03: CLASH III

“ Ladies and gentlemen, she has arrived. Our own little princess. Please join your hands and assist me in greeting Princess Luciana Vonner!” said the announcer. As she made her way to the top of the platform, the crowd went wild, waving banners and posters bearing her name and face. They began screaming her name soon after.

Todd's team had finished securing his protection gear around his limbs. He, too, started walking towards the platform.

“And here he comes from the red corner. the Prodigy from the North,"  The announcer added, "Up against our very own princess is Aedmer Todd the undefeated!" The crowd's attention was drawn to the small boy. His entry wasn't as raucous as Luciana's, but it was still chaotic and noisy. The crowd seemed to back each of them equally, as their swaying support swung in either direction. The only thing they wished for was a good battle.

Todd arrived at the platform, where his techs were already on their way to him, opening the metallic suitcases and pulling out whatever was inside. They dashed over to the small boy and began strapping him with whatever they could get their hands on. As they strapped it to Todd, it appeared to be a sophisticated exoskeleton constructed entirely of metal and rubber cables that ran through each portion. They exited the platform and returned to the hallway once they were finished. Todd flexed and stretched his arms and legs to ensure that the fit was proper and that he would be able to move with the machine covering him.

"Do you think you're going to beat me with that?" Luciana started it with a grin on her face.

"Don't talk too soon princess. You never know when your words will come back to bite you!" Todd remarked. The umpire went through his routine. He approached the two and pushed them together so they could hear what he was saying. As he had done with the other two bouts, he explained the rules of the game to them. After completing his instructions, he stepped back and signalled the announcer to start the match.

The deafening blare sent them scurrying back to their corners. As she strolled past the Blue Line, Luciana polished the stoppers on her vials.

“I'm hoping you won't be a letdown of an opponent princess. Todd mocked himself, "I'd hate to watch you lose to a toddler."

"I believe your admirers will reconsider changing your nickname after this." I'd rather you were known as Todd the Toddler rather than The Prodigy from the North. Todd and toddler have a lovely ring to them when they're used together, don't they?” Luciana responded with a retort.

Todd charged forward, homicidal intent in his eyes. Luciana appeared to be attempting to antagonise him. She took a vial from her bag and tossed it into the air. Todd looked unconcerned about the Vail, and he continued his assault. He swung his arm in the direction of Luciana's head. It missed her by a hair's breadth, snagging a few hairs. The hit was more strong than she had anticipated, and she had to proceed with caution. Todd lunged for another strike, but he seemed to have forgotten about the Vial that hung over his head. It collided with him, shattering the glassware and spilling the contents upon his clothing. Despite this, he appeared unconcerned. Luciana moved across the floor, grabbing another vial and throwing it at him. Todd slapped it away with his metallic arm.

"I see what you're attempting to accomplish, princess." That trick of yours isn't going to work against me. I witnessed your other friend go up against the lone wolf and try it. However, I am not as stupid as he is,” Todd added. He tapped the bottoms of his mechanical boots on the ground, and two rocket thrusters protruded from the soles. He was propelled towards Luciana at a faster rate than before. She was left to react and was caught off guard with a gut punch. Fortunately, she was the most reasonable of the three candidates, and she had covered her abdomen with protective clothing. The pads did their best to absorb the majority of the punch's initial energy, but it was too much for her, and she was sent flying across the platform at breakneck speed. He slid all the way over the platform and was tossed to the ground. The umpire was on his feet and counting down the permitted 10 seconds as soon as her body made contact with Earth.  She dashed back up to the platform before the count reached six.  As she climbed back up to the platform, she brushed herself off. She was irritated by the toddler's silly grin.

“Are you not prepared to fight this battle? I thought you were your school's top fighter?” Todd made fun of her.

“ and The Prodigy from the North has landed a key hit". The commentator exclaimed, "We certainly did not expect this match to start off like this." Luciana's supporters gathered around her, pushing her to stay in the fight. She took another vial from her bag and devised a new tactic. It appeared that the toddler had figured her out and that her plot had been exposed. As the toddler moved, the mechanical joints in his exoskeleton created strange noises. On the other side of the platform, Luciana could hear the vibrations as he stepped on a tile. The exoskeleton appeared to be too heavy for him to walk in while wearing it, but he accomplished so with ease. Luciana grabbed a vial from her bag and flung it to the ground. A dense cloud of smoke began leaking from it and engulfing The Platform in a Mist. Her eyes shifted as she drank a potion from another vial. Her pupils  shrank and her eyelashes vanished.  Her eyes took on a feline appearance, resembling a cat's. She dove into the haze. The remainder of the crowd had no idea what was going on.

