Duel

'He must be quite well respected…'

Neoma thought as he watched the cadets all bow to his instructor and even Enyo speaking with him as if Juno was her equal.

'And quite strong if she's using such a friendly tone when talking with him.'

The human then looked back towards his opponent. He and Orion stood on the first training field, facing each other. The other cadets and the two instructors had gathered around them to watch this sparring match. They were all hoping for Orion's win. After all, they didn't want a human to defeat an elf. Except for Juno.

"Get ready."

Juno instructed the two and Neoma quickly conjured a black whip in his hand. Orion held a spear in his hand and made the earth element begin to flow faster through his veins, using his magic to strengthen his body and weapon.

'This is going to be quite troublesome. Even if Orion is considered an evil character in "The Elven Hero", he isn't some typical stupid villain who charges first and fights based on instinct. He doesn't underestimate any of his opponents, even if they are much weaker than him. He is quite knowledgeable on how magic works and he can quickly figure out his opponent's weakness and how to exploit it to get a guaranteed win.

'Ahh… I do love well written characters. Especially villains. You don't get to see those types of characters often.'

Neoma let out a small sigh as he thought and gripped the whip in his hand.

'I can't lose this fight. I need to win it, no matter in what way. I don't care if I need to cheat to accomplish this. I will use autopilot mode if necessary.'

He was determined to win. He couldn't afford to lose since he was fighting to show that the king's decision to nurture him was a good one so no one would question Kyros again.

'Come to think of it… Does he even know about this duel?'

He couldn't help but wonder.

"Begin."

Juno announced the start of the duel.

'I must strike him first.'

Neoma thought as he placed his left foot behind and then pushed himself forward, quickly accelerating and dashing towards his opponent. It only took a mere second for him to arrive right in front of Orion.

'He's fast!'

The red haired elf's eyes widened slightly as he saw a kick coming towards his side. He moved the spear and barely managed to block Neoma's attack.

'He's fast, but it is bearable.'

A frown appeared on the cadet's face as he pushed Neoma back with his weapon. More of his earth magic flowed to the spear until brown dust particles began to float around it.

'Let's see how well this anti-magic power works against the earth element.'

Neoma raised his left hand which held the whip and struck his weapon towards Orion. The elf quickly moved his spear in a defensive position, ready to block it. Right when whip hit the weapon imbued with Orion's earth element, the magic nearly immediately disappeared. It was devoured by the anti-magic.

The elf's eyes widened as he felt his weapon lose the magic almost instantly after it was struck by his opponent's whip. Due to the shock, he was momentarily frozen in place, his mind trying to quickly come up with a way to deal with anti-magic.

'Now's the chance!'

Neoma raised his whip again and struck, just this time even faster and harder. The whip hit the spear with greater force and then it broke in half. Before the elf could compose himself, the human charged at him with full speed. By using the incredible speed, he was able to gather enough force to make up for his lack of strength.

With the lower part of his palm, Neoma hit the side of Orion's jaw. The elf wasn't able to hold his balance and collapsed onto the ground. However, he just laid there. He wasn't even trying to stop himself from falling.

'Did I hit him too hard? No, no way. He's way too strong to pass out just from this…'

Neoma thought as he kept a safe distance away from Orion, afraid that the elf would get up and charge at him.

Juno smirked as he witnessed his student knocking out one of the best cadets in training for the elven army; however, the smirk wasn't visible as it was covered by numerous bandages.

The instructor walked over to Orion and crouched down next to the trainee. He checked whether he was awake by gently tapping the spot where he was punched in. He slowly stood back up and glanced at the crowd of elves.

The cadets looked at him with eyes full of hope, but some had already realised what had happened to Orion.

"The winner is Neoma!"

Juno announced as he walked over the human. He couldn't help but smile softly as he placed a hand on top of his head and gently patted it a few times.

"I'm proud of you."

'Oh god… I did it!? And I didn't need to use the autopilot mode! Truly… Anti-magic is scary powerful in this world. It's like the ultimate cheat. Even if my opponent is stronger than me, I can take them by surprise and defeat them just because of the nature of my powers… I didn't even need to use the autopilot mode to defeat Orion. Woah…'

Neoma thought as he felt his instructor patting him on the top of his head. He glanced towards the crowd of elves and saw their shocked expressions. Even Enyo's dull emotionless eyes showed a slight change.

Orion opened his eyes and quickly sat up, looking around before stopping once his eyes met with Neoma's.

'As expected. You can't knock him out for long so easily. He is ranked as number 4 for a good reason.'

The human thought before looking away from the future villain.

'How… How did I lose? To a human at that too… My father will kill me. But that power… It's dangerous. I've never witnessed or experienced something like that before.'

Orion thought as he looked down at his broken spear. A frown then appeared on his face. He was determined to get stronger and find a way to overcome that scary anti-magic of that human.

"Hey, brat. What's your rank?"

Juno asked as he glanced down at the red haired elf who was sitting on the ground. Orion quickly got up and dusted off his clothes.

"I'm ranked 4th among all of the cadets, sir."

The younger elf spoke with respect when he answered the human's personal instructor.

"Mhm. So… Since you were defeated by Neoma, wouldn't that make you number 5. And Neoma would now be ranked as number 4."

Juno smirked as he spoke. His eyes were on Orion; however, he was actually saying this to everyone who had gathered today. He was speaking loudly so everybody would hear his words.

Neoma's eyes widened as he saw Orion biting his lower lip and clenching his fists.

'No! Are you doing this on purpose, you annoying lanky elf! You'll now make him hate me forever!!!'

The human calmed himself down as a small sigh escaped past his lips. He gently tugged on Juno's shirt. The dark haired elf turned around and looked down at his student.

"Hm?"

"I believe it's wrong to rank me, sir… I am not a cadet. I am not part of them, so you can't exactly rank me and demote others."

Neoma told his opinion, hoping that Juno will listen to him. He was terrified of Orion seeking revenge on him, especially if that meant that his father would get involved.

'If Orion's father hears about his son going down by one rank because he was beaten by a human, he will surely do everything to get rid of me.'

The white haired youth thought as he looked up at his mentor with pleading eyes.

"And? Sure, you can't be ranked because you're not a cadet, but that doesn't change the fact that you beat Orion."

'Truly, what an idiot!'

Neoma was fuming, but he didn't let it show on his face. He just sent a small glare towards Juno before letting go of his shirt. He then glanced towards the red haired elf.

'But that doesn't mean that I am stronger than Orion or that he's weaker than me. Even if my anti-magic was able to beat him this time, he still has more experience, strength. He also is able to fight better and has great durability.

'If I ever have to fight him again, I wouldn't be able to win without using my cheat – autopilot mode.'

Neoma looked away from Orion once their eyes met. He didn't wish to irritate him even more.

'I don't have a death wish.'

…

Through one of the windows of the royal palace, a man with dark skin and bright red hair was looking over at the main training grounds cadets used.

A smile formed on his lips.

"As expected…"

He mumbled under his breath before turning around and sitting back down in his seat.