Back inside the manor, they gathered around the dining table.
Evelyn spread the parchment out flat so everyone could see it, though Aegis noticed that Scarlett was squinting at the text like it had personally offended her.
"I'll summarize," Evelyn said, apparently noticing the same thing. "First condition: no personal weapons. Both combatants will be provided identical swords by an unbiased third party selected by the Noble Consortium."
Aegis nodded slowly.
[Called it.]
"Second condition: no potions may be consumed within twenty-four hours of the duel."
"Wait, how would they even verify that?" Aegis asked. "It's not like they can check my stomach contents."
Rosalie, who had been hovering near the back of the room, raised her hand slightly.
"Actually, there are ways. Certain diagnostic spells can detect active potion effects in the bloodstream. It's similar to how healers check for poison, just, you know, in reverse."
[Kinda like drug testing back on Earth, I guess.]
