Xu Zhao Ting and Mo Fan stood opposite each other, preparing for battle. The chosen battleground was a clearing about thirty to forty meters in diameter. Jiaxing Xia and I positioned ourselves a little further away on a rise to get a better view. They looked at each other, waiting for the signal to start. Mo Fan stood calmly, absolutely confident in his strength. Xu Zhao Ting was not tense, but very focused and ready to unleash his first spell.
"And begin!" I gave the command from afar, shouting at the top of my lungs, making the trees tremble. I didn't know internal energy could amplify a voice.
Xu Zhao Ting made the first move, rushing towards Mo Fan and launching lightning bolts at him. Mo Fan, clearly not expecting such a sudden attack, jumped aside, sending a wave of fire at Zhao Ting, amplified by a secondary spiritual seed, a fire rose, more than two and a half times. However, this undoubtedly powerful spell had absolutely no effect, just scorching the grass.
Xu Zhao Ting, meanwhile, had already circled around Mo Fan, directing another lightning bolt at him. He wasn't using wind magic; this was his actual speed. Of course, compared to me, he moved very slowly, and if I were there, I would have already grabbed him by the throat and sent him flying, but Mo Fan wasn't that agile. He tried to retaliate, and another wave of fire flew towards Zhao Ting.
Naturally, when their spells collided, Mo Fan won; Xu Zhao Ting had no seed, so there was no chance here. However, he himself was unharmed, skillfully dodging the blow. Mo Fan was starting to get annoyed, and he decided to create a mid-level spell. However, Xu Zhao Ting didn't give him time for that, quickly running up and hitting him in the stomach. This forced Mo Fan to step back a couple of paces, and he doubled over in pain. After all, until he mastered demonization, his body wasn't much stronger than an ordinary mid-level mage, and Zhao Ting clearly hadn't just been cultivating while the old man was torturing me.
Unfortunately for him, Mo Fan quickly recovered and didn't let himself be hit a second time, defending with a wave of fire. Xu Zhao Ting, almost instantly, used the wind step, which he had been gradually building up all this time since the last lightning bolt. It's also worth noting that he used my trick and started composing a new spell while the second one was still finishing, which significantly sped up his magic.
"They won't kill each other, will they?" Jiaxing Xia asked worriedly, sitting nearby in her wheelchair.
"No, they shouldn't," I said, after a moment's thought, adding, "If something goes wrong, we'll stop them."
"Okay," she nodded. I thought that Zhao Man Yan would be useful right now with his defensive magic.
Meanwhile, Xu Zhao Ting dodged aside, simultaneously sending a lightning bolt at Mo Fan, which he barely managed to dodge; he was even slightly grazed. There wasn't even time to start summoning. Yes, not all enemies will give you that time. However, Mo Fan still tried to buy himself some time, sending a volley of fire waves at Xu Zhao Ting.
But Xu Zhao Ting dodged all of them, using only two wind step spells. Of course, I use them more, but this is due to my more efficient use of magic energy, increasing my speed, and my ability to control spells more precisely, which also negatively affects their duration. Despite the successful dodges, this considerably exhausted Xu Zhao Ting, forcing him to stop and catch his breath when the firestorm subsided. Mo Fan achieved what he wanted.
Although he himself was not in ideal shape; so many consecutive spells could exhaust even such a resilient mid-level mage as him. However, he continued to stand and build the star path of summoning, preparing to summon the dark wolf. Soon, a silvery ripple appeared behind Mo Fan, from which emerged a huge wolf, about two to two and a half meters tall. Its fur was dark blue with patterns. As soon as it appeared, a deafening howl was heard.
"Is that Mo Fan's summoned beast? How strong is it!" Jiaxing Xia exclaimed in surprise, intently following the fight.
"I wouldn't say it's strong; quite the opposite, a confident average," I replied, having carefully studied the wolf. Such a creature poses no danger to me.
Xu Zhao Ting didn't give the wolf a chance to recover and immediately sent a lightning strike at it, prepared during his rest. The wolf barely managed to dodge. Fortunately, Zhao Ting still needed time to complete the spell, or the wolf would have been dead. As it was, it got off relatively lightly, with a bloody and torn paw, and half its body numb, nothing fatal.
"Return," Mo Fan said gently to the wolf, like a person to their dog, then irritably turned to Xu Zhao Ting. "And if you had killed him, what would you have told me to do?!"
"What does that have to do with me? You summoned him yourself," Xu Zhao Ting said, breathing heavily, gradually recovering his breath. "If I hadn't neutralized him immediately, I would have had problems. Don't worry, I wouldn't have killed your wolf," he finished calmly.
"Rgh... Fine, I can't argue, it's my fault," Mo Fan said, very irritated, clearly worried about the wolf.
After that, the battle continued. Mo Fan sent a lightning bolt at Xu Zhao Ting, who dodged and sent a spell in return. Mo Fan barely dodged, sending another lightning spell at Xu Zhao Ting. But he dodged again and, running a little closer, directed another lightning bolt at Mo Fan.
