167 Introducing the Representatives

"Eris, can you briefly introduce me to your elements, fighting style, and preferred weapon?" The Duke turned serious as he started gathering the right information.

"Of course, it's no problem. My elements are water and lightning. I would say that my fighting style leans towards offense and, while I don't forsake all defense, I'm the type to continue attacking to pressure my opponent. My preferred weapon is the spear; I specifically use my tier four magic tool, Leia. It is conducive towards both of my elements and has two spells that activate when I pour my mana into it." Eris lost her usual flippant attitude and kept the introduction concise with all the important details.

"Hm... Offensive specialist, then." Zaire seemed to ponder a bit as if ideas were already appearing. But he soon broke out of his train of thought and turned to ask Greyson some questions to confirm.

"Greyson, from what I could tell, you can use seven elements?" 

"Yes, that is correct."

"Are there any you particularly favor over the others?"

"...No." At first, Greyson found himself rather surprised by the question. However, thinking it through, he realized that he focused on all his elements rather equally.

"So, I guess your fighting style would be more suited as an all-rounder: not particularly offensive, but also not particularly defensive." He concluded.

"Yes, that would be correct for the most part. I have a couple strong attacks, but they normally swallow up too much mana to be sustainable and used multiple times. It doesn't really count if I'm incapacitated by my own attacks." 

"Well, we all witnessed this during the last round of the selection in your match against Keaton." Thinking further, the Duke could feel inklings of some team strategies surfacing.

"Alright, well we have a better balanced team than I initially thought." He smiled with relief. Aphina and Braiden also shared that smile after hearing about Greyson and Eris's abilities. After all, they knew their own abilities and fighting styles the best, so they could tell right away that the team was well-balanced.

"Oh?" Greyson and Eris both looked curiously towards the three others.

"Aphy is a water element magician who specializes in healing and long distance support spells. She uses a staff to help boost her magic and doesn't fight with a weapon." Braiden explained.

"My older brother, despite his sunny demeanor, is quite the character when he fights. His personality is rather disgusting." Aphina sniffed disdainfully.

"Must you say it like that." Hearing her words, the prince just smiled wryly.

"Uncle, not you too..."

"Hehe... it's the truth, is it not?" The Duke chuckled.

Both of their introductions surprised Eris and Greyson who did not expect that kind of fighting style at all from the young heirs in front of them. They really could not be blamed. Aphina was embodied by a heroic and rather combative aura that was not afraid to pick a fight with others. Braiden was a good-looking young man whose lips constantly held a gentle smile. He was not cowardly, just down-to-earth. Plus, he was built rather sturdily like he trained with the sword his whole life. If someone said that he was a magic knight of the Moon Empire, it would not be surprising. Yet, this same man was apparently someone who specialized in what could only be described as assassination spells. Maybe they were a little too biased, but wasn't this specialty and outer appearance a little too dissonant? 

Or rather, Princess Aphina, you were the most aggressive of us earlier but you do not even normally use offensive spells? Just where did you get the confidence? Greyson thought to himself feeling a little speechless hearing the princess's specialties. During the little squabble before, Aphina whipped the rest with her poisonous tongue and acted so mighty. He honestly thought she was looking forward to fighting against the rest of the nobles in the duel, but she would be in the rear supporting them instead. It wasn't a bad thing, just... unexpected.

"The older, righteous, and sunny looking brother who uses stealth spells and ice attacks with his daggers; the younger, fiery, and aggressive sister uses healing and support spells. How interesting. It's a rather odd combination, but I'll get used to it." Eris grinned widely. "I can see what you all are saying about balance. We have a support specialist magician, an agility specialist magician, an offensive specialist magician, and an all-rounder magician who can fill in the gaps of our weak points. It would be perfect if we had a defensive specialist, but things can't always work out THAT well, right?" She continued analyzing the makeshift team. Even she was a little pleasantly surprised by this turn of events. Siding with the imperial prince and princess and Greyson was more of a whim because she felt disgusted by the obvious arrogance of the nobles. But, if she were being truthful, it was not like she actually had high expectations. The other side had more people, could figure out better combinations because they will have more choices, and they all knew each other. Realistically, the rapidly formed team of four did not seem like they would win. Nevertheless, luck had yet to abandon them and it turned out their abilities meshed well together. She couldn't imagine what would have happened if they were all attack specialists or something. Too extreme in one direction would only lead to glaring weaknesses that are hard to hide.

"Hahaha, it seems that the two of you understand! If that much is clear, then I should use this chance to introduce the other six of your opponents. I can somewhat picture which team of four they will choose, but it's best to be prepared for all situations. Therefore, I will introduce all of them." The Duke nodded in approval. Eris outlined his thoughts concisely. 

Both Greyson and Eris perked their ears with expectation and their eyes flowed with curiosity. For them, other than Keaton, the rest were still a bit of a mystery. They saw Trevion fight with the other guy from the selection, but that was barely a fight. Most of his specialities and spells did not see the light of day. 

"Although most of you saw him, I will still explain: Keaton is a water element magician with a special in-born characteristic of acid. His attacks will eat through armor, weapons, skin, and bones so try to avoid any direct hits and contact. Main weapon is a whip so it's more accurate to say that he is a mid- to long-distance fighter rather than close combat. He enjoys keeping his distance from his opponents though for larger attacks because he is completely immune from the acid but his equipment might not be. His magic beast is a Ruby Nerodia which is a variation of the Black Nerodia that is commonly the magic beast of the Mendenhall main line. The only physical trait difference is the eyes color. However, Keaton's Ruby Nerodia also has acidic properties and they increase each other's attack force when working in tandem."

