The First Duel

Sitting upon a table was nothing, Nothing but crumbs and smears of icing. Around this table was an entire room worth of people standing in silence. Each had a plate in their hand slowly repeating the motion of eating their piece of cake. Eyes glazed over in a trance of flavors and textures. This weird trance continued until someone finished their piece first and let out a groan of disappointment.

"SHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH" Every other person immediately shushed the vagrant who dared to make a sound and break the glorious euphoria the had all been in. Since the magic was broken the party guests began to walk back to their groups and the noise level soon picked up to normal with joking and music and dancing.

With reddened cheeks, George quickly scurried away from the cake table and returned to his previous table. But was blocked suddenly by running into the chest of a man. Looking up he saw it was Henry Zulo, Benny Zulo's father.

"Hello there George"

"H-Hello Henry. Um, Sorry about Benny"

"No worries about that shameful display. He was just inadequate. But as that might be, He still needs to prove he is worthy to be my son. So on his behalf, Benny Zulo officially challenges George Zilar to a duel to the death." A hush once again came upon the room as all heads turned to look at the confrontation.

"Now Henry. Do you really want to do this?" Ace whispered as he approached the two. "This is your one chance to cancel the duel."

"I am sure Ace, My boy is not worthy of my name if he can not even win a fight with a new User, and if he loses a second time he is not worthy of living," Henry replied stone-eyed as he stared into Ace's eyes.

"George, This is your first Duel of the year... You are not able to decline." Ace stated as he turned to look at the wide-eyed George.

With a sigh, Ace spoke loudly. "The Duel between George Zilar and Benny Zulo will commence in one hour at the arena." With those words, a pressure bore down upon all those that heard ace's declaration.

*Duel Conformation accepted. Duel to the death between Users, Benny Zulo and George Zilar shall commence in 60 min. The winner shall receive Duel Gift Box. The System watches over you always.*

"May the System watch over us all." Every person in the room replied with bowed heads. With that, the duel was sealed in stone. There would be no running, The very System would ensure that. Ace placed his hand on Georges' shoulder and lead him to another room.

"Well, I guess this is your first duel. It is a shame it is to the death..." Ace said with a sad shake of his head. "Just be careful George, although you can spare Benny, I would not bet on him sparing you." With one last sad look, Ace walked off. "Prepare yourself, George, I will come and get you when it is time."

George still shocked at the sudden announcement of the Duel sat stunned for a moment before regaining himself. He slowly took a meditative posture and began to focus on his system menu.

*Name: George Zilar

Titles: Watched Over

System: The Force

Str: 19

Dex: 20

Con: 19

Int: 21

Wis: 20

Chr: 20

DSP: 2

LSP: 1

HP: 150

Force Exhaustion: 200/200

Powers (Active): [Force Speed Lvl 5] [Force Body Lvl 4] [Shatterpoint Lvl 4] [Force Lightning Master (Lvl Max)]

Powers (Passive): [Force Originator Lvl 5] [Force sense Lvl 5] [Electricity Immunity]

Items: None*

'I can do this. I can do this. I can do this' George repeated in his mind over and over again as he slowly faded away.

-50 Minutes later-

With a smoothing gliding into the reemergence of consciousness, George awoke from his trance. He felt invigorated and at peace.

*User has gained 1 LSP for discovering [Force Meditation: Variant: Heji tal]*

*[Force Meditation: Variant: Heji tal]: Allows the User to enter a temporary state of oneness with the Force. Improves clarity of thought and inner peace*

At total peace with himself and all of existence, a sudden knocking caught his attention.

"George, It is time." Ace said in a solemn voice as he opened the door. "Come with me, we must go to the arena" George silently nodded his head and followed Ace out of the room. Soon they arrived at a large empty ring-shaped arena directly in the middle of the town. This ring was surrounded by all members of this little town with no name. Yet there was not a sound to be heard as George on Ace's cue approached the ring. Across the hundred foot ring stood Benny, looking smug but a hint of fear in his eyes.

*Ding, The time has arrived... Scanning... Both Users are on time... The duel shall begin in 10 seconds. Please step into the ring.*

As commanded both Benny and George stepped into the ring.

