He distanced himself as he grinned at Ophelia before speaking. "As expected from a Princess of the Augustus Family. Your skill with a weapon matches my own. But does your usage of Techniques follow that standard?"
The Mana in the hall underwent a subtle shift and began to be pulled towards Alexander as a coat of inky blackness covered his sword. Altair narrowed his eyes, as this was the first Technique he had seen in action. From the looks of it, Alexander had an Affinity for Darkness.
Ophelia turned more solemn as she witnessed this. Deciding to up the ante herself, she too began to manipulate the atmospheric Mana. A dark green hue surrounded the top blade of her spear and solidified as a opaque glass cover. Yet Altair knew that the cover was far stronger than steel and could cut through flesh easily.
'So Ophelia has an Air Affinity...'
Alexander shot forward, far faster than before. His shadow-coated blade whistled as it cut through the air and aimed to reap the life of the person across from it. Ophelia thrust straight, relying on the spear's reach o hit before Alexander could. Yet the classic advantage of the spear was nullified when the darkness covering Alexander's sword twisted and squirmed, before exploding outwards. Small strands of inky blackness grappled with the spear tip and diverted it to the side.
With the spear out of the way, Alexander continued through with his swipe. The blade bore down on Ophelia's neck, making her dodge once again. But this time, a shallow cut was left on her cheek, which gently seeped blood. Both duellists turned towards Mr Lindt at the sight, but the instructor remained impassive and made no move to stop the fight. The match had not yet reached its conclusion in his eyes.
Seeing that they were to continue, Alexander smirked and flicked his wrist, making the shadow tendrils to detach from Ophelia's spear and return to his sword. His expression taunted the young girl, but she remained calm and collected as she once again got into position. As if the two had mutually agreed before hand, both dashed forward and initiated another round.
Once again, the sword's darkness split and surged forth, but Ophelia had learned. As the tendrils drew near, the green hue on the spear intensified and strong winds blasted from it. The wind pushed away the tendrils and carried through, forcing Alexander to divert his blade and block. The force made him stumbled backwards, leaving him open to the thrust of Ophelia. The Princess capitalised on this chance, her muscles going taunt as she exerted more power in the final push. As the spear, now shining in a glorious turquoise-green, neared his heart, Alexander narrowed his eyes. An inaudible sigh escaped his lips and he closed his eyes, seemingly accepting his loss.
Yet when the weapon was mere centimetres away from contact with his skin, a malignant throb rang out in the Mana surrounding the boy. Before Altair could blink, Alexander's shadow surged forth and swallowed the spear. Ophelia stared wide-eyed as the shadow moved along the shaft of the spear and attempted to grasp the hand holding it.
'A Skill!' Altair internally exclaimed. This was different from then Technique Alexander used. While the latter drew Mana in, the Skill instead pushed outwards, exerting influence of the neutral Mana and bending it to the will of its user. Alexander had "infected" the neutral Mana with his Darkness Affinity, allowing shadows to grow and form beyond their natural extent.
In response to the use a Skill, Ophelia narrowed her eyes and muttered something under her breath. The spear end grasped by the shadow vibrated before exploding in a flurry of turquoise Mana, eviscerating the darkness. She had reacted within seconds of the shadow grabbing the spear, allowing her to salvage the weapon and potentially the duel itself. Altair found himself admiring the Princess for her aptitude in battle.
She quickly jumped backwards to gain distance, allowing Alexander to correct his disturbed footing. His shadow swayed and shimmered behind him, rising up like a curtain to cover his back. He flashed Ophelia a grin as he began walking towards her. In his empty hand, darkness gathered before giving form to another sword, identical to the first. This sight caused mutterings to break out amongst the other students, who had been watching the duel with apt attention.
Altair observed these mutterings with interest. 'So, Alexander's Skill seems to be an usual one...perhaps its because of the Affinity? But no one seemed too bothered when he used that Technique...'
Altair knew that the Darkness Affinity wasn't held in high regard by many people, due to the fact that it was a primary tool of Vampires. Nyx, he Goddess of Night, was also one of the more...unsettling Gods in Orvonia. Discounting Secret Gods like Fallacy and Jester, Nyx was the most mysterious and secretive. Now that he thought about it, the assassins who came after them all had the Darkness Affinity too, so Altair could easily see it being labelled as a dirty or criminal power.
