Day 163: Elemental Weapon (I)

"This... It may be sudden, but it seems we have no other choice, brother Blake." These were the first words that came out of Ragna once he understood the situation they had gotten themselves into. It hadn't been more than a few hours since he'd met Blake, but Ragna wasn't really against what seemed like a little friendly sparring, and there was no way he could say no since his master was the mastermind behind everything that was going on.

Blake nodded at Ragna's words and then fixed his gaze on Shino's smiling face in the distance causing him to sigh internally. It seemed like there would be no going back, so he psyched himself up as best he could to at least not embarrass himself.

"Okay, you guys better find a comfortable position to start with." Sakuya didn't need to think twice to figure out what role she had to play; she'd be lying if she said she wasn't interested in seeing a little power exchange between them. One of them was her mother's strange disciple while the other was a boy she had met recently but she could feel it was something mysterious, she did not want to belittle either of them, she had already learned her lesson in their last confrontation with Blake, so she thought to enjoy the event that followed next.

The explanation that Sakuya had given was quite simple, everyone present would be spectators of a fight between Blake and Ragna, the winner would be the first to incapacitate his opponent or force him to surrender, and any use of technique was allowed as long as it was not enough to cause too much damage to his opponent, although if things got out of hand, both boys' masters would interfere right then and there.

It seemed that no other kind of explanation was necessary, Sakuya looked at both of them to see if there was any doubt, but seeing the calm complexion on both of them, she knew it wouldn't be necessary. Sakuya's body quickly moved to the side of the battlefield signifying that they could begin.

Now, both Blake and Ragna were looking at each other, both of them unaware of their true strength, Ragna had heard a bit about his master's estimation of Blake's strength, and he didn't want to underestimate him, although the words that came out of it seemed to express the opposite.

"I would recommend that you draw your weapon, brother Blake." Despite everything, Ragna had said those words with complete sincerity, which made Blake raise an eyebrow wondering what exactly Ragna was trying to do.

"I guess I should tell you the same, I wouldn't like an unbalanced fight." Blake repeated the same thing trying to get Ragna to accept his request, he didn't fool enough to play along and end up in a bad position because of it, the more information he could gather about his opponent would have the better chance of avoiding being surprised, but Blake hadn't counted on the attitude that Ragna would take.

"Oh, I promise I won't let you down, I just feel that if you don't draw your weapon this battle will end incredibly quickly." It was quite obvious that Ragna was exuding a confidence that couldn't be seen in him before, a silence had fallen upon those words ended up letting only the sound of the leaves on the trees being blown by the wind be the only thing that could be heard. The look between the two became sharper waiting for the other's movement.

Blake had not followed Ragna's advice, he was aware that until now he had only fought using the combination of short sword and shield, but he was fully confident that he could defend himself, and there was also a reason to think that he was not a complete beginner.

He was thinking carefully about being the first to attack, but before that thought was over, his eyes widened as he saw Ragna disappear from his position, his senses began to work at full power trying to find Ragna's figure, the distance that separates them was no more than a few meters, but despite this, he couldn't see him anywhere.

That period seemed to pass slowly, but it wasn't more than a few seconds before Blake saw Ragna's figure appear in front of him and then felt a deep pain in his stomach making him take several steps back as he hugged his abdomen from the sudden sensation.

Some saliva accompanied by a cough came out of his mouth while he saw the figure of Ragna in the middle of the field with his fist raised in the air just in the position he was in.

A slight smile was on Ragna's face, he was aware that he had used enough force that he used to destroy small rocks as if they were a simple sheet of paper, but seeing Blake's state, he knew that not everything would be so simple.

"Well, will you take my advice now, brother Blake?" Even with that little demonstration, Ragna hadn't launched himself to attack Blake, he really wanted to test his strength, but he remembered something that made him hesitate at that moment.

Blake's breathing had calmed enough for the pain to subside and air to return to his lungs. Before, he couldn't feel it due to Ragna deliberately hiding his strength, but now he realized that this speed was simply physical ability, plus the feeling of the eighth level of runic awakening coming out of Ragna's body was impossible to keep hidden after that.

Blake took a last breath before his eyes focused again, now he saw Ragna in a new light, he was pretty sure this was probably going to be quite a tough battle, but it was undeniable that a smile was forming on his face as a strange fighting stance was being displayed by him.

"I appreciate your kindness, but sometimes I am a little stubborn."