, Linze."

"Eheheheh…." Linze leaned into my touch like a cat asking to be petted. "I… won. I almost can't believe it. I shouldn't have won, it's not fair. I can't believe it… am I really this strong? This soon…? This feels like a dream."

So much changed within the span of a month and half. She was a very different person from when she started her journey, but that was how a person should grow. She met new people and was influenced by them and influenced them in turn. Without fortuitous encounters, a hero could find all manners of secret treasures and manuals and accumulate power and still be just an empty shell of a human being. More than strength… perhaps, it was more powerful to have strong friendships.

I stroked her chin and then suddenly firmed my grip on her jaw. She blinked and looked up, confused but trusting. I tugged and her whole body followed. I leaned down to her ears and whispered in a gravely tone as my thumb traced over her lips, "You have earned today five thousand Player Points."

"Hawah?"

Gently I slid my thumb into her mouth, pushing open her teeth to no resistance. She sucked her breath in, surprised, and I added in a growling whisper "When you finally work up your nerve, let me know. Come up to my room and I will take you to a world beyond your imagination. You are appreciated, my lovely lovely Linze. One day you will be /loved/."

Boom.

Linze fainted dead away. Ahaha. Well. This desperate innocence was so cute. I would miss being able to bully Linze this way.

Sarah's own friends carried her off in a fireman's carry and Zorah fussed over her. She glanced towards us and glared hotly. "So it is the first one after all…." Zorah hissed at me, seeing Linze go limp in my arms. (2)

"Have you ever truly been in love? Horrible isn't it? It makes you so vulnerable. It opens your chest and it opens up your heart and it means that someone can get inside you and really mess you up," I said and smiled gently in return.

Harmless flirting was one thing, being willing to follow through with fulfilling relationships was another. Linze deserved better from me than just a casual hookup. "But being deeply loved by someone gives you strength, while loving someone deeply gives you courage."

Her adventurer guards squeed in delight. "How-how enviaaable!"

"Mistress this is the sort of thing you will never have as long as you don't dare to risk your own dignity."

"T-that's disgusting. What are you saying?! Silence, I order you all to be silent!"

"I wish I was so small and cute. Poor Sarah… she looks so cold. She deserves some pampering too."

"Uggh. She has done well, she shouldn't be ashamed of anything." Sarah was saved by finding worthy companions, and Zorah would not abandon her for anything. Winning was a matter of standing up one more time than the world could push you down.

"Playah!" Elze growled at me as she approached to take her sister to safety.

My protective hug on Linze tightened. "What? I'm legally blind but it's not like I can't see the obvious. Monika and I don't keep secrets from each other (unless it would be funny), and we do both strongly appreciate Linze. What, you feeling left out? You want some of this too?"

I waggled my tongue out at her.

She stuck her tongue out at me.

Our faces drew closer as Elze approached to take her sister out from my hands.

"Plbblblblbhttt-"

"Blahlalalalalala-"

"Wbllwubblwubbl-"

"Bleeeeeeeh-"

Our noses were touching and our tongues were just a little bit away from making contact. Our hot breaths mingled.

And yet Mynah palmed her face and sighed "There is nothing romantic about this."

Elze took Linze away. Linze was still off in dreamland but was making strangely ominous giggling sounds.

-.

-.

Which means it was time for YAE versus CYNTHIA, pure swordswoman battle! A meeting of sane people!

-.

-.

AN:

(1) wikipedia /wiki/Horseshoe_theory

(2) See previous chapter.