~ Author's Note: Bit of exposition here, sorry. The fight is farther down. I will leave a gap so it's easier to find if you want to skip ahead. Just know they are using some protection charms/medallions to prevent injury. ~
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~Araki's POV~
The professor stepped up to the two of us and began explaining the rules.
"The rules are the same as the ones I said at the beginning of class. All attacks should bruise at most. If I call the spar off, you both are to stop immediately. If either of you leaves the sparring circle, I will count it as a loss. Finally, every stack is to use a non-lethality spell."
He then held out a necklace with a metal medallion with a rune inscribed on it and a quiver of arrows to me.
"Araki, since you are an archer, we can't use the normal spells for swords. Instead, use these arrows."
I took both items and pulled out one of the arrows from the quiver.
It looked normal, mostly, but I quickly noticed it had several runes marked with ink on the shaft.
"Normally, I would give you foam or large rubber [1] tipped arrows, but those are off balance and can take some time to adjust. Thankfully, the mage tower released a method using magic ink to inscribe runes onto an arrow [2].
Sadly, we can't use this method with everyone, as the runes do require mana to activate. But since you are an arcane archer, we don't have to worry about that."
He then turned to Terra and handed her another medallion.
"Terra, I assume you already know how these work, but could you explain it to Araki?"
She nodded. "Of course."
She turned to me and said, "This medallion is a protection charm. When one wears one of these, any weapon that recently had the specific non-lethality spell used in this class will be repelled, and the medallion will break. In other words, if the runes for some reason don't work, so long as I wear this, none of those arrows will be able to harm me."
Interested, I put on the medallion and asked, "That makes sense, but isn't the spell on the arrows enough?"
Matthew chuckled and said, "It should be, but the medallion is just some extra protection. It isn't unheard of for someone to accidentally break the spell from overuse, though it is very rare.
But in full honesty, you, Orin, and Jack are probably the only people among the first years I think could break the charm."
"Really?" I said, intrigued and glancing at Orin and Jack.
"So, do I just have to wear them?" I asked, turning back and looking at my own medallion.
Terra shook her head. "You do need to provide it with mana—same for the runes—but thankfully, it requires very little."
I nodded. "But what about you? You're a mage, so how does it work against you?"
Terra smiled. From a storage ring, she pulled out a large staff. It kind of looked like an old tree root, twisted yet sturdy, with a large green beast core inlaid at the top—almost like the root grew around the core.
She smiled, seeing me examine the staff, and showed me the tip of her staff.
Another medallion was placed right at the end near the crystal.
"As you might have seen with the other students, we place another medallion on weapons. This allows for the spell to be active on the weapon without needing a new caster every time it's cast. It works similarly for wands and staffs."
I nodded and turned to the professor.
He nodded and continued with the rules for the fight.
"Araki, your goal is to land as many attacks on Terra as you can, and Terra's is to defend herself and try to trip you up. As an archer, you must be fast, nimble, and aware of your surroundings."
I nodded, glancing at Terra, excited to start.
The professor noticed my excitement and chuckled. "Well, I won't hold you back anymore." He turned and walked out of the circle.
"Alright. Please take your places, and we will begin."
Terra and I turned away from each other and stood at opposite ends of the ring.
I gripped my bow tight and notched an arrow while Terra readied her staff.
The professor, seeing us both ready, raised a hand. "Ready, FIGHT!"
Quickly, I drew the arrow back and fired.
*thwip*
The arrow soared fast, aimed right at Terra's staff, but right as it was about to hit, a large vine shot up from the ground, and the arrow just punctured it.
"Tch," I clicked my tongue and began to move.
Notching another arrow, I began to fire in quick succession.
*thwip*
*thwip*
*thwip*
*thwip*
*thwip*
Terra blocked every single one with her vines, but they never left her side.
'She must have a low range... good,' I thought to myself and slowed down a bit.
I drew another arrow when I suddenly remembered what Jack told me a few minutes ago.
~"Terra is a B-rank adventurer."~
'There is no way someone at B-rank can do long-range magic, especially when they use a staff. That's what staff are for.'
Then I suddenly felt a slight shake from the ground.
"Shit!"
I let the arrow fly as I dodged to the side, as a mass of vines burst from the ground where I was just a second ago.
I paled slightly, realizing she baited me.
I turned back to her and saw her waving at me with a smirk on her face.
"Oh, it's on," I said as I got up.
I started running sporadically now, so she couldn't predict my movements.
But she wasn't a pushover either. Since her trap didn't work, she started sending vines at me in quick succession.
'This is a lot harder than the golem!' I thought as I dodged another vine.
I notched three arrows this time and let them all loose at once.
Seeing the multiple arrows, she made a massive wall of vines in front of her.
Taking the chance from her blocked view, I ran up towards the wall, notched another arrow, and jumped to the side of the wall, aiming right at her from three feet away—a distance she shouldn't be able to block from.
...
Or at least I would have if she was still there.
Somehow, she disappeared with no trace.
I looked at the ground, hoping to see footprints, and found no signs of her going underground. Hell, there weren't even any footprints or—
'Wait, no footprints?' I looked around, confused, when I felt a tingling sensation from my tail.
I turned around and found ten vines pointed right at me, with Terra smiling at me from behind them.
"I believe that's a win for me," she said.
I stayed frozen for a second before lowering my head. "I concede."
"Winner, Terra Rondo!" I heard the professor shout.
Several students cheered, pumped up from the fight, and I couldn't help but smile, a little embarrassed.
Terra noticed and said, "Don't feel bad. That was honestly really good."
"You think so?" I asked.
"Of course. Not many people notice the first vine trap I used until it's too late."
I nodded in thanks and asked, "How did you get behind me, though? And why are there no footprints?"
She smiled. "The footprints were to help confuse you. Obviously, I am a plant mage, so I just fixed the grass once I left. As for how I got behind you, well... that's a secret," she said with a smirk.
I looked at her, remembering this very clearly. "You know, you and Jack act very similarly. Are you sure you're not related to Jack in some way?"
She froze for a second before chuckling. "We are not related. But we did grow up together, so that's probably why."
I looked at her, confused why she froze, but nodded anyway. "Guess that's true. Anyway, this was a good fight. Thanks for sparring with me."
She smiled. "Of course. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to start repairing this place, or else I might get in trouble."
Confused, I looked around and realized what she meant.
The sparring ring was a mess, with dirt mounds, stray arrows, and large vines everywhere.
"Oof. Would you like some help?" I asked, feeling a little guilty about leaving this all to her.
She shook her head. "It's fine. This was mainly my fault anyway. If you want to collect the arrows, though, that would help."
I nodded and began to collect the arrows, helping Terra clean up. Obviously, still ignoring the weird stares I had been getting from several of the noble boys.
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[1]: I wasn't able to find an actual name, but the large rubber-tipped arrows Matthew is talking about are the kind of arrows we can buy for kids. It's a large rubber ball on the end of an arrow, making the impact wider and cutting down on the damage.
Blunt arrows are real, but they are still harmful. Look it up yourself, but they are mainly used for hunting small animals without damaging the meat by dealing blunt force trauma at a single point. If a person were hit in the wrong spot, it could really hurt, break a bone, or even kill someone.
[2]: They use ink instead of carving into the arrow because carving would weaken the shaft, making it possible that the shaft would break when the bow is drawn or released. Also the air flow would be affected, changing the accuracy as well.
The ink barely affects anything.