Roland Blackwood, the head of the Order of the Silver Blade, a man of integrity and courage, a true knight. But most importantly a father whom Artorious admired since he was born. His father's unwavering dedication to justice and righteousness, and had always strived to live up to his father's high expectations.
As Artorious stood there, preparing himself for the upcoming duel, he couldn't help but recall the words of his father echoing in his mind. He remembered the way his father's eyes would light up with pride and admiration whenever he spoke of the honorable knights of the Order of the Silver Blade.
He remembered the day when his father had first took him as a disciple, since he was a gifted child and showed promise. His dad decided to teach him his swordsmanship, on that day His father had placed his hand on Artorious's shoulder and said, "This sword represents the legacy of our family, and the legacy of the Silver Blade which one day you will carry on my behalf. We are a symbol of hope for the citizens of Aranthus"
'the ranks could be rigged when you think about the position of his father'
Those words made boil him boil in rage but he kept it inside. Henry Romanov was an imperial prince and if he assaulted him it would be a huge scandal, Artorious was aware that he was trying to provoke him but that didn't mean that he will sit idly and let his father's honor be taunted, a man would never compromise his values for personal gain. He had to defend his father's honor in a dignified and honorable manner.
As Artorious made his way to the dueling arena, he could feel the energy in the air, a palpable buzz of excitement and anticipation. The sound of cheers and shouts grew louder and louder, echoing through the halls and into the open-air arena. As he stepped into the arena, the crowd erupted into a frenzy of cheers and applause. Hundreds of students, teachers and even some faculty members gathered to witness the spectacle.
Artorious could feel the weight of the eyes in the arena on him, their unwavering attention felt almost suffocating. He had been used to the attention ever since he had ranked first in the academy with an E rank, a feat unheard of for someone his age. But he didn't enjoy the spotlight, especially now that so many students approached him solely because of his rank, not because they genuinely wanted to get to know him.
Anastasia, too, was facing the same problem. She was approached by many due to her status as a princess, but Artorious knew that it didn't make her happy either.
There are people who welcomed that sort of attention like Aric, he seemed to bask in the attention and had their own group of followers. Artorious had always found it hard to understand that kind of mentality, but he knew that he is a good person overall.
However, there was one person in particular who was standing in front of him that made his skin crawl - Henry Romanov. Artorious could feel the smugness radiating off him, already standing in the center of the arena, a wicked grin on his face. Artorious tightened his grip on his own sword, taking a few steps forward.
As Artorious and Henry stood on opposite sides of the arena, a figure suddenly appearing between startling both of them. It was Serena Whitmore, a teacher at the academy and a Katherine's aunt.
"Aunt Serena?" Artorious said startled.
Then Serena she shot both of them a glare " What is wrong with you all, can't you give a rest its the first day"
Artorious couldn't help but cast a bitter smile.
"Don't worry miss Whitmore , its only a friendly duel" Henry said with a fake smile.
Serena raised an eyebrow and then she sighed. "Ah, it doesn't matter since you've got the permission from the higher ups, I'm just here to supervise this duel. Let me give you a couple of rules. First, the duel ends as soon as one of you collapses or surrenders. Second, the use of edges is forbidden. If one of you uses your ability, you will be immediately disqualified. They are unpredictable, and I might not be able to intervene. You are free to use magic or aura. And lastly, I need to check your swords to make sure they are practice swords before the duel begins."
Serena Whitmore is an S+ rank magician and a renowned member of the academy's faculty. Despite her impressive magical abilities, she also possesses an incredible physical strength that could easily overpower both Henry and Artorious with a single finger. While she is confident in her ability to intervene if necessary, edges were still prohibited from the match as a precautionary measure to avoid any unforeseen accidents or incidents.
As she finished inspecting our weapons she handed them back.
Artorious' practice weapon is an arming sword, which is a one-handed straight sword with a double-edged blade that is about 30-36 inches long. The blade is not very wide and has a tapered point, making it an effective thrusting weapon. The handle of the sword is wrapped with leather and has a pommel at the end for balance.
