"This feels cowardly. Let us go outside and settle this once and for all." I said as I dragged Zurin outside using gravity magic. There was no dragon alive that was as skilled as me in using gravity magic. I held a monopoly in this regard after training consistently after my bout with FC who had beaten me soundly with only that type of magic. Some of his kin saw the commotion and came to witness what was happening. "What is going on?" "Is that the emperor?" "What is Chrono doing to the emperor?" Questions flew all over the place as a crowd followed me outside. I let go of Zurin and stared at his eyes without blinking. "Zurin! You are going to fight for your kin's freedom. The only way to guarantee their safety is if you manage to impress me." I declared. "Chrono! Brother! Please don't do this." Zari pleaded. I did not relent and took a fighting stance. Zurin was confident in his abilities and did not seem worried. He took his fighting position and attacked first. I had gifted Zurin the Dark attribute which made him a capable fighter. This was my chance to see what he could accomplish. We were in human form at this point. Zurin launched a barrage of light attacks which were impossible to evade due t their high speeds. I had erected a barrier all around myself earlier in the fight hence was unharmed. "It seems you do not value your kinship very much." I said as I stood there and used gravity magic to deflect all the light spears that he had thrown. The fight then grew fiercer with Zurin casting two types of magic at once with such proficiency to rival my own. He used flashy fire attacks as a distraction and launched ice poles at me. But that was all for naught, I had several areas within the battlefield that were used as gravity zones protecting me from any and all attacks. Each attack was diverted if they were solids and absorbed and condensed if they were gaseous or liquid like fire, air and water attacks. In a few months or years, it would be possible to absorb and condense the solid attacks just like FC did but right now my training and skills were not enough. I had not moved a single step from where I had stood and only my right arm was doing all the work. "Are you the dragon emperor? Did you think such weak and pathetic attacks would work on me?" I asked.I could see the face of despair from Zurin who had lost his will to fight. However, I was not satisfied and first needed him to understand that he was too weak for what was coming. It would be a terrible idea to weaken Zurin at this time when we were facing a great peril. Second, I chose to make it clear our difference in level of strength to act as a deterrent if he ever chose to act against our agreement. The crowd that was looking at the fight was dismayed by the poor performance of their leader. They remained silent and occasionally looked down at the ground to lament about the situation that was present. Zurin concluded that ranged magical attacks against me were useless and began using melee combat at close range. He threw punches and kicks which I blocked with my ability 'lightning speed' that allowed me to follow his movements and counter them. He used the light at close ranges to blind me before launching attacks but his body was too slow. Every melee attack that Zurin had thrown at this point had been countered by using only my right arm and I could see his frustration growing. He became more reckless and abandoned his defense to focus solely on the offence. Some of the attacks could only be considered suicidal. Charging with an ice pole to my chest like an arrow with no regard for his safety, standing o one spot to try and exchange blows with me and finally the most reckless behavior, turning your back on your enemy. I had not attacked at all during this whole fiasco and was merely observing and blocking the attacks with my right arm. Zurin was skilled but was too slow and weak. I could see some very crafty techniques but he lacked the speed and strength to properly execute them. Zurin was now panting heavily after he had exhausted himself while I stood there looking at him. "Is this all you can do? How then do you intend on facing The Hydra and the generals who are faaaar superior to me?" I asked him coldly. The fight had taken place at ground level and the impact of our clashes had destroyed the surrounding areas.Zurin looked at me with conviction and began floating above the ground. This was a sign that the fight was now going to take place in our original forms. Zurin turned into a fierce dark red dragon and roared. He was now capable of wielding more powerful attack capabilities in this form. I did not change however and wanted to test the limits of my own strength. Ii followed Zurin and floated above the ground in human form. Perhaps it was this that made Zurin mad and he began relentless assaults. I was not going to employ the same strategies that now he was in dragon form. I was going to bet on my mobility to try and catch him off guard and counter attack. It was impossible to engage in brawns with a full blown dragon while still in my human form. "Zurin, I am now going to attack you." I declared. He launched a large area of effect attack using ice magic and froze the moisture in the air. He then started launching light attacks exclusively in great numbers. The volume of attacks was too much for my gravity magic to counter all of them and so I decided on evasion tactics. However, the light attacks still followed me as I was moving despite using lighting speed. It was impossible for the dragon eye too follow my movements with such accuracy.
[It seems the displacement of the small ice crystals in the air is giving away your real time location.]
This was what I meant when I said Zurin was crafty. This was a very revolutionary method to detect and track your targets akin to a radar on an airplane. The problem with this method however, it limited the attacks he could use. Both fire and wind would destroy the detection system. Light attacks were fast but not powerful enough to do a high level of damage. Water and ice attacks were too slow to catch up to my speed. After learning how I was getting traced, I used both wind and fire attacks to evaporate the tiny ice crystals as I moved through the battlefield. The change was noticeable immediately and the attacks were now missing me and I could now creep towards Zurin and launch my counter attacks. I limited myself to using gravity magic for attacks. I managed to manipulate the gravity below Zurin and fixed him tightly on the ground unable to move. Zurin tried wriggling but it was all for useless. "I yield." Zurin said. It was not a bad performance overall because I learnt how to apply 'radar' searching and other interesting techniques. "I yield the title of emperor dragon to you. If I were to make one final request from you, would that be alright?" Zurin added. Well that was unexpected. "I have no desire to rule the dragons domain. Keep your title. What is it you want?" I asked. Zurin smiled lightly and began to speak. "If you do not wish to rule over us then I shall grant another. I am unworthy to rule this mighty race. I would like for you to see the limits of your strength. I would like for you to go all out with me for this final round." Zurin asked. His words were jumbled but I understood what he meant. I looked at his face and I could see a person with determination to grow stronger and be of help to his family. The bottleneck and doubts that he had about being strong enough were now clear as day that there was work to be done."I agree. However, this will not be the final bout. In twenty days from now, I will come back to test you once more." I said as I turned to dragon form to match Zurin. "Is this your new look. I see now why you did not use it, it looks very powerful for someone like me. Let us begin." Zurin said. The bout was over in a few seconds. Zurin was in front of me and used a large fire to block my sight before slipping behind me. I used my tail and him squarely on the jaw which knocked him out as he was trying to come nearer. The tail had spikes that increased the physical damage and also emitted lightning once they came into contact with a target. It was comparable to having two blows in one strike