Littleroot Versus Coppersmith

Lucas ended up defeating his opponent last round, so instead of a second free win, I’m being forced to fight my best friend… lucky me.

I meet him at the center of the arena. “Well… this is it, Lucas. The semifinals.”

“Listen, Nora. I know we both have a lot riding on this, but I want you to know that no matter what happens, I won’t be upset with the outcome. So let’s promise that whoever wins here will go on to win the championship—for the both of us.”

I try to force a smile. “Sounds good, Lucas.”

As I start walking away, he calls out, “Uh, Nora—one last thing.”

I turn. “Yeah?”

“During the battle, can you please not, like, crush my balls—”

“Lucas!” Heat rushes to my face.

“I’m kidding, I’m kidding!”

“Ugh!” I cross my arms and look away. “Guess I was worried for nothing!”

“Good,” he replies.

Huh?

I look back at him and find him smirking. “I don’t want you holding anything back, Nora. I want us to come at each other with everything we’ve got, and do it with huge smiles on our faces.”

He nods at me before walking away, and I do the same.

Lucas…

…you big dummy.

How could I not smile after a pep talk like that?

I turn around and sprint after him, hugging him from behind.

“N-N-Nora?” he sputters, looking back.

“You got it, Lucas!” I beam. “Everything I have!”

He sighs, then flashes an awkward smile as he scruffles my hat. “I wouldn’t have it any other way.”

We both walk back to our positions. Lucas climbs into a large bizarre-looking vehicle plated with metal. We’re allowed to fight with equipment, so Lucas technically isn’t breaking any rules… but it sure feels like he is. None of his previous opponents came even close to taking down this machine… Hopefully I fare better.

The bottom of the machine looks like a pie tin. There are almost certainly wheels, but the plating hangs so low to the ground I can’t even see them. The rest of the machine looks like a giant cone. A myriad of differently colored crystals stick out of it like swivelable cannons, each imbued with different elemental properties. Above each cannon is a slit in the plating to see through. At the top of the machine is a hatch that he locks tight as soon as he drops through it. The crystals and the inside of the machine start faintly glowing—powered entirely by his Ruin Machina summon—Sugarcube.

I look down my arm and pull back my sleeve, revealing a slingshot device that would’ve made my life significantly easier the first two rounds of the tournament. Having mashed my herbs into pellets, I can now feed them to Pudding from a distance.

It made me so happy when Lucas gifted it to me this morning. He really is incredible…

…but I have to win this match and show everyone that as incredible as Lucas’ inventions are, nothing can stand up against me and Pudding’s bond. That when a summoner and their summon truly learn to understand eachother—the possibilities are endless!

“You ready, Pudding?”

“Squee!”

Super Grandpa calls out, “Let the match… begin!”

I sprint toward the machine, Pudding bouncing alongside me, both of us dodging a cavalcade of cannon fire. The cone occasionally spins around, mixing up which kinds of elemental blasts we have to contend with.

Lucas’s summon stores a remarkable amount of mana, but it can’t make proper use of it without equipment attached. We have to get it out of that machine somehow.

By the time we fight our way through up to the machine, I’ve already burned through a ton of mana. We can’t let it get distance on us again.

I lack the firepower to break through the metal plating, so I attack the crystals, but it has no effect.

Time for Plan B. Maybe I can attack the inside through those slits. I leap onto the side of the machine, where thankfully the cannons can’t—

The top of the machine rapidly spins, throwing me off.

Oof. Well, at least I was able to make contact with it, that’s more than any of his other opponents—

The canons immediately fire at me, and I’m just barely able to blast myself out of the way.

Ugh! It’s going to be impossible to grip onto that thing with the plating being so smooth and slanted.

Maybe I can mobilize it?

I try conjuring pillars of earth from underneath it, but I can’t get enough upward force to lift something so heavy.

I glance over at Pudding to see how he’s faring against all this cannon fire. Thankfully he doesn’t seem to be having any trouble dodging—

I gasp.

That’s it! I can’t do it, but Pudding can!

“Squee?”

“You think you can get under there for me, Pudding?”

“Squee!”

Pudding starts to roll under the machine, and I dive to the side, getting just enough of an angle to slingshot him him a cluster of growth herbs and hardening herbs to flip over this stupid contraption of Lucas’s—

I glance down at my slingshot. I can’t do this. Winning against his contraption with another one his contraptions…it doesn’t feel right. I have to win through some other—

“Oof!” I go tumbling as one of the cannons blasts me with a surge of water.

