A Duel with the Two Alden Boys

The two brothers stood side by side, but it was hard to tell they were related.

The older, taller, and bigger-looking one is no doubt Alistair. Compared to Raz's expectation of finding an arrogant child. Alistair looked very similar to his father; his eyes didn't reveal any hatred or disgust but a stoic expression.

Meanwhile, Camden was already smirking at Raz with eyes that seemed to scream that he was superior to him.

Raz smirked and wondered, 'I wonder how good they are compared to some of the youths I've fought.'

Seeing Raz smirk, Camden grit his teeth as he clenched his fists tight and snapped, "Alright, you little brat, don't think you've won just cause you are as tall as me. Pick a weapon from one of those weapon racks, and I'll take you down a peg."

As much as he didn't want to admit it, Raz always found children calling him a brat to be annoying as he thought, 'Brat? If only this poor soul knew how old I really was…'

Looking towards a rather large rack of wooden weapons that contained a variety of weapons from swords to glaives to even a bow and arrow. The weapons even seemed to be tailored for younger trainees as they were smaller than normal weapons.

Both Camden and Raz walked to the weapons rack. While Camden seemed to be in deep thought, Raz just leaned against the rack and waited for the boy to pick his weapon of choice.

Looking towards Raz, Camden spat, "Are you gonna just stand there or pick a weapon?"

"I'll choose whatever weapon you choose. After all, it'd be my win regardless. I'll even go unarmed if you wished, " Raz remarked with a cheeky toothy grin.

Camden seemed to have a physical reaction to the remark as the veins around his neck bulged, and his eyes turned slightly red.

Too angry to speak, he picked up a wooden spear which seemed like the weapon he was most familiar with and walked over to a slightly raised polished concrete-like platform.

Seeing what weapon his opponent chose, Raz had to bite his lip from bellowing with laughter as he pitied the child, as the spear was one of the weapons he favored the most as Xin.

Picking up the spear, Raz tested out a few basic motions like stabbing, blocking, and even a few horizontal slashes before seeing if the spear would be able to support his weight which it could.

Feeling satisfied, he walked onto the battlefield and smiled as he began, "I'm ready anytime you are."

Incensed, Camden charged ahead, lifting his spear as he yelled.

Standing there without moving, Raz welcomed the charge. Just as Camden thrust his spear forward, his spear hit nothing but air as his opponent sidestepped.

Before Camden could pull back his spear, Raz grabbed one end with his right before thrusting the spear with his left using the blunt end.

The thrust hit Camden straight into the solar plexus sending him back a few steps. He collapsed onto his back while gasping for air as he seemed to be slightly winded.

Disappointed, Raz took a deep breath taking in the familiar and comforting smell of the dirt and grass that surrounded the platform as he thought, 'What a disappointing fight. Prone to taunts. Rushing forward without a thought in the world. Horrendous footing and positioning. He's even worse than some of the regular children back in the cultivation world.'

Looking around, Elder Jude intensely rubbed his scrunched-up brow as he seemed embarrassed by his grandson's performance.

Camden continued to frantically gasp in an attempt to breathe. Around half a minute passed before Al himself hoisted Camden over his shoulder off the stage.

Without saying anything, Alistair walked over to the storage of wooden weapons, which Raz followed with anticipation of hopefully something that could entertain him.

Glancing over at his opponent, Raz actually found the stoic child to smile but not out of some sick motive or arrogance, but with joy out of fighting a tough opponent seen from the previous match.

'Not bad,' Raz thought.

Alistair picked up a wooden sword which Raz mirrored but more so out of comfort and habit rather than trying to show off.

The two stood face-to-face in the center of the ring.

For the first time since Raz had met the boy, Alistair spoke as said, "Ready."

Raz replied the same, "Ready."

Instead of the absolute chaos and rush that happened in the previous match, the two circled each other slowly as they studied their opponent.

Raz noted the boy's rather good basics. Solid foundation and footing, positioning of the hands on the weapon, focus on both Raz and his weapon, etc.

