(Ch. 17) Duel.
A spar?
I had expected Kaius to ask me about my powers, to satiate his curiosity with unknown knowledge but that wasn't something he wanted. Instead, he desired a spar—a duel through which he could learn about my powers better. Just as I was about to turn down the offer, a new thread of thought formed in my mind, something that made me realize the potential benefits of sparing against the man.
During the fight against the hydra, I managed to use my powers but not as effectively as might be able to. It was normal but with more experimentation, there was no doubt I could find better ways to use them. For that, I needed time to experiment with things and Kaius's offer for a duel provided just that. I also understood that fighting him would reveal all my powers to him, but it wasn't like this would be the first time. Sirius and the others had seen me fight, perhaps many more times than Kaius would.
That said one thing I was still certain of was that I'd keep my soul vision a secret.
Once I made up my mind, I opened my mouth. "Fine. I think it's only fair that you tell me your rank,"
"Sure. I'm a rank 2 'Overseer' under the sub-domain of 'Entropy'." Kaius replied nonchalantly.
"Overseer and Entropy don't seem to go well together if you asked me," I said honestly.
"It sure doesn't," He said, getting up from the couch and I had to crank my neck around to watch him walk toward the shelf—books and parchments lined up finely.
He pulled a leather-bound thick book out, threw it on the floor, and pressed a newly visible lever, forming a raft in between the shelf as they started moving apart. I watched in slight awe, realizing what was happening was exactly something that one would see in a movie—the opening of a secret compartment.
With a gentle thud, a decently spaced staircase—movable space for two people side by side—replaced the previously seen shelves. Kaius turned his head toward me and smiled. "Come on follow me."
The stairs weren't as deep as I'd expected them to be, only going a floor underground. Then again it was more than enough to serve its purpose of housing a training hall. It was fairly spacious with most of its space being taken by a platform for duels. It didn't have any rings but was slightly elevated above the ground.
As we walked inside, I looked around the walls of the room—pure black marble adorned the walls. I flared my soul vision randomly to see nothing.
"What are those?" I asked, thinking they were just for the decor, although that would be rather odd.
"Gardias Stone. They are capable of shielding against powerful attacks so that the entire place doesn't come crashing down," Kaius replied, walking toward the platform and getting up on it. "Zareth I've heard that you were a half-mystic before. Was it the case from the moment you opened your eyes?"
Looking around a little I said, "No. I didn't feel much when I woke up. But slowly things started to change and the more I watched the fight continue between Eadric and the others, the more prominent the feeling got until I was able to use the powers."
I went round the platform and climbed up opposite Kaius.
"Mystery Weaver eh?" Kaius mumbled. "Say Zareth what do you think of your rank name? What does it mean to you?"
"What does it mean to me? Someone who weaves mysteries?" I said, slightly confused.
"Is that all? We humans love giving names to things, even those that have no life. Each of those has some meaning behind them. Someone might find a different meaning to the same name, don't you think so?"
"I guess?"
Bending over, Kaius stretched his legs and continued, "My rank 'Overseer' would figuratively mean a guardian of sorts. But what kind of guardian wields chaos?"
"Chaos? Is that why it's the under the sub-domain of 'Entropy'?"
"Yes, indeed," He said, turning around and taking a sword out of the rack that was just beside the platform. He swung the blade in the air and gave a satisfied nod. Then he threw another one at me. "Normally spars are done using wooden swords but it would be too boring, don't you think so?"
He smiled and continued, "Since I am much stronger than you are, the duel ends when either you manage to make me lose my grip on the sword, or you choose to surrender. Is that acceptable to you?"
"Yeah, but there is something that I've been wandering about after learning about Xavier," I said, pausing a little while feeling the blade. "Why is it that despite having people as strong as you and even the Lord Leader, people like Sirius are sent into Zoria?"
It wasn't something that I thought of when I first met the others but after learning how strong the Lord Leader was the thought remained lingering in the back of my mind.
"Good question. One that has many answers. I will tell you the main ones. The first reason is that some people don't want to risk their lives for such a silly cause of finding a way out into the outside world. The other reason is anyone above Rank 2—rank 3 onward—can't step foot into the forest of Zoria. If such wasn't the case, Lord Leader would be the first one to jump outside," Kaius replied.
"Is that related to the curse?" I asked back, my mind coming up with a reason why that could be the reason.
"Yes. But also lets us understand that the monsters that Zoria housed weren't so strong that nobody would be able to defeat them. No, it could even be that mystics from Rank 3 onward could easily clean the forest of those beasts and find the exit to the outside world. But of course, it wouldn't be so simple as such. After all, why hasn't there been no outsider all this time? Are they restricted from coming inside or do they not know Xavier exists? What do you think so, Zareth?"
"I don't know," I replied.
There was nothing that I could offer right now. Basak's memories were sparse and foggy, so much so that it took too much effort for me to discern them. Besides I had yet to figure out whether to trust him or not.
"Alright then let us start. I will give you the first move," Kaius said, announcing the start of our duel.
***
As the effect of the sky-burst ended the grey world soon got its luster back, my senses still dull and perceived time slower than usual—a part I realized happened for my mind to keep up with the speed. My body emerged just before Kaius and I thrust my blade at him but he swiftly avoided it by twisting his torso ever so slightly that I might have assumed my aim was off if not for his punch the moment later.
