Chapter 38: Rivals
The duel swiftly came to an end atop the pristine white platform. A handsome young man with long black hair, partially tied up in a bun, stood as the victor. The space between him and his opponent was frozen solid, a spear of ice clenched within a golden hand suspended before the defeated man, as four figures watched in silence.
From the side, a pretty blonde girl with hazel eyes pointed at the victor and said, “Damon. That spinning Ice Spear… No way… Are you... No longer a fire elemental Arcon? During the recruitment assessment, you definitely had a fire attunement. Or am I mistaken?”
Heaving a faint sigh of relief, Damon replied, “Yeah, I switched my cultivation art to a water elemental one. It is a higher grade and tier, and also, I think water suits me better than fire.”
“That’s true! Your comprehension of fire is very high, but you always seemed too cool-headed and flexible to be a fire specialist. I’m glad you found something that fits you better! Your control over arcane power is incredible. You can use water-based spells with such high efficiency already!” Claire immediately grinned again, jumping up to the center of the platform in one fluid motion.
Damon walked over beside Claire and asked, “I have a question. I’m curious about Thomas’s abilities. It does not seem like spellcraft. What is it?”
Claire playfully kicked the water leftover from the molten ice at Damon before responding. “Thomas’s ancestor married a demi-human being. It was a Goldspore Sprite. They call themselves Elves, from what I know. Have you not come across any mentions of demi-humans during your mission at the Legacy Hall?”
“Demi-humans? No, I haven’t come across anything yet. I see… So it’s more of an innate ability rather than spellcraft?” Damon rubbed his smooth chin as he appraised Thomas, who was currently smiling and slapping Anton’s back in a friendly gesture.
“Yep! I believe they call it a bloodline ability. For Thomas, he can combine that ability with his arcane power to produce even stronger effects. He really was born with a gold spoon.” Claire stared at Thomas as she crossed her arms and tapped her foot on the wet ground.
Damon glanced at Claire from the corner of his eye. YOU were born with a diamond spoon, so why are you looking at Thomas with such envy? It’s ME who should be envious of both of you.
Thomas walked over with his subordinates and said, “That was an enjoyable match! Well, now that we’ve had some fun, we should go back to our own studies…”
“What? Go back? I haven’t even had the chance to stretch my muscles yet! Come up here, Thomas. Let’s have a quick duel! Come up now! Before I drag you myself!” Claire interrupted Thomas and began performing stretches while yelling at him.
Thomas exchanged a glance with Damon and then sighed in resignation. He found it difficult to deal with Claire. Even more so now that she was so hyperactive. The quiet Claire from when she was a child was easier to handle.
Thomas slowly trudged to the opposite end of the platform Claire had sprinted off to. Every single step felt as though he were mired in a thick swamp. He had absolutely no desire to face Claire in battle. It was a terrible matchup.
The others all retreated to the side of the platform. Damon watched in keen anticipation. He was interested in both Claire’s innate constitution and Thomas’s bloodline abilities. How did they differ from regular Arcon? Could he make use of anything he learns from the battle? He would only know after witnessing them in action.
Claire continued to smile brightly even as she lowered her stance in preparation for the battle. Her legs were bent, and she was stopped over, holding the ground with one hand and the other extended straight behind her. She looked like she was primed to burst forward in immense speed the moment she decided to move.
Thomas sighed once more before standing straight and crossing his arms over his chest, so each hand was holding the opposite shoulder. Afterward, he swung both his arms out to the sides, upon which tiny golden spores were endlessly released into the surroundings from his body.
Damon watched both parties closely. He even reached out to try and touch some of the golden spores, but they were so small he could not even feel their existence. They were visible but intangible at the same time.
Thomas maintained his reluctant expression, but he still yelled out to Claire. “I’m ready!”
Claire’s smile instantly became ferocious, like a lioness with prey in its sight. She pushed off with her feet, soaring into the air above. She still had not cast any spells, instead spinning with her hands extended as she flew above the platform, causing the wind to pick up. The bursts of wind forced the golden spores out of the arena, much to Thomas’s chagrin.