Deciding to make the first move, Raz did a simple combination with a side slash followed by a feint to the left before trying to end it with an overhead strike.

Alistair responded quite well, managing to block both strikes and only momentarily pausing on the feint before he countered attacked with short stabs.

Weaving his body side to side before taking a step back to gather himself, Raz decided to play along with Alistair by mainly defending.

After a few more exchanges, Raz made his judgment, 'A very good grasp of the basics and a fundamentally sound approach, but if this is all, then I'm greatly disappointed.'

As if hearing his thoughts, Alistair, who breathed heavily, suddenly shifted his form entirely from a stable, basic position to a more exotic-looking posture that resembled a tiger ready to pounce.

Raz, whose breaths were still steady, saw the change and smiled with anticipation as this type of posture reminded him of his days as a cultivator.

Smelling the tension and sweat from his opponent, Raz also changed his posture to a more defensive style while honing his focus to the razor's edge.

Alistair, seemingly using most of his remaining energy, went from a stoic demeanor to a suddenly intense one as his brow furrowed and gritted his teeth, trying to channel the anger and ferociousness of a tiger.

His sword moved faster than before, striking out four times in succession. Standing the closest and being the target of the move, Raz's vision saw what appeared to be an ethereal tiger with red eyes baring his fangs before swiping with its paws.

Smiling at the fact that while magic was the main focus of this world that it seemed whoever taught Alistair had some semblance of knowledge of martial arts and techniques that reminded Raz of fond memories.

The four strikes, still resembling a tiger strike, streaked toward Raz, who stepped back twice before he unknowingly thought, 'Defensive technique: Steel Bulwark.'

Before the strikes could reach Raz, his sword caught the strikes with one swift but sturdy motion as if the tiger's paw had struck at a fortress wall.

Alistair's strike was not bad, but from the complete shock written all over his face, Raz could see that the boy's horizons were small, like a frog in a well.

Wanting to give the promising child a goal to work towards, Raz had to hold back a tear as he thought of a person in his last life, 'I dedicate this move of yours to you, Master. Spring's Blossoms: Bloom!'

Subconsciously, Raz's qi surged forth from his dantian into his blade as he executed his move, which was so beautiful and graceful it almost seemed as if he was dancing.

Alistair, who was tired and gasping for air from executing his previous move, stood in awe with his pupil dilated, eyes wide, and his sword dropping to his side as he knew he could not block this move.

Seemingly out of nowhere, various flowers dotted Alistair's vision in his mind.

The winds shifted and gently whistled in his ears, carrying a pleasant, harmonious scent that seemed to fill only Alistair's nose.

He saw them all bloom like a flashbang searing into his vision before tens of various slashes and stabs impacted deep into his body.

Luckily the light wood sword meant the damage was nothing substantial, but he still fell back a few feet as he saw these imaginary flowers disappear from his vision.

Everyone supporting Raz started to clap as they gave shouts of encouragement and compliments.

Meanwhile, Jude seemed to have aged even more as he came to the realization that both his grandsons lost.

Al, on the other hand, didn't seem to care about anything but made sure that his son was okay, to which Alistair affirmed he was fine.

Before anything else happened, Alistair strained himself by standing before walking up to Raz and bowing as he respectfully admired, "I will take your move to heart and strive for a similar level."

'Admirable,' Raz remarked with his impression and evaluation of Alistair rising.

The two exchanged words before respectfully departing.

As Raz stepped down to the platform, he was immediately greeted by a hug from his mother.

Fay purred like a kitten as she whispered, "Are you hurt anywhere?"

After reassuring his mother that he was not hurt, Raz was given compliments while also expressions of surprise by both Ed and William, who didn't know that he was this skilled in the art of combat.

Raymond seemed to have noticed the profoundness of Raz's techniques as he occasionally glanced at him with a peculiar expression but didn't say anything.

William suggested, "Since that's over shall we go visit the city?"

Everyone agreed, and soon the group departed to the city, including even people like Raymond, Marisa, and a few guards.