Duel

Kael finally arrived in his room and lay on his bed. I should rest now, I barely have two hours left before the duel. His eyes soon closed as he slept off clearly, tired from the previous sparring matches.

__ __ __

The knock on the door woke Kael up from his slumber. Stretching with a yawn, he walked towards the door and then opened it without much thought.

"Sir, it's time for the duel," the maid standing before him said.

"Huh? I slept that long?" Kael muttered a bit, surprised. "Alright, just hold on for a few minutes. I'll be ready soon." Heading into his room, he quickly freshened up as he was unable to do so when he came back from the arena due to tiredness.

Within minutes, he was ready for the duel. Standing before the large mirror, he stared at his reflection and with a nod headed outside the room. The journey to the Palace was a quiet one, giving Kael enough time to reflect on the test he carried out on his way back.

He discovered he could easily blink across the area, unlike the abyss where it was difficult. Also, his void sense skill walked faultless with the range extending far.

He discovered the energy within the surroundings, and the one in the Abyss was clearly different. He was able to discover that the energy within his normal heart was similar to that of this world. But the energy consumption was something he needed to watch out for when using his skills. He didn't want to reveal his abyssal energy since it was his trump card and was meant to remain a secret for now.

Finally, arriving at the door of the Palace, Kael continued forward, pushing the door open, and walked into the room. The queen was seated on her throne with all her daughters present this time around, standing behind her.

Kael eyes scanned the room, discovering they were the only one present. Looking at the daughters, his gaze landed on Princess Aretha, who was also staring at him with a strange look on her face.

Shaking his head, he stared at the queen who had a smile on her face.

"So?" Kael finally spoke, breaking the silence.

"You guys should head off, Kael and I will follow up soon." The daughters all left heading towards the designated area for the duel.

With the door closing, Queen Otrera finally stood from her throne, taking slow strides towards Kael. "Don't lose, I want you to win… except you might not be useful to me any longer. And you know what that means, right?" She said, caressing his cheek before walking away.

Tsk.

Kael's fist was clenched tightly as he followed behind her. He could feel his rage building up and was struggling to control it. "We'll see about that," he thought to himself.

Kael was once again led to the arena where the duel was to take place. "Great," he muttered, pumping his fist. "I just have to follow up with the plan and then find a way to escape."

They arrived at the centre of the arena where he had sparred with the amazon warriors earlier. The whole place had been arranged, seats placed around, and was already occupied by their warriors.

At a higher podium was a large throne with fifteen seats placed below it. The princesses occupied the right-hand side while the left was occupied by the contenders.

Queen Otrera made her way towards her throne with grace. Standing before the throne, she raised her hands up and then dropped it down. "Let the duel begin!" Taking her sit, she stared down at the two figures who stood before each other.

Kael had been requested to choose a weapon but denied wearing any armour. With his sword firmly held, he stared at his opponent, who casually swung his spear with a grin etched on his face.

Kael stared at the high platform, his gaze landing at Princess Aretha. His muscle tightened, watching as she touched her right hand with a smile.

Tsk.

"You think that would be able to stop me. Seeing you this way, just to wipe that smug look off your face." He focused on his opponent, who approached with a smile, "I guess it's best you know who defeated you!"

"I'm Martin, Martin Connell! The son of Darius, one of the heads of Hera Temple!"

'Hera, that's one of the Olympian gods! So I did transmigrated to a mythical world.'

I"'m Kael," Kael said with a smile slowly walking forward.

"Kael? Just Kael? Hahaha, who do you think you are? Where are you from?"

"Yeah, just Kael. You're not befitting to hear the rest." Kael voice echoed softly as he stared back at Martin, his eyes emitting a dark glow unknowingly to him.

Ding!

[Quest Received: Defeat the pawn of Hera]

[Reward: A Shard]

[Penalty: Death]

"Damn! What's this?!" Kael couldn't help but mutter in frustration. He knew his plan of losing was no longer possible now.

"We'll see about that!" Charging forward, Martin swung his spear in a sweeping motion but was easily blocked by Kael. He swung his legs, kicking Kael across his chest.

Skidding across the ground, Kael came to a stop before charging forward. "Now my life's on the line, I need to win!" Twisting his foot, he exploded forward, both weapons clashing.

Kael was sent seven steps backwards before coming to a stop. Martin was sent just two steps with a smile on his face. Swinging his spear, kael suddenly sensed the shift of the air, which surged around the blade.

Flipping backwards, he just managed to evade the attack. "Shit!" Raising his weapons up, he prepared to block the spear heading towards his chest.

BOOOM

Kael was sent backwards bouncing across the hard ground before coming to a stop, his weapons metres away from him.

[-8hp]

Rolling across the ground, he evaded the spear once more before rising quickly.

"How was that, huh? Still not befitting enough for you?" Martin said as he slowly walked towards him with a smile etched on his face.

Tsk.

He was aware Martin was using his powers in his attacks, but he was still holding back, deciding to test the waters.

Appearing before kael once again, he struck his chest and then held onto his cloth, slamming him to the ground. He swung his leg, kicking him on his ribs with his body skidding across the ground.

"Ughhh," Kael groaned in pain. "Does he have teleportation power?" Kael thought, rising to his feet. "No, that's different it appears his speed is being boosted by a strange force."

"Air? He can manipulate the wind and fuse it with his attacks and movements," Kael muttered as he watched him charge towards him. He could clearly see it now and quickly prepared himself. Looking around, he found his sword towards the edge of the field. "I need to get my weapon, but first…"

"Do you know how long I trained to get to this stage? No, I'm not sure. After all, you are just some lowly being who doesn't understand the world!" His spear was thrust forward right at Kael's chest.

"Yeah, you're right. I don't understand the world, but that doesn't mean I'm going to lose to you." Kael leapt high with great timing and then landed on the spear stomping it into the ground. Running across, he leapt with his knees high, slamming into the face of Martin.

Kael form disappeared at the moment, appearing behind Kael. Clenching his fist, he struck his back, causing him to stumble. "I think fighting with my fists is okay." He thought swinging his legs, which struck his head, causing him to crash to the ground.

"Damn you!" Martin exclaimed in fury as the wind currents around him increased. He was finally using his powers openly. The wind danced around his body and followed his movement. Swinging his spear rapidly, the wind surrounding him broke out and sped towards Kael's direction.

Kael charged forward, weaving through the arcs of wind, careful not to get caught.

SPLATT!

Kael stumbled in his steps, crashing to the ground. "Shit! I messed up!" He thought, staring at his legs, which had been torn and was just barely held by little flesh. The wind arc, which he evaded, had struck from behind and was amazingly sharp.

"He's going to get it now," Lucius said with a smile on his face.

"Do you think so?" Duncan said with a strange smile. "To me, the fight just began."

"Argh," Kael groaned softly, struggling to rise from the ground.

[-15hp]

The remaining wind arcs were coming towards his direction at a high speed. "C'mon heal quickly!" He screamed in his mind, watching the wind arcs edge closer. Looking at his legs, he knew the blades would strike him before it fully healed.

"Let's see," raising his hands, a dark glow wrapped around as he slammed them onto the ground. "Gravity shift!"