Henry's practice weapon is a gladius, which is a short, stabbing sword. It has a straight blade that is about 18-24 inches long and is double-edged with a sharp point. The handle of the gladius is made of wood or bone and is typically shorter than the arming sword, allowing for quick and precise strikes in close combat.
Serena raised her hand, then turned to face Artorious and Henry. "Alright, take your stances," she said, her voice commanding but calm. "When I drop my hand during my count from five, you may engage in the duel."
Artorious took a deep breath and closed his eyes, preparing to channel his aura. As he exhaled, he began to focus his mind, clearing away all distractions.
"Five," she started counting inwardly.
The world around him seemed to slow down, and he felt a sense of stillness within himself. Then, without warning, a rush of wild blue flames erupted around his body.
"four"
He concentrated harder, his aura becoming more visible as it condensed around his body.
"Three."
The flames transformed into a thick, swirling layer of aura, pulsing with power.
"Two."
With a final burst of concentration, he channeled some of the aura into his sword, creating a layer of aura around the blade.
"One."
Artorious took one last deep breath and opened his eyes, locking them on Henry who had surrounded his arms, legs, and gladius with aura, ready to attack.
"Go."
With that signal, Henry's figure blurred as he disappeared and reappeared in front of Artorious, aiming for his neck with a swift strike carried out with incredible speed. But Artorious had been anticipating such an attack the moment he had noticed where the aura was concentrated on Henry's body.
Reacting quickly, Artorious stepped back, narrowly avoiding the strike. As Henry's feet landed on the ground, he leaped once again towards Artorious to restrike but this time Artorious was ready for the counter attack, with an horizontal swing, a wave of aura was sent towards Henry's gladius. The clash of the two auras created a deafening explosion, causing the audience to gasp in awe.
Henry quickly recovered, leaping back and creating distance between them. He then shifted his stance and began channeling more aura into his gladius, preparing for another attack.
Henry concentrated aura around his arms, legs, and gladius once again, but this time, he pushed himself to the limit, channeling even more aura than before. His body started to glow with a bright blue light as the aura became more and more condensed.
The Steel Rain Style, a style that combines rapid, continuous strikes with lightning-fast footwork, designed to overwhelm and exhaust the opponent. Practitioners of this style rely on constant movement and quick strikes to wear down their opponents.
"Get ready," Henry said, his voice low and a smirk on his face. "This is where things get interesting."
With that, Henry charged forward, moving faster than before as he unleashed a flurry of slashes, each one leaving a trail of blue aura in its wake. Barely having time to react, Artorious dodged and blocked each attack, the sound of clashing aura ringing out across the arena.
The Steel Rain Style was relentless, and Artorious was struggling to keep up. His movements became more frantic as Henry's attacks rained down on him, his aura-infused slashes leaving deep gashes in the ground.
Despite the overwhelming assault, Artorious refused to give up. With a fierce determination, he focused his aura and swung his arming sword in a wide arc, sending a wave of aura towards Henry. Blocking it with his gladius, Henry staggered back from the impact.
Henry might be a scum, but Artorious couldn't deny that his skills were the real deal. Despite being ranked third below Aric, he was a harder opponent for Artorious to deal with than Aric himself. Henry's quick fighting style made it difficult for Artorious to counterattack and gain the upper hand. It would be easier to deal with him if Artorious used his edge, mana conversion. This ability would allow him to convert his mana into aura, making Henry's attacks much less effective while adding explosiveness to Artorious' own attacks. However, using this ability would mean immediate elimination.
Then Henry starting gathering mana particles around him, a strong wind began to swirl around his body. He launched another attack, his quick movements and restless attacks continuing as before. Artorious tried to block the attack, but the wind grew stronger, twisting Henry's movements and changing the direction of his attack. that action made him unable to block the attack entirely resulting in him taking some damage, then Henry didn't stop there and continued attacking him restlessly. With his use of wind element, Henry had added a whole new level of complexity to the fight.. Artorious knew that a direct attack would be the end.
