Chapter 46: Fireshaper
The world seemed to have a way of coming around in a full circle. Out of all the sixty-three competitors, my lot had to be set against someone of House Daenerys.
Marie Eole Daenerys was a pure Fireshaper, although she seemed to be decent with a sword. I did not have a clue what decent meant in the informant’s book, but decidedly, her shaping capabilities overshadowed her swordsmanship.
Hopefully, she would not be as disappointing as Ao. So far, I have met three members of House Daenerys. While Ao was the most spineless and incompetent one, the others did not exude any air of virtue either. They were used to throwing their weight around to intimidate anyone below their station and coerce them into doing their bidding, like how that tribune came to harass Mum into making him artefacts.
The fable-class knight was the worst. Whereas the younger ones were vain bullies, the old knight was black-hearted. If he had even a speck of honour, then there would not have been over 300 casualties during the demon incursion. Certainly, the apple does not fall far from the tree. I hope this vileness did not run in the family.
As I waited for my turn to arrive, Cassius piped up from my left, “You have not told me what Swordsense is.”
I sniffed at him. The scrawny fellow had denied all my inquiries about swordsense. He was so good at lying that he did not even flinch once. I had observed his battle and knew for certain that each of his movements was calculated beforehand. Even the brunt he had taken all seemed part of his play, to create a hole in his opponent's defences.
Without Swordsense, he would need to have years of battle experience or an ungodly foresight to lead the duel in such a masterful way.
"It's some kind of foresight ability, is it?" Cassius pitched, gazing at me with calculating eyes. Something in them, I could not put a finger on, unnerved me. “An auric skill, hmm.”
I eyed him, my eyebrows arching. How long was he going to feign ignorance?
At first, I was delighted to finally find someone outside of Father, Uncle Dalin, and Delric who had abilities similar to mine. Cassius seemed only a year older than I, and his circumstances were nothing like mine to accelerate his swordsmanship to such a degree. So it was quite spectacular that he had gained it so early. Even in Ryon, according to Father, only the most talented made it into true swordsmen in their early adulthood, with one or two exceptions in late adolescence