THE MOMENT
"I planned to keep it a secret as long as possible...," Wyle shook his head at Monday. "...I definitely don't need it for Mervin." Wyle the mage and his secret trainer, a teenage girl named Monday, were preparing for Wyle's first match.
"I'm insisting," Monday replied. "Before you and I came to an agreement, I sold Mervin an upgrade for his magic. If you don't defeat him with your opening move, you'll probably lose."
"You did what!?" Wyle was surprised and insulted. "What upgrade did you give him? Is it better than mine? I get my soul back if I lose any duels today," he said. Monday nodded.
"Then follow my instructions. Use Gun first," she said. "I sold him a mana condenser; it makes all his spells stronger. Even his mage armor. Aim for the golden disc on his chest to weaken him."
"Wait...," Wyle tilted his head at Monday. The rainbow-haired teen approached him two days ago when the duel schedule was announced. She talked him out of his soul in exchange for winning the tournament. But, this was the first time she mentioned dealing with Mervin too. He couldn't help but begin to doubt her loyalty. "Have you dealt with any of the other mages?" To his surprise, Monday nodded without hesitation.
"I think I got the souls of almost everyone competing," she grinned.
"What?? How can I trust you??" Wyle stood from the cot and began to pace around the barracks room nervously. He was supposed to win the tournament, impress the king and marry the princess. That was worth his soul. Once he realized he shouldn't have trusted Monday he began to wonder if he'd actually get his soul back if he lost.
"Because we made a deal," Monday said.
"You made deals with everyone else!" Monday nodded.
"I made different deals with the other competitors," she giggled. "For some reason, you're the only one that specified you wanted to win. Everyone else vaguely asked to upgrade their magic or learn powerful spells. I've already completed all those deals; all that's left is for you to do what I tell you." Trumpets sounded to call the next match; Wyle did not have the time to argue or backtrack.
"Alright...," he sighed. "I'm in your hands."
"NEXT MATCH!" the town crier called out while Wyle stepped onto the long arena. It was a raised stone platform about six feet wide. "Rising Star Wyle versus Mervin the mediocre!"
Mervin stepped onto the arena on the other side. He wore the same formal green robes as the rest of the competitors; but, he had a golden disc strapped to his chest. It glowed with a soft purple light.
"Ladies and gentlemen, Mervin's feeling extra confident today! He gave the first action to Wyle!" The announcer said. "Don't blink, or you'll miss it," he added. Laughter rolled through the crowd. Then, he left the platform leaving the two mages alone on stage. Wyle sighed and stepped forward. He held his hand out pointed at Mervin and hoped for the best.
"Gun!" he said. A confused murmur filled the room followed by curious awe. A glowing golden gun appeared in his hand; then, nothing happened. Only a few of the mages that Monday dealt with had seen a gun by then. The rest of the mages had no idea what to expect.
"Is that your action?" The announcer asked. It wasn't unheard of for mages to cast a spell over multiple turns; but, it was unusual as a first action." Wyle nodded, and his aura began to glow with purple light. Now that his turn was over, he reinforced his mage armor.
"Mervin! Show us what you can do!" Despite the light mocking earlier, the announcer didn't have any hate for Mervin. He was just an easy target for the crowd. But, the announcer encouraged the crowd to cheer for Mervin now that it was his turn. To everyone's surprise, Mervin shook his head while grinning from ear to ear. The glow of his mage armor dimmed, visibly dropping his guard.
"Take another action, I want to see what your...'gun' can do," Mervin laughed. Duels were formal affairs and it was poor form to ask, 'are you sure?'. Wyle nodded and raised the gun to aim at the mana condenser on Mervin. He did not need to use an incantation for the spell; but, he thought he should say something for the audience. The only thing his mind came up with was the name of the bullets that Monday gave him.
Wyle had two days to practice with the gun, and in some ways that was two days too many. Casting was as simple as thinking of the spell and firing. He wanted something to break the condenser without destroying Mervin too; the gun was powerful enough for that to be a concern. He imagined a small pebble hitting the golden disc.
"Sol Caliber," he said as he squeezed the trigger. A perfect earthen sphere the size of Wyle's head fired out of the gun and shot across the stage at Mervin. It surprised him enough to panic. His mage armor shined with brilliant purple light as he tried to brace himself.
The impact sounded like a cannon shot and it shattered against Mervin. Rock fragments and dust covered the crowd; Mervin was sent flying backward out of the arena and against a wall. The announcer ran to his side and checked for a pulse.
"Knock out!" the announcer yelled. The crowd roared while the announcer dashed back to Wyle.
"That was amazing!" he said. "We've never seen a mage cast like that! Are you willing to take on apprentices after the tournament?" Wyle took a moment to admire the gun in his hand, then he smiled at the announcer.
"I'm not just a mage anymore...," he said. He raised the gun in the air to show everyone. "But, after I win the tournament, I'll be happy to teach everyone how to be a Spellslinger."