Chapter 244 Pordhail vs Pordhail [Part I]
Edited by: Kanaa-senpai
When it comes to a duel, a wide space is obviously needed, but there’s only one such place in the frontier settlement.
It’s a square located to the north of the settlement, but during the day, a decent number of people use it for training. So, while a sword duel might be fine, when it comes to a duel between magicians, they really need to clear out a wide area. Feeling a bit sorry, Amelia calls out to one person in the square…
”Wait, Amelia Pordhail!? No way, is it really you!? Wow, seeing you in person is definitely something else… Oh, sorry! So, what do you need? Huh? You want me to clear the area for a duel? The opponent is… Estesia Pordhail!?”
Pordhail vs. Pordhail, that matchup spread through the square in an instant, and not a single person complained as they cleared the space for the two.
Of course, it wasn’t out of pure goodwill; everyone wanted to witness the duel. The center of the square was cleared out significantly, while the outer edges were packed with not just the people who were already there, but also onlookers who had come after hearing the news.
”This isn’t a show, you know… If you get hit by a stray spell, don’t say I didn’t warn you.”
”Well, it can’t be helped. It’s said that the last duel between Pordhails was over 80 years ago, between Eustil Pordhail and Kaval Pordhail. If we weren’t involved, we’d just be one of the bystanders, wouldn’t you?”
”Well, I can’t deny that, but at this rate, by the time we settle our duel, there might be a mountain of bodies around us?”
”You’re right, it’s not good to cause trouble for Neil-sama, so let’s set up a defensive magic here.”
Saying that, Amelia created a transparent half-sphere of defensive magic, and Estesia looked at it and spoke.
”It’s not a sustained type, huh?”
”Yeah, it’s a bit of a hassle to keep re-casting magic while fighting, so it’s easier for me to just maintain the magic from the start.”
”Normally, maintaining magic while fighting would be way harder… You’re impressive.”
Creating parallel magic structures usually requires a lot of focus, and fighting while maintaining even one is not realistic.
If someone else had said the same thing to Estesia, she would have been angry and thought, “Are you underestimating me?” But this was Amelia, a monster who had taken control of a fortress while facing dozens of other magicians at the same time.
Knowing that maintaining one defensive magic structure was no handicap, Estesia honestly praised her.
”Well then, shall we begin?”
”Yeah, if we take too long, the onlookers will just gather, so the signal is… Hey! You over there!”
”Huh, me?”
”I’m counting on you for the signal!”
Ignoring the confusion of one of the onlookers who was suddenly called out, the two readied their staffs.
Amelia held a long staff made of mithril, while Estesia had a wooden staff and a shorter metal staff that was about half the length. They waited for the signal.
It had been 80 years since a duel between Pordhail had taken place, and the onlooker who was given the important role of starting the fight was nervous. Surrounded by silent pressure to hurry up, he raised his trembling right hand into the air.
”Then──let’s begin!”
At the same time as the signal, sparkling ice crystals shot from Amelia’s long staff, while sparks flew from Estesia’s short staff, and ice and fire collided between them.
”Hey, hey! Don’t they know the rules of a duel!? Magic construction is supposed to be banned until the duel starts!”
”What are you talking about? Those 2 are following the rules just fine.”
”Huh!? They fired magic the moment the signal went off! There’s no way they could gather their magic and cast it that quickly!”
”That’s what Amelia Pordhail can do. But I didn’t know Estesia Pordhail could construct magic that fast too. I guess that’s the Pordhail name for you.”
The two were showing off their differences in skill with their fast magic casting, but this was just a warm-up.
(Haha, that was crazy fast. Even though I started a bit quicker, my magic activation was just a tiny bit slower. If there were no tricks, that would have decided the match right there.)
While being impressed by Amelia Pordhail’s power, Estesia gripped the handle of her short staff tightly.
(Even as a warm-up, keeping up with that speed… Is the secret in that staff?)
On the other hand, Amelia was surprised that Estesia had caught up to her speed, but she was also interested in the short staff Estesia held.
The speed of magic construction depends not only on the magician’s skill but also on the material of the staff used as a medium.
The higher the magic conductivity, the more magic can flow in and the faster it penetrates the medium, but as conductivity increases, it requires more delicate magic control, so most people use mediums made of materials with moderate conductivity.
Mithril is the best material when it comes to the conductivity of magical power, and there is no other material that has higher conductivity and is harder to handle.
Amelia, with her incredible magical control and a mithril staff, was already so fast that no one else could keep up, even though she wasn’t using her full power. Still, Estesia managed to keep up with her, albeit slightly behind.
(That staff doesn’t look like it’s made of mithril; it looks like it’s made of Fluorite. In terms of conductivity, it can’t beat mithril… so how could she keep up with my speed?)
To find out why Estesia could keep up with her speed using a material with lower conductivity, Amelia unleashed one spell after another, and Estesia responded in kind.
When Amelia shot ice crystals, Estesia countered with fireballs, melting the small avalanche with her flames while pushing back. Watching this, Amelia realized the trick behind Estesia’s ability to keep up with her speed.
”I see, you’ve built about half──no, maybe 70 percent of it already?”
”Ugh… I want to say impressive, but isn’t it a bit too early for you to notice?”
”Is that so? If you keep using fireballs like this, it’s hard not to notice unless you’re really slow on the uptake.”
Estesia’s short staff is not just a regular metal staff.
Most of it is made of a bright orange metal called Fluorite, but inside, it actually has mithril hidden within, and that mithril part was forming the magic formula.
The difference in conductivity between mithril and Fluorite is huge; when magical power flows normally, it only goes to the mithril part and not to the Fluorite.
Using this, Estesia could build most of the formula in an instant just by flowing magical power, allowing her to manually construct the remaining small part and cast spells at a speed that could almost match Amelia.
However, this method has its downsides. The magic power just flows into the mithril part, which limits the spells that can be activated.
”If I know the seed, dealing with it is easy… but let’s go all out here.”
As Amelia waved her staff, countless ice crystals appeared behind her, making Estesia’s eyes widen.
(As if a long staff could produce this many, that’s just ridiculous!)
Since the magic is built and activated through a medium, the larger the medium, the more area can be used for construction at once.
If the area increases, naturally, more magic power can be poured in at once, and the power of the activated spell increases accordingly.
There’s a huge difference in the scale of magic that can be activated between a long staff and a short staff, and the opponent is Amelia. With precise magic control, she was using the maximum area of the long staff to construct this spell.
(Even using 2 staffs, I’d still be overwhelmed by that number…!)
Realizing that she would be outnumbered in a direct confrontation, Estesia poured magic into her wooden staff and began to construct her spell, causing the wind to swirl around her.
The formed dust whirlwind blew away all the ice crystals Amelia released, scattering them across the entire field.
”Oh, you’re fast enough without those little tricks.”
”Hah! You did even cast your spell until just before I finished constructing mine, what are you──!?”
It was a sensation that only Estesia, with her extraordinary magic sensing ability, could notice. Following that feeling, the moment Estesia jumped to the left, a flash of light flew past the spot where her head had been.
”Dodging that was impressive. Now, this is where the real battle begins. I will prove the power of the person you underestimated.”
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Edited by Kanaa-senpai.
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