Ashern City - Reinhart Institute of War, 6th of Brightforge, year 315 UC
"Select your next opponent, Blackwood."
Lock said.
Bryan didn't even need to think who his next opponent would be.
"Victor."
A laugh rang out as Victor stepped forward. His jet-black hair was tousled and stylish, although Bryan found it hard to believe it stayed that way naturally.
"So you're just going down the ranks?"
His bright blue eyes sparkled with amusement.
"Sounds like a fun idea."
Victor leapt onto the dueling arena with unnecessary flourish, drawing a few chuckles from the audience. He rolled his shoulders and eyed Bryan with a confident grin. At his hip hung a sleek sword with a silver hilt.
"This was a huge mistake on your part, Blackwood."
He declared, hand resting on the hilt of his sword.
Victor wore black shorts and a shirt like all the other male students, though he managed to catch the eyes of a few females.
Bryan tilted his head to the side.
"You talk a lot."
Victor laughed again.
"Just warming up the audience for your defeat."
Lock stepped between them.
"Same rules apply. Begin on my mark."
Bryan assessed his opponent as they took their positions.
"Begin!"
Lock called, stepping back.
Victor didn't waste time. He thrust his palm forward, and Bryan felt a sudden wave of pressure slam into him. The invisible force pushed him back several feet, sliding across the arena floor.
'Gravity manipulation.'
Bryan thought as he regained his balance.
Those with that attribute were terrible to fight against. You couldn't see their attacks, and the spells were difficult to identify.
All he knew was that it was ranged.
'Twenty feet, crossed the distance in one second.'
He analyzed as he would be prepared for the next one.
As he looked at Victor the boy grinned as his figure blurred, the ground beneath his feet momentarily cracking. The space around him warped as he vanished from sight.
Bryan's eyes darted around the arena searching for his opponent. There was no sign of him.
All he could hear were the cheers of the students. They were going wild with excitement, but if he wasn't careful he might actually lose.
'There!'
A slight distortion in the air was all there was. Victor appeared mid-air with his knees bent as if he were shooting off a wall. His body snapped forward as he left ripples in the air.
Bryan quickly formed a blade made of blood as he parried the blow that was inches away from his ribs.
He gritted his teeth as Victor's sword was heavy.
"You're slow."
Victor taunted as he disappeared from sight once more.
'He's annoying.'
Bryan thought.
The comment was stupid, but Bryan did feel himself getting riled up. He had to control his emotions better if he wanted to win.
When Victor emerged a short distance away, he flew at Bryan with increased speed. He managed to divert the sword slash away, but Victor twisted and elbowed him in the face.
Staggering backward, Bryan touched his face. When he withdrew his hand he saw blood.
"My bad, didn't think you were so fragile."
Victor said with a snicker.
With Julius, it was easy to spot the direction he would go to after all he moved in a straight line. Bryan could keep up with his movement, but Victor was faster and the direction he traveled with unpredictable.
It was a real challenge.
There was not much he could do against Victor, the boy was a lot faster than him. Even if he augmented his body with ether like he did with his fight against Julius, it wouldn't do much. He couldn't hit what he couldn't catch.
In this situation all he could do was stay on the defensive as he bided his time. There would come a moment when Victor slipped up.
He could tell the boy was becoming overconfident. Just a bit more and Bryan would rip him to shreds.
The wounds on his body kept accumulating as Victor cut him here and there as his sword strikes managed to land.
Bryan could have closed the wounds, but he wanted to give the appearance of being weakened.
Every time Victor moved, all his strikes. Bryan was watching, paying attention.
Some people stopped cheering, others were asking him why he was just taking it. Victor kept on taunting him.
Once more, Victor vanished like a ghost in the night as the air distorted around him.
'Just one second.'
Bryan told himself as he waited for the tell that Victor would emerge.
There was a ripple in the air where he would appear. It only lasted for a split second, but that was all he needed.
