Ch 1.13: Duel

Elaina’s hand jerked back, bringing her sword only inches from her own neck before she realized what was happening. It had been a mistake to keep her own weapon so close, she realized, but she was able to wrestle control over her arm, forcing the training blade still with sheer willpower. Tira was right; before the Awakening there was nothing Elaina could do about Waine’s aspect, but now she actually had a way to resist it.

Okay, wasn’t expecting that, but if I know it’s coming— Waine himself was baring down on her, charging forward while abandoning his stance. Elaina raised her own free hand, activating [Restraint] and manifesting a rope, wrapping it around his left leg and pulling back. Waine still reached striking distance of her before being stopped, making one overhead swing at Elaina.

Their swords clanged, Elaina having brought up her own blade just in time to backpedal while Waine struggled to move. Holy shit, I just did that. Elaina had barely even registered the swing before instinctively moving to block it. She knew that she stood no chance in a prolonged melee engagement, so she circled around Waine while keeping him in place with her conjured rope.

When she had essentially swapped starting positions with him, she had to release the rope. She’d burned through a dangerous amount of her mana, almost a third, with that stunt. A third gone in just a few seconds. Both making the rope and pulling back on Waine was too much, every bit of resistance he put up costing her more and more to keep him in place by sheer force.

Waine was moving again, this time circling her while holding his defensive stance. There was still fear in his eyes, so he was actually taking this seriously. Only two days prior, even without his aspect, Waine would have been able to roll over Elaina ten times in a row, but now she could actually put up a fight. Elaina mirrored Waine’s circle, fleshing out her plan. She needed her aspect to win, there was no question about that, but she needed to be smart about it. Her mana was refilling, slowly, but she knew from experience it would take at least ten minutes to get back to full capacity.

Waine had thought his plan over at least, and charged her again. Elaina lost control once more, not in her arm this time, but her legs. She willed to move them away, try and flee, but she couldn’t fight this control like she fought the one from before. She wasn’t frozen, but she couldn’t do anything more than slide her feet across the sand.

Panicking, she conjured another rope, wrapping it around both Waine’s legs, sending him toppling into the sand face first as he tried to circle around to her undefended back. She gained her movement back and immediately jumped away from her opponent.

“Damn bitch,” Waine said, struggling to get up and regain his footing. Elaina realized her mistake instantly. She’d ran. He’d been lying face down, she’d had full control of herself, but she still ran from him. Stupid, stupid! she thought as Waine stepped out of her makeshift restraint. She had plenty of experience with rope before, but that was in making it, not tying knots.

Still, Elaina had done one thing right. Creating the rope didn’t use much of her mana at all, and tying it around Waine and leaving it there had cost her significantly less than when she had actively been pulling him back with it. Damnit, if I’d just had more time to learn this stuff… She let her rope dematerialize as Waine stepped forward.

There was at least time to think as they stared each other down. Elaina knew from stories that most real duels were over in all but an instant, the first blood being drawn in only seconds. Aspects changed everything though. Neither of them knew fully what the other was capable of, and one misstep would mean the end. Waine couldn’t try the same rush tactic without being taken down again, and Elaina wouldn’t miss the lethal blow a second time, but she had no way in of her own as long as he could lock her feet.

Something didn’t quite make sense though. Elaina had been able to resist completely when he’d tried to force her to attack herself, but was barely able to move at all when he’d locked her legs. Figuring out why that was or not, she had to do something. She’d been on the backfoot the entire fight, and she needed to make something happen, so she went to move forward.

She went to move forward, but stayed in place. Waine took a step towards her, feinting a charge, and she backed away instinctively. She went to move forward again, but still stayed in place, tried to take a step back, and was able to.

It clicked. Just like she couldn’t hold him back endlessly with her ropes with brute force, Waine had restrictions too. Certain things would burn through more of his mana than others, would be harder to pull off than others. Trying to get her to do specific things like attack herself would likely be the hardest to do, freezing a body part a little easier, and blocking her from doing one specific action like approaching him would be the easiest. The harder an element of control he tried to exert, the more she could resist, and the more it would cost him.

Elaina smiled, both because she was proud of herself for figuring it out, and for what that meant. He needed to save his mana, because he didn’t have a bottomless well of it either. There were problems though, as she still had no way to approach him, meaning the pace of the fight was his to control. She backed away, wanting to make sure she would have as much time as possible to react when he next attacked.

Then she felt it, the slight release of her legs, barely perceptible. She could move freely again, and Waine’s eyes lit up in terror. He’s out! She charged, screaming as she conjured another rope, this time tying Waine’s sword hand to his opposite leg. He’d be unable to move either limb, completely helpless as she made her strike, only able to watch as she won.

Waine smirked.

Running at full speed, Elaina lost control again. Only of one foot this time, only for a moment, but as she sprinted with one leg and fixed the other in place, she was now the one flying through the air. It was a bluff. She collided into the sand, tumbling head over heel and landing on her back, sword dropped somewhere behind her.

She was frozen again too. Not completely, but Waine was preventing her from getting up. “You’re such an idiot,” he said, going to untie the knot she’d made around his wrist with his free hand.

Elaina’s legs were near useless with the amount of control Waine was impressing on her, but she could slowly move back, push herself to some degree of safety with her arms. As she did, she willed the rope to stay tied, fighting Waine’s attempt to free himself, actively burning mana, mana she couldn’t afford to lose. She needed to be more efficient, but there was no way to do that and keep Waine off of her. But for some reason, this didn’t seem as inefficient as it should.

[Humiliation Factor]. She was embarrassed now of course, having just charged and face planted into the field before rolling onto her ass, probably flashing her panties to the crowd as well. The skill was active now, boosting her efficiency, and if the System could be believed her capabilities as a whole as well. Too little, too late.  Waine was still struggling to untie himself, Elaina consciously keeping the rope in place. At least he would look a little silly right before he won. She’d probably look more ridiculous as she lost, face burning after her ridiculous display.

So much for having a class. She could hardly believe she’d been excited at one point about it. Only now that she’d already lost, less than half her mana remaining and pinned to the ground, would she finally get a benefit.

Elaina looked to Tira, the watch captain stoic as she watched them both. To the crowd, enraptured in the duel, not knowing how dire her circumstances were. To Prisma. Their eyes locked, but Elaina couldn’t read her face. She was pensive, just another onlooker in the crowd of people with no stake in the fight. Still, more than anything Elaina didn’t want to lose in front of her, lose to her and her team.

And the fight wasn’t over yet. With [Restraint] enhanced by [Humiliation Factor], she was more aware of her surroundings. Not aware of everything, just what was relevant to her class, but she was a manifester and a manipulator, capable of both producing and controlling. She knew what she needed to win, to embrace who she was, what the fate the stars had read for her was. Could she do it? She had to.

She used her aspect to reach out to the clasp of her skirt, the restraint holding her skirt together, and undid it. It would look like an accident, she hoped, since she wasn’t touching it physically. The skirt fell off in the sand as she pushed herself away, exposing dark green panties with just a trim of lace on top. They weren’t sheer in the back like her black pair, but they rose up and exposed the bottom of her ass cheeks as she tried to slither away. I hope this is worth it. Sure, Waine would see her in her underwear again. Everyone would see her in her underwear, but that was a risk she had to take. Tira had manufactured a no risk situation for her, but if she was going to win, she had to sacrifice something.

Waine finally got out of the rope as Elaina had dropped focus on it while undoing her skirt, bellowing out laughter as he did. “More uniform trouble? Are you that eager to put on another show for everyone?” The crowd laughed back as he approached, Elaina still squirming away in her underwear as her face glowed red. He threw his arms up, taking his time to approach as she scrambled back and fruitlessly looked for her sword. “You know, maybe I take my time and strip you naked right here, how’s that sound?”

It sounded mortifying, and she was already partially there. The entire class seeing her like this, those in front getting a view of her spread legs as she crawled away, her praying that they couldn’t see the growing dampness in her crotch as she did, it would all have to be enough. [Humiliation Factor] wasn’t fully active— it would apparently take even more embarrassment for that— but Elaina was far more capable now than before.. She called on [Restraint] again, attempting more than she ever had with it before.

A shackle, chains, a weighted ball of iron buried underneath the stand. They came into being instantly, the shackle snapping around Waine’s leg, the chain connecting it to the weight. His approach was halted once more, only steps away from Elaina. “The fuck is this?” he said, looking at his leg. “How do you have this much mana left?”

The two locked eyes again, Waine frozen in place and Elaina sprawled on the ground, each unable to move. Waine thrashed, trying to pull at the chain keeping him in place, trying to burn more of Elaina’s mana, but it was futile. She was spending mana to keep her manifestations, but it was the weight of the iron ball buried in the sand holding him back, not constant effort. Likewise, Elaina realized she could move back still, but standing or approaching was out of the question.

The crowd had stopped laughing now, their attention shifting as the outcome of the duel was no longer as clear as they’d though. Waine turned to Tira, grimacing. “It’s a draw, Strask. We’re both immobilized.”

Tira shook her head. “Till one of you yields or I call a lethal blow.”

Waine slashed the air in Tira’s direction. “What, you want me to throw my sword?” He looked down at his blade as if he was considering it, but Elaina’s reaction was faster. She extended the chain, clapping another shackle onto the crossguard and locking it to his ankle.

“Fuck’s sake, it’s a draw!” he shouted, thrashing as he tried to pull away.

Tira shook her head again. “One of you will run out of mana eventually.”

Tira was right, and Elaina was increasingly afraid it would be her. She’d burned a ton getting the ball and chain setup going, and even more now that she had to extend that manifestation to stop the sword throw. There was only a sliver left, and maintaining something of such mass was draining it, quickly. She had ten seconds max, and Waine was spending only the bare minimum to keep her away from him. No, she couldn’t risk the war of attrition; even if Waine miraculously ran out first, she’d need to grab her sword and strike him before he got free. There was only one hope, a falling star’s chance at victory.

She let go of the iron ball first, the heaviest drain on her reserves, leaving only the chains and shackles. Waine, still trying to get free, managed to pull out of the ground, struggling to regain his balance with his confusion at his sudden freedom. Elaina took a deep breath, activating [Personal Restraint]. She’d lose what little remaining movement she still had, but the strength of her [Restraint] doubled in return. Letting the shackle on Waine’s leg disappear, the only thing she left was the chain attached to his sword hilt. Elaina focused on that chain, spending every last ounce of remaining mana to pull on it.

As soon as the attempt was made, everything she’d conjured disappeared, her mana depleted.

But the force of the chain being yanked carried on, Waine staring down at his own sword hand as it whipped back at him, the lingering energy of Elaina’s last effort to win. There was no fighting back Waine could do with his aspect, no amount of willpower that could stop the blade as it crashed into his neck and sent him reeling to the ground.