Thomas gritted his teeth as he brought his hands back together and grasped them tightly. At this moment, the spores being pushed away started glowing with a regal golden light, and turned into countless golden-green vines all reaching toward Claire.
Claire continued spinning through the air, the wind surrounding her becoming more and more rough and violent. The incoming vines were quickly torn to shreds before they could even reach her. She was approaching Thomas rapidly, almost upon him.
Thomas’s brows furrowed as he began chanting in a cryptic language slightly different from the usual spell incantation. The spores being released from his body turned around and began spiralling around him before engulfing him in vines. The vines continued to wriggle and writhe over him, swiftly growing larger before turning him into a large humanoid plant creature three times the size of a normal human adult.
Thomas, now in control of the humanoid plant body, swung his thick, twining arm at the airborne Claire in an attempt to catch her.
Claire stopped her spinning motion, and her face could now be seen through the turbulent tempest surrounding her. Beneath her fluttering blonde hair, she had a silly smile plastered on her face as she stuck her tongue out at the golden-green giant formed of twisting vines. Her arms extended forward before she clapped her hands in the direction of the giant.
A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.
All the howling gale in the area immediately channeled into one direction, forming a tangible and mighty funnel as it blasted apart the vines that formed the giant. The high-speed windstorm was so strong that it tore the vines to shreds, and a small figure soon flew out from within and tumbled across the ground outside the arena.
It was Thomas. He cut a sorry figure as he picked himself up from the ground, his hair tousled in every direction and his disheveled robes torn in numerous places. However, he was otherwise uninjured.
Damon watched the entire battle, which had only lasted half a minute, in quiet awe. It was a style of combat he had never even read about.
This is the true strength of the Academy’s powerhouses. Both are at the Late Stage of Node Awakening, yet they can use such unique abilities with incredibly refined control. Claire’s mastery over the wind is so precise that she managed to almost shred Thomas’s robes without leaving a single wound on him. How would I fare against them?
In a direct clash relying solely on arcane power, Damon knew he would be unlikely to win. Not only because he was still an early stage Initiate, but also because he tread a different path. He had focused on combining his arcane and mental abilities, instead of putting everything into one. However, this realization did not discourage him. Instead, it made him even more assured of his path. Just as they had their unique abilities, he, too, had his own. It was just unfortunate that he couldn’t reveal them directly in the open.
Damon’s eyes sparkled with a renewed clarity. He had grown confident in his own abilities after defeating the Deputy Leader, perhaps too confident. However, this world was far larger than he had imagined, and it was filled with numerous talents. There was still too much he didn’t know, and a lot more he needed to learn. A sense of rivalry began to form as he looked between Claire, who was dancing happily in victory, and Thomas, who was grimacing in defeat.
“Okay, we’ve dueled. Can I go now? I need to get changed out of these robes. How many of my robes do you plan to ruin? You know I can never defeat you!” Thomas yelled at Claire in a low voice. He was annoyed. Very annoyed. These duels had happened numerous times before, and they always ended the same way.
“Hahaha! Sorry about that! I can’t control my power very well, and unfortunately, ruined your robes again! Can you forgive me?” Claire grinned playfully as she floated down to Damon’s side from atop the platform.
“You! You have perfect control over the wind! You are intentionally… Nevermind. It’s not worth the effort to argue with you.” Thomas closed his eyes and tightly gripped the skin between his furrowed eyebrows. He then looked at the three subordinates standing behind him, all silently looking in different directions. A vein pulsated on his neck as he pointed at these three.
“You three. Follow me. Let’s get out of here before Claire changes her mind. Hurry!”
Damon and Claire watched as the four people scurried away. He then turned to her and said, “Wow, Claire. I’m very impressed by your abilities. Honestly, I didn’t expect you to be that good at combat. Aren’t you in the Potioneering department, not the Combat department?”
“Oh, that. Yeah, I’m in the Potioneering department, but I mainly just go and run some fun experiments in the lab I was given. Apart from that, I usually spend my days roaming around the Academy or doing a mission. It’s a lot more fun to duel and beat people in a fight than just sitting in a boring class listening to someone talk, so I end up looking for people to battle as well. But lately, nobody seems to want to fight me for some reason.”
