Lithana sheathed her daggers and held out both hands, concentrating hard.
”Bladeheart Style: Hail of Hundred Daggers!”
Two dark magic circles appeared from her hands, brimming with power. In the next moment, the area around me turned dark. I looked up and saw a 100 shadow blades surrounding me in all directions, moving randomly. There were all spread out in different areas some close and some further away.
And as if manifesting a hundred daggers wasn’t enough, she followed up with another spell.
“Air Vacuum!”
The entire area around me got sucked dry of oxygen and sound. It was completely void of sound and i couldn’t hear a single thing, not even the blades moving around me. Suddenly warning bells rang in my head and i instinctively raised my sword and blocked an attack from behind.
Failing to get the attack through, she disappeared and teleported to the next dagger. With all sound and air gone, i needed to hurry and break this bubble of vacuum. The source of power which was keeping this area up was her, so i needed to take her down.
Teleporting from dagger to dagger, she randomly attacked from all directions, hoping to catch me off guard. Her teleportation between the daggers became faster and faster until she created afterimages. The teachers spectating the match were nodding their heads in admiration.
To the general audience, it would appear that she is moving incredible fast. But when i started concentrating, the world around me slowed and she moved at the pace of a snail in my eyes. I watched her every action down to the minute movements of her muscles, anticipating where she is going to be next before she even does it.
Knowing where she is going to pop out, the rest of the fight was easy as beating a toddler in a game of chess. After a minute, i could see her getting tired and running out of magicules. Sustaining such a big space of vacuum and constantly teleporting around really drained her.
Not long after, Lithana made a blunder and missed me with her daggers. I deflected her daggers away and grabbed her wrist while tripping her into my embrace with a slight manipulation of the ground.
Parzival was somewhere in the crowd thinking, ‘Damn that was smooth.’
I looked down at Lithana and her face was beet red and flushed with embarrassment.
“You still wanna fight little tomato?”
Sighing, she shook her head, “I know when to quit. It didn’t seem like you were even going all out to fight me, i really tried my best in the end but i guess i’m not strong enough.”
“You kidding me? You are very powerful, with your skills, you could probably beat any intermediate mage of your level. But unfortunately, you met me, a.k.a, the wrong opponent. Don’t be too harsh on yourself.” I petted her head.
“AND WITH THAT, ERIC PENDRAGON EMERGES WITH YET ANOTHER VICTORY! FROM THE 108TH POSITION, HE RISED UP LIKE AN UNSTOPPABLE JUGGERNAUT TO THE 7TH! IS HE GOING TO CHALLENGE THE AUTHORITY OF THE 4 KINGS NEXT? WE AWAIT IN ANTICIPATION!” The announcer screamed.
The crowd howled and cheered at the exhilarating match, demanding for more fights. Taking advantage of the situation, some fighters went up challenging different people, trying to gain popularity from the massive crowd.
Inside his own dorm room, Markheil was watching the match in his room and drinking whiskey. Watching Eric beat Lithana, he laughed like a madman. “You finally entered the top 10, now i can finally challenge you, oh how you will regret rising so high, only to be brought down by ME.”
—
~Master, i have discovered someone lurking in the shadows when you were having your match with Ms Lithana.~ Alphyn said to me telepathically.
~Is he someone suspicious?~
~His power signature is very high, and he doesn’t seem to be one of the teachers. I’m currently tailing him, he seems to be heading in the direction of your dorm.~
~Alright, i’ll meet up with you right away.~
“I got to go now tomato, catch up with you later.” With that i rushed away.
Soon i caught up with Alyphn and asked where he was.
~Around the corner he- Watch out!~
I felt chills on my back, and suddenly the mysterious stranger appeared in front of me with a sword out, slashing at me. In the split second, before the sword touched me, i ducked down and swept my legs under him. Avoiding my leg, he jumped back and landed nimbly on his feet.
With his sword pointed at me, he spoke, “Bring out your weapon.”
I did not know what his deal was, but i complied. I had no worries about him as i had Alphyn by my side.
He dashed forward and swung the sword in a downward arc aiming for my head. I parried with an upward slash. Recoiling back in surprise at my unexpected strength, he quickly regained his posture and came at me again.
The sound of blades clashing echoed in the hallway of the dormitory. The swings of his sword became faster and faster with every strike, till it was just a blur. Surprising, he managed to get a few nicks in, but didn’t manage to inflict any damage on me. I didn’t know what he was trying to achieve, but after exchanging multiple blows with us getting nowhere, i decide to end things quick.
~Alphyn, you’re up.~
Her eyes glowed bright orange and she whispered,”Soulfire.”
In an instant, the swordsman tensed and froze. He released a rugged breath, and crashed head first into the ground. With both hands clutching at his chest, his knuckles were pure white. The pain was so intense that he felt like his heart was thrown into lava, and every single cell in his body was on fire. It was a new level of pain that he had never experience before. The sensation of his soul being burned, ripped apart and put back together multiple times almost made him pass out.
I looked down at his spasming body and flipped it over with my foot, and let the torment go on for a while longer. “Do you know, i really hate it when people sneak up on me,” i said, squatting beside him.
I studied his face and features and wondered if i’ve ever seen him before, i racked my brain and could not come up with anything.
“Alright, that’s enough,” i motioned with my fist to Alphyn. With that command, his body started loosening and his pain-etched face relaxed. “Now, i want to answer all my questions truthfully, and if you fail to do so, we will repeat this process all over again, capiche?”
He nodded his head with all the strength he could muster.
“Excellent, so who are you, and what is your business here.”
“How abo-about i *cough cough*, how about i show you wh-who i am,” he wheezed. With that, he materialised his armor. It was the armor of a royal knight with a 2 etched in his shoulder plate. “My name is Launselot Morningstar, and i come with a personal request.”
