Slimes & Magic

32. Mock battles galore

Following Carl and Alex's battle several more came afterwards. The next was between the newcomers Liz and Mel. Expecting great things from both of them the fight starts out as a regular one on one. Mel jabbing and blocking, trying to stay out of reach of Liz's hammer. Surprisingly, Liz is able to swing around the hammer as if it weighed as much as a stick, clearly a result of her immense strength. Both of them seem to be a match for the other, blocking any blows and not giving the other a chance to make a proper move. Just as Mel jumps backwards some distance away from her opponent, Liz activates the boost rune on her hammer and follows Mel's jump. Without a second thought Mel immediately starts spinning her spear in front of her at great speeds, activating her magic as well a very strong push of wind stops Liz in her tracks forcing her to hold her ground. Trying to take advantage of the opportunity Mel plants the tip of her spear in front of her using it to jump up towards Liz. As she swings her spear over her head bringing it down, Liz smashes her hammer in to the ground activating a second rune at the same time. Hitting the ground makes the earth shift around it and pile up in to a wall reaching up to block Mel's jump attack. Carl calls off the fight there seeing as the two of them are evenly matched and would probably be able to go at it for a while and not get anywhere. Impressed by both of their basic skills and magical improvements, according to carl they both pass with flying colours, not that it really was a test.

Following their fight May and Elvan battle each other at long range showing off both their magical skills. Elvan focussed on showing his improved magic casting and speed using several of the engraved runes on the staff to cast multiple types of magic at the same time. May on the other hand used her magic bow to pull dirt out of the ground, compacting it in to arrows that fly with the one she shoots herself, resulting in a heavy barrage. Deflecting the arrows with a couple quick bursts of air Elvan responds with a circle of ice spears, released one by one in quick succession all aimed at May while she runs to dodge them. In an effort to respond Mel shoots a dirt arrow from her bow instead of a regular one. This time not aiming directly at Elvan but at the ground, a pillar erupts blocking and smashing a few of the ice spears that were coming her way. From behind the pillars that she made May knocks three arrows, drawing back her bow she jumps out, firing the arrows horizontally. The middle arrow is aimed right at Elvan, while the other two fly off to the side. Not sure what to do carl shoots down the arrow coming straight at him with a simple ice spike. To everyone's surprise, the arrows going off to the side suddenly change direction while flying and curve straight towards both Elvan's sides. Very surprised Elvan has to block both arrows in a panic using the magic barrier, and before he knows, May is standing right in front of him. Having taken advantage of the surprise attack May activated her speed boost clearing the distance between the two of them in a matter of seconds, finally ending the match with a drawn bow in front of Elvan. "*Aaand that's the fight!*" Iris announces, having taken up the role of referee.

The next two fights were to gauge Mel and Liz's strength compared to the rest of them in the party. To properly do this they agreed to omit the use of magic and rely on ability and skills only. First Mel fought against Carl, soon leading to her defeat as her level is lower than Carl's. Still, she managed to hold Carl off for a while and go in for an attack herself twice. Next Liz took up her hammer against Alex, mostly because Alex would be the safest out of any of them if they actually get hit. Seeing as Alex has so many skills and is that much stronger, they decided to place a limiter on them to only be allowed to use their defensive skills and use the different transformations that they have to attack. To test her speed with the hammer Alex turned in to a small falcon and tried to dive bomb her from above. Alex was narrowly able to avoid getting hit using their superior speed, and turned in to a absolutely giant snake to see how Liz fares in a contest of strength. Coiling up in front of her Alex used their new steel skin skill to bounce back any of the attacks that she tried to land. Using the end of their tail Alex aimed to hit Liz in the size, dodging it once she was forced to take the hit and block it. Standing her ground she didn't get pushed over, rather she slid over the grass as Alex pushed back. Turning in to the dire-wolf as she regained her footing Alex went in for the close combat trying to knock Liz over, making sure to avoid using their claws. She blocked twice, but when trying to swing and hit Alex herself, they dashed out the way and knocked her in the side. With that she fell to the ground, Alex ending the fight with a paw placed gently on her stomach.