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As we get close he shakes Arell's and moves over to shake mine. But being told I'm not supposed to use them and ruin the illusion of being more injured than normal I just move the two slings slightly, shrug and do a slight bow instead, getting a few laughs from the crowd for the host trying to shake hands with someone without access to arms. I then do the same towards Arell and then take a seat and grimace. Though that appendage has been removed, that doesn't change the fact that that area is still sensitive to the touch.

"So, I'm here today with the two that everyone has been talking about. They have just come back from probably one of the best duels that we've had in years. I can't remember the last time we've had two very strong opponents go all out in a contest of wills as we did last night. And it shows not only how mighty the Royals truly are, but also the resourcefulness of Earth's own Rose."

"She is something, isn't she?" Arell half laughs, as if by means of trying to flatter me.

"And all of that accomplished with less than a month of experience under her belt as well. I can only imagine how unbelievably scary her kids might end up being when they grow up, especially if properly mentored."

"I suppose that is a good point," Arell comments, as if the thought had never occurred to him. "I'm sure we could have enough of a pull to have your reproductive rights fully restored and encourage you to have kids. You won't have to set foot on the battlefield ever again."

"As flattering as that may be," I state as politely as I can. "I was born male and haven't quite yet given up on getting my manhood back. And since that bit of equipment is human, I don't think that that would translate nearly as well to any offspring I may sire."

"Eh, just as well." Arell shrugs.

"On that note," the gryphon changes the subject. "One thing the viewers want to know is if there's anything in the duel that you personally regret?"

"Not really. I'm sure there's going to be some analysts that will go on and on about how I threw the fight by casting that last spell at her, but the fact of the matter is beyond letting her have too much time to think over her spells every move I made was the correct one at the time. In hindsight, yes. I shouldn't have cast that last spell. But there was no way I could have known that that is what the spell she was casting was going to do. No one had ever seen that spell before. And when dealing with someone using healing magic there are two correct courses of action. Either you fight a battle of attrition and burn out their stamina to the point they can't cast anything on you anymore, or you burst past their healing and do more harm than they could heal. And considering how fast she was improving some of her spells, especially that damn Projected Flame spell, a battle of attrition was not the correct call. Meaning that the correct course of action would have been to use a spell strong enough to burst through the amount of healing she could produce."

"On that note, about that. Why was the Projected Flames spell hurting as much as it seemed to be? I thought you were immune to fire. Did that change with her spell?"

"No, I'm still just as immune to fire as before. The thing is it wasn't the fire that was hurting, but the speed at which they were hitting. Think of it this way. Do you think it would hurt if I were to throw a pillow at you?"

"If you were to throw a pillow at me?"

"And that's kind of my point. A pillow is soft. No one in their right mind would be afraid of a pillow. And that is the fire aspect of the Projected Flames to me. The fire would hurt me as much as a pillow would hurt you. But the thing is both still have mass and it doesn't matter that it's a pillow, if it hits you at half the speed of sound it's still going to hurt."

"Would you say more people should be trying to bring the Projected Flames spell to her level? Do you think it's any more viable of a spell?"

"Only if they get much better arms than I had," I comment and wave my slings a bit again. "This was all me, he didn't hit my arms once."

"Yeah, I'd agree with that. Even with the power it gives I'd advise against people simply trying to master this one spell. Projected Flames is categorized as a class D spell. Given her improvements on the spell I'd say at the end there it was up to the upper end of a class B spell. Possibly could have even gotten up to a class A spell if she perfected that eight-branch form. But even then, the only reason she was able to do as much as she did with them was because of her targeting spell. The purpose of Projected Flames is as she was using it in her first excursion. It's really good at taking a spell that needs to be fired at close range and using it from a distance. The four-branch form is probably about as far as anyone should be taking that spell. And even then, you shouldn't be relying on it for damage itself. It simply doesn't give you nearly enough impact for the amount of recoil it puts on the body."

"So, what do you think was ultimately the deciding factor of this fight, on where Rose really started to get the advantage in this fight?"

"I'd say it'd be letting her hit me with that targeting spell. If she had missed that first shot then it would have been a completely different story. I could simply keep my distance and let her burn herself out if I had so chose," Arell comments. "As it was, I had to fight a much more aggressive game than would have been better suited for our matchup."

"And you?" the host turns his attention to Rose, "what do you think turned the fight into your favor?"

"He underestimated healing magic. The two spells that did me the most good in the entire fight were both healing spells. Yes, the swords and Projected Flames allowed me to stay in the fight and deal out some hits of my own, but it was those two healing spells that did it."

"And by those two I'm assuming you're talking about the wings and that last spell?" The host asks and I nod.

"So, on that note, what exactly did those wings actually do? Because I didn't really see you use them to fly." Arell comments.

"I'm not sure how well they could let me fly or not. At the very least it'd be too unreliable of flight. The wings were the visual effect of a transfer of power spell. It would form a connection between the user and the target. And the greater the difference in intent to kill from the two there is, the more power it transfers from one to the other."

"Well, having an intent to kill your opponent is perfectly normal. Every fighter does it. If you aren't willing to potentially kill your opponent you may end up hesitating to much and that could cost you the entire match," Arell defends himself dismissively.

"But I didn't. I just wanted to do whatever it took to survive the match against you. But since I had no desire to kill you and you did, some of your power flowed into me, evening up the difference between us quite a bit. Once you had admitted defeat and no longer wanted to kill me, the exchange of power went away."

"And the other spell? I'm assuming it's some sort of reflect spell? That you hit him with his own spell?" The host asks.

"Not exactly. I'm sure the prince could attest that his own attack would not have done that much damage to him. Instead it reflects injury. At the instant after taking a hit, I ride the pulse of magic back to its source and transfer the damage his attack did to me."

"Are these spells you intend on writing down so that others may use?" Arell asks.

"No, or at least not with the purpose of sharing. I may write them down for posterity's sake and so that I can look at them and study them and see if there's anything I can gain from those two spells that will be far more useful in the long term. And the reason I don't want them to be available is exactly because people will use them."

"Isn't that the point of a spell, though? To be used?" the host asks, though it is clear that Arell is happy that it's not something to be made widespread.

"I suppose I should rephrase that a bit. The problem isn't so much that people will use the spells, but rather that they will use them in situation where they shouldn't. The wings require your target to want you dead more than you want him dead. If there is no great discrepancy between the two, the spell is useless. And it is a power that can very easily work in the opposite direction. The spell isn't only a one-way transfer of power. If I had wanted to kill him more than he wanted me dead, then he would have started getting the wings. The spell only works if they want you dead more than you do and thus the easy counter to it is simply enrage your opponent. Similarly, for the second spell, you need to take a hit for it to have any effect. And you need to follow through the instant after getting hit. If you hesitate you may end up losing your window and took a hit for nothing. Further, if you get hit by a spell too weak to do much, you'll have just used a ton of magic to no effect. They are both great tools but are extremely situational and only good if there are no other options. And the average person would probably use them at the wrong time and get themselves killed in the process."

"So, Prince Arell," the host switches his focus back over to the dragon. "How has your family taken to your loss? Any threats of disowning you?"

"You're kidding, right?" the dragon seems hardly amused by the statement, as if it is something that has crossed his mind recently. "It was only an exhibition match. That I lost does mean we drastically underestimated Rose's resourcefulness a bit, but it wasn't a fight that had any real stakes. Sure, my family is definitely disappointed that I wasn't able to come out on top at the end there, but as you said it was one of the best duels we've had in a good long time. No, I might have to take on a match that puts me at a noticeable advantage to prove just how strong I really am once I have recovered fully and am able to participate again, but I'm not in any danger from my own family. I think the bigger question is where does Rose go from here? To go from the hero of the special event and then beat a royal in a fair fight. I mean after that; how do you do anything that wouldn't seem anticlimactic? If we pit her against normal people who would be interested in how that works out anymore?"

"I am perfectly fine playing a more support role for the time being. I know I'm still not all that skilled when it comes to close quarters combat. And if it becomes too boring to have me in the field then I'm more than okay with being on the sidelines to only show up if things get out of hand. Also, would give me ample time to try and study magic in more detail"

"Well I'm sure we'd be willing to offer you a job at the university. Waive the remainder of your term. Let you spend the rest of your contract fully explore every facet of magic to your heart's content and can help teach others how to use magic much better than what most currently do."

"As tempting as that offer is," I state, noting how this is the second time in a very short span of time that they tried to do something to get me off the active roster. "The truth of the matter is that with there being so few of us left at the moment after that last special, I don't think it'd be right for me to step out of the lineup. They simply need me too much right now for me to even consider alternatives. Now once everything has gotten back to normal again? That might be another matter. But for now, I'll have to decline."

"That's certainly unfortunate. I'm sure there'd be a lot of people just clamoring to be a student of yours. But I can't fault you for putting duty and honor before your own personal interests," Arell shrugs, though from the tightness of his jaw I'm getting the distinct impression that he's still less than pleased with how things have turned out.

"And I'm afraid that's all the time we have for now. Give another round of applause to our two fighters, Rose and Prince Arell!" the host states, standing up and gesturing at the two.

The two of us stand almost on ceremony and bow slightly. I take one last look at him and see that his eyes have already moved on past this event and is already scheming onto something else. And given how much they tried to peacefully get me out of the way and what I remember Gabriel telling me I have to wonder just what all is going to be in store for me in the near future.