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Inner Sanctum Exterior | 3:17 PM | Second Day
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quite welcome," she said, ignoring the sarcasm with a sly, cheerful look. "Perhaps I could even go up against the winner myself? Give you a little more of an incentive to do your level best!"
Time-Stopping Arcana (which did not actually stop time, despite the name, but did speed the caster up enough that the distinction wasn''t particularly important) then your goose was pretty much cooked. Forget the beguilements, if you didn''t have a barrier up, they could just walk over and smack your scepter out of your hand.
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Matter-Repulsing Arcana?"
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Matter-Repulsing Arcana was an inefficient and largely ineffective incantation that created a bubble of telekinetic force around the target, repulsing anything that got close. It was popular mostly because it was just about simple enough to be memorized and used without needing part of it engraved, which made it popular for mock engagements or low-stakes duels like this.
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Entropy-Denying shield was practically grandmaster-level.
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Didn''t seem to bother Neferuaten much yesterday, I thought. I wonder who''d had to clean up that mess? Unless that was automated, too.
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on with it."
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Form-Levitating Arcana and went into the air after him, attempting to maneuver around the tree to achieve a better angle. Bardiya, however, simply circled around the trunk in tandem, making it impossible for him to get a clear look.
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and social, is the essence of talent!"
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As long as there isn''t any serious damage, then I don''t think so. When your visit was explained to us, it was mentioned to expect some amount of rambunctious behavior.
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I think that was the implication, yes.
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graceful, and depended a lot on on the caster''s ability to conceptualize their target, but in a pinch? It got the job done.
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A n o m a l y - D e n y i n g
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Anomaly-Denying Arcana, one of Seth''s engraved repertoire, was used for dispelling incantations. Apparently he''d picked it up during his time at one of Mekhi''s military academies, before he transitioned to civilian training. Though Chronomancy was more effective on account of its ability to outright reverse recent wounds completely, its lack of accessibility meant Biomancy was the form of healing most commonly used in warfare. As a result, practitioners often had to deal with hostile incantations even in the process of trying to perform their duties. A common way to get around people''s resistances in a battlefield context was employing pathogenic gas controlled by another Biomancer, which meant a lot of people whose bodies were compromised by the Power and tearing themselves apart already. So techniques like this were a necessity.
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Anomaly-Denying Arcana was targeted, not general) Baridya fell to the earth. Seth shouted out the Object-Manipulating Arcana, trying to pry his scepter from his hands, but he gripped it tightly, calling out one of the beguilements - I didn''t make out which - in response. Judging by Seth''s expression, he must have succeeded, and the former rose up, hiding himself behind the branches.
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Biomatter-Warping Arcana to trap Bardiya on the ground with the plant life, or hell, do some more interesting move like making the tree grab him. On the other hand, they were close enough now that Bardiya could have easily lept up and turned it into a physical brawl.
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L i f e - S e n s i n g
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Death-Sensing Arcana, and doesn''t really require much elaboration - it fed the caster information on any living cells nearby, allowing them the precision for very specific biological manipulation. It was pretty intense in eris expense for a Divination technique, which meant it couldn''t be used long, but it didn''t have to be in this instance. He followed it up with the Object-Manipulating Arcana, and, using that expanded awareness, pulled a large number of leaves from the tree around him, surrounding and obfuscating his body from all sides.
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Hey!" Kamrusepa said, her tone pointed. "I told you not to damage the environment!" She rubbed her eyes. "Ugh, stupid boys..."
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Air-Thrusting Arcana as he made a difficult turn, trying to disarm him again.
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I r o n - T o n i n g
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Iron-Toning Arcana was a direct disabling technique which bypassed the resistances outright by attempting to replicate the physical conditions which preceded a contact paradox, and was often felt by third parties during prosognostic events - the unease, sickness, and disorientation - but much more pointedly, if only for a moment. The reason the effect happened was due to minor instability beginning to occur in the iron particles in the body, and it could be replicated by creating artificial impressions of iron paradoxical to the target, even if it wasn''t truly there.
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F l a m e - S u m m o n i n g
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Neurology-Beguiling Arcana, but stuttered and botched it, while Bardiya flew back up and struck him with the Air-Thrusting Arcana right back. He was pushed back a few more feet, and...
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sore loser, if you ask me." She looked behind him. "What do you think, Bardiya?"
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me sound like the idiot for not getting it clarified." He sighed. "Fine, fine. It''s your win, Bardiya."
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any case," Kamrusepa said, "that stunt you pulled with the tree was definitely too much. I appreciate that you might''ve got caught up in the heat of the moment, but it was inappropriate damage to the scenery."
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pretty bad. The branches on one side were half way to being stripped bare.
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little bad. But what was I supposed to do, just keep casting kid stuff at him until one of us ran out of eris?"
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why you thought it a remotely good idea to try and fight in the air."
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temperance."
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No, it shouldn''t be a problem. Director Durvasa is quite good at repairing cosmetic damage to the flora, so he should have no trouble taking care of it. I think he might even enjoy it. A pause. Although, I''d certainly be the last port of call for something like this regardless. I can''t think of something I have less of a knack for than gardening.
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Yes, that''s right! It''s a hobby of his. You should compliment him about it if you get the chance. A whole other side to him comes out.
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A whole other side, huh. From what I knew of the man so far, it was a little tough to imagine.
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No, it''s no trouble at all! He shook his head. In fact, now that we''ve got to know each other a little, I feel a tad bit jealous of your group. You all have such a fun rapport.
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Wait, what?
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But that doesn''t make any sense, I thought. Was he complimenting him on the match? But they should be angry with each other. The whole story he''d told me...
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The time has come for the conclave to begin," it said. "Please, follow me inside."