The duels didn't stop as one after another challenged Alexander.
Shouting, posturing, declaring revenge, honor, pride—
All of it is meaningless.
Once the duel started, Alexander waved his wand.
"Locomotor Mortis!"
Thud!
Face-first.
Unconscious.
Repeat.
Again.
Again.
Again.
A dozen duels passed like this.
Not one, not a single one lasted more than a few seconds.
Alexander sighed.
Are they a bunch of idiots?
Why use the same tactic over and over again?
And they call me arrogant? Who are the real arrogant ones here?
After one duel, Uncle Ken walked over, amused.
"Oh, my little nephew…"
"Do you need a break?"
Alexander stretched lazily.
"I really like what you guys did with the weather here."
"Not too hot, not too cold."
He grinned.
"I am still warming up."
Wei nearly choked.
"…Warming up?"
Lian crossed her arms, still annoyed, but was impressed.
After a few more duels, the challengers stopped rushing in blindly.
They stopped challenging right away and took their time sending the next person to duel.
Alexander smiled at the crowd that was planning and strategizing on how to win.
Even the elders and adults who joined the crowd offered their suggestions.
While they were strategizing, Alexander stood there talking with Ken.
A new challenger stepped forward to duel.
Ken backed off, and Alexander smiled at the new challenger.
It was his first female challenger.
She was more careful and seemed prepared.
The duel started, and she tried to dodge instead of charging forward.
He just stood there watching her run all over the stage.
After a few minutes,s she got tired, he waved his wand and the spell hit her.
Leg-locked, and the duel ended just like every other duel.
The next challenger quickly came onto the stage.
Without a single break, the challengers kept coming one after another.
Alexander laughed as he noticed their new strategy.
Human wave tactics, huh?
The pattern didn't change, as most of the time he only used one spell.
They got hit with a spell,l and their legs got locked and collapsed.
If anyone seemed to break out of hit, he would quickly wave his wand and bind them.
Alexander kept winning duel after duel.
He purposely dragged some duels out to observe the magic on their hands.
After one hundred duels, Ken finally raised his hand.
"Fifteen-minute break!"
The arena buzzed with noise.
Ken walked over and handed Alexander a drink.
Alexander took it, narrowing his eyes suspiciously.
"Is this poison?"
"Trying to sabotage me, Uncle Kenny?"
Ken snorted.
"We need a handicap somehow."
"You already won one hundred duels."
Alexander laughed and took a sip of the drink.
"How many do you think will keep challenging me?"
Ken glanced at the crowd.
"All of them."
Alexander followed his gaze and froze.
The crowd had grown significantly larger.
Whispers were still spreading, and more people were arriving.
They were all watching and waiting.
He sighed.
"How many people are in the Chen family?"
Ken grinned.
"Too many to count."
He leaned in.
"What? Scared my little nephew?"
Alexander smiled with confidence and excitement.
"Maybe we should speed things up."
Ken raised an eyebrow.
"Oh?"
Alexander cracked his neck.
"Let's do five at once."
Ken stared at him.
"You serious?"
Alexander laughed.
"I wanted ten, but let's start with five first."
"I'm confident they can't break my shield."
Ken studied him carefully.
Saw no fear, only confidence and excitement.
"Fine. Five challengers at once!"
Alexander grinned.
"Thanks, Uncle Kenny."
When break time was up, Ken turned to the crowd.
His voice amplified.
"This will take all day!"
"So my nephew Alex has agreed to duel five of you at once!"
A pause, and laughed at the crowd.
"He says you're too weak to beat him one-on-one!"
The crowd went silent, then exploded.
Anger, shouts, and curses.
Five figures immediately stepped forward.
Alexander walked to his starting position.
He laughed with arrogance.
"No talking. Let's start right away."
"Duel—Start!"
They moved instantly and surrounded Alexander from five different directions.
He stood there smiling and was ready for their new attack plan.
One rushed straight at him from the front.
Alexander didn't draw his wand.
The challenger smirked.
Arrogant!
He closed the distance and raised his hand with a full palm strike.
Alexander noticed that the boy was full of openings and dodged left.
After dodging before the boy could pull back, Alexander's palm touched his chest.
A simple palm strike.
The challenger laughed.
"Idiot—"
He froze as panic flooded his eyes.
His body was paralyzed, and he flew backward.
BAM!
The boy hit the ground and was unconscious.
The remaining four stopped their charge.
The entire crowd went quiet.