Here, Mo Fan, by some miracle, managed to dive into the shadows and escape, leaving Xu Zhao Ting looking around for him. About half a minute passed before Mo Fan burst out from behind Xu Zhao Ting and directed a wave of fire at him. It was too late to run, so Zhao Ting, as soon as he felt the approaching danger, immediately turned around and summoned two shields made of giant alligator hide, which I had given him. The blow was strong, the shields were considerably damaged, but they withstood the impact, and their owner directed another lightning bolt at Mo Fan, which he barely dodged.
"Where did you get these shields?" Mo Fan asked with a slight hint of accusation, rolling on his back on the ground.
"Jiaxing Yun gave them to me," Zhao Ting said, after which Mo Fan looked at me with a questioning and slightly surprised gaze.
"Watch the fight; we'll talk later," I said calmly, as another lightning bolt from Xu Zhao Ting was already flying at him.
Mo Fan managed to dodge again and sent a fire fist at Zhao Ting. This time he managed to dodge, but the mid-level spell was much stronger than the initial one, almost reaching the third stage! However, Xu Zhao Ting managed to save himself by covering himself with the shields, and also by using the wind step to quickly jump aside. But the shields were almost completely destroyed; a little more, and they would have been irreparable. So Xu Zhao Ting safely put them away.
Immediately after, lightning and fire flew at him alternately, and he had to save himself again using the wind step. Xu Zhao Ting had difficulty dodging the spells, barely escaping at the last moment. Although such chaotic and simple attacks from Mo Fan posed no threat to me, I could have killed him a couple of times between them, but for Xu Zhao Ting, this was a huge success.
However, this rain of spells soon stopped, as no one can attack continuously with initial-level magic, especially with two elements, having just entered the mid-level. Even for me, it's very difficult, although there might be someone out there; the world is vast. Xu Zhao Ting and Mo Fan stopped for the second time to catch their breath. The former was clearly in a worse state; his magic reserves had almost dropped below fifty percent in both elements, and his physical fatigue was also immense. As for Mo Fan, one of his elements was neutralized, the other wouldn't help in battle, except perhaps for hiding, and even then, he was struggling. And the other two had dropped below fifty percent.
"Well, maybe that's enough?" I asked them, realizing that if they continued, both would suffer serious injuries.
"Yes, I'm not finished yet!" Mo Fan declared smugly, breathing heavily.
"I won't finish until he surrenders!" Xu Zhao Ting stated confidently, feeling that he was no longer an ordinary mage. I thought about whether canon striving to happen meant that because Xu Zhao Ting became stronger, the members of the black church who would eventually capture him would also become stronger? This would be a very unpleasant turn of events, as it would mean other events could become more dangerous, enemies stronger, and some might even appear earlier!
"That's enough, who will heal you then?" Jiaxing Xia said, slightly pouting, looking intently at them. Usually, she wouldn't go against Mo Fan's will, but my influence, and her fear for him, helped her calm them down.
"Wrap it up. We'll consider your first official duel a draw," I said, walking towards them.
"Alright, only because I need to test the wolf," Mo Fan shrugged. "Why did you almost kill him!"
"I told you, if you hadn't summoned him, I wouldn't have touched him," Xu Zhao Ting said calmly but persistently. "If he hadn't dodged, I would have stopped the magic. But if he had attacked me, would you have stopped him?"
"Yes, of course, he's a summoned beast, and we understand each other well," Mo Fan waved his hand.
"I see. Let's fight again sometime. This was a good training session. And a draw for starters is not bad," Xu Zhao Ting said, shrugging.
"Wait, I'll help you," Jiaxing Xia bustled, driving her wheelchair towards the duelists' mountain. They made a good pair, and I think both have a bright future ahead.
"And maybe you and I can fight, Jiaxing Yun? You've awakened lightning, so now you can not only run away but also fight. Just like Xu Zhao Ting now," Mo Fan laughed, letting Jiaxing Xia examine him.
"No, thank you. I was badly injured recently while hunting, so fighting is contraindicated for me right now," I said, shrugging. "Maybe later, I'll teach you another lesson," I laughed. In reality, I couldn't care less about dueling them, even a training one; it's tedious, boring, and uninteresting; they are too weak opponents. However, constantly avoiding it and simultaneously supporting their rivalry is simply impossible. So sooner or later, I'll have to, but it's better later. But in any case, for me, it will be like an adult playing with a child in a sandbox.
"Are you scared?" Mo Fan smiled, looking intently at me.
"No, he has really severe wounds; it's amazing he's still walking," Jiaxing Xia said calmly, with a slight reproach in her voice, about the unknown energy she didn't mention, which is good.
"Mo Fan, Jiaxing Yun is much stronger than me. Do you think you can defeat him?" Xu Zhao Ting chuckled. Here, he's the only one who has seen at least a small part of my strength, when I'm holding back considerably.
"Really? And what can he do that makes him much stronger than you?" Mo Fan asked skeptically.
"You wouldn't even touch him, let alone hit him," Xu Zhao Ting continued to chuckle. Is my strength really just a way for him to laugh at Mo Fan? But I must admit, it does look very amusing. "He'd probably kill you with one of his daggers."
"What? What daggers?" Mo Fan asked, genuinely surprised, staring at me.