Chapter Eighty Nine - A battle for honour and vengeance

Two men circled each other, one with the build and strength of a mountain, the other resembling more a strong yet supple tree. The large man, flexed his muscles as he moved, gloves with sharp claws protruding from the knuckles adorning his fists. The other man's steps were light and bordering casual as he held the still sheathed sword in his hand. The larger man took this as a provocation; he felt that this low first year was mocking him, not taking him seriously at all. So he was first to make a move and attack.

The other simply side stepped, turning as he did so and his sword sweeping out of it's sheath it a wide arc towards the berserker's midsection. However, as bulky and heavy as the larger man appeared, he was not unused to combat and was able duck instinctively beneath the sharp weapon and roll to one side. A grin appeared upon his face as he rose to his feet. Originally, he had thought this battle would be uninteresting, one-sided bloodshed to save his younger brother's face. Knowing better, he took more caution, crouching low as he observed this man before him, now seeing a viper rather than a fangless lizard.

Leon swallowed to try and moisten his throat and dried his sweaty palms upon the cloth of his outer robes. He watched as the handsome man launched his own attack, graceful and effortless before his opponent. Beside him, Sun had his hands curled into fists and was muttering things such as "Teach him well, Jin Li!"

The metal of the cat-claws rang out against that of the blade as both men tested each other's skills and reflexes over again. Leon tried to analyse things from an outsider's perspective, but failed as his heart raced in his chest and alarms rang in his mind. He simply didn't want Jin Li to get hurt, wanted Jin Li to return safe to his side. He didn't even try to suppress his burgeoning feelings as he had grown accustomed to doing over time, but neither did he recognise them clearly, too absorbed in watching Jin Li fight.

Were he to see things from Pike and Bowyer's perspective, he might have considered that while the large berserker had the advantage of strength, he lacked Jin Li's range and agility. That and there was their cultivation.

One's cultivation tempered the body and enhanced the natural abilities both physical and mental as well as shoring weaknesses. This meant that the better ones cultivation was, the better their abilities overall. Jin Li was already of tertiary stage at a young age, meaning he was not weak and one could not rely on his stature to judge him. This was something many first years still had to learn. The berserker had clearly become aware that Jin Li was not so simple as they fought, but he could not imagine that Jin Li was a large step above him in cultivation. The berserker was of secondary stage, having broken through one year ago. This was reasonable progress in the eyes of others and it was expected he would remain in this stage for at least another two years. Again, not unexpected nor considered slow. Jin Li could just be considered abnormal in comparison.

The Teachers were aware of Jin Li's cultivation, hence why they observed him now. He had already proved he had skills to back up his talent for cultivation and it seemed his cultivation was stable, something that they had feared would not be so. Teachers in the schools were already discussing moving him into the inner school, but they still wished to know whether Jin Li could prove he had the ability to be worthy of the move.

Merylin watched with hot eyes, inwardly daring the berserker to hurt her Jin Li, just see what would happen if even a scratched marred his alabaster skin. Her nails were digging into her palms as she watched Jin Li barely dodge a heavy blow and hissed beneath her breath. Maimai looked at her sister and patted her knee reassuringly. "Don't you know that this battle is no longer one of vengeance?" She said, reading the mood much clearer than her sister. "Look, they are merely sparring now!"

Indeed, Maimai was correct, the two men were enjoying the battle far too much to settle scores. The berserker, as he leapt over Jin Li's sweeping leg before counter attacking with a hammering fist that was barely stopped by an arm that under normal circumstances would have snapped, had long since understood that his little brother was in the wrong and was no longer trying to shed blood. Jin Li had already understood the berserker's intention and his own bloodthirst had eased and he now simply battled for the sake of it. And besides, if this was not what he truly wanted, he would have ended this farce of a duel by now.

"What has my darling daughters' attention?" A deep voice crooned from behind the two girls.

Merylin blushed as if caught doing something inappropriate, while Maimai just looked back at their father with a sigh. "Just watching boys be boys," the latter sister said, nonchalantly.

"Oh?" The sect leader within him observed the two men battling and scored their abilities as so-so. He was not easily swayed by flashy techniques nor gestures of strength, though he did feel that there was more to the eye of the swordwielder, but the berserker could hide nothing from his developed views. The man noticed that the sun was beginning to set and laid aside his lofty persona for that of a doting dad once more. "Come on, it's late! I don't want my girls being all grumpy in the morning because they lost out on their rest!"

"Dad!" Maimai wailed while Merylin hid her own pout behind her fan.

The Teachers also noticed the lateness of the hour and the school had rules in place, which meant this fight needed to end. One, Teacher Apus appeared as if from thin air upon the arena's battlegrounds in between the two men, effectively stopping the battle, reminding them that the curfew was soon to begin. There were some protests, Bullen approached his brother with the intent to question him, while Leon ran nervously to Jin Li to see if he was alright. Before either could speak, the Berserker bowed to Jin Li.

"You are very talented," he complimented. "I am unworthy an opponent. I will apologise in my brother's stead."

"What are you doing..?" Bullen demanded, only to receive a cuff about the ear.

"You dare provoke the sleeping lion and dare me to face it's wrath?" The berserker scolded the boy and grabbed his collar, leading him out of the arena in disgrace.

"I don't understand!" The youth wailed. His friends looked embarrassed and fled in his wake.

Leon watched them for all of a brief moment, before turning to Jin Li, his eyes filled with worry. "Are y-you alright?" Sun and the two seniors approached at a more leisurely pace only to hear Jin Li's response;

"No, I am not. I am hungry now."