Todd was having trouble breathing. He imagined Luciana was attempting to put him to sleep in order to terminate the struggle, but he knew her pride would not allow her to do so. He didn't want to take any chances, so he took out a powder sachet. He ripped it open immediately and shoved the powder into his lips. It was designed to seal his mouth and nose, rendering any gas he inhaled other than air inert.

A hand appeared out of nowhere in the smoke and moved towards his midsection. It was too late for his slow reflexes to respond, but luckily for him, he had a cutting-edge weapon at his disposal. The exoskeleton twitched, and his arms crossed in response, forming the guard that repelled the Punch. Luciana was thrown back into the fog by the recoil. Fighting the toddler seemed difficult at the time because Luciana felt like she was fighting two people: him and his exoskeleton. Todd's decision-making and movement in a battle were aided by an artificial intelligence built into the exoskeleton. On paper, he appeared to be obviously cheating. But a fight is a fight, and Luciana had to prove herself, and she didn't need any excuses to do it. The cloud of smoke began to dissipate quickly.

"Do your strategies appear to be ineffective?"

Todd remarked.

"Why don't you take off your metallic companion when you and I could fight fairly?" Luciana murmured, her annoyance hidden behind her face. "How about you put down your vials and we have a fair fight?" Todd barked back.

“You're not even in a fight. How can you call this a fair fight when that machine is doing all the work for you? While you sit back and let your technology do all the job for you, I, on the other hand, rely only on my abilities,” Luciana explained.

"Well, we didn't make this technology just to sit around and do nothing, did we?" Todd remarked.

“It appears that a princess is having some difficulty dealing with The Prodigy from the North,” the announcer added. Despite this, the crowd rallied around her. She didn't want to disappoint them, so she had to do something important for them. At that point, all of her strategies appeared to have failed. She recalled something at that point.

/………………………………………………………………………../

Luciana, Norval, and Cecily were all raising their voices in a competition to see who could speak the loudest. It was more of a noise war than a discussion. Behind the class, Nelanian and Jalon sat. Jalon was engrossed in the adoration of his admirers. He was live-streaming the three of them arguing. Nelanian, on the other hand, had had enough of their squabbles. He needed a nice nap before the start of the following lesson, but out of nowhere, the three began a loud argument that woke him.

"I'm telling you, using simply vials, you're not going to be able to compete with a Seolaran. Either you must have a weapon with which to confront them in combat, or you will lose."  Norval tried to rationalise his argument by saying, "It's that simple."

“ I'm not suggesting you should only employ explosives; you can also utilise mutagen to change your body and turn yourself into a weapon.  You have a chance if you do that,” Luciana replied, raising her voice above the others so that her message could be heard. Cecily was not making a significant contribution to the discussion. She moved back and joined Nelanian and Jalon since her voice was too mild to be involved in a verbal battle between the two. When Luciana and Norval were out of breath and realised they couldn't let the other win, they asked The Spectators to make the final choice and crown the winner.

“ Ok fine. Let us ask the three of them, and whoever gets the most votes has the best plan,” Norval explained. "Agreed," Luciana remarked as she laid down her books. They both turned to the three people who were quietly going about their business and disturbed them.

“ Guys, who has the better plan? How about you, Jalon?”   Norval inquired, turning to face Jalon at the far end of the room. Jalon waved his hands and gestured at Luciana without looking at them. In answer, Luciana nodded, making a witty face at Norval.

“How about you, Cecily?  Don't tell me you agree with her as well?” Norval was the one who inquired.

"Actually, no, for once, I agree with you.  Fighting a Seolaran with only mutagens and potions will be difficult. You might have a chance if you have a weapon,” she added. Luciana stared her down with menacing eyes. Cecily hid her head in her book, unable to bear looking into Luciana's searing gaze any longer. With an equal number of votes, it was time to call on Nelanian to break the tie.

As he turned away from the desk to face them, Nelanian sighed. They waited for him to speak as they peered at him impatiently. “You guys are far from the truth,” he finally said, bored of the tension and the attention he was attracting. " Seolarans have a serious flaw. Whatever weaponry they employ, whether a rifle, an exoskeleton, or a high-tech outfit, they must all be fueled by something. In order for Seolarans' weapons to work, they must carry a canister filled with fuel, similar to how Lorth and Yulcites bring their books to battle. They make every effort to conceal it, but it's too large for them to handle while fighting, so they keep it close to them. They will be rendered powerless if you locate and destroy the canister. And it is the only way alchemists can ever stand a chance against Seolarans,” he murmured, before burying his face back into the desk and falling asleep again.