I desperately dodge as another couple cannons follow up, narrowly missing me.

Pudding returns to my side. “Squee?”

“Sorry, buddy, we’re gonna have to figure something else out.”

“I saw that, Nora!” Lucas scolds. “What did I say about—”

“You want to win your way? Well, I want to win my way!” I retort as I continue to dodge attacks. “Don’t you worry, I’ll kick your butt soon enough!”

“Only in your dreams, Nora. I’m not letting you anywhere near my butt.”

“Lucas, I’m getting a hold of that butt and I’m not taking no for an answer!”

…

“Lucas?”

“Uh, Nora. Can you watch what you shout in front of the crowd please? You’re embarrassing me.”

Heat rushes to my face. “I—I didn’t mean—That’s not what I—Argh! You’re in so much—Oof!”

A cannon smacks me with a blast of wind, and I’m forced to hastily dodge another set of follow-up attacks. I’m running out of time, I’ve already burned through well over half my mana. I’ve never had to cast so much wind magic dodging around on the ground before.

I’d try approaching the machine from above to maybe get in through the hatch, but my maneuverability in the air isn’t good enough to deal with all these cannons. My only option is still those slits…

I wonder if—

I try leaping onto the side of the machine again. “Slime Magic: Sticky Shot!”

The machine spins, but this time can’t toss me off thanks to the slime I’m using to hold onto it.

Yes! Now I can—

Bzzzzt!

“Argh!”

“Sorry!” Lucas shouts as he channels electricity through the metal plating, shocking me.

I throw myself off the machine. “Why don’t you come out and fight me like a man?”

“No thanks. I like it here. It’s cozy.”

“Yeah, well—

…Cozy, huh?”

“...I don’t like the way you said that, Nora—”

“Pudding!”

“Squee!”

Immediately understanding what I have in mind, he leaps onto my back. I grab some growth and fire herbs with one hand while firing more sticky shots with the other. I leap onto it again, feed the herbs to Pudding, and shove him through one of the slits.

Bzzzzt!

“Grrk!” Lucas shocks me again. I manage to throw myself off the machine, but I’m left reeling on the ground. The shock got me way worse this time. I’m a sitting duck for those cannons!

…Thankfully, I don’t have to worry about them anymore.

“No! Bad Pudding! Stop it! Argh!” Lucas shouts.

Pudding expands to fill the entire machine, turning it into a furnace as he emits as much heat as possible, ruining the machinery inside. Lucas pops out the top gasping for air and covered in slime, Sugarcube alongside with him.

Got him! Now that I’ve broken that stupid toy of his I can—

“Machina Magic: Mana Loan!”

Lucas soars through the air with a faint blue glow, spinning fast enough to fling all the slime residue off himself. He comes to a hover above me. Unfortunately… it looks like he had more than one toy.

“Machina Magic: Flow Control!”

He’s wearing some sort of lightweight contraption made up of metal, tubes, and mana crystals, with Sugarcube attached to the back.

“Machina Magic: Soul Boost!”

Mana Loan lets him use Sugarcube’s mana instead of his own. Flow Control lets Sugarcube help him channel mana through inanimate objects more smoothly. Soul Boost lets Sugarcube help him utilize mana more efficiently.

He’s got this whole other contraption and hasn’t spent a drop of his own mana—meanwhile, I’m starting to run low. The situation seems, uh… pretty dire, to say the least.

“You like it?” Lucas asks. “A certain witch I know inspired it.”

Pudding hops on my back. “I don’t know who this witch is.” Gusts of wind erupt from my hands and feet, lifting me into the air until I’m at eye level with Lucas. “But I get the feeling she has very cute glasses.”

“Hm…” He leans in. “Maybe.” He pulls back and gives me a cocky grin. “But her friend’s glasses are way cooler.”

I glance at the green crystals on his palms and feet, converting mana into wind magic to keep him airborne. The question is, what the gray crystals on the back of each of his hands are—

PEW!

Lucas fires a blast of pure mana out of one of the crystals—something that shouldn’t even be possible. Mages can’t give mana physical form without applying an elemental affinity—Sugarcube must be behind it. His shot hits the ground below us.

“That’s what the gray crystals are for. You know I can basically read your mind at this point, right?”

“Oh yeah? Then what am I thinking right now?”

“That you have way less mana left than I have, but that you’re way better at flying and hitting a target than I am.”

“Wow, you really can read my mind! How about now?”

“No, Nora. I can’t guess exact numbers—

…it’s not seven, is it?”

“Okay, you can get out of my head now, Lucas. You’re starting to scare me.”

