"So, are you nervous?" Stephen looked over at Erai as the battle concluded.
"I am but I can only move forward."
"Fighting unarmed can do that to you, though it's not like that has stopped you before." He said, giving him a nod as he made his way to the corridor.
"Good luck down there." Tersia patted him on the back as she and Torren sent him off. Waving back at them before heading out.
"Ren, was it necessary to be so reckless during your battle?"
"Yeah, you had the Captain worried there for a second."
"It...well...you are my vassal so your safety is my concern."
"My lady, though I was a little lax, it was by no means an easy endeavour. Truly had it been anyone else I'm not sure they wouldn't have been able to avoid that last attack!" he answered in his casual tone only to see that her look of frustration was not budging.
"I'm okay, Alleiyna." He eventually relented.
"Sigh. Just...take some time to be cautious. I'm not particularly fond of seeing you harmed." She said before descending the stands.
"You are too lucky for your own good, Ren." Sol remarked after she left, noting Ren's sudden change in demeanour with a steely gaze following the Captain.
Alleiyna and Shynerai both entered the field with a crowd that was beaming with excitement. The voices of both their classes could be heard clearly through the chants and cheers that even the Alleiyna herself couldn't help but smile at her classmate's support.
"The fourth round of the Cross Gardens Tournament will be between Class 1B's Alleiyna Illses Uthern and Class 1F's Shynerai Astrapordt."
"To be facing our resident Sword Maiden so soon...you have to do everything you can to hold on, Erai, just until it is ready." Reven whispered.
After the pair shook hands, Ms. Yuria readied them at the sound of her call before the battle began.
"Astrapordt, before we begin would you mind answering question for me?"
"What would that be, honestly Shynerai is fine?" He tried to speak with certainty.
"Yes of course. The last time we spoke, both our classes were in heated spirits, but if you don't mind, may you call me Alleiyna. I know that you and Ren are already well acquainted so I don't believe this would be too much trouble." She added with a smile.
"Not at all."
"So then. On to my actual question. Do you intend to face me unarmed?" Asking a question that left the crowd murmuring amongst themselves
"Hey...you guys have been really quiet since we got up here. Seriously what's got you all...so...worried?" Torren's eyes scanned the enwrapped expressions of his classmates before turning his sights on the battle below.
With him affixed to the swirling mass of magical energy around Alleiyna.
"I...don't have a Soul Arm, if that's what you're asking. Sorry."
"Why would you apologise? Honestly the fact that you were truthful is more than enough. So then before we commence how about you indulge me over another query."
"Sure. I don't think that we are pressed for time." Shynerai answered but his words differed from his steeled expression as even he began to notice it.
"Thank you. Tell me something. All beings capable of wielding some form of magic have a trace about them. Almost akin to a signature uniquely marking their magical energy."
"Generally if you'd want to gauge someone's potential you could look at this trace, but do pray tell, why is yours so faint? I don't believe for a moment it's because you are weak."
"...I can't use magic, I haven't been able to as far as I can remember." His eyes lost a bit of their shine as she spoke.
"I thought you might say that. It's why I was so inclined to determine your willingness to speak so honestly." She began to prepare herself.
With a violet glow streaming from her eyes, she continued to act on her curiosity.
"Then for my final question. Tell me, what would you see if you were to gaze upon my trace, upon my magic?" And with that, for a moment an emerald hue lit up Shynerai's eyes as he took in the swirling vortex her magic was shaped into.
"Something terrifying." His words left his mouth when in the same moment his eyes met her own.
'Likewise.' She thought before she called him to face her. Entering her stance with an arm shielding her and the other off to her side, she awaited his approach.
"And it's already over." Ms. Yuria sighed.
"Excuse me!" Reiss and Reven responded in tandem. Only for them to stare in surprise before returning their focus to her.
"If you knew about the history of our neighbouring kingdoms then such a question wouldn't be leaving your mouths."
"Other kingdoms? Uthern. Are you referring to the Royal Knights of Rylev Rose, the Utherns? All this time we've had a Sword Maiden in our midst." Ulrich wondered aloud only for Ms. Yuria to confirm his suspicions.
"That still doesn't explain your certainty." Reiss thought while Reven's attention fell on his Notebook. As though he was working on something.
"Your student is unarmed. The last person they would want to face is my Alleiyna."
With the fight finally beginning to resemble the air of a battle. Her sights remain focused on Erai only for him to suddenly vanish before the bright flash from his eyes announced his presence beside her...though the fleet-footed young man was not so brazen as he too followed her gaze.
Upon her noticing, he stepped away vanishing with blinding speed before arriving behind her only for her flickering gaze to catch wind of him every so often.
This went on several times before his movements made themselves known to her as the pattern began to form. She drew in her shielding arm and by delivering her command with inaudible whisper, a loud metallic clang was heard.
"Slay: Silfren Clea."
Shynerai prepared a punch only for his approach to be stopped when Alleiyna stepped out of his way before striking him with her shield.