Only the adults and elders understood what had happened.
Alexander looked at his hand and flexed it.
"Interesting."
"So this is how it feels."
Lian narrowed her eyes and muttered.
"He had learned it… He actually learned it!"
Alexander smiled at the dumbfounded crowd as he used the Chen Family palm strike.
He learned it from watching Lian and all the other challengers.
Over one hundred fights of him watching, analyzing, and finally understanding.
Just like before, when he learned Bombarda from Kyle.
One of the challengers shouted.
"You cheated! You've practiced our Chen Family palm strike before!"
Alexander laughed.
"How am I exactly cheating?"
"I watched you all use it over a hundred times."
His voice became arrogant.
"After watching you guys use it all the time, even an idiot could learn it."
"Learning it wasn't hard!"
"Come on. This just got more fun."
Since they were still in the middle of the duel, while his challengers were frozen from shock, Alexander moved.
He moved quickly like any other Chen family member, but the air around him shifted.
Magical pressure was slowly building around him.
Ken felt it, and his eyes narrowed.
What is he doing?
Alexander's surprised attack didn't work as the challenger responded with his own palm strike.
Their palms collided.
THUD!
Both took a half a step backward, but Alexander recovered first and attacked with another palm strike.
The challenger couldn't react and flew backward.
He lay there unconscious on the ground.
The remaining three snapped out of it and attacked together.
Alexander dodged, but barely.
The crowd noticed how clumsily and awkwardly Alexander moved as he dodged the attacks.
Even a child could dodge better.
But as time went on, he improved.
Every second.
Every exchange.
Every mistake was corrected and refined.
Ten minutes had passed since the start of the duel.
Heavy breathing filled the stage.
The three challengers were barely standing up.
Alexander exhaled and smiled.
"That was fun."
"Time to end it."
He quickly drew his wand and waved it.
"Locomotor Mortis!"
Three flashes.
All three froze and collapsed.
He flicked his wand.
"Expulso!"
He blasted them off the stage.
Ken raised his hand.
"Winner—Alex!"
The crowd erupted with boos.
"You coward!"
"Why stop?!"
"Keep fighting!"
Alexander laughed.
"I won the duel."
"Stop crying."
Ken handed him another drink.
Alexander finished it in one go.
"Got any advice?"
Ken didn't hesitate.
"It was horrible."
"Don't tell anyone you're my nephew."
Alexander burst out laughing.
"That bad?"
Ken nodded.
"You're too tense."
"Try to relax, because when you strike, your body is too stiff."
Alexander analyzed his fight and nodded.
"I have to relax… Got it!"
He handed back the empty bottle.
"Let's continue."
The next duels were different.
Alexander observed all five of his challengers with his wand to fire spells to protect himself.
After he was done observing, he would eliminate four of them and only keep the one he could use as a live practice dummy.
With one person left, he put away his wand and fought with palm strikes. He was practicing, learning, and refining his technique.
Once he learned enough, he would end the fight.
Again and again.
The rest of his duels were the same.
Eventually, everyone realized they weren't fighting him anymore.
They were becoming his whetstone.
Sharpening him the more he fought.
As the duels went on, Ken kept observing Alexander.
During every duel, he would frown as he watched Alexander fight.
By the two hundredth duel, something changed.
Alexander began using magic differently.
No spells, no incantations, but pressure.
The magic around Alexander had changed.
Weaker opponents couldn't even approach.
The air around him rippled as he moved.
Each step cracked the stone beneath his feet.
The stage was struggling to hold together under the pressure.
Ken's expression turned serious.
There's no way he learned it!
How is it possible?!
It's his first day of experiencing Eastern Magic!
The final challenger fell.
Silence followed as the stage was partially damaged.
The Elders and adults frowned, while the teenagers were shocked.
Ken quickly raised his hand immediately.
"End of duels!"
"Make sure to repair the dueling stage!"
Ken quickly grabbed Alexander, and they flew off.
Teenagers were confused and went back to practice.
The elders and adults moved quickly.
Everyone was talking about the duels that just happened.
Some of the teenagers were annoyed as it was almost their turn.
Lian and Wei quickly flew after their father was confused.
They have never seen him react like this before.
While being dragged into the air, Alexander asked.
"What is going on, Uncle Kenny?"
Ken didn't respond, but kept flying back home faster.
There was only silence as they flew.
Alexander thought.
Was there something I did wrong?
Maybe I should have let them win at least one duel?