The beautiful and serene mirror lake was only given a brief glance to assess dangers before the two fighters refocused on themselves.
Once again, luck was on their side as they had scored in a quiet environment.
After Percival's heavy slam attack, Abigail concluded that her arrows were useless in this situation. An archer's best playing ground was a location with lots of obstacles to hide behind and shoot.
In such an open and bright space, her arrows would be seen every time she fired. A moment of silence settled between the fighters as Percival straightened himself and stared at Abigail with the same smug grin he had used earlier.
'At this rate, I'll achieve nothing before I am eliminated.' Despite knowing that her chances were slim, she wished to leave something remarkable behind. Something to show she wasn't just an archer.
With gritted teeth, she made her decision to put everything in going all out—fast and domineering.
Her eyes blazed in the essence of her mana as she placed her bow on her back and retrieved the two daggers she always carried on her waist.
"It's good you've realized the arrows aren't going to help. Even so, those daggers won't make a difference." Percival said smugly and got into a stance mimicking Abigail who held both daggers a short arm's length away from her face.
Her gaze was resolute as she let out a small breath.
"…"
Abigail gave no response and channelled her mana through her body generating a gust of wind around herself.
WHOOSH
In an instant, she disappeared from her position and appeared before Percival, the right dagger going in first.
Of course, Percival saw her move, even still, her quick thinking of using her powers to boost her speed gave her a small advantage.
"!"
Due to the suddenness of her appearance, Percival reacted on instinct and bent backwards to evade the incoming right blade.
He watched closely as the blade swooshed past his face, cutting through the air and leaving a trail of mana on its tail.
Percival was very perceptive as he knew that was only one of the blades. He may have reacted on instinct, but he didn't forget that his opponent carried two daggers.
Expecting her first dagger to miss its mark, Abigail swiftly spun the second dagger into a stabbing hold and channelled mana into it before aiming it at Percival's abdomen.
CLANG!
The dagger connected to its mark, but it did no damage as the spot the second dagger hit was reinformed with earth magic.
Of course, Abigail was not too surprised by her attack being easily blocked. She quickly refocused and continued her lunge at Percival.
Every move of hers was beautifully countered by Percival either by using his earth magic or evading.
"It's useless! Give it up!" Percival taunted Abigail with every failed attempt. Even then, she refused to say a word and continued her frantic attacks.
After a few seconds of back and forth, Percival took one of the many openings and delivered a heavy palm strike to Abigail's stomach, the palm covered in dense earth.
BAM!
"Ugh!"
Abigail exclaimed in pain as she was sent flying and before she could hit the mirrored lake, Percival appeared above her with a spinning back leg attack that slammed her into the water.
'Shit!'
She cursed inwardly and tried as much as possible to mitigate the damage by crossing both arms. Even then…
BOOM!
Finally, she was submerged in the calm lake with a heavy splash. She could have sworn she heard her arm bones creak under the force of the powerful kick even that passed through her armour like it was never there.
'Hah… This is pointless!' She felt like crying but was already in the water. She didn't even have the tears to shed.
Luckily for Abigail, she didn't have to suffer the fate of drowning when the environment changed again.
But that luck was the last the two fighters were going to have as the place they appeared next was a large canyon that spread as far as the eye could see. There was only earth and no water in the valleys.
For Percival, it could be an advantage, but that was not all there was to the canyon. The canyon they found themselves in could be a death zone as the entire space above them was darkened with heavy clouds.
The crackles of lightning and thunder sang through the valleys as the strong gusts of wind made it difficult to maintain one's footing.
The lightning arcs rained down from the skies with fury, damaging the landscape even more. It was suitable for beings like themselves to be present.
'Okay, let's end things before things get out of hand.' Percival thought as his eyes roamed the skies warry of the intense lightning.
His gaze shifted back to Abigail and noticed her eyes roaming the skies just like he was doing. The longer they spent here, the more likely they would be struck.
Abigail was brought out of her thoughts when she noticed Percival move from his spot, quickly closing the distance. However, his movements were irregular as the strong winds pushed against his momentum, slowing him down enough for Abigail to notice him.
'If he is like this, then what of me?'
She wondered and with a frown brandished her daggers once again. With a low bend, she made her move as well.
But the terrain had other plans for them. The loud cracking of lightning and thunder made it difficult for any communication between the two; not that they needed to talk.
A metre or two before the two clashed again, the storm clouds directly above them formed a spiral as the deafening rumble of thunder and the blue lights of lightning flashed in the clouds.
Whatever that was cooking up there was going to be big… and extremely deadly.
The phenomenon instantly drew the attention of the fighters and for a moment, their gaze returned to each other as they could see trembling in their eyes.
It was too late to dodge and even if they did, they would be definitively caught in.
'Is it going to be a draw?' Abigail wondered, a bit of hope growing in her heart.
'Fuck… Even if I cover myself in a thick layer of earth, I doubt it would be enough to mitigate the damage. Heck, I might be pulverized!'
Percival also had his own thoughts about the incoming calamity.
Finally, the mother load of all lightning covering tens of metres in diameter fell. Then…
CRACKLE!
BOOOOOM!
"…"
The silence that resulted from their spectators continued for several seconds as the spot the two stood moments ago was blasted into oblivion, with no remains of both fighters anywhere, except the large crater that was blackened beyond measure.
The thick smoke emitting from the crater the only proof of there being any beings in sight.
Just like that, one of the first fights resulted in a draw…