Ophelia watched the double-wielding Alexander approach and looked down at her own weapon. When the boy was more than halfway to her, she gripped the spear tightly and slammed the point end into the ground. Alexander stopped his advance and raised an eyebrow at the sight, a cocky smile brewing on his lips. "Decided to give up, have you?" he taunted.
Ophelia didn't answer and instead whispered something that Altair couldn't catch. His eyes then widened as Mana was pulled into her body and travelled down to her spear. The bottom end of the spear suddenly warped through a thick visage of Mana, before a shining metal blade appeared on it. Ophelia had turned her spear into a double-bladed on using some sort of Spell. And it was a Spell, as the Mana flow was different from the Technique she and Alexander had used previously. A small amount of influence was constantly being exerted on the spear and space around it, maintaining the additional blade.
'So Ophelia has an Affinity for both Air and Metal' Altair scrutinised the scene. Having multiple Affinities wasn't rare at all as long as you came from certain backgrounds. As the Royal Family of the Gaia Continent, the Augustus' had no doubt joined many Bloodlines over the years. They likely had access to most, if not all, Affinities and could pick and choose which ones to hand down to the Princes and Princesses.
Alexander clicked his tongue at the sight and stopped lower, adjusting his centre of gravity. With a burst of speed, he crossed the remaining distance between them in only three strides. His twin blades struck out furiously, each strike imbued with raw and fearsome power. Altair had to fill his eyes with Mana to keep up with the blows, so fast was the combat.
Ophelia responded with equal ferocity, her spear being swung more like a staff, forming a whirling around her. Each of Alexander's strikes were deflected, and she was gradually pushing into his zone. With another clash, the shadow sword was shattered and dissipated, seemingly leaving Alexander vulnerable. Yet the shadows around him once again surged and struck at Ophelia's body, rather than her weapon.
She imputed more Mana into her spear, making the wood groan and creak in protest. She abandoned all defence and put her everything into her attack, forming a wall of wind and steel that sliced every shadow apart. At this point, Ophelia's figure was almost completely hidden behind strong winds and streaks of metallic grey.
Alexander was forced onto the defensive, desperately throwing shadows at her in an attempt to forestall her assault. Yet his luck was bound the run out, as Ophelia's flurry of blows eventually broke past his guard.
The green blade of the spear shot at his throat and everyone assumed Mr Lindt would intervene at his point. Yet the instructor stood still, even as the tip dug into the flesh of Alexander. Just as Altair thought Ophelia was going to kill him, a ridiculous amount of Mana surged from Alexander's body in a wave. It pushed Ophelia's spear away from him and she herself stumbled backwards.
To Altair's shock, Ophelia's own shadow bulged and exploded outwards, forming tentacles that held her in place tightly. Alexander raised his hand, causing a spiked mace to form from shadows. Grasping the mace, he swung it down had on Ophelia's restrained body. She desperately maneuverer her spear to try and block, but the heavy brunt weapon smashed through the already weakened wooden spear and continued on the her defenceless head.
Yet the mace was grabbed by a large hand just before it could. Altair looked to his side in surprise: Mr Lindt had just vanished and reappeared to stop Alexander before he could even notice. 'That speed...it's even faster than Jace. Is Mr Lindt an Epic Tier existence?'
"Alexander Legendry wins this duel. Both participants, please vacate the area. Nezra and Gordan, please enter the area and prepare for your duel." Mr Lindt then turned to Alexander, who had removed the shadow bonds from Ophelia. "That Skill you used at the end, it's a Master Skill isn't it?"
Alexander nodded his head as he rubbed his forehead sluggishly. "Yeah, so I had to use a bunch more Mana since my Tier is too low. Man I'm wrecked now, why the hell did I try so hard for a stupid duel like that?"
Despite his mumbled complaints, Mr Lindt kept staring at Alexander before shaking his head and dismissing him. "You have a point there, try not to use such Skills in a friendly duel. If you miss out of the rest of your classes because of it, no teacher will cut you slack. Knowing and keeping to your limits is also a skill in battle, not just pummelling the enemy."