Coverage of The 246th International Arcane Games
Collection Date and Location: 18, Ongo’hena, i0616, Buwuu, Milanka 2:465:PLG-2
Duel: Wo Zhu Lin vs. V.Z. Yagar
Written by Bookmaster Antoo
LIBRARY CLASSIFICATION CODE: Restricted – 1 of 3.
Day 5, 16 Ongo'hena, i0616, 16, Milanka
For thirty-five years, I have had the great privilege of documenting and reporting on the International Arcane Games. If you are an avid reader, you will know that for the dueling competitions, the betting leans heavily on the favorites. As the old Milankan saying goes, the vultures circle the oldest jackal for a reason. And so they did, in a compelling and surprising finale between Grand Master Wo Zhu Lin of the Winged Ones and surprising upstart V.Z. Yagar from the Mirror. This year, however, I imagine there were a few very payouts. A more shocking end I have never seen.
A crowd of thousands has gathered to watch the final dueling match in the yellow sandstone arena, a venue more accustomed to the epic beauty of Milankan than arcane competitions. But the Milankan state was determined to be this year’s host and spared no expense.
As is the custom, and with the typical deference to elders expected during the Arcane Games, V.Z. Yagar enters the arena first, allowing expected favorite Wo Zhu Lin the honor of entering last. Yagar, at twenty-nine years of age, is one of the youngest contestants, and his surprising victories, including his impressive fight against Nurt Mazlovy of the Leaves of Life, made the Mankaran a highlight of the Games.
The entrance bell tolls four times. Small flashes of light appear on the arena floor. The sand is soon a sparkling sea. The light swirls and gathers in the center of the arena floor, creating a bright, white column that explodes with such force that even while seated in the first balcony, my hat blows off my head.
The crowd roars in approval. There on the floor, in place of the column, stands V.Z. Yager, taking in the spectacle of the crowd and accepting their chants and cheers.
This adulation is interrupted by Grand Master Wo Zhu, who will not let the upstart from Pradita outdo his entrance. Having seen more than fifteen matches by one of the greatest duelists of our age, I know to expect him as the air splits in half above us with a deafening boom. A perfectionist and master craftsman, Wo Zhu Lin’s entrance is a thing of beauty. As is customary with members of the Winged Ones, he flies over us, surrounded by swirling winds so strong that the canopies protecting visitors from our bright suns are blown off the arena walls. He crosses through the air several times, gaining more and more cheers from the crowd with each pass.
A great vortex surrounds him. He hovers above us. Then, with a slow pace designed to push the crowd to a frenzy, he lowers himself to the arena floor.
Here, the two duelists meet each other for the first time. The standoff is brief, with each bowing to the other.
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They take their positions. From high above us, the ancient bell tolls. The match begins.
Zhu Lin, always on the offensive, moves to strike first. Looking to finish his opponent with swift efficiency, he uses one of his most powerful attacks, the well-known A spear of air flies at its opponent with deadly accuracy.
But Yagar is just as prepared. As soon as the spear comes for him, he disappears in a twinkle, reappearing at Zhu Lin’s flank. He redirects the well-aged Grand Master’s force to push him off his feet—a rare event for sure. The five thousand spectators gasp in unison.
Zhu Lin is up in an instant, and his hands and arms are a blur. The air in the arena crackles with static. He begins to glow as licks of electricity crawl over his body.
Yagar tries to intercept with a sweeping ice rain attack, the critical maneuver used in his win against Mazlovy. He fills the air between them with thick sheets of hail and sleet. An older, wiser duelist would know the folly, as would anyone who has studied how electricity responds to water.
As the ice pellets reach Zhu Lin, the electricity travels through them, bouncing straight to Yagar and hitting him squarely in the chest. He sails through the air, rolling to a stop in the arena sand. Yagar is slow to rise, but Zhu Lin, ever the respectful duelist, waits for him to do so.
The next series of moves results in the most stunning finish I have ever seen in an arcane duel at the Games.
Yagar enters a spell unique to the Mirror, the , creating three images of himself that spread in a straight line facing his opponent.
Zhu Lin responds with the expected defense intending to send a powerful gust of wind towards his opponent and knock all four versions of Yagar to the arena floor. But before he can do so, the four Yagars become eight, then sixteen, then thirty-two. Soon the entire arena floor surrounding Zhu Lin is covered in images of Yagar, each one moving independent of the others. The ’s reputation as one of the most difficult actions in the Mirror’s canon is well-earned. The concentration it takes to multiply it represents a mastery of the arcane sciences I have never seen one so young achieve it.
Zhu Lin looks around, focuses his control, and performs his crowd-pleasing , determined to manifest a whirlwind that should counter Yangar’s multiplicity. He twists and spins on the balls of his feet, picking up more speed with each rotation. The crowd leans in and claps in rhythm to his movement.
But they stop in an instant. A stunned silence fills the arena.
Zhu Lin looks down at his chest. Protruding out of it is the end of one of the famed Valakarma daggers, the customary weapon of resistance used by the Shroud of Freedom. It was pulled from the finials found on the large metal fence surrounding the opera house erected by the Goshaka family in the Valakarma district of Pradita, the neighborhood from which the “V” in V.Z. Yagar’s name is derived.
Yagar rips the dagger out of his opponent, and Zhu Lin crumbles to the arena floor. The medical aides quickly rush to him.
While there are no rules against martial weapons on the arena floor, using them—and especially killing an opponent—is generally frowned upon. In my thirty-five years of covering the Games, only three times have I seen death on the arena floor, and each was an accident resulting from younger competitors attempting to perform well outside their capacity.
Zhu Lin is rushed off to surgery. The three judges come down to the floor, and after a brief discussion, declare Yagar the victor. The assembled crowd claps slowly, with many refusing to accept this year’s dueling champion.
Whether or not the blade was coated with its traditional heart-attack-inducing venom remains to be seen. As of this account’s publication, Zhu Lin remains in critical care, though it is currently expected that he will survive.
Politics, entertainment, and the Arcane Games are inextricably linked. No more so than this year. The Mirror has never shied away from engaging in world events. Yagar’s background and his choice of finish, clearly planned, can only signal his allegiance to the revolutionaries from Pradita. The rumors of a second uprising by the Shroud can no longer be ignored.
And you have been warned.
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