I was sent hurling back to the ground. Getting up on my feet, my eyes darted around to find Kaius but he wasn't there.
That isn't possible—
All my senses flared on their own just as my soul vision activated, informing me of an incoming danger. I instinctively lowered my head before my thoughts were pieced together but because of it, I managed to avoid the attack. A whistling fist moved past the air above my head.
"Oh? That was a pretty quick reflex you have got there," Kaius praised. His words made me lower my guard and I was about to raise my head, but my world spun as a kick threw my body back to the ground.
Kaius placed his sword just beside my neck and smiled. He asked me, "When you don't know what your opponent is truly capable of, what do you think you should do?" But before I could answer, he continued, "Observe. Slowly figure out what they are capable of. No matter how skilled one is, their body, words, movements, and even the particular expression on their face, give away more than an untrained eye can understand. Just from how you move, it is clear to me that you don't have any formal training in sword fighting, and you don't feel comfortable with your power. Your movements lack grace and seem rather awkward."
He leaned forward a little, "I have fought many adversaries before, and most lost just because they underestimated me. I'm much different than those old coots at the council," He untucked the sword from the floor and turned around. "Next time, think before attacking."
I slowly got back up on my feet and dusted off my clothes. Just a few exchanges between us told me that Kaius was strong, much stronger than I was. If anything his nonchalant attitude proves that point. Unlike Eadric who intended to fake his confidence to fool everyone, Kaius had no reason to do so. Certainly, by making himself strong he might have intended to impact some kind of fear inside me. Something to keep me in rein but the reality was that would never be enough.
Instead, I felt a thrill of sorts, a desire if you will. It made me excited at the prospect of fighting kaius. I wanted to see how much more powerful he truly was and the gap between us.
How long would take me to reach his level? I wondered.
I sprinted toward Kaius once again and just before he stood there motionless, leaning against his sword. His dark eyes watched my approaching figure but then I sky-busted, emerging just beside Kaius above in the air, my knees tucked behind my hip.
"Such a trick is not going to work on me," Kaius sighed without turning toward me.
I didn't bother replying instead I made my intent known, ordering the bondors to shackle Kaius's body and I twisted my body midair, swinging my empty bondor-clad fist at the man. My first instantly collided against one of Kaius's elbows which he managed to raise after freeing himself from 'Handicap' at the last moment. But the impact of the blow was strong enough to push him back several paces.
Slight steam rose from Kaius's arm as the bondor rushed in there to fix his torn muscle fibres but his eyes gleamed brightly. He looked a little confused at first and then said with amazement, "What even was that? Before you punched my entire body was locked as if someone had put an invisible shackle around my body. I was barely able to break my arm free at the last moment,"
"One of my abilities 'Handicap'," I replied, not revealing that I didn't yet understand it completely yet.
One thing I was certain but handicapping kaius was that I was able to limit a person of their abilities. But that gave rise to more questions. How long could I handicap them?
During the fight with the hydra, I'd managed to make its projectiles disappear. Perhaps for a moment there, I was able to 'Handicap' the hydra's ability to use that particular ability. But what about when I crushed the hydra's head into the ground? Was it just me increasing the gravity? No, that wasn't the case. Handicap certainly didn't allow me to manipulate gravity.
Regardless Kaius was able to break free and if he had more time he could have broken free completely. Does that mean that right now I can only handicap someone from rank 2 for a couple of moments? But from my experience so far the time could easily be increased as I became more proficient in the ability.
Not knowing my inner thoughts, Kaius voiced his thoughts. "Even though the binding wasn't so strong during a heated battle of life and death even a single moment could prove to be an advantage. But it is only possible if you manage to utilize it properly," He bent down to pick up his sword."Thanks for showing me something interesting, I must also give you something in return. Have you heard of decay arts before?" He flashed a charming smile that I assumed could easily win over many women.
But that smile was nothing more than a decoy as the next moment I felt all the hairs in my body rise, goosebumps spreading down my neck. Within a blink of an eye, Kaius was no longer there and I felt him beside me, his sword approaching me. My soul vision flickered open once more and I saw something that was very hard for me to believe.
Instead of the pristine white color that bondor looked at when I was under the effect of soul vision Kaius's sword was dark. A ball of pure black thread was inside there like a void looking to gobble everything in its path. My senses screamed at me to defend myself and I raised my sword at the last moment. The blade touched my sword and in that small fraction of time, I noticed the blade disintegrate where the dark bondor touched. But the next moment, I felt the air in my lungs squeezed empty as a violent gust of wind pushed me back, grounding me into the black walls.
I coughed spittle everywhere while my body dropped to the floor due to gravity. As I slowly got up I realized that I was bleeding and then realized that the black stones had managed to absorb most of the impacts.
I looked ahead and found Kaius staring down at me from the platform. I turned toward my hand to only find ash instead of the blade that was supposed to be there.
Kaius smiled, "It's chaos magic if you are curious. Pretty sinister-sounding name, right?"
That does sound rather sinister, I sighed audibly admitting it as my loss.