"You also saw Trevion but barely saw his abilities from what I heard. Trevion is an earth element magician. He is not overwhelmingly talented, but he is hardworking. As one of the oldest participating, he is stable and intelligent. Although he was the one who brought up the fight, I doubt he really wished to start something with Greyson. Normally, he is even-keeled and not easily provoked to anger. From what I understand, his father most likely told him to support Keaton after their fathers negotiated with each other. Both the Mendenhall family and the Vervan family are deeply entrenched in the web of noble powers. They can't extricate themselves easily, thus, even if they don't agree with their actions, they have to create a united front with the other nobles. Most likely, he will be part of the four who will fight with you guys since he specializes in strategizing. He is a defense specialist with shield and gloves magic tools. It's difficult to get attacks through to his teammates since he will try to cover them. It would be best to assign one of you to just focus on attacking and pressuring Trevion so that the both of you ignore the rest. This is easier said than done, though. If you can't break or make cracks his defenses, he can divide his attention towards the rest while ignoring you. His earth element spells are very tough. The Vervans are called the "Shield of the Moon" for a reason. They are an ancient family with deep history. You also cannot underestimate his offense. He strengthens his body as a form of defense, so taking any direct hits in close combat will definitely break some bones and cause internal injuries. Granted, just like other earth element magicians, Trevion is not very fast. When fighting you should take advantage of this weakness."

"The Vervan family commonly forms a group with the Dawnbrow family and the Crest family. The current members that you would be fighting are the heir to Duke Vervan, Trevion; the youngest daughter of Duke Dawnbrow, Tatyana; and the second son of Marquis Crest, Efren. Efren inherited his father's other title Earl of Hildebrand and is seen as the heir. He has surpassed his elder brother as the Snow Empire does not prescribe to the practice of passing titles on to only the eldest son or just males. We also have hereditary titles for women. Efren is the most talented of the children in the Crest family. He is a straightforward offensive specialist. The Crest family direct line children are normally born with the same variation in their element. They are ice element magicians, meaning they can only use ice variation spells of the water element. Efren uses a sword magic tool. In general, as long as you are not weak against ice then you can handle fighting him. Tatyana is an agility specialist who is a wind element magician. The Dawnbrow family generally inherits the water element and specialize in healing or support magic. Therefore, the combination between these three is a variation of the normal teamwork strategies between these three families. Tatyana does not have as strong of spells since her family's ancient spells are useless to her. However, you should not underestimate her as she is a top assassin. Individually, the three of them are not so talented that they would overshadow you four. The scariest part about them is their combination attacks and strategies. If you are not prepared, you will fall right into their traps."

"Although I doubt they will be chosen, I will still tell you about the other two. Cherell Ashtree, Viscount Ashtree's third daughter, is a fire element magician who specializes in long distance attacks. She doesn't fight in close quarters and uses a staff magic tool to augment her spell-casting speed. Not much about her is exceptional, she just has a powerful family and beautiful face. It's a shame that you both did not try to challenge her to kick her out. There are always 1-2 representatives who go just to fill the numbers. Colin Meleldred, Baron Meleldred's sixth son, is actually a light element magician which is rare. The Meleldred family is new nobility and only recently gained their Baron status. Therefore, they have neither the spell heritage or element heritage of normal nobles. However, Colin is talented and a light magician. He ended up joining the church to help cement his position in the Empire and within the family. Although he is a light element magician, he does not specialize in healing or support spells. He is a wily fighter who uses a multitude of weapons. Mainly, he uses a spear and shield. The light element itself is a well-rounded element with strong defense and offense, but is not very powerful in either until higher levels. I would recommend not getting too close to him. He's the type to suddenly abandon his spear and stab you with a hidden dagger. In a word, he's unpredictable. Personality-wise I don't hold him in high esteem, but that would not stop me from admiring his fighting tactics."

"Okay, now that you are all familiar, do you have any ideas? I want to hear from you guys before voicing my own thoughts. Only this way will you mature and think for yourself. It would be meaningless if I held your hand through it." Taking a deep breath, the Duke finally finished his long introduction before looking at the four kids in front of him.

"From your introduction, it seems you believe they will fight with Trevion, Tatyana, Efren, and Keaton. This combination has a defense specialist, close combat attack specialist, an agility specialist, and a long-distance attack specialist. It helps that none of them know any healing magic which means that any damage done to them will stay that way. Trevion will most likely be like Aphina and stay out of direct confrontation. So, we have a three-on-three situation mostly with the fourth member adding on help." Eris concisely summarized. The other three nodded along.

"Although they do not have any healing magic, if Trevion protects them then we won't be able to get much damage through." Braiden added.

"Which starts to put us at a disadvantage. Aphina, do you know any attack or defense magic?"

"Of course, I can't be so one-sided. However, with everyone's level where it is, I don't think my attacks and defense will be much help..." 

"Hmm... then this turns it into two-on-three. One of us will have to focus on distracting Trevion, while Aphina can't help us attack the other three. However, her augmenting spells will boost our strength, so we shouldn't be at an immediate disadvantage." After analyzing a little, Greyson felt that the situation was fairly equal on both sides, but they were a bit on the weaker end. 

Although they did not have a clear strategist like Trevion, each of the four offered different ideas that slowly turned into a fighting strategy.