"I need to create an opening," Artorious thought desperately.
Cosmic Impact: a unique sword style utilized by the Knight of the Silver Order and taught to Artorious. It requires a high level of aura control and mastery. The user first spreads aura around their body and then concentrates it to create a dense aura layer. Once the layer is established, the user channels some of the aura to their blade, allowing them to make powerful strikes. The technique demands a great deal of skill and mastery of aura control.
One must be able to handle at least 10% of the aura around the blade to create strong strikes with his sword. The more aura he imbues into the sword, the more destructive his attacks become.
For that he needs time to imbue more aura to his sword in order to counter attack decisively but henry isn't giving him any time to breath as he continued with his restless attacks.
'Even if I use the fire element, he will dodge any attack eas..' Artorious thought to himself.
'Wait a second'
A sudden idea came in his mind, and Henry launched at him once again. Before he makes contact with Artorious, Artorious placed his sword on the ground, with mana particles surrounding him , he summoned massive flames around him, the flames were so intense and massive that made Henry back off.
"What is he doing? He's going to burn alive," someone in the crowd exclaimed.
Five seconds passed, and there was no response from Artorious since he cast the flame ring around him. The crowd started to worry and even Serena had an expression on her that made it clear that she was considering stopping the fight .
Suddenly, without warning, Artorious appeared outside the ring of fire he had created, launching himself at Henry. Caught off guard, Henry couldn't avoid the attack. He held his gladius horizontally to block Artorious' strike, but the impact between the two swords sent Henry flying to the other side of the arena.
One hit, one good hit was all took to shift the tides of the fight for Artorious's favor,
The crowd erupted into cheers as Artorious landed the decisive blow. "What's wrong, are you tired?" He taunted, loud enough for the spectators to hear.
'Wow are they really first year ?'
'Amazing'
'So fucking cringe, just kill him'
At Artorious' provocation, Henry gritted his teeth. The fight was pretty much over. Henry was on his knees with his broken gladius on the ground, his hands shaking as he tried to pick it up. But he couldn't accept this outcome. The fact that someone who wasn't even a noble, but merely the son of a knight commander, had made the first prince of the Serene Imperium kneel was unacceptable.
Henry held the broken gladius tightly, and then he disappeared into the ground. Artorious didn't understand what had happened until he felt Henry's presence just behind him, with the broken weapon aimed at him. Just before it could make contact, Serena appeared and bent Henry into the ground.
"Henry Romanov, for breaking the rule of using your edge during the duel, you are declared the loser of this duel," Serena exclaimed.
"Let go, he used his edge first, look at my sword, it shattered when it collided even through it was imbued with aura. He must have used his ability to increase the explosiveness of his sword strike" Henry screamed trying to refute.
"I am the judge of this duel and i made sure to observe the duel carefully, the additional power you felt during your collision with him was due to an aura technique in his sword style, not the use of his edge, It was an amazing duel from both of you."
Henry clutched onto Serena's arm, trying to break free. "No, I won't accept this. I can't lose to someone like him," he said, his voice filled with frustration and anger.
Serena remained calm and firm. "Your defeat is final. Accept it with grace," she said, her voice unwavering.
Henry finally relented, releasing his grip on Serena's arm. He stood up and walked towards Artorious, his expression cold and resentful. Without saying a word, and then walked away from the arena, his head hung low.
With the ruling made by Serena, Artorious emerged as the victor, and the crowd broke into loud cheering. His heart raced with the adrenaline still pumping through his veins. He was exhausted; the fight wasn't easily won.
He looked over to where Serena was standing and gave her a small nod of appreciation. As the cheering continued, Artorious took a deep breath, trying to calm himself down. He had accepted this duel to defend his father's honor, and now that he had won, he might as well enjoy the moment and revel in his victory. With a smile, he raised his sword in the air and basked in the adulation of the crowd.