Cain was amazed when he looked at Elion. He knew his opponent was good, but he never thought he could be defeated in a fight between them. The boy cursed his own inexperience. He was too naive in believing he could defeat Elion with a move he had seen before. Again, Cain's overconfidence had cost him. But unlike what happened in the battle against Caitlyn, this time Cain really was in trouble.
Elion advanced to attack Cain. Using his swords, Elion launched a string of attacks. Cain was forced to retreat as he defended. With Cain's left arm being paralyzed, he could not move how he wanted. This forced Cain to defend and dodge without any chance to counter attack.
As time passed, Cain's body became lighter thanks to his Lineage. But Cain could not count on that for too long. If the fight took too much time Cain would eventually lose control of himself. He had the disadvantage and was running out of time. The situation was not promising.
Elion continued attacking Cain without rest. He did not want to give Cain the opportunity to think of a strategy, so he kept Cain's mind occupied on defending against every attack.
"Come on Cain, do something. I'm already tired of playing this game" said Elion while attacking.
"Calm down, it's not that easy. You're not giving me much of a chance" said Cain as he dodged one of the swords that passed inches from his face.
The two boys continued to trade blows as the minutes passed. Elion showed no signs of fatigue. Cain was now fast enough to fend off Elion's blows without using his spear to block. Elion attacked with his two swords in a movement in the form of X from top to bottom. Cain raised his spear and blocked the attack and, for the first time since he had received a blow to his arm, he counter attacked. Cain threw a kick at Elion's legs and Elion had to retreat to dodge it.
The two boys exchanged smiles.
"That was what I was expecting. This is the fight that I can give my best not knowing if I will win" said Elion excited.
"Well, now it seems that I finally have a chance" said Cain apprehensively. In the last minutes his thoughts had turned cloudy, he did not know how much longer he could keep control of his body.
Elion again began to attack. Quickly he launched a new series of blows. Cain dodged them all and then counter attacked from a favorable position. Elion in turn kept attacking and dodged Cain's counter attacks whenever one was launched.
In the stands people shouted in delight from the impressive weapon showmanship. Whenever a blade passed close to one of the boys, the crowd would grow silent only to restart screaming in the next second. The atmosphere grew tense as the fight in the arena increased in speed.
Cain's counter attacks gave him a chance to win, but they also left his guard open. Elion dodged one of Cain's counter attacks and took advantage to attack Cain in the slight opening it provided.
The attack took the form of a horizontal slice at Cain's head. Miraculously, Cain bent to dodge the attack. Elion seemed to have expected Cain's movement because his left-hand sword thrust suddenly towards Cain. Cain used his spear to parry the blow off to his right. Elion changed the direction of his right-hand sword with a flick of the wrist and made an overhead vertical slash towards Cain.
As Cain looked up, he thought that blow would mean his defeat. Cain could not believe it. All the hard work, the hardcore daily training which he forced himself to do, the missed opportunities of exploring the mountain with Heirloc was all for naught. Instead he spent that time training in the art of battle with the Master Initiator. Everything was done so that he could secure his position as the best. If he lost that easily, what was the meaning of all the sacrifices he had made?
Although Cain already accepted the imminent defeat, the sword seemed to be coming much slower than all of Elion's previous movements. Was Elion finally starting to wear down?
Cain easily dodged the sword that came slowly towards him as he rolled to the left. Cain stood up and saw that Elion was probably shaken by fatigue as he was moving slowly. Cain took the offered opportunity.
Cain quickly made a thrust with his spear targeting Elion's arm. Elion blocked with his swords, but the slowness in defending made it so that the swords were not able to get in an ideal position. That caused the sword in Elion's left hand to be thrown away by the impact.
Cain took advantage of the lethargic state his opponent was in and continued his assault. This time he was targeting Elion's legs with his spear. Using his spear like a quarterstaff, Cain threw a sideways blow. Elion tried to dodge the blow with a leap, but he was not agile enough. Cain's blow struck Elion's left leg causing him to fall to the ground due from the impact. Cain took advantage of the position Elion was in and quickly disabled the remaining limbs.
"The victory is mine" Cain said with a smile.
Cain then hit Elion's neck ending the fight. People in the stands exploded in amazement. Some shouted the name of Cain while others did not seem to believe in the outcome of the battle.
Malakin ran to the center of the arena and took Elion who was unconscious on the floor. He asked Cain not to leave the arena until he returned. In a few minutes the Master of Weapons returned to the arena and began to speak.
"This is the ranking tournament champion in the 12-14 years of age category. During the tournament he proved to be superior to all his opponents. At the beginning of the tournament no one imagined that one of the 12 year old students could win, but two of them reached the final. We can expect great things from this class and even more of the tournament champion and new first ranker, Cain!" Raising Cain's hand in the air, Malakin ended his speech.
Students in the stands began chanting Cain's name. It was an incredible feeling. That's why Cain had trained all these years. The feeling of victory, the sensation that there is no one able to beat him in his category. It showed the boy that everything he had done brought him the desired results. He was the best.
The Master of Weapons sent Cain to the tent of the Master of Healing to take care of his left arm. The boy was walking amid the shouts of the crowd that congratulated him on his victory. A smile was plastered on Cain's face.
Upon entering the tent, he saw that Elion was already awake. Elion looked at Cain with eyes filled with sadness. The Master of Healing that was next to Elion came to Cain and told him to sit in one of the stretchers. Evelyn began to pass the solution that countered the effects of Orichalcum in Cain's left arm and in a few seconds the boy began to recover arm movement.
"I was cheering for you from the start" Evelyn whispered to Cain as she congratulated him for his victory in the championship. Evelyn then told the two boys to leave the tent and ordered them to return to their lodgings because it was getting dark.
Cain and Elion were alone on the outside of the tent. Elion looked at Cain and began to speak with a little sadness in his voice.
"Congratulations on your victory. I'll be honest with you, I did not expect to lose, and this is affecting me a little. But I think if I had to lose to someone you are the only one I can accept" he said as they walked toward the exit of Eriel's fields.
"I was lucky, if the fight had lasted a little more I think I would have lost control of myself" Cain spoke with a thoughtful voice. He was visualizing how the fight would go if he had lost control. "As soon as the fight was over I changed the bandage that covered the wound, I had made in my right arm, to one with a solution that would help in the healing" Cain said while he looked at the bandage on his right arm.
"Are you kidding me? I did not have a chance against you when you started to get serious. I thought you had lost control of your body when you started moving much faster out of nowhere. But when you spoke to me at the end of the fight saying that the victory was yours, I understood that you were just testing me before and that the increase in speed was actually you taking the fight seriously" Elion spoke in a disheartened voice.
"What are you talking about? You got tired in the middle of the fight and began to move slowly. If you were not so slow I would have lost" said a confused Cain.
"I wasn't tired. My speed had not changed you were the one who was faster. I think it has something to do with your Lineage. Perhaps because you were so close to losing control or something" Elion said.
"It must have been that. I do not think I could win without my Lineage. It is unfair I have a Lineage that helps me so much during the fight" said an upset Cain.
"Each Lineage has its advantage. For example, if the fight was with real weapons you would have lost your arm, if you and I were to change places that would not be a problem for me since I could recover it" Elion said.
"You're right, I had not thought of it that way" Cain said. He was happy to see that his friend had not been shaken by the defeat.
The two boys reached the men's dorm. The sun was setting and the lights of the lamps of the College streets began to be lit. The smell of fresh bread out of the oven was in the air and the sound of cicadas could already be heard.
"So that's it. See you tomorrow. You may have won today, but do not get too confident. Next time will not be so easy" said Elion with a smile while waving goodbye to Cain.
"Do not worry. I would not dare to underestimate you" replied Cain with a smile of his own.
The two boys shook hands and Elion entered the lodge. Cain continued to walk toward the tower of the Master Initiator. On the way the people whom he saw congratulated him for winning the championship. Upon reaching the tower Cain saw that Heirloc was already waiting for him.
"Congratulations kid. I said you had what was needed to win! You were inexperienced in trying to use the same move you had used earlier but you managed to win anyway. This error will be a good learning experience for you. In the next fight you will be even better" said Heirloc with a tone of approval.
"Thank you. It makes me very happy to see that you are proud. This shows that all the time you spent training me was not in vain" Cain said cheerfully.
"No time I spend with you is in vain boy. Have you taken care of the wound in your right arm? Do you need help with bandage?" asked the Master Initiator with a worried voice.
"I've taken care of it. I even changed the bandage. Wait. How do you know about the injury? Who told you?" asked Cain with a desperate voice. If Heirloc had discovered that he used his Lineage he was sure he would be reprimanded.
"Did you really think I would not notice that you had used your Lineage? I noticed from the first fight yesterday! But since you not only managed to use in battle, but also managed to maintain control at all times I thought you deserved congratulations" said Heirloc while laughing.
The two continued talking as Heirloc started preparing dinner. After dinner Heirloc sat with Cain in the living room.
"Cain, you know what makes a person be selected as one of the continent's King of Battles?" the man asked.
"Of course. You have to be one of the eight strongest warriors of the continent" the boy replied without hesitation. Cain's eyes were closing on their own. He was very tired.
"You are not wrong, but it is not 100% correct. To be named one of the Kings of Battle you must defeat one of the Kings or do something that draws attention from all over the continent. I never told you of my time as a King of Battle. I think now is the time to start since you showed today that you have the talent to become one of them in the future. I'll tell you what I did to be elected one of the Kings" Heirloc spoke as he stared at the ceiling. The man seemed to be nostalgic.
Heirloc then looked back and saw that Cain had fallen asleep in his chair.
"Apparently the day was more tiring for you than I imagined my boy. I think that story will have to wait for another day" Heirloc then picked Cain and carried him to the boy's bed.
Heirloc never wanted to tell Cain about his time as a King of Battle. He knew it would make the boy want to follow his footsteps. But after seeing Cain fighting today he knew it was unavoidable. If Cain became one of the Kings, he would certainly draw the attention of that dreadful man.
This was a destiny that the Master Initiator did not wish even for his worst enemy.