The arena is vast, an open coliseum of dark stone, its floor a well-worn battlefield that has seen centuries of almost ritualistic combat.
I know that more than the proctors are watching the bout, even as I can not sense any other life force in the area. Touki has attuned me to life force to such an extent that nothing alive can sneak up on me.
So scrying of some sort is in place, I wager.
High-Class examinations do not happen often. It would not surprise me if a Satan or two is keeping an eye through magical means - as well as a multitude of pillar families.
Keeping tabs on anyone becoming High-Class is only common sense after all.
I don't fight for their amusement today.
I fight because I have to reach my goal, gain enough attention for my request to go through. Or I might as well slit my throat right now.
Across from me stands my opponent - the proctor of this test, a high-class devil chosen to assess my abilities. He is shorter than me, slimmer in the shoulders, his body not honed by centuries of training, just indulgence in his inborn power. His stance is relaxed, arrogant. I see it in the way he tilts his chin, the way his coal black eyes gleam with condescension.
"Do try to make this interesting, servant of House Shax," He drawls, his tone thick with derision. "I'd hate for this to be over too quickly."
I smile, slow and cold. Servant of House Shax. Because that's all I am worth to these people…
"Oh, don't worry," I say, stretching out my gloved fingers. "I intend to savor this."
I need to impress to begin with. I can't say I'm displeased to get to fight a devil that so fits the ilk I deal with so often.
The call to begin echoes across the arena, but I don't move.
I don't need to yet. Not for this.
My demonic energy is practically howling at the gates, begging to be let out, as I take a slow deep breath, my cold smile becoming slightly more vicious as I show my teeth. My gloved fingers take on the shape of claws as I raise them, my first action already decided.
I'll let him attack, I'll show him how futile his efforts are, while hopefully drawing enough attention for a meeting.
The proctor lifts a hand, demonic energy flaring to life around his palm. A roiling orb of dark energy crackles there, malevolent and powerful, streaks of violet lightning arcing through it. With a flick of his wrist, he hurls it toward me.
I raise my clawed hand and swipe, even as a small buckler sized magic circle flares to life covering my forearm and hand, glowing lines of energy interwoven in complex patterns, like an arcane golden mandala. I'd taken inspiration from the sorcerers of Kamar-Taj, and created something similar for defense, just large enough to cover my arm.
Decades of obsessing over spells, and their composition, about how devils used magic, has made me intimately familiar with demonic energy. Hence, using my imagination, I crafted a spell whose sole purpose is to interact with, and disperse demonic energy.
After all, I know demonic energy very well, so it's not that difficult to imagine an effect that unravels it…
Granted it only works for spells that contain small enough energy for my reserve to do the unraveling, but it was more than enough for these pups.
The moment the dark orb collides with it, my shield absorbs the impact with a ripple of golden light before dispersing the attack into harmless sparks as the demonic energy is turned harmless. As I swipe through it casually, the smoke and sparks of the dissipated spell disperses around me as I cooly stare at the proctor with an unimpressed mien, one eyebrow raised. Is that it? I ask non-verbally.
The proctor's eyes widen slightly, but he recovers quickly. He moves fast, casting a flurry of spells - fire lances, spears of ice, whips of crackling electricity. Each one is a simple spell, albeit with an extra oomph in power.
Something the Proctor doesn't have to put too much effort into bringing into being.
Devils are a bit lazy, I've found, not branching out from what works. The war between the biblical factions having turned cold for so long has only made that worse.
Someone with some intellect and ingenuity can go far in this climate… Is what I'd say if devil society allowed slaves the chance.
Fuck them all with a rusty pitchfork…
Wanting to further mock the proctor's efforts, I bring into being golden circular barriers of glowing sigils that spin and rotate around my arms, similar to what I had already shown, except where my previous efforts dissipates demonic energy - these sigils repel.
So for each one of his spells, I calmly walk forward, my polished shoes clicking against the stone floor as I deflect them with an effortless flick of my arms, even the elemental aspects of the spells not as much as touching me, as it all came into being through demonic energy.
I've also crafted different magical circles to do the same for mana, should I ever run into a particularly skilled human practitioner.
A smirk plays at the corner of my lips as I walk through his attacks like they are nothing, the mandalas shifting like floating bracers, slapping aside spells like an irritated parent swatting at their rambunctious progeny, forcing the proctor to dodge his own spells.
Which further limits the effectiveness of his spells, as he's not the quickest thinker, it appears, frantically dodging, not helping his focus on the spellcasting.
Not everyone can have the power of disassociation I suppose.
Now magical circles, for all that they are necessary for larger magics, such as teleportation, are not strictly necessary for all devil magic like they tend to be for human magicians.
Noble families have their own magical circles passed through their family that tend to play well with their bloodline and generally boost control by acting as somewhat of a pseudo computer for the spell you're using.
Your average devil uses a mass produced garbage circle that just barely allows them enough control to get their shit done.
I created my own. And although most devils do not bother with such circles except for, as I mentioned, larger works as they rarely assign any complexity to their regular spells. I use them for everything, because instead of utilizing them for making my spells bigger, or stronger, or more controlled…
I made the circles themselves part of my spells. Baking in everything together. More complex, sure. But I had a lot of time to weave everything together and it just works.
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