*10*

"You are going down George. I will prove that I am not pathetic!" Benny yelled out across the empty space between them.

*6*

"What will happen will happen Benny" George replied with a calm certainty.

*4*

"Whatever. You re DEAD!" Benny yelled as spit flew from his mouth.

*Duel Begins!*

As the System finished its countdown a wall of energy formed along the edge of the ring blocking outside interference. With a sudden yell, Benny erupted with ice. A cold wind swept past George as the ground beneath his feet began to freeze. Benny began to skate toward George breathing a cold frost before himself, as he skated through it the ice clung to him forming a layer of crystal armor.

Through all of this George stood still, calmly watching Benny's frantic charge. He activated [Force lightning Master]. Slim lines of shimmering silver began to crackle along his skin and hair. Streaks of power jumping from his legs to the ice he stood upon, the mere heat from the strikes melting the ice.

Benny began to wave his hands in beckoning motions as shards of ice shot forward toward George. But with Georges [Force Sense] he easily dodged using his new stats. Sliding a finger across one of the sharp spikes of ice as it passed him, it exploded as lightning sparked in the air.

Raising that same finger George shot a single [Force Shock] towards his foe. With a burning smell in the air, a thin stream of the shimmering silver lightning shot forward toward Benny. Too blinded with anger and fear Benny ignored the streak of energy. But to his dismay, the streak slammed into his chest armor and knocked him backward, shards of his armor shattering into small crystals from the impact alone.

"NOOO, No, no, no, no, no" Benny yelled as he got back to his feet "I will NOT LOSE!!!"

With an animalistic yell, Benny began to spew massive amounts of ice into the air from his mouth. This ice formed thicker and thicker layers of armor around him. With another savage roar, he locked his eyes on George and began another charge, this time each step shaking the earth as he ran.

"Foolish" George whispered, the thin streams of lightning growing in size and intensity. [Chain lightning]. With a sudden surge, the silvery lightning began to leap from his fingers, at first weakly then with urgency as bolt after bolt searched for a target. Finally, with a flick of his wrists, the lightning found its mark. The endless streams of lightning channeled though Georges outstretched hands bored into the armor of ice. Sparking and tearing into the armor but not deep enough to hurt Benny.

Benny was quickly closing the distance, but as he did so he was slowing down as the force of the lightning began to push him backward. Slower and slower he approached the silvery streams boring deeper into his armor, now only mere inches from his body. George pulled his hands back for a moment to concentrate his power before reaching out again, the forth of this causing Benny to begin to slide backward. Seeing this George stopped and asked, "Do you surrender."

"NOOOOO" Benny yelled as blood began to seep from his pores and mix with his frozen armor. "I will show you my trump card before you die." His blood began to make swirling patterns in the ice as he stood up. Holding his hands in a similar way to how George's just were, pillars of red ice began to form as they shot toward George incredibly quickly.

'[Force Speed]' George activated as he reached out his hands to slide them alongside the pillars of red ice. [Chain Lightning]. Released from his hands the lightning shot like an arrow into the red ice, piercing into it much better than before. This silver energy crackled as it traveled along the red lines swirled throughout Benny's armor. All Benny could do was widen his eyes as the lightning traveled through his blood and directly into his body.

With a mighty explosion, Benny's armor erupted, shattering into a million pieces. His melted and mutilated body falling to the ground as little sparks continued to travel along his skin and pooling blood into the ground.

*User Benny Zulo is incapacitated. The victor is George Zilar. Does the Victor wish to kill or spare the loser?*

"Spare him" George replied while looking at the twitching wreck of a human his attack had left.

*Very well. You are rewarded 1 x Duel Gift. Congratulations*

With that, the wall of energy surrounding them fell. Allowing George to hear Ace asking for medical assistance. When suddenly a cold voice sounded out.

"No need for that," Henry said as he walked toward his son. "He lost twice in a row. He does not deserve to live." Before anyone could react Henry placed a hand above his son's body. The next moment a scream ripped from the boy as the pain was so immense it awoke him from unconsciousness. But before Benny could say a word every last bit of moisture in his body erupted into crystals of ice, Killing him instantly.

Turning to George, Henry smiled. "Good job at culling the weakness from the world boy."