Claire responded brightly, but then turned dejected at the end, as though she had been bullied or ostracized.
It’s because you’re too strong and you probably beat them to a pulp. Don’t act like YOU’RE the one being bullied. Damon cussed inwardly, but showed a perplexed expression on the surface to convince Claire he had no idea why she was being outcast.
“Anyway, I’m having a great day today. Watching interesting fights and stretching my own legs. What should we do for the rest of our day?” Claire held onto Damon’s sleeve and looked into his eyes.
Claire was slightly shorter than he was, so Damon tilted his head downward to meet her gaze. Within the round hazel eyes, he could see a hint of desperation and pleading. What is it with her today? Why does she look like she would break down in tears if she were alone?
Damon turned his gaze away, unable to continue delving into the emotional depths of his friend. His friend? He just realized he had moved on from seeing her as just an annoying acquaintance and considered her a friend.
Damon looked out at the bright sky devoid of clouds and said, “I’m a little hungry. Let’s go grab a meal at the Mess Hall. I’ll treat you today. After that, why don’t you show me around the Potioneering department? How does that sound?”
Claire’s face immediately lit up in delight as she yelled back in response.
“That sounds great! Yay! Free food is the best!”
Claire pointed toward the direction of the Mess Hall before sprinting away again. As Damon struggled to keep up behind her, the joy on her face settled down into a gentle smile. At this point, she already knew. She knew Damon had noticed her melancholy and was keeping her company for her sake. It seems she had found her first true friend.
It was a long and tiring rest of the day for Damon. Keeping up with such a hyperactive person was very difficult. Her hurricane-like personality used his own energy as fuel and caused him to grow increasingly more lethargic as he stayed within her proximity. However, he didn’t dislike it. He had an enjoyable time, even though it was exhausting.
A few days had passed since the duels at the arena, and his day spent with Claire. Damon sat at his desk within his dorm room, the flame within an oil lamp flickering as it continued to brighten the desk it sat atop. His window and blinds were tightly shut, as it was the middle of the night.
Damon remained motionless, focusing on a book in his hands, as the flickering light caused the shadows of his body to dance against the backdrop of the wall.
“This fusion rune… It merges the runes of ‘arcane’, ‘gather’, and ‘condense’. It’s quite obvious from the runes what the properties of the final product will be, as long as it is engraved properly. However, I still have no experience with rune fusion. Before I can make an attempt, I will need to practice on my own. If I can succeed… It could give me access to a new avenue in which to increase my strength.”
Damon finished musing to himself and placed the book down on the corner of his desk. He arranged the materials in front of him in an orderly fashion, so he could find them without pause during the intense inscription process. After calming his breathing and his mind, he picked up the first-tier artifact quill and began drawing.
The enchantment required the merging of three first-tier runes, so each rune was actually not very difficult to draw. The fusion process itself was the only complicated aspect of this entire method.
After 2 hours, Damon breathed out a stifled breath as he finished the first inscription. It was the ‘arcane’ rune. He closed his eyes and immediately began meditating, aiming to return to prime condition before continuing. A while later, he opened his eyes again, his arcane power filled once more.
Damon picked up the artifact quill again and paused before it touched the parchment. This was it. This was his first attempt at runic fusion. He hesitated for a few minutes as he considered all the aspects related to this attempt and whether his preparations were complete. After discovering no issues, he stopped delaying and brought it down upon the parchment with the ‘arcane’ rune inscribed. The power within him surged as he channeled it into the quill and began drawing. The ‘arcane’ rune began glowing with increasing intensity as the second inscription was taking place.
The light was so bright, it inundated Damon and prevented him from being able to see. He immediately used his Truesight, as he wouldn’t be able to draw precisely without vision. Upon observing the parchment with his enhanced ocular ability, his eyes widened as he let out a gasp.
Hey everyone, we hit 10k total views! Soon followed by 200 followers :) thank you for all your support! I hope you’re enjoying the story so far! In the next week, you’re in for a treat.
Damon's found himself two new rivals he can grow with!
Whose combat powers do you want if you were a character in this world?