“Fine. Then tell me yourself. What do you wanna do?”

“I propose a good old fashion magic-slinging contest.”

“Alright Nora, you’re on. Let’s see what runs out first, my endurance, or your mana.” He smirks. “May the best man win.”

“Oh, don’t worry, she will.” I smirk back.

“Excuse me, Headmaster Limner?” Lucas shouts. “Can you give us a countdown?”

He chuckles, stroking his beard. “A tad unorthodox, but I don’t see why not. Three… two… one… go!”

FWOOSH! FWOOSH!

PEW! PEW! PEW! PEW!

I immediately give chase, lobbing fireballs at Lucas as he flies away, returning fire with blasts of mana from his gray crystals. We soar around the battlefield, slinging and dodging magic.

The strange thing is, I can’t help but smile—even laugh—and Lucas does the same. It’s a bit like a game of tag, just a tad more… dangerous.

Lucas is unable to land any shots on me, while I manage to land a couple dozen on him. However, with his defensive martial aura up, my magic isn’t strong enough to do much damage. After a few minutes, I’m nearly out of mana.

I have to end this now.

Lucas flies to the top of the arena, and I fly straight up after him. I wince as I look up—the blinding sun directly behind his back. He brings the gray crystals together and floods them mana, firing a far larger blast than any he’s fired before—

—which is exactly why I took the bait.

Pudding hops into the air and vibrates as he grows from the herbs I preemptively fed them.

“Slime Magic: Shock Absorb!”

Pudding absorbs the attack, and snaps around my fist as they shrink back down to size.

“Good luck catching me!” Lucas shouts as he flies away.

I give chase, knowing full well there’s likely no way I can get close enough to punch him.

My wind magic starts to sputter. I’m running on fumes now, and Lucas hears it.

“Well, Nora, it’s been fun, but it sounds like this match is just about over.”

“Yup, I couldn’t agree more!” I start chanting as I take aim at Lucas. “Slime Magic: Counter—”

“There’s no way you’re gonna catch me, Nora.”

He’s right. I’m still several meters back. I can’t catch him.

“Impact—”

Luckily, I don’t need to.

“—Burst!”

“Bur—” Before Lucas can even finish turning his head, my magic crashes into him. Unlike Counter Impact, which returns an attack at full force, Counter Impact Burst returns it with only some of the force, in exchange for letting me fire it like a projectile.

Fortunately, that’s all I needed to knock his summon out of commission and send Lucas plummeting out of the sky.

Unfortunately, my wind magic gives out too, and I go tumbling out of the sky with him, landing nearby.

Lucas groans as he picks himself up off the ground. “You sure got me goo—”

He looks up, only to find my wand placed directly against his forehead, ready to fire a spell point-blank and knock him out.

“Before I surrender, I gotta ask… Counter Impact Burst? How long have you had that one? It’s not nice to keep secrets from your orientation buddy, you know.”

“You’re right… so I won’t.” I give him a bittersweet smile as tears trickle down my cheeks. “I’m all out of mana… it’s your win, Lucas.”

His expression falters.

“Nora! Why would you—I would have—”

Before I can even process what’s happening, Lucas grabs his wand and places it next to mine, pressing it against his own head. He unleashes an explosion of wind magic, slinging himself into a wall.

“Lucas!” I rush after him. He groans in pain as I sit him up.

“Why would you—”

“I can’t go on! I surrender!” Lucas shouts. “The friendship between her and her summon—it’s like nothing I’ve ever seen! It’s just too powerful! It’s… It’s…” He sticks his tongue out and slumps over. “Bleh.”

“And the winner is… Nora Littleroot!”

“No! Lucas! What are you doing?! You won! You have to tell them!”

He smiles, speaking softly. “I told you. I wanted to prove I could win with my inventions, not my spellcasting.”

“But you did! You just had to make one little concession!”

“I could say the same of you. You had the chance to use your slingshot and flip my machine over, but you didn’t. You wanted to win your way. I wanted to win my way. And as far as I’m concerned, you put on an incredible performance.”

“Lucas…”

He cups my face and wipes away my tears.

“You’re the most amazing person I've ever met, Nora. You’ve earned this.”

I bury my head in his chest and hug him tight. “Oh, Lucas… I don’t know what I’d do without you… I wish I had the words to tell you how much you mean to me.”

He hugs me back. “I feel the same way, Nora.”

I don’t let go. Whenever I’m in Lucas’s arms, all my worries just seem to melt away. I almost wish this moment could last forever.