Radiance - The Alight Archives Book #1

89. Basilisk Chase

Kliff leaped to the side as a bolt of purple-colored energy flew past him. Out of the corner of his gaze, he saw when the blast of poison crashed into the ground, strands of grass and plant life disintegrating to black dust only to be blown away by the wind. He wouldn't want to be struck by that spell; that was for certain.

Regaining his balance from where he now stood, Kliff's eyes locked on the rogue sorcerer several meters ahead of him. Vang, whose face was now completely colored in darkish scales, marched toward him with an air of confidence, spinning the wand in his fingers before taking aim, a subsequent poison bolt flying out of its tip, which was aglow with maroon-colored light.

Kliff recognized the green-colored wand, possessing a shaft that coiled and twisted as would the body of a serpent, as a Colubrid Wand. It was a special type of wand capable of enhancing Poison Magic spells. As such, it came as no surprise that Vang himself would prefer to use it in combat. While the sorcerer possessed a powerful Essence Signature—above average when compared to the rest of his underlings—there wasn't any question that the man's magic was being amplified by the wand, for the strength and velocity of his spells would have surely killed him had he have been a lesser mage.

Since enrolling at Glyph Academy, he'd improved a lot when it came to his prowess in combat, but that was not to say Kliff was a pushover in a duel prior to his student career. Inhaling through his nostrils, striking a solid stance with his leg extended behind him, Kliff held his glimmering Salamander Wand high and shouted, "Fire Magic: Drakorus!" A roaring stream of concentrated fire billowed away from him, its intense heat thrashing against his skin as high-temperature winds made his uniform jostle around his person.

His target was Vang, but Kliff watched as several of the other serpents dove out of the path of his flames, eager to escape a fiery demise. Their leader, however, stood his ground, thrusting his wand out in front of him as he beckoned forth a magical barrier that absorbed the brunt of the attack. The fire spread around its curved structure, rising into the air as a wall of flames before dissipating in a cluster of embers. The magical barrier fractured into shimmering shards after that, unveiling Vang's grimace, his forked tongue flickering past his pointed canines. "That all you got, boy?!" he spat, conceited in the way he flashed his grin.

Sweat trickled down the side of Kliff's face, and he felt a pain that caused his stomach to churn. He desperately tried to fight it, the reminder that this wasn't the first grueling duel he had the displeasure of participating in today, but the exhaustion was making it harder to ignore. He noticed his ragged breaths, the way his legs quivered underneath him, how his vision blurred at the corners; fatigue was pulling him under, and if he wasn't careful, he might risk having a Rejection.

Should I release my Ember? It was a terrible thought, but if he burned through all his available magical energy, what other option did that leave him with? A mage was powerless if their Essence ran empty. If he could just take out Vang, perhaps he'd have a brief respite? Then again, would the loss of their leader lower the morale of his followers or merely strengthen their resolve, anger fueling their motivation?

He'd engaged Vang in a duel ever since Elaine and Custas had left, and even then, it looked like the rogue sorcerer was no more tired than he had been before the madness started. Was this the difference between a Professional Sorcerer and a novice? No. No, of course not. This man, this mage, was little else but a sorcerer abusing his magic to bring harm to other people. Kliff had no intention of losing to someone so pathetic.

Around him, the conflict flourished chaotically, with explosions propelling plumes of smoke into the air. The ground shook with the magnitude of an earthquake, horrible shouts and blood-curdling roars rattling his eardrums. Kliff didn't want to think of the position he'd be in had his classmates not arrived as suddenly as they did.