Chapter 21: Harvest in the Spire
Corvin’s second match of the day was announced shortly after, and his opponent entered the arena with a confident stride. She was another dark elven woman, short, busty, and wrapped in a sleek dueling uniform etched with thread thin mana weaves. Her silver hair was tied back in a combat knot, and the amulet on her neck crackled faintly with her active affinity.
She wasted no time. As soon as the duel began, she coated herself in a shell of lightning. Thin arcs dancing around her like a living cage. It was reactive, elegant, and dazzling to the eye. Sparks licked from her arms to her shoulders and then into the air, forming a shifting perimeter of light. At the same time, she lashed out with short range arcs, whip like bursts that struck fast and shallow.
A good setup, Corvin had to admit.
But far too showy.
Lightning wasn’t just flash. It was speed. Power. Direction. In the wild, it didn’t warn. It struck.
She was more interested in form than function.
Even so, he cast his spores carefully. One to her wrist. Another to her collar. By the time she repositioned to bait him forward, she was already part of his archive.
His real objective wasn’t the duel. It was the refinement. The subtle tweaks to control, layering, and reflexes that might push his lightning affinity beyond its current plateau.
The moment she made the mistake of overcommitting a bolt, he responded.
He lifted both hands, fingers spread.
Lightning arced outward like twin river deltas, branching in layers upon layers. A first volley came in a horizontal wave. The second peeled off mid air, snapping downward at her legs. The third, more a storm than a bolt burst from above with explosive pressure.