" Greetings your grace, I'm Damon Merula, your vassal of the Merula plains." Damon said, bowing slightly to the Duke.
" You don't look sick to me". Duke Abegnog replied.
" I beg you pardon your grace, I don't think I understand what you mean."
" They told me you were a sickly little twat " said Abegnog stepping off from his throne, walking closer to Damon. This man was a noble, yes but he had an overbearing aura of a man who had claimed so many lives with his barehand .
" You don't look sickly to me nor are you a twat . How did that happen? " the Duke asked.
" I suppose it was a miracle "Damon said gesturing for his guards to bring forward the crates of drinks " your grace , these are the best batch from my breweries, I personally had them selected for your enjoyment ."
" Good... good, and what are the contents of those shabby looking boxes".
" Oh nothing much, just a couple of rats that were causing a nuisance outside your city." Said Damon opening up the boxes to reveal the contents, five severed heads of the rogue mages.
" Let me guess, this was supposed to show your loyalty to me " said Abegnog, laughing. " I suppose you are not a fool afterwards , the guards will show you to your quarters , maybe go into the city later and check out the whores. The ceremony is in three days , I'll see you then."
" Yes your grace " Damon replied before walking out of the great hall.
During their stay, Damon and his guards made sure to maintain decorum, not attracting any unwanted attention. Infact they were if anything totally invisible.
On the day of the ceremony, all the guests from all over the Duke's territory and other areas had arrived and the ceremony was underway.
By ten o'clock Damon left his quarters with captain Jonas by his side and walked into the great hall which was filled with different dignitaries and nobles drinking and interacting with each other.
Being that Damon did not know anyone in this setting he opted to standing at the corner glancing through and observing everything and everyone intently. It was then that he saw Emir , the butler of house Ronalla standing between two men. One of them was older perhaps in his early 50s while the other was closer to his age between 17 and 20.
He saw them turn to his direction, as the boy walked toward his direction.
" So you are Damon, the worthless pig who tarnished my sisters honor " the boy said to Damon , his voice loud enough for people standing close to overhear .
" And you are?" Damon asked.
" I am Katz Ronalla, son of house Ronalla"
" Ah the Ronallas, are all of you naturally daft or is it your sense entitlement that clouds eyes from reality." Damon replied, walking away from the position to find another place to sit but Katz blocked his way . Jonas hand went for his sword but was stopped by Damon which caused Katz to smirk contemptuously, then throwing his handkerchief to Damons face as a challenge to a duel.
" I , Katz Ronalla hereby challenges you to a duel to avenge the honor of my sister".
Katz did not care about honor, he didn't even care about his sister. This was a ploy to ingratiate himself with his father so that he would be named heir of the Ronalla family and this was one of the ways to capture the attention of his father , the Duke and everyother powerful person present in the ceremony.
Katz had just graduated from the imperial academy where young nobles were sent for their education.
Armed with the knowledge of what he had learned throughout the years, he believed that he could easily defeat Damon. He also believed that Damon defeating Lukas was a fluke which was unlikely to happen again.
All he needed was to goad him into a fight and it'll play out by itself.
" And what are the stakes of this duel you propose?" Damon asked.
" What do you mean by stakes?" Katz asked , confused.
" Did you really think that I would fight you without gaining compensation for my time?" Damon asked, smirking "go tell your father, if you win, you can kill me . But if you lose..... I would take those mines your family are so proud of." Damon continued.
Katz was now in a dilemma, his plan to just humiliate is Damon had evolved into a different situation.
" My Lord are you sure about this , I heard that he is a warrior mage." Jonas asked Damon seemingly worried.
" This is an opportunity for me to get more holdings to best take care of our people, it is better than sending men to die in the name of conquest." Damon replied and then whispered something to him which prompted Jonas to leave the great hall.
Soon later the Duke announced " people, entertainment has provided itself for our enjoyment. The third son of Lord Ronalla has challenged Lord Damon to a duel.....to the death." This prompted laughter from the crowd, the type of laughter that rich folks usually have.
" In this fight Katz reserves the right to end Damon's life if he wins and Damon will take control of the Ronalla mines if he wins ." He continued.
In the Dukes castle, there was a fighting pit reserved for these kinds of situations. Damon and Katz then made their way over to the pits with their weapons. Damon had in his hand the bastard sword which he had asked Alaric to make out of the anti magic tungsten while Katz wielded a longsword. They both stood at a distance sizing each other up then suddenly Katz rushed up , slashing towards Damons neck . Damon almost institively tilted back his head just in time causing the the tip of the sword to graze his neck a little bit. Damon had not even unsheathed his sword by that time so he punched Katz straight in his face which made Katz retreat back hurriedly.
This gave Damon the opportunity to finally unsheathe the history sword revealing the metallic blue sheen of the sword. Katz then rushed at Damon again slashing at his neck . This time Damon struck back at the same time this caused Katz sword to break in half due to the force of the clash.
Now Damon had a style of fighting with he had been using since his time on earth and has even enabled him to defeat much powerful fighters back on earth, it was the blitz attack, this was the act of finishing an opponent in the shortest amount of time possible by performing hard and fast strikes in quick succession. So Damon conjured up a wall of fire blocking of Katz retreat, then he dropped his sword and lunged at Katz who being stunned by the bright flames lost focus. Damon quickly moved with a running knee to Katz face causing him to tumble out of the flame wall. This attack still caused Katz to be disoriented as Damon rushed to him as he was trying to get up and with all his strength punched his spine. What happened next was a piercing scream that resounded through the pit sending shivers into the hearts of those around even Damon . This was the last sound Katz would make as Damons last strike had relieved Katz of all motor functions. He could neither talk or move any parts of his body.