Permission was granted by the professors. The two first-years entered the duel hall.
The arena was circular, layered with tiered seating. Mana-inscribed lines ran across the stone floor, protective arrays glowing faintly blue. Students filled the stands.
Excitement. Whispers. Anticipation.
Some came to watch humiliation. Some came to confirm rumors. Some came because "Kael Dravenheart" they had heard so much of had finally returned.
At the center stood a senior, tall, composed, silver-haired.
"My name is Jane Eryndor," she announced calmly. "I will oversee this duel."
Her eyes swept the arena.
"On the left, Kael Dravenheart thechallenger.
And on the right, Jack Sevrin."
Murmurs spread at the name Sevrin.
A known prodigy.
"Participants. Ready?"
Both gripping their wooden sword tightly simply nodded.
"Begin."
The senior signaled.
Jack moved first.
Fast.
Confident.
Arrogant.
He lunged forward, blade arcing downward toward Kael's head.
Kael stepped back.
Measured.
Controlled.
The blade struck stone,
and Kael's foot came down on it instantly.
Jack's eyes widened for half a second.
Kael's sword moved toward his neck.
Jack jerked back, barely avoiding decapitation. He twisted away and reset.
The crowd leaned forward.
Jack smirked.
"You're still stubborn."
Kael said nothing only standing silently with an unbothered posture.
Jack lunged again, this time a direct thrust.
Kael sidestepped, pivoted, and countered toward the back of Jack's neck.
The strike landed.
A clean hit.
But not enough.
Jack stumbled, then grinned wider.
"You've gotten weaker."
The arena murmured.
Jack lowered his stance getting into a lunge position.
Then mana surged faintly around his blade.
"Scissor Slash: Flurry."
His sword exploded into motion with madness overflowing from his eyes.
Left. Right. High. Low. Diagonal reversals.
Unpredictable angles.
Speed beyond average first-years.
The sound of slicing air overlapped in sharp rhythm.
Gasps filled the stands.
Julian gripped the railing.
There were no openings.
Every direction was death.
He then recalled the conversation he had with Kael when they were in the locker room.
"Yo, dude isn't this a bit dangerous, I get it you are good but that Jake guy isn't really an easy opponent from what I've seen and heard"
In response kalehad smiled and replied,
"A true Knight does not runaway from the battle they chose, and don't worry I acknowledge Jake is not an easy opponent but even the giants bleed when cut so don't worry... Dude"
Now in the duel even tho it seemed like Kael was getting beaten up, he did not panic.
He retreated.
Blocked.
Shifted.
Minimal movements.
Efficient footwork.
He wasn't countering.
He was studying.
His breathing steady.
His mind calculating.
Body weaker than before.
Core unstable.
Adapt timing.
Upper right transitions slower, he noticed.
There, A flaw.
Jack's chain attack had a micro hesitation on the upper-right diagonal.
The moment it appeared again,
Kael inhaled.
Parried sharply upward.
The rhythm shattered.
Jack's eyes widened.
Kael stepped inside the guard.
A knee rose sharply.
CRACK.
Jack's jaw snapped back.
He flew several feet, crashing against the arena floor.
The hall fell silent, Julian smiled in awe and joy.
Jack stood again.
Shaken.
But smiling.
Madness flickered in his eyes.
"Not bad."
He raised his blade again,
But this time,
Kael moved first.
Memories stirred.
He remembered Blurred faces.
The Dragon hunts he did with Dravenheart.
The Dravenheart clan who aimed for precision over brute force.
An attack that they used to breach the strong and almost unbreakable scales of dragon with angle and velocity.
Kael closed his eyes briefly.
Adjusted his stance.
Low, Compressed,
He whispered
"Rising Wyvern."
Then he moved.
To the audience, He had vanished and reappeared Infront of Jake like a ghost but in truth, it was footwork compressed to perfection.
A blade surged upward from below Jack's guard.
Too fast.
Too sharp.
Jack blinked just once...
Impact.
His chin snapped upward violently.
Before gravity reclaimed him..
Kael stepped through, using his legs to propel both of them upward in a rising arc.
And for a split second,
They were airborne.
Like a wyvern ascending.
Then,
BOOM.
Jack was slammed into the arena wall.
Dust burst outward.
Silence.
Then,
He slid down.
Unconscious.
Jane Eryndor blinked once, regaining composure she announced.
"F-First year Kael Dravenheart… wins."
The arena erupted.
Julian shot up from his seat.
"THAT'S MY FRIEND!, THAT'S MY BOY, THAT'S KAEL DRAVENHEART! NOW TAKE THAT YOU DOUCHEBAGS!!."
Some laughed.
Some cheered.
Some stared quietly.
A few seniors narrowed their eyes.
Kael did not celebrate.
He simply lowered his sword.
His breathing slightly heavier than he wanted.
Body still inefficient and stiff, Core unstable.
Technique execution at fifteen percent.
Not satisfactory, not even a bit for Kael.
He turned and walked toward the exit.
Medics rushed in for Jack.
As they walked back toward class, Julian bounced beside him.
"DUDE. That last move! What WAS that?"
"A family technique," Kael replied calmly. "Our ansester used it for dragon hunting."
Julian's eyes sparkled.
"You're telling me you've got more of that?"
Kael gave a faint smile.
"This was the weakest version."
Julian stopped walking.
"…What?"
Kael continued forward.
With Julian following behind asking,"Really?.. hey reply to me dude"
But from a distance
A group of mysterious people watched silently from the second floor.
One of them adjusted his glasses.
"So that's Dravenheart."
Another asked calmly,
"Could the information of his mana core being destroyed be just a rumor?"
Third smirked.
"No I can senses it, the mana instability is still there, he is still quite strong."
The fourth spoke quietly,
"Inform the council."
As all of them turned back and walked away.
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Fun fact:
Tho wyverns are a part of the dragon family, dragons aren't very fond of them for being weak so they usually exclude wyverns along with drake, wyrm, basilisk and don't acknowledged them as their family so they have a hostile relation towards each other. Wyverns live in packs of upto two thousand unlike dragon who live in isolation, wyverns usually attack by launching themselves in high speed and using their strong skulls to concentrate the power to a single point (This is the attack from which the techniques of Dravenheart swordsmanship was inspired from) as ony select few of them can breathe fire. It was once said that a pack of fifteen hundred wyverns injured a dragon to the point of hibernation, it is impressive because dragons are about four thousand times strong(i.e. one dragon is equal to four thousand wyverns) and thirty times bigger than wyverns and wyverns grow up to five meters in height and 9 meters in length from their tail to their head.
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