YOOOUUU-----!
-15 Grey
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shouts in the distance of my MC
You were my brother, Marxus! I loved you!
Of course he’s competing in the one event I wanted. Blades is just so…blah. And my archery isn’t high enough. mumbles and swears
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That bastard 
Some kind of strength magic? 
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Well, enchanted arms and armor are out the window. Too obvious, and they would, of course, check for them. I’m guessing charms or such would be just as obvious.
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That is one way to level the playing field. I suggested a counterspell to Sophia at one point but I think she said its power would make it a late game option.
Now, as you can tell by my fanfic, I am a fan of reflection and control. It could be possible to have a spell that redirects his strength back on him. It has been done in other fantasy works as well, so not 100% original. It could only last a short time and would exhaust our magic. So a skill check would be required at the very least.
Edit: I have a third option in mind but it would require me to know the extent of Sophia’s abilities and if magic can be placed on non-runed items (such as a favor.) Runes are already canon thanks to the castle decription scene.
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I guess a possibility would be to sneak cast a spell on him before the match. Preferably a very hard to spot one, and one that could be confused for something that happens naturally in battle, such as a spell that drains his strength, making him weaker, or tire more easily. Buut of course that leaves the obvious downsides of opportunity and the difficulty of the spell.
Edit: Dam, I love theorizing. XD I could be a detective 
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It’s possible. It may be an option a less-than-honorable MC takes even before finding out about Marxus’ buffs. Remember, in character MC doesn’t have any idea that Marxus has magic placed on him or that Marxus is magical as well.
(Part of me is imagining @Sophia scribbling notes. While another part of me thinks that it could already be planned out and she is just eating popcorn to our futile efforts to read her mind.)
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Of course. It would definitely be something a more dishonorable MC would do. But even if they don’t know of Marxus’s ace-up-the-sleeve, they know he’s much stronger and experienced. They might not need to know about his boost. Or, alternatively, an MC who is on less-than-good terms with Marxus might do it as a form of revenge/proving himself to be better.
(Yes, definitely picturing Sophia going ‘Oh, that’s good, let me get my notebook’ xD)
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This brings up other questions: Who are our judges and who would know magic is in play? I doubt the archmage is in the panel, Andus “hates” magic. Mage duke can’t be everywhere. We don’t know if Andus can wield spells or is magic sensitive in any way.
This leaves us with generic mages from the army, Sophia, possibly Marxus or random character we aren’t aware of.
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Or maybe there are other ways to detect magic we aren’t aware of yet. In some books/games etc, magic leaves traces. Usually very easy to find if you know how, and it doesn’t require any tools/complicated setups.
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If there is a charm or ward that detects magic, then it would go off in Marxus’ presence. Unless our perception picks up on a changing of the wards when he is set to joust.
Detect magic is a divine spell in D&D, but that opens a can of worms about what the clergy can or can’t do in Sophia’s world.
It all depends. Mostly on if magic leaves traces, and if they do, how those traces can be found. Very likely that if there is such a charm, it will be turned off or something similar in Marxus’s fight. But a keen MC could use this to his advantage, also. It depends on when he happens to discover it. If he does it during battle, it’s too late. Casting will be practically impossible, much less casting in a way that won’t be detected. Runes could still be a possibility. But runes always require preparation, and sometimes extra spell ingredients.
I wonder is this are where that necklace marxus give to mc going to have some effect or not, whatever it is good or bad for mc.
There should be at least one or two persons who knows magic that control it if that the case
How do you know I bookmarking post? Is there some kind of notification?(I usually bookmark spoilery things by the way)
Pictures Sophia taking notes or/and Sabrina bookmarking posts xD
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If memory serves, it was said that it would be a dampener to our magic. Whether that was a theory, fact or false spoiler, I can’t tell you. It also assumes that we are wearing the thing.
All of this makes the Marxus conversation interesting. Would a high relationship Marxus try to persuade little brother to do the less “popular” events to keep from having to fight? Knowing that Andus has the game rigged in Marxus’ favor? We still haven’t touched on whether he would give pointers or not. (The warning could even BE the pointer.)
It would also make a victory even more impressive if Reinhardt beat Marxus with no spells at all in a “fair” match…
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XDDD No. It doesn’t tell you. I just figured.
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Hmmm… That’s a really good question. It makes me wonder, if you have a good relationship with Marxus, whether his desire to protect his little brother (literally the only person that loves him, essentially his only family) or his jealousy of him. …Nah, this is getting too deep for my liking. I’ll just turn everyone into a pincushion with my bow xD
I’m making notes for my story “This Blood of Mine.” 
Well, dam. Now I have to check it out to see if our theorizing had any big effects xD
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An example -
Reinhardt leans back in his chair as he and Marxus were the only souls left in the room.
(Current in game chatter about issues with wives here.)
Marxus nodded as he contemplated Reinhardt’s suggestion of taking Melissa to the royal gardens. He then slowly rose up in preparation to leave as Reinhardt’s voice broke his concentration.
“Did you hear me, brother?”
“What? No, forgive me.”
“I asked, ‘Do you have any advice for the tournament?’ It would only be my second one. Heavens know you already have quite a few under your belt.”
Marxus turned away for a moment and stared into the fireplace. As the flames crackled, an earlier conversation with his Father came to mind.
Marxus then turns to his brother and said, “Don’t do it.”
Surprise crossed Reinhardt’s face, “What? Why?”
Marxus quietly spoke, afraid to say too much and arouse Andus’ wrath, “Do not challenge me in the joust. Fight in the melee or shoot your bow. Share the glory alongside me. Just do not go against me, I would hate to beat you before the nobles.”
Reinhardt said nothing and simply nodded before leaving. As he opened the door, Marxus could hear some feminine voices shouting, a splash and a scream that followed it. It sounded like his wife was making trouble. He would talk to her about it, if he even saw her at all this night.
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