He was going to need to cut the training shorter than he'd wanted with how the cold seeped through his wet clothing and into his bones, even with the fire to keep the worst of the freezing air of Deepfrost at bay. Jigano focused on taking away Deimos's stability, using his earth magic the way he did the first time in the Spire, but the other man was no longer the novice he had been last season, when they had built memorials to Adam and Peter. Even as the earth split beneath him more formed, though Jigano couldn't see it happening. All he saw was that the General remained upright, steadying himself somehow - earth or telekinesis or some other spell - and then the bard had problems of his own.
The barrage of stones could have been met with a battle of wills, but Jigano didn't want to risk the potential that the mage who created the element could control it more fully than one who hadn't (an experiment to come back to later, though, when he had time to ponder it in depth). Instead he raised his own stones to collide with the General's, smashing earth and rock against each other in brute force unlike his usual preference for subtlety.
Subtlety that came in the form of a snowball scooped up and launched at the opposing mage amidst the crash of stone and showers of frozen dirt as the Provost abandoned his fire shield and began to retreat backwards across the snowy training field to open more distance between them, seeking that 30 foot boundary beyond which he could wrest control of earth and fire from Deimos's command.
The barrage of stones could have been met with a battle of wills, but Jigano didn't want to risk the potential that the mage who created the element could control it more fully than one who hadn't (an experiment to come back to later, though, when he had time to ponder it in depth). Instead he raised his own stones to collide with the General's, smashing earth and rock against each other in brute force unlike his usual preference for subtlety.
Subtlety that came in the form of a snowball scooped up and launched at the opposing mage amidst the crash of stone and showers of frozen dirt as the Provost abandoned his fire shield and began to retreat backwards across the snowy training field to open more distance between them, seeking that 30 foot boundary beyond which he could wrest control of earth and fire from Deimos's command.
