The crystal-blue plates lit up beneath their feet as Min Tu and Frieda charged at each other.
The hundreds of spectators leaned forward as one, and they all saw Min Tu's attack reach first.
Her right dagger carved upward, tight and vicious, aimed at Frieda's throat. Frieda jerked her head back and the blackened steel missed her chin by a finger's width.
The Necromancer flowed into the miss immediately, her left dagger already driving forward toward Frieda's ribs.
She wasn't wasting a single motion.
Frieda answered with her fireballs.
A concentrated burst erupted from her palm, directed at the ground between them. The explosion kicked up a wall of flame and shattered crystal that forced Min Tu to break off her attack and pivot sideways.
"Castleloft opens with a defensive burst!" the commentator's voice boomed across the colosseum. "Smart move! She knows Akaran wants to close the distance, and she's not giving her an inch!"
