Friendly Match...?

"I'll make sure to show you what is the true power to be a First Seat Pillar. And that we are forces to be reckoned with. Without being tied down to a single fighting style, we are the most diverse in combat within the Arks," said Bryan, sticking out his hand in the form of a handshake.

I grabbed and shook that hand with confidence as Melissa stood beside us for payment.

"Bring it on," I said as Bryan dropped a Silver Piece into Melissa's palms.

The two thanked us and we made our way out. We walked out from the village and back into the dense forest once more. Ways to duel Bryan and deal the finishing blow filled my vision. I had so many Elements to use and choose from.

But I decided to use my skills as a saber first before using any power. And to be fair, I won't be using Avarice since that would be a cheat. And another reason why I won't use any Element was that I didn't want to deplete my Elemental Energy unnecessarily.

We are still in the middle of the forest, so anyone out of the fight could attack us.

"We've reached this place should be quite far from civilization so no human will get caught in the crossfire. Since this is free for all matches, I would use my Elemental Powers while swinging my blades around. You should be able to handle that. What would you be using?" asked Bryan.

"My sword. And my brain."

Bryan widened his eyes upon hearing that. The twin scythes appeared in both of his hands as I summoned up my longsword. I held it in front of me, preparing to defend myself from an incoming attack.

"I like the confidence you hold. Well then, let's do this way, shall we? For the first round, we will use nothing but combat skills to fight each other. No Magecraft, just pure fighting skills. Blade against the blade, or if you're okay with it, you can use your body if you'd like."

"But I'm pretty sure you would break something if you'd try punching me," suggested Bryan, brandishing his scythes.

"Consider it done," I replied, bending slightly with my foot in front of the other.

I wasted no time in closing the gap against my opponent. I tried slashing his neck but was blocked by one of his scythes. Sparks flew as we clashed. The next moves were lightning fast as he deflected all of my attacks. It reminded me of the first fight against the Flower Mage.

Bryan was using both blades to defend himself against my longsword and didn't have any way out. Neither did I since I've got only one weapon. So that calls for a different strategy. He threw one of the scythes towards my blade to trap it within its chains.

But I could see it before the scythe left his hand and changed my grip abruptly by turning my blade sideways. Now my left arm was across my chest. First, I diagonally pointed the length of the blade to the ground. Then, using the support of my free hand, I managed to swing my sword upwards.

My blade clashed and hooked the scythe initially thrown at me. Bryan tried to recall his blade by yanking the chain before my sword could reach it but was too slow. The force of both edges colling against managed to break the surface dirt we stood on.

Both of us instinctively jumped backward and onto the flat surface again. Then, suddenly, Bryan took off, running around the side of the broken ground. He used one of his blades to strike at my neck from a lower angle. I took in a deep breath and concentrated all my strength on my legs.

I sprung out of harm's way right at the nick of time, making Bryan follow my movement to a higher angle of attack. Then, focusing all my strength back onto my legs, I forced my whole body to get back onto the ground.

The attack happened within a few seconds, so Bryan didn't have time to react appropriately.

"Blast! You're a slippery one!" cursed Bryan, realizing he needed to change his body quickly.

Since he was already ready to attack upwards, he didn't expect me to duck at such a tight spot. But as I did, I took the chance to swing my blade at his lower body. But he was a very quick Mage and stopped the edge by catching it between the top of his knee and the tip of his elbow.

My eyes widened as I figured that he'd got my primary weapon within his grasp. I've got to figure out something new! His other hand is still primed and ready to deliver a fatal blow to my head.