Seed Of Speed

Diego swiped his token across the black token of the elder who was refereeing the match and deposited his hundred pellets. He stepped into the ring and felt a wave of energy as he crossed over the inscripted stones. The stone ring acted a barrier to prevent any stray spells from affecting the others, but it would allow people to cross it with no resistance.

"State your name," his opponent demanded.

Diego chuckled as he pulled out his two spears and said, "Call me, Twin-Spear."

"Twin-Spear? Ha! Some young shaman without a name dare challenges me, Fivearrows! You don't know your place!" the apprentice laughed.

"We'll see about that," Diego said as he activated his [Speed Clone] then tossed it the golden spear while he kept his black one.

"It doesn't matter how many clones you use if you alone are not strong enough!"

As Fivearrows waved his hand, Diego could 'see' the spell taking shape as his hand flashed with red, blue, green, violet, and yellow. Arrows of the five elements formed in front of him then shot out at the two Diegos, but he did not stand around to be hit. Both of them activated [White Lightning Array] and dodged the attack before charged forward with their spears raised. Fivearrows snorted and stomped his foot, causing two sandstone pillars to rise and blocked the charge.

Diego stopped for a split second with a flash of light, shifted his body to twist his chi lines, then continued down the line towards Fivearrows. He struck out with [Serpent's Strike], but the moment he attacked, he also stalled in the air. Fivearrows was surprised by Diego's speed, but he earned a good chunk of his income by dueling, so he was still able to counter. He threw out his hands and a massive blast of air erupted around him, blasting Diego back. While his true body was thrown back, his clone was still traveling around behind Fivearrows, so he negated the effects of the {Wind Blast}.

The clone stopped behind Fivearrows and struck out with another [Serpent's Strike]. Fivearrows spun around, swinging his arm, as his body flashed with a green light. A wave of sand erupted while he jumped away from the attack. The clone lost his target, but Diego used his [White Lightning Array] to stabilize himself then charged down at Fivearrows. Towards Diego attack, Fivearrows summoned up a large amount of fire mana then he spewed a column of blue fire.

Diego was not foolish enough to take the blue flames head on as his eyes defocused while he activated his [Speed Sight]. The world slowed to a crawl in his eyes as he watched the fire ignite at Firearrows's mouth and shoot towards him. He casted {Ice Wall} in front of himself, but he knew there was no way the wall could hold out against the flames. Just as he finished casting his spell, he took off to the right with his [White Lightning Array] then the world returned to normal speed. It was almost a cheat when combining [Speed Sight] and magic since it appeared to others as if he instantly casted the spell because his mind was moving at a much faster rate than the world around him. The blue fire crashed into the ice wall and burned through in less than a second, but it was enough time for Diego to escape the attack.

Before the dust could settle around the [Speed Clone], it, and five copies, charged out. Diego smiled and casted {Mirage}, just as his clone had. It was a basic illusion spell that created a non-physical copy of him, so it was only good for a distraction, but it was a low-cost spell. Fivearrows frowned as a sword and shield appeared in his hand; he was finally taking this contest seriously.

One of the fakes rushed in with its spear, thrusting for Fivearrows's head, but, when he raised his shield to block, the {Mirage} crashed into it and shattered into specks of light. Another fake charged in as the first dissolved, so Fivearrows swung his sword to block the attack, just for it to break apart like the other. Now, two Diegos rushed forward at the same time, but he countered with another wind blast that spread out in all directions. The two fakes did not have physical bodies, so they remained unaffected by the winds which revealed the truth of their nature, allowing him to not fear the attacks.

There were eight Diegos left in the ring, circled around Fivearrows. Fivearrows was breathing hard since he had already fought one duel before this, and Diego's tactics were forcing him to expend even more energy. Meanwhile, Diego had barely dipped into his mana reserves with the few low-level spells he had been using, and his chi regeneration would allow him to keep fighting for nearly an hour thanks to the power from the 'Seed'.

Diego smiled, but it quickly turned to a frown as Fivearrows was suddenly engulf in a yellow and red glow that swelled to almost a meter around him. Blue flames erupted around him and soared upwards, taking the shape of a serpent dragon. This was magic on a scale that Diego had not study yet, but that did not mean he was helpless. He released the {Mirage} clones and he, and his [Speed Clone], casted {Invisibility}.

The blue-flame, serpent dragon roared as it dove down where Diego had been, but he had already moved away. The dragon lashed out with its tail with no luck then it detonated, sending flames in every direction. Diego escaped most of the flames, but his left arm got hit and burned, yet his clothes remained undamaged. Although he was still cloaked, the flames chased after him, revealing his direction.

Fivearrows did not give Diego a break as he threw out his hands and moved them to chase after him. The blue flames that had not completely extinguished gathered up and spun like tornados towards where Diego was standing. Diego smiled and used his [White Lightning Array] to move straight up to dodge while his [Speed Clone] dropped down… straight onto Fivearrows's back. Fivearrows crashed down into the sand with Diego's clone sitting on his back and he stabbed his spear into the ground, next to his head to emphasize his win. Both he and his clone dismissed their {Invisibility} and chuckled.

"Winner, 'Twin-Spear'," the elder announced.

Diego dismissed his [Speed Clone] as Fivearrows pushed himself up and shot him a dirty look. Diego grinned, although it was hidden by the helmet, as he watched Fivearrows storm off, then he announced, "Taking any apprentice challenge, hundred-pellet bet!"