The Battle Between Mages

At the center of the empty platform, a grayish-white figure slowly emerged from the air.

A pale, elegant mage's robe enveloped the young man's frame. He held an ornate staff in his hand, and his brilliant golden hair shimmered beneath the light shining down from above.

The phantom perfectly replicated Ryan's appearance, but the handsome face, identical to the young man's in every detail, showed no hint of emotion. An icy indifference that warned others to keep their distance radiated from him.

All animation and color had vanished from those deep blue eyes. His gaze was cold and detached, and his hollow stare seemed to carry the bone-chilling cold of a snowy wind blowing across an ancient ice field.

The polished floor reflected both figures. Two handsome, golden-haired young men faced each other. The impassive youth fixed his cold gaze on the challenger before him as his mechanized mind rapidly calculated how to fight. At the same time, his hands were already moving, seeking to seize the initiative.

Across from him, a sly smile appeared at the corner of the young mage's mouth. His eyes were as deep as the sea, and the eager fighting spirit in them blazed like heavenly fire igniting the ocean.

The duplicate opened with a classic Magic Missile, testing the target before him.

Three glowing darts formed from magical energy shot from the phantom's hand. They traced a complex path through the air and struck their target.

The first missile hit the golden-haired youth in the head, but the mage's figure vanished in a flicker. The missiles that followed lost their target and continued along their paths, striking the floor and the barrier at the edge of the platform.

Ryan appeared behind the duplicate. While it was between spells, he began casting Fireball from several dozen feet away. But the stern-faced duplicate turned and fired a prepared Counterspell.

The difference in spell level snuffed out the magic in Ryan's hands in an instant. The mage cursed under his breath, then raised his hand and sent a Magic Missile flying at the duplicate.

The battle between the two mages had quietly begun the moment Ryan's duplicate appeared.

The Virtual Martial Arena's spirit had copied him too quickly, putting an end to Ryan's idea of striking first with a sneak attack. So Ryan had an idea: he used the cantrip Minor Illusion to leave an image of himself in place and try to fool the duplicate, while he used Invisibility to hide nearby and prepare to fight dirty.

But it seemed the duplicate had seen through his strategy. The moment Ryan dispelled his Invisibility, the Counterspell in the duplicate's hand was already poised and waiting for him to show himself.

As for why Ryan didn't use his powerful physique to slip up to the duplicate and whack him with a staff, he had this to say: facing a mage already protected by Stoneskin and Fire Shield, he wasn't stupid enough to charge in like some brainless brute with muscles for brains and serve himself up on a platter.

Just as expected, the Magic Missiles curved deftly through the air and hit the duplicate, but only sent ripples across the magical shield around it.

Ryan watched as the duplicate ignored the Magic Missiles' harassment behind its shield and calmly prepared another spell. Its cold expression and indifferent gaze silently mocked the mage's naivety.

A few beads of sweat appeared on the fair forehead of the golden-haired youth. He recognized the spell the duplicate was calmly casting.

"Damn it, you really are playing dirty!"

Ryan sighed inwardly. He had expected the battle to be difficult, but he hadn't imagined that the duplicate would choose its spells so cautiously.

Battles between mages were often fought through mutual suspicion and prediction. Before a fight, no one knew which spells their opponent had prepared in their Spell Slots. They probed each other amid their suspicions, with elemental energies humming in their hands as counterspells and illusory afterimages intertwined. No one knew whether the next thing to arrive would be a blazing fireball or a long-awaited, malicious transformation.

That was why a mage's spell list was their greatest secret. A mage who was prepared feared no challenge.

In Faerûn, a learned spellcaster might be able to identify an opponent's spell from their casting gestures and material components, then anticipate and counter it. An ignorant novice, on the other hand, might not even know what magic had killed them.

Combat was a stage for wits and strength, a clash of steel, an interweaving of strategy and courage. The strong ruled over all through their might, while even the weak could rise up, raise their fists, and shout defiance.

Fate was so strange and inscrutable that even the most absurd things could happen, like a legendary assassin stumbling and being stabbed through the heart by a child. In the end, combat came down to strength, intelligence, and planning. That was why Ryan dared to challenge a level 12 mage's duplicate.

After all, this was a real world, not a game from Ryan's previous life. Level wasn't everything, and real combat wasn't some childish contest of stats.

Deception and counterdeception, prediction and counterprediction: a search for opportunity amid schemes and suspicion. Beneath their calm, seemingly effortless exterior, battles between mages were a game of shifting clouds and hidden tides. That was the romance unique to mages.

But the thing that troubled Ryan most was that, against the duplicate's mechanized mind, it seemed to have analyzed all his plans using its database. Ryan even suspected that the duplicate had used True Strike and the fifth-level spell Scrying to profile and model his actions.

A level 12 mage was no small figure in Faerûn. They could even cast powerful sixth-level spells. Changing the terrain, summoning winds and rain, and dominating the outcome of a battle were all within their abilities.

A mage of this level could already be called a "mage lord." Traveling through Faerûn, they could easily become a noble's favored guest. They could even lord it over a small city as its ruler without breaking a sweat.

Ryan knew a level 12 mage wouldn't be easy to handle. After all, two fifth-level spell slots and one sixth-level slot meant a dramatic leap in combat power. But he hadn't expected this duplicate to be so damn cautious!

The spell the duplicate was about to finish casting was its only sixth-level spell: Globe of Invulnerability. It created a stationary, faintly glowing barrier in a ten-foot radius around the target.

Any spell of fifth level or lower cast from outside the barrier couldn't affect creatures or objects inside it. Even magic cast at a higher level couldn't force its way through the thin barrier.

Ryan didn't know whether the Tower Spirit, that bastard, had chosen this spell list based on Ryan's own way of thinking. Globe of Invulnerability stacked magic resistance and shut down all of Ryan's ranged options. With Stoneskin combined with Fire Shield, getting close meant a one-way trip to the grave.

And with essential mage spells like Dimension Door and Misty Step providing mobility, this was exactly Ryan's favorite combination. Once the casting was complete, the mage would instantly become a turtle shell packed with magic resistance and armor, as if it had turned on a spiked shield and a sunfire aura—while still being able to summon fire and lightning and deal devastating damage.

Honestly, Ryan thought the spell combination was pretty sweet. But now that he was the one facing it, all he could say was, "Fuck me."

Ryan tried to close the distance while moving, hoping to physically interrupt the duplicate's casting. But the duplicate had anticipated this and cast Mirror Image beforehand.

On the other side of the platform, three identical handsome youths chanted spells with expressionless faces.

Ryan made up his mind, stopped in his tracks, and cast as fast as he could. A simplified Magic Missile shot out, and three darts glowing with magical light struck their respective targets, revealing which one was the real duplicate.

But it was too late. As the casting finished, a faintly glowing barrier rose around the duplicate, which calmly began preparing its next spell.

For a moment, Ryan thought he saw a mocking smile on the duplicate's face. But when he looked again, the duplicate's expression was still stern and cold as it mercilessly and efficiently suppressed the mage with its superior spell level.