My Servant System

Jahi PoV

The sandstorm she had whipped up around me was immediately a nuisance, each tiny grain of sand imbued with just enough mana to scratch against my armor and attempt to bore its way through the mana around myself to reach my eyes, nostrils and other orifices.

My vision was impeded and the slight buzz that came from the sand swirling all around me took away most of one of my senses while limiting another, making this extremely difficult going forwards.

I knew that I could just encase myself in mana and become an impenetrable 'fortress' for the remainder of our time inside of this arena, and I also knew that doing so would likely earn me one or maybe two additional attacks against the Elf before it was over, but at the same time...

That wasn't why I had taken this duel; it wasn't what I wanted from this, and I definitely wasn't about to settle for something as pathetic as a draw without at least attempting to wring her little neck until her bones were powder and her head was hanging uselessly to the side.

I wanted to see the life leave her eyes as she stared at me, the realization dawning on her finally that she wasn't as talented or strong as she thought, that she had picked wrong and done horrible things in her life that led to this one moment.

Those were my reasons for accepting this duel, as well as the rage I felt every single time she so much as glanced at the Dogkin woman that I loved so dearly; the lust and derision in her eyes whenever she looked at Kat made me want to scream and punch something, while the way she talked about her...

I said terrible things about Kat, sure, but I was her Mistress and her lover and as such I was given the privilege of being such an ass to my woman; Jillian was an upstart arrogant prick who wanted someone she couldn't have and was making it everyone else's problem as she tried to steal her away from me.

Kat didn't want to risk anything, I could feel it, and she was pissed at me for taking this risk without actually consulting her, but I couldn't just let this slide; this Elf needed to die and she needed to be erased from our lives for good, and to do so I needed to kill her.

Doing so was going to be a challenge though, especially with only ten seconds to work with; most certainly by the design of our oh so gracious 'mediator' that was definitely trying to keep all of the potential recruits alive and yearning for more.

If we couldn't finish this here then we would do so above, at least that was what they were thinking and hoping for...

Focusing everything I had on the sandstorm around me, I let go of most of my rage and instead harnessed my anger to temper and hone my remaining senses, searching for the Elf and wondering how much time she was going to waste before she attempted to strike.

She might just be good for one blow here, so I knew she was going to try and make it count; keeping a thick barrier all around myself would only lead to a stall, and I wanted to draw her out so that I could begin attacking as well, meaning I wasn't cocooned in light.

Relying on my armor and shield primarily was idiotic to say the least, but it was an excellent way to lure her into one of the positions I was hoping for her to inhabit; on either side of me or right behind me would be ideal, but she would likely do something tricky...

As an Earth Mage she had access to more than just the 'four directions' around me, with her magic giving her the opportunity to strike from below as well, so I had to divert even more of my attention across more areas of attack.

That caused my attention to be spread thin enough that she could get closer than usual without being sensed, allowing the Elf to lunge at me from my right side - targeting the side with my sword instead of the shield - while the 'ground' beneath me also rumbled, resulting in me being 'pinched' between two attacks.

All of the sand in the air accumulated across the arena rushed towards my feet, swirling around my boots and hardening immediately as the Elf locked me in place, hindering my movements and allowing her to put me into a precarious position.

It didn't stop there either, since the Elf was lunging at me with her rocky lance while the grains of sand swirled around some more and formed darts around my ankles, shooting up and towards my side and underneath my arm, hoping to further impede and wound me.

Multiple angles of attack was tricky, but that was where our differences shone; the mana that had already been gathered in my shield was unleashed in an unfocused yet potent wave around myself as I smashed its edge against the ground, while my gauntlet smacked against the underside of her lance, diverting it from my body and saving me from most of the damage.

It still exploded and scoured my armor while the force of her attack rattled my entire arm, setting my nerves aflame while the tendons contracted, 'absorbing' the impact and spreading out the damage rather evenly as dozens of tears damaged my primary arm.

However it got the effect I desired, and that was catching the Elf off guard and allowing me to slide my shield across the ground and into her side, sending her flying backwards with a pained shout as the heavy metal easily overwhelmed her enchanted leathers.

That wave of energy from slamming my shield against the ground had freed my feet, allowing me to dash at the Elf while she was still in the air and build up momentum for when I was going to hit her again.

How long it had been was unknown to me, but I knew deep down that I had the time to finish this here and now... whether it would be enough was a whole different story though, one that I wasn't wanting to have play out for me.