And right as it came, all the blood on Bryan's body converged into one thick curved arc that came down like a guillotine.
When Victor materialized at that spot, his eyes grew wide as he conjured a barrier as fast as possible.
Bryan's strike struck a barrier, but it wasn't Victor's.
Lock stood between the boy and the attack.
"I'm calling it. Blackwood's the winner."
Lock stated through the silent crowd.
Victor seemed to realize the position he was in and nodded hastily before stepping off the arena.
There were no cheers or praise. The students were shocked silent.
"Impressive patience Blackwood, but don't think this will go unpunished. If this weren't a duel arena and we weren't present, you'd have killed him."
Whispers erupted among the students at this revelation.
'Kill him?'
Bryan was not sure about that. He put more ether into his strike and formed a variation of his cresent blades, but it would have only shattered Victor's barrier.
Still, he nodded once and didn't say anything.
"Get off my arena. You'll get your credits."
Lock said as his gaze turned to Victor.
"You need to use your spells more wisely. That strike was timed to land as soon as you emerged, and if it didn't finish being cast, the backlash would have killed you. That bracelet you have wouldn't have saved you even if we wanted it to. Your attribute is strong, but don't go around using the same spells over and over again, expecting the enemy to just allow it."
Lock said to Victor before motioning for him to get off the arena.
The other students were discussing the two matches as they looked at Bryan come down from the duel arena. He'd shown more of his abilities than he intended, but kept enough hidden.
Lock walked over to Silivia for a second as they seemed to discuss something.
As soon as Bryan found his place among the crowd of students, Alexander walked over.
"That was incredible."
Alexander whispered.
"How did you know where he'd appear?"
Bryan shrugged.
"Every spell has its flaws. If you pay attention, you can exploit them."
"Dude! That was amazing!"
Christopher exclaimed.
"The way you predicted where Victor would appear—I couldn't even follow his movements!"
'Was that all that mattered? Where he appeared?'
Bryan wondered as Alexander and Christopher both said the same thing.
Sabrina snorted.
"Still took you longer than thirty seconds."
She said, referencing Bryan's earlier boast about how quickly he could defeat her.
Bryan turned to Sabrina.
"What's the fun in ending the match as soon as it starts?"
"Yeah, right."
Sabrina crossed her arms.
"You're all talk."
Usually, she would be wrong, but in this case she wasn't. The only way to end the fight against Victor would have been if he moved with everything he had as soon as the match started.
He didn't do that because he wanted to see what Victor was capable of.
That almost cost him.
But almost didn't count.
Alexander stepped between them, hands raised placatingly.
"Chill out, both of you. There's no need to put on a show. What happened happened, and that was days ago."
Sabrina rolled her eyes and stepped away, moving away from them.
"Congratulations on your wins."
Farrah said quietly before following after Sabrina.
Bryan couldn't believe that she was still upset at him. Was her ego that fragile? Maybe he should reanalyze her.
Christopher watched them go, then turned back to Bryan.
"Any advice for when it's my turn? I'm not exactly looking forward to getting my ass handed to me."
"Don't get hit."
Bryan replied flatly.
"And stick to your strengths."
Christopher looked at Bryan with his mouth slightly open.
"That's not exactly advice man."
"Sure it is."
Bryan responded.
Alexander sighed.
"Everyone seems to be equipped with magitech weapons and I've got nothing. Wish we just had our spells and that was it."
Bryan glanced at him.
"Odds are, you'll have whatever equipment you can buy or are given. There won't be any excuses on the battlefield. Besides, I didn't have one."
"It's not that serious, man, we're still students. No need to sour the mood with battlefield talk. That's a long way away for us."
Christopher said, frowning slightly.
Before Bryan could respond, a new voice joined their conversation.
"Congratulations on your wins."
Bryan turned to see Isabella approaching, her golden hair swaying behind her as she moved.
"I haven't had the pleasure of introducing myself to you yet."
She continued, stopping before them with a polite smile.
"Isabella Thornheart."
Bryan replied without hesitation.
"Rank four, magical attribute dark, and you're a support, right?"
Isabella's smile widened slightly.
"Well, that saves me the trouble of introducing myself."
Her blue eyes studied him with undisguised interest.
"Where did you come from? I haven't heard of anyone like you within the Roan Kingdom, especially not someone our age who can take on Julius and Victor."
She tilted her head.
"Especially not back-to-back."
"The world's a big place."
Bryan told her.
"Are you just trading pleasantries, or do you need something?"
Christopher stepped forward hastily.
"Don't mind his words, that's just how he talks."
He extended his hand.
"I'm Christopher Vane, and this is Alexander Silvermark."
Isabella glanced at Christopher's hand, then took it briefly with a slightly forced smile.
"Pleasure."
She turned her attention back to Bryan immediately.
"What do you plan on doing tomorrow? With your day pass?"
"What makes you think I'll use a day pass?"
Bryan asked.
"Why wouldn't you? A chance to get out of this place and see the city?"
Her smile turned slightly condescending.
"You'd have to be an idiot to stay here on campus with nothing to do."
Bryan shrugged.
"Guess I'm an idiot then."
Alexander cleared his throat.
"What do you plan on doing? In the city, I mean."
Isabella paused, seeming to consider whether the question deserved a response.
"My team and I were planning to head out into town. My family has a vacation home here, although this city doesn't have much to offer."
She finally said.
They heard Lock's voice. Whatever he discussed with Silivia was done and over with.
"Reinhart, you're up next. Choose your opponent."
Isabella glanced at her perfectly manicured nails.
"Guess I better get ready."
"What?"
Christopher asked, confused.
Julius called out her name as if he were singing.
"Isabellaaa~"
"Figured as much,"
Isabella said with a small smile. She turned back to Bryan.
"You should consider joining us. You have an interesting magical attribute, and you're talented. I'm sure my family would be very impressed. Come, and I'll show you a good time."
Without waiting for a response, Isabella walked away as she headed toward the arena.
Once she was out of earshot, Alexander frowned.
"Was it just me, or did she seem to look at us as if we were trash?"
"Yeah..."
Christopher agreed, rubbing the back of his neck.
"I got that feeling too."
Alexander turned to Bryan.
"So you're not going to get a day pass?"
"No, there's no point."
Bryan replied.
Christopher's eyes widened.
"What? It's a whole city! You can do whatever you want. You seriously want to stay on campus? Why?"
Bryan shrugged.
"Going out into town is not my idea of fun."
He did not have to meet Brandon yet, and what was he going to do in the city? It was not like he had anywhere specific to go.
It would be a waste of time.
Time he could be using to get stronger.
Some would call it boring, sure, but it was his life and he wanted to relax. If he went outside the academy walls, there was bound to be someone from the Inquisition looking for him. He could just feel it in his gut.
"So you're just going to stay in your room all day?"
Alexander asked.
"I wouldn't be surprised if he just trained all day."
Christopher added.
"I'm going to do both, and you should follow in my footsteps."
Bryan said.
Turning his attention to Alexander, he changed the subject. There was no need to keep the focus of the conversation on him.
"How's the task coming along?"
Bryan asked.
Christopher looked between them.
"What task?"
"It's coming... along."
Alexander replied, not meeting Bryan's eyes.
Bryan stared at him.
"You have until tomorrow."
"I didn't forget."
Alexander said quickly.
"What task?"
Christopher repeated.
"Am I missing something?"
Bryan ignored Christopher's question, his attention drawn to the arena where Isabella was now facing Julius.
'Interesting.'
Bryan thought as he watched the duel arena become shrouded in darkness. He couldn't see anything, and from the comments of the other students, neither could they.
'I might just take her up on her offer.'