Her skill handling the blade felt so fluid and happened so fast that all the crowd could see was the young man take flight.
Luciana and Meira watched in shock while Reven gripped at the railing tightly and his classmates held their breaths.
'It's not over yet.' Vaceris whispered as he flew limply.
"Not...yet." He reeled himself from the blow as he braced himself on all fours.
'Halfway across the Arena. And all of that with just her shield. What does she plan to do with that sword?' He thought as she soothed his aching arm that took the blow.
He kept his eyes focused on the sword that she now held.
"That should have been enough to knock you out had you not had the mind to guard in that instant. What frightening instinct you have, Shynerai." She said, expressing her surprise as she sheathed the blade into her shield.
She let out a command that brought a fiery aura to the eyes of those without the necessary sight, watching from above.
"Flames of the Damned: Cry of Wrath." Suddenly the place he had taken her strike began to emanate a strange warmth. Though this wasn't enough to deter him.
Noting her armed self, he hesitated to use his Words of Power. But he knew that if he acted rashly the battle would soon be over. Even so, he charged after her.
Moving at blurring speeds to once again reappear beside her, though this time as he aimed to disarm her.
A sharp stinging pain drove its way into his legs, pinning him where stood...turning back to see what held him, he was shocked to find a tiny dragonling snaking around his limbs and biting into him.
Dispatching them with some ease only for the Sword Maiden to respond.
"Clea!" Once again as a whisper left her lips, she summoned the blade from its scabbard and into her hands.
Armed and ready. She faced him with one slash after slash that narrowly missed him...though, he knew his laboured movements would eventually bring her blade to him. And indeed it did.
Seeing only the gleaming edge of her blade shining with the ocean blue hue of her eyes, she moved to rend him.
"Gilgamesh!" The silver blade tore through his vestments and breached his flesh before the armour formed and caught it in the shards of black steel.
"Your demon magic cannot stay my blade…" Pulling out the blade before summoning twin draconic spirits.
Commanding their flames against him. The heated blasted scorched all that was around him and baked the sands nearby but still, the armour stood. Only crumbling away once the assault ended.
"Ready yourself, Shynerai!"
Taking to follow his lead, this time all that was left of Alleiyna was the twin violet glow moving through the plumes of smoke, with each approach growing close to cleaving him open only for Shynerai to nearly avoid her attacks.
With his desire to attack stifled when met with a blast from one of her many spirits.
"Try as you might but surprise attacks won't work on him. Only five more minutes." Said Reven before closing his Notebook.
"He's still standing? How long will he hold up against someone like her?"
"Pay attention. You two wanted to see what she could do. Well then prepare to see what five hundred years of refined swordsmanship can do." Ms. Yuria said as the smoke began to clear.
Revealing a struggling and bound Shynerai in her clutches with her grip tightening around his throat.
"How!" Reiss blurted, being the first time he allowed Ms. Yuria to see his frustration.
"A few centuries after the Rylev Rose Kingdom was established, the nation was forced to face an unyielding threat. No, calling it a threat would be a disservice, this was the force of nature." Ms. Yuria explained.
"You speak of it..." Reiss asked.
"Yes. The Northern Calamity."
"So what of it? You mean to tell me that has something to do with what's happening now?" Reiss asked.
"I know that most elves don't concern themselves with matters of other races, but considering how close that Calamity came to destroying this entire continent, I would have at least expected some awareness."
"Hmm. Well, I know that they didn't deal with it on their own. Were it not for Falsetti's intervention and that of Amber Faltarien, the little missy wouldn't be here to screw with my winnings." Reiss collected himself after his words.
"But that's where you are wrong. The Calamity wasn't stopped by the Alliance." The rest of the educator's focus squared on Ms. Yuria who kept her gaze on Alleiyna, watching with unwavering diligence.
"The truth behind that battle is that the beast was felled by one man. That man would go on to rule his own land within Rylev, and he was Alleiyna's very own predecessor. The originator of the Silver Dragon Style." Her words left them quiet for a moment.
"I must say, I did not expect you to be so nimble. Perhaps I underestimated you." She spoke with a look, not of cruelty.
"You may submit and ease your suffering. No one will speak ill of you if you do?"
"I know that your words carry no deceit." He tried to speak but the serpentine holds robbed him of any chance to breathe.
"But–" He muttered
'Hmm?' She suddenly felt a wave of oppressive force brush past her. The source of which was his gaze that was no longer emerald...but now shining with a piercing white light bursting with arcs of golden sparks.
"Beowulf!"
His body exploded with the crackling of thunderous roars and golden streaks. Wrapped in white flames, the steel of the battle armour tore the dragon spirits holding him apart.
Forming and cladding his body, while the energy alerted the Sword Maiden who placed some distance between them with a leap.
"Those white flames..." She said, with a sudden unnerving feeling.
'Seems like the chance to restrain has just gone out the window.' Alleiyna said as she sheathed her blade once more.
Silver steel meshed together over what looked like a dark leather base that covered all parts but his face, that was no longer fitted with the helm and instead was shaped into the maw of a lion, the once flame-like scarf turned into the beast-like mane formed from the white flames.
The rest of the armour seemed to have shed a great deal of mass, with a form-fitting build adorned with fur-like tuffs that gave off golden sparks.
"So these are what the mysterious White-flames look like up close. You arm yourself in leonine armour?" Her voice was vibrant with a sense of caution after watching him emerge from the pillar of steam.
Gauging each other's next move, Alleiyna called back the twin dragon spirits that snaked around her arm before charging a flaming volley but as she focused on where her target was...he was gone.
With her eyes scanned the scene, his missing presence almost pushed her towards panic but hiding would not be enough to make her stumble. Through the focus of her breathing, her nerves were quickly calmed while her senses grew more acute:
"...There!" she stepped forward before bracing herself behind her shield just as her stance was knocked loose sending her through the air. In her place stood Shynerai with sparks ripping into the ground around him.
Her defence, while sturdy, was not ready to deal with such a powerful blow, prompting the summoning of her blade before plunging it into the earth to regain her footing.
"The thing about using Shadow Step, it's often hard to see where you're going." Standing up after catching a breath and calling the spirits to fire a flaming blast.
Shynerai had tried to take advantage of her lowered guard only for his rapid pace to send him into the mouth of the blast, splintering the two from where they stood with the explosion tearing away at their defences.
From the stands, they seemed to have been buried into their smoking craters...but being at the end of her attack managed to rip into his now crumbling steel.
Leading to her emergence from the dirt, battered with some bruised ribs, her assessment drew her focus on her blade which she abandoned for her counterattack. The blade was consumed in a spark of fire before reappearing in her grasp.
'Moving that fast without the use of magic was definitely Shadow-Stepping. But what would he be doing with such a technique, unless there's more to him? Powerful offence, and defence but both cannot be sustained.'
'Which means that as long as I can keep my distance, I should be able to manage.' Wincing as she realised that her ribs were broken, she tried to watch her breathing before sending her spirits to attack the crater.
Bombarding the site in rapid succession and further turning the sight into something resembling a warzone, the cluster of explosions were suddenly disrupted by the crash of something much larger, that managed to rattle the Arena and caught Alleiyna off guard as she recalled her spirits.
"Erai, my boy! I got the coordinates a little screwed but it should have gotten to your hands. Don't tell me I squished you." Reven yelled from atop the stands, while Ms Yuria's face turned to reveal her anger.
"If you have sent something to Mr. Astrapordt, then I am going to have to disqualify him. No unauthorised interventions are permitted in the Arena or its airspace." She scolded the panicking Warsmith before she got up to head into the Arena.
"Th–that's fine. I've got the permit right here. It was just in the shop...for...eh...maintenance, yeah that's it." Handing over his Notebook to Ms. Yuria, while Alleiyna awaited her response or at most, some sign of life from Shynerai emerged.
"...Sigh." She tossed his Notebook back before returning to her announcer position.
"The appearance of the unauthorized object has been cleared as a registered Soul Arm. The user is Shynerai Astrapordt. As such, the battle will be permitted to continue" gesturing to Alleiyna who found herself filled with excitement.
"Well, then that's something I didn't think I would hear" Stephen exclaimed while Vaceris remained silent, with Tersia and Ketsu having not looked away since the battle began.
The only ones who seemed unsurprised were Torren and Sergei who seemed to be cheering after what they had heard.
'Something new, well aren't you full of surprises.' Vauntuss thought, hiding his slight grin.
"Well then, Shynerai, do you plan on waking up anytime soon?" She called to the smouldering remains.
"For a second I thought it was you who sent this flying coffin at me. But I can promise you that I'm just getting started." His aura sent out a violent wind that ripped away the cloak of dust disguising him.
His charred uniform fluttered in the wind while he braced his broken left arm against the steel structure behind him.
"I look forward to seeing what you've got." She got into her stance, waiting for him.
"You honour me. Truly you are a knight." He mused.
"Quit flapping your gums boy, and get started!" Reven shouted.
His words prompted him to knock on the dark shell. With the jettisoning of steam, it came apart, falling away as the inner frame collapsed revealing what was inside.
"Master, is this?"
"Don't get too excited. It's just a prototype. But it is most certainly yours." Cheering him on, Shynerai returned in stride with a nod.
"Tell me, Master, what do I call it?" Turning to face Alleiyna, he suddenly took on an erupting aura that quickly turned evanescent with the air around him shimmering and growing more fierce.
As if he was surrounded by a mirage.
The white light gleaming from his eyes met the violet one of hers, appearing just as brilliantly.
"Well, it was a pain just to get the design right, not to mention the material cost and actually remembering to hand it to you. It's been a pain in the ass from start to finish."
"Hmph!" A menacing smile grew on his face.
"It is yours and so it will be named after the purpose you grant it.."
"Hmmm, Shadowsteel? Yes, I think that's fitting."He said with a smile when their auras clashed violently.