349: Quarter Finals (7)

Quarter Finals (7)

Upon hearing that the match started the first to move was Valdel. He quickly got into position and fired a [Flare] spell at Aerwenna. The [Flare] spell he used was unlike any other [Flare] spell as the size of his was forty times more than the others. You could even say that Valdel's [Flare] spell which was an everyday spell had surpassed the mid-tier spell [Flame Cannon]. A powerful burst of fire headed straight for Aerwenna. The heat from the flame was so intense that the audience members that were at the front could feel the temperature rising. 1

...

Aerwenna saw the incoming spell and quickly used a ten layer, [earth wall] spell to block. A giant wall of stone stood in front of Aerwenna who was now trying to chant her next spell. The [Flare] spell went through the wall of earth as if it were butter. Aerwenna dodged to the right, but Valdel was already at her side waiting. In such close range, Valdel once again used the [Flare] spell and Aerwenna quickly countered with a [water shield] spell. 

It was as if she was expecting this to happen so she got ready for another defensive spell. Valdel was rather surprised by her quick counter, but that was all there was. 

The water element should have directly countered the fire element thus weakening it and then finally negating it. Not to mention [water shield] was a mid-tier spell while [Flare] was a common spell that wasn't in any of the attacking tier spells. The victory between the clash of the two spells should've been obvious, but the result most people were expecting didn't happen. 

The [water shield] spell disintegrated and a small amount of Valdel's [Flare] spell pierced through Aerwenna's mana barrier. Shocked by how easily her mana barrier was negated, Aerwenna wasn't able to finish chanting her next spell. Seeing his stunned opponent Valdel once again used [Flare] but a slightly weaker version knocking her out. 

...

The current match had a few moves in it, and there were no overpowered spells like in the first quarter-final match. There was no weird unexpected move used like in the second quarter-final match. The whole match was the most basic one of all. The spells that were used were clear, the counterspells used by Aerwenna were textbook. The only thing that went out of the norm in this fight was the power of Valdel's spell. 

Henrietta saw the spell formation and was sure that what Valdel used was a simple [Flare] spell was. Despite seeing it with her own eyes Henrietta was confused as to what was happening.

Even if you add an enormous amount of mana into using that kind of spell the most you could do was make it look like a [fireball] spell. That was the limitation on the formula of a normal [Flare] spell which was made for those with weaker mana supplies. In fact, that spell wasn't even created to attack someone, it was created to start a little spark to burn a few logs to start a fire. It was mostly used by people for cooking or starting a campfire. 

'He didn't change the formula of the spell or did he, but if he did tinker with it what did he change? It was such a minuscule difference that the formation of the spell looked like it was untampered. In fact, can you even change anything from such a simple spell to make it turn that powerful?... Though it's natural to use the chantless style when using a spell below low-tier. But the changes he made to the formation, is it really possible to that chantless and with such speed?' Henrietta was really intrigued by what Valdel did. He had created a new formula from an old spell. 

The change he did couldn't be discerned at a glance, but he was able to change an old spell that no mage was that interested in. 

'The three styles, chanting, chantless, and natural, each style has a different way to create the formula of a spell formation. Chanting is the style used if you verbally speak the spell words to create a formula for a spell. It is also a plea to the elemental spirits to guide you, in creating a spell. The chantless style, is the same as chanting but you do them in your head, also the elemental spirits no longer help you in creating the formula, this also uses a lot of mana but it has more power. The natural style is when a person that doesn't use any spell words at all, chantless or otherwise. They create the formula for the spell by controlling their mana directly and forming the formula by hand. The only person I know that had successfully pulled this off during a battle is Kretos.' 

Henrietta licked her lips and smiled as she looked at Valdel. This man wasn't as powerful or unreasonable as Kretos, but his skill in changing the formula of a basic spell into something extremely powerful was rather clever. 

'I want to know more about how he formulates his spells. I guess I can talk to him after the match, will Kretos mind if I speak with another man without him present?... Well, it's not like I'm cheating or anything I just want to learn more about spell formulas.' While Henrietta was in deep thought, Valdel looked at her and was about to tell her to announce the winner, but at that moment he felt that something was wrong. Valdel quickly did a sidestep and as he did so a powerful torrent of wind blew by. 

"You even evaded that one." The adorable little voice of Aerwenna sounded behind Valdel. Valdel turned around and saw that the Aerwenna he hit was just water. She had used a water spell to create a decoy of herself.

The two combatants stared at each other for a short time. Aerwenna then raised both her hands up in the air. Seeing her action Valdel looked about ready to evade whatever was coming, but Aerwenna's next action was something nobody expected. 

"I surrender." 

"What?!" Valdel and everyone else was surprised. Seeing his reaction Aerwenna smiled sweetly and answered.

"After my sneak attack failed I know I couldn't win without sustaining some injuries. I don't really like the idea of getting hurt so I surrender." Aerwenna shrugged her shoulders as she answered. Henrietta who was momentarily stunned regained her senses. 

"The winner of the third quarter-final match is Valdel!" 

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