The Student Arena was packed.
News of the duel—The Engineer vs. The Prodigy—had traveled fast. Princess Vivian sat in the Royal Box, eating a bag of roasted nuts. She looked bored by the speeches but interested in the violence.
Down in the sandpit, Julian stood forty paces away. He wore ceremonial dueling robes embroidered with fire runes. He held a wand made of Elder wood, tipped with a ruby. He looked majestic.
Arthur stood opposite him. He wore his standard uniform, sleeves rolled up. He held... a metal rod.
It wasn't a wand. It was a steel baton connected by a thick insulated wire to a backpack Arthur was wearing.
"He brings luggage to a duel!" Julian shouted to the crowd, earning a laugh.
The referee, Professor Ignis, stepped forward. "Standard Dueling Rules. Incapacitation or Surrender. Begin!"
Julian immediately raised his wand. He began the Chant of the Inferno.
"Oh, Spirits of the Fire Realm! Hear my call! Gather the wrath of the sun and—"
Arthur didn't move. He didn't chant. He simply did the math.
[Distance: 40 meters.]
[Air Resistance: Negligible.]
[Target Conductivity: High (He is sweating).]
Arthur adjusted a dial on his belt.
"Ohm's Law,"Arthur muttered.
V = I x R
"STRIKE DOWN MY ENEMY!" Julian screamed, a massive fireball forming above his head.
Arthur pressed the trigger on his baton.
THWIP.
Two small metal probes shot out of the baton, propelled by compressed air. They trailed thin copper wires behind them.
The probes flew faster than Julian could finish his spell. They hit him squarely in the chest.
Arthur squeezed the handle. Discharge.
ZZZAAAAAAP!
The 50,000-volt charge from the Mana Battery in Arthur's backpack traveled down the wires.
Julian's eyes went wide. The fireball above his head fizzled out as his concentration shattered. His muscles locked up. He stood rigid for one second, shaking like a leaf in a hurricane, and then—
Thump.
He fell face-first into the sand. Twitching.
Silence fell over the arena.
Professor Ignis ran over. "Julian? Julian!"
"He is fine," Arthur announced, pressing a button to reel the wires back in. "I bypassed his nervous system. Temporary paralysis. He will recover in ten minutes, though he may taste copper for a week."
Arthur looked up at the Royal Box. Vivian was cheering, standing on her chair.
Arthur turned to the stunned crowd.
"Chanting is inefficient," Arthur lectured, his voice amplified by the silence. "In the time it took him to ask the spirits for help, I completed the circuit. Speed dictates the victor."
He walked over to the unconscious Julian.
"You're hired," Arthur whispered to the body.
End of Chapter 24