The final day of training was spent reviewing my physical abilities as well as my recently learned healing abilities as well. I asked Luna as well as Lucy to keep her classification a secret from Raphael for the time being. I had some plans for him to be useful to me later on. I want to protect the only true friend I made, but I believe he needs to be able to defend himself as well. As for Lucy, her learning had improved at an exponential rate. She was starting to cast inferior spells, but it seemed different to the one which I learned. And finally, after what felt like an eternity of a week, the day of the duel came.
...
There was morning dew still on the grass when I woke up and asked Hati to retrieve Raphael and Lucy to accompany us. Dakota was left in charge of the village while when we left. When we arrived at the Circle, there was Titus and his siblings behind him. Moon was no longer giving me a hate filled stare. Although he was far from acknowledging me, he no longer held hatred or rage. I took note of this. To my left, was Mahika, but she came alone this time. And to my right, Hati's father, lead Lycan warrior Lox stood with his arms crossed. Titus was the first to speak.
"So you actually showed up. Well then, lets not waste time with speech. Follow us to the fighting grounds."
Titus stood up and turned around. Everyone followed him for a couple minutes before a square dirt field the size of two basketball courts side by side was in front of us. Titus kept walking forward as the rest filed into the sides to participate as the audience. Once he got to the end of the field, he turned around and faced me. He was roughly twenty meters in front of me.
"Well then. This is a formal duel. The winner is declared victorious by either killing his foe or his surrender. Keep in mind I will be coming at you with killing intent, and I expect the same from you. We will begin when you say you are ready."
"Let's get this over with."
And with that, as I finished my sentence, Titus' overwhelming aura from before came bursting out. Then he dashed towards me. It was too fast. I couldn't dodge. I had to block. He was within a couple meters when his claws came reigning from above. I successfully blocked it with my arms, but I felt an immense pain on my forearm. He then grabbed me, flipped me behind him and kicked me with a force I had never felt before. I coughed up blood as I tumbled and rolled to where he started, and felt defeated.
"Is that all that you've got? How did someone so weak get Fenrir's blessing."
I slowly got up, and looked at my right arm while coughing up some more blood. There was a claw mark and it was bleeding profusely. It didn't hurt nearly as much as it should have. I placed my left hand over it and cast Fenrir's Breath on it. Instantly, the severed tendons and ligaments were healed. I then cast Fenrir's Breath regained myself and look towards Fenrir.
"Sorry, but that isn't enough to kill me."
"Hmph."
The aura around him then started to take shape, similar to our first meeting. It enveloped his entire body this time.
"It seems I must go all out now. You are a lot stronger than I gave you credit for."
He got on all fours, and the aura took shape as a Wolf. around him. This felt dangerous. Before I could react, he disappeared from my line of sight. With nothing but instinct, I dived to my left. And suddenly, I felt a rush of pain come over the same arm. Only, when I stood up and looked over to it did I realize the arm was missing.
"Mikael!"
Raphael was crying out my name from the side. I turned around and saw Titus behind me with the arm in his mouth. He spat it out and spoke.
"Tsk, I missed. Well, you are definitely incapable of fighting now. Surrender and I will spare your life."
Huh.. I guess I was quite arrogant. To think I could challenge a direct descendant of a land god. What was I thinking.. wait.. no.. this was all for Mom. I can't give up now. If I give up now then all of the bullshit thats happened up until now would have been for nothing. All this training and time spent all for the sake of bringing her back would have been for nothing!
"Are you fucking with me?"
I felt my energy blast out from my body.
"Surrender? Incapable of fighting? I don't know who the fuck you think you are, but I still have two legs and another arm to fight with."
Acquired Ability:
[Relentless]
"Do you know what it means to feel fear?"
Acquired Ability:
[Despair]
"I will teach you what it means to have no hope."
Acquired Ability:
[Unforgiving]
Discarded Ability:
[Relentless] + [Despair] + [Unforgiving]
Acquired Ability:
[Merciless]
[Fenrir's Breath: Advanced] -> [Fenrir's Breath: Epic]
I turned to look at where my arm should have been, and simply thought of it being there. Then, my arm regenerated. First the bones, then the muscles and ligaments, and finally the skin. It happened within only a couple seconds. I turned to face Titus, who was sweating bullets. He used a lot of power in the last attack. The aura wolf mantle was gone and he was kneeling down now.
It had been a one sided fight up until now, but that was all about to change. I dashed to stand right in front of Titus. stopped, and looked down at him. He threw one of his arms at me. It wasn't slow by any means. It just seems that I have become a lot stronger in this small time frame of the battle. And for that, I will thank Titus later. But for now, he needs to be put in place. I stopped his arm with my leg, then grabbed his throat. My hands weren't big enough, but my grip strength was strong enough to lift him. While in this state, he attempted to bite my arm, but I strengthened my grip, showing that I could kill him if I wanted to at this moment.
"Brother!"
"Silence brother. Do not interfere with Titus' duel."
There was some quarreling happening on the side, but it was of no matter to me.
"Do you understand the difference in our power? Do not take my kindness to save the Worgs as weakness. I will kill you if you do not surrender."
...
I remembered my dog that I raised pretty much by myself at that moment. He was a troublesome little shit, but I loved him. What all trainers must learn early on, is that if you do not show yourself as the alpha of the house, then the dog will believe that he has the right to do as he pleases. Seeing as the Worgs are part wolf, I assumed this was the same scenario
...
I was looking directly into Titus' eyes, without wavering. Fear is an indication of weakness. There was a video I watched online once of a man who stood his ground to a gorilla. Because he didn't flinch, the gorilla backed off. It was a silverback. Animals and humans... when faced against a creature which shows no fear, believe that it is due to their absolute confidence that they are stronger. After a long 10 seconds, I dropped Titus. All of a sudden, Moon appeared in front of me, fangs bared. It seems that although he is hot tempered, he is quite the loyal and trustable ally. I also took note of this.
"I..."
Titus seemed to be finally coming to realization.
"I surrender. It is Mikael's win."
Just as I heard those words, I felt my consciousness slip away. My vision started to tunnel and before I knew it, I passed out.