Freelance Heroics by Stephen W. Gee Read Free Book Online Page B

attack.
    “You still able to stand over there?” she asked.
    “No problems,” said Mazik, though his appearance said otherwise. He was leaning forward, barely staying upright as his right arm hung limply by his side. He sheathed his knife before he dropped it.
    “It looks like I’m going to have to use my full power after all.” Rysha’s knuckledusters clanged together, and Mazik felt the air tighten.
    “You’re going to want to watch out for this,” she said as every hair on her body stood up. Rysha clanged her knuckledusters together again, and then raised her voice. “ Overblow! ”
     
     
    When someone powers up, there should be some kind of visual indication , Mazik thought as his face was flattened into the sand. Rysha punched him again and again, her fists moving faster now, and she was employing the blades too. You shouldn’t find out like this.
    To most of the spectators, it wasn’t clear what had happened. Rysha shouted, her entire body tensed up, and then she was all over Mazik, attacking with greater speed and ferocity than before.
    But Mazik knew. As soon as he keened her he realized that Rysha’s mana regeneration had gone through the roof. She was regenerating mana at many times the normal speed, nearly half that of channeling—and without channeling’s weaknesses of having to focus and not being able to cast. That meant she had functionally unlimited mana for the duration of the spell.
    Despite himself, Mazik smiled, or he would have smiled had Rysha not socked him in the teeth. I really need to learn this spell , he thought as he scrambled to run away.
    What Rysha had used was called an Overload spell, which supercharges a caster’s mana regeneration and increases their casting speed. But Mazik knew that overload spells had two critical weaknesses. First, they could only be used for a limited time, after which burnout occurs. Which, second, renders the caster unable to use mana for hours or even days. Overload spells were powerful, but they had big risks.
    But she wouldn’t have used it if she didn’t think she could win before she burns out. Mazik glanced at the clock the judges were using to mark time, and to his surprise, nearly half of the match had elapsed. If Rysha could hold the spell for another seven minutes, she would be nearly unstoppable for the duration of the match.
    All this went through Mazik’s head while Rysha punched him in the back, his barriers falling apart like papier-mâché as his body was increasingly bloodied and bruised. Rysha spun him around and punched him in the gut, and let him fall to the ground.
    Mazik coughed and clutched his stomach. “Well, fuck. You’re really good at this, aren’t you?”
    “A little bit,” said Rysha with a smile. She turned serious. “Can you still fight? You’ll tell me if I get too close to seriously injuring you, right?”
    Mazik nodded as he stood back up. “Yes, I will. You do the same.”
    Rysha smirked. “I like that confidence.” She leaned forward, preparing to sprint. “Let’s test it.”
    “But first, one thing,” said Mazik, holding up a finger. Rysha cocked her head to the side. Mazik held his hand to his eyes. “ Mazik Flash. ”
    But Rysha had watched his match earlier. Her eyes slammed shut, saving her from most of the spell’s effect. Unfortunately, it also meant her eyes were closed on a battlefield.
    Rysha raised her arms as spell after spell struck, but with her casting speed boosted, her barriers were stronger now. She opened her eyes as the onslaught lessened.
    She found Mazik twenty meters away and accelerating. Rysha gave chase.
    Mazik wobbled as he ran. He was having trouble staying upright, much less casting. He looked back, and found Rysha gaining rapidly. “Fuck!”
    The spectators watched as Mazik sprinted toward the nearest wall. He curved to his left, trying to turn along the wall without letting Rysha catch up, but she anticipated his plan and angled to intercept Mazik in front of