Steampunk Era: Mad Abield

"You can cast your spell first," the battle mage said as he waved his longsword, "otherwise, once I close in, the situation will become very favorable for me."

Malin shook his head, "No need."

The countdown ended swiftly, and the young man started with a trick in an attempt to disrupt Malin’s spellcasting while moving towards Malin’s empty side.

But Malin sidestepped, dodging the spark aimed straight at his face, and with a pause of his staff, he silently released a Fireball. It interrupted the young man’s movement, and as Malin took a step back, moving out of his charge range—a battle mage’s charge combined with Blink is a method that doesn’t even need a second to close in and unleash attacks. Malin had used it more than once to send apprentices flying, so naturally, he was on guard against this youngster.

Meanwhile, the silent Spell Formation was already more than halfway complete. The young man, realizing he was too far, tried another trick, but alas, it was an Illusion Technique, which Malin didn’t fall for at all. With the completed spell activated by a snap of Malin’s fingers, a lightning bolt shot from his hand. The young man parried it with his sword, channeling it into the air—a very standard battle mage maneuver, though it only worked against lightning bolts. If Malin had cast a Crumbling Rock and the young man had dared to block it with his sword, Malin could have smashed both the sword and its owner against the wall.

The young man wanted to press the attack, but his feet were suddenly entangled by vines that shot up from the ground. As he had to use his sword to cut them off, Malin, who had already started his fourth first-circle Spell Formation, slapped an Acceleration Spell on himself, then approached the young man. Once the latter had cut the vines, he boldly moved in on Malin, only to be swept away by a much stronger force. Malin flicked the sword from his hand; it flew out and was caught by an instructor, or it would have ended up among the apprentices.

Malin, taking advantage of the momentum, turned around, employing a wide and forceful Classic Staff Technique, best suited to a power-wielding mage teaching lessons to all manner of would-be heroes. However, since Malin hadn’t come up to kill, he struck the young man’s leg with the base of the staff, causing him to lose balance and kneel. Malin then turned back around and lightly tapped the youth’s head with the tip of his staff.

If he had hit with full force, the lad would have been in serious pain for several hours.