17
1085 Words
Masked contestants very often won the competitions, which explained why so many sycophants like Brett were willing to throw their own pride away to get into the good graces of someone who had even the slimmest chance of becoming the next Light and Shadow.
Matt and Liz both found the behavior pathetic, but they expected to inevitably attract their own hangers-on as Quill and Torch rose in fame.
Leaving the crowd behind, Quill made his way back to Sally’s enchantment shop and started flipping through the talismans that he had taken an interest in yesterday.
After pulling out the more specialized versions, he took a moment and tried to peer into the enchantments she had imbued into the parchments.
As he expected, her obscurement runes blurred the details too much for him to discern exactly how she created her elementally inclined [Mana Barriers].
Sally saw him perusing the talismans and introduced herself. “I see you have a good eye. Those are my little pet projects. You won’t find anything half as good in other shops. I’m Sally, by the way. Owner, proprietor, and best enchanter on the block.”
He nodded along as she spoke but didn’t stop leafing through the papers, inspecting what runes he could make out through the obscurement enchantment.
Quill would return pettiness and bad behavior tenfold, but Matt refused to let himself start any trouble, and that was a personality trait he shared with Quill. His alter ego would eagerly dump mana on a fire, but only if someone else started the fire first.
Tapping the papers, he asked, “How did you manage that? I’m a dedicated talisman maker myself, and I have no idea what you actually did here.”
Sally shook her head at the question. “I’m not going to share my trade secrets around, especially not with a direct competitor. That would just be plain dumb.”
The only thing he had to trade was the knowledge of using mana types and how to incorporate them in enchantments to offer. Except, he wasn’t sure that was a fair trade either. Under the mask, Matt bit his lip but finally made a decision. It was worth the risk if he could learn something new.
Turning, he asked, “What about a talisman duel? Would that satisfy you? That would build your reputation as well. Good advertisement.”
Puckering her lips, Sally shook her head. “Talismans aren’t my main seller, and I don’t get anything of equal value out of the duel.”
Withdrawing one of his talismans, Quill lobbed it toward her. “Inspect my work. I can trade knowledge for knowledge. Honestly, I think I’d be getting the worse end of the deal. The trick I’m putting up works with almost all types of enchanting.”
Eyeing his unobscured talisman paper, Sally shook her head again. “These are some weird formations. Is it a Talent?”
Quill shook his head and waited for her to make up her mind.
Finally, Sally reconsidered. “An exhibition match won’t do me any harm and will help me stand out a bit.”
She put her hands on her hips and arched an eyebrow at him. “Though, I’d really like to know who I’m dueling first. You got a name, stranger?”
“Oh! Where are my manners? Quill, talisman maker extraordinaire and soon-to-be tournament winner.”
With an agreement, they called the guards. After being informed it was an exhibition match, and not a true fight, the officers happily complied and a familiar glass orb thunked down between them.
Having talked to Luna in preparation for something like this, he sent an AI voice message to Sally.
“Connect to the orb and ask for an open view. That way the people can see what really happens. Otherwise, there’s no point in this match.”
He got no direct response, but a confirmation pinged out stating that the orb’s counter-espionage functions had been disabled by mutual agreement.
Just as with Felix’s duel, the two of them were in a simulation of the outside surroundings, just without any other people. Matt nodded at the quality of the orb. All the details were perfect as far as he could tell.
Slipping back into his boisterous personality for anyone watching and the recording, Quill proclaimed to the crowd outside, “Hello, everyone! I am Quill, and with me is the Sally from Sally’s Superior Supplies.
“The two of us will be performing a talisman exhibition match today. For those of you not familiar with the many fine dueling traditions used by enchanters, a talisman exhibition match occurs in alternating turns. One enchanter launches an attack with one of their talismans, and the other enchanter must defend against it with a talisman of their own. Then, the roles swap, and we rinse and repeat. It’s all about the quality of the talismans and matching or countering the opponent’s moves. Not so much a duel to the death as a way to show off the power and variety of a crafter’s talismans.”
Gesturing at Sally, he continued, “As the challenged party, my esteemed opponent gets to choose to start as the attacker or defender.”
Sally didn’t hesitate, and a box of talismans hovered next to her as she called out, “I’ll be taking the offensive and kicking us off with a standard [Mana Bolt].”
Quill copied her action, and a dozen talismans hovered around him. He plucked a talisman out of the air.
“Ah! A traditionalist after my own heart. Then, it’s a standard [Mana Barrier] for me.”
[Mana Bolt] versus [Mana Barrier] was the traditional opening exchange. Starting off with the absolute basics showed off just how much power a crafter’s enchantments could hold, all other things being equal. The two spells had no significant weaknesses, but neither was anything particularly weak to them.
With a gesture, Sally activated the talismans, and the pre-charged spell raced out to slam into Quill’s prepared [Mana Barrier]. The energy dispersed without causing so much as a ripple on the shield. Defending was always easier with talismans as the maximum amount of mana one could put into a talisman was dictated by the Tier of the animal skin used to make the parchment. While there could be a variety of monsters used in their production, the maximum mana would fluctuate by only a minute amount.
At least defense was typically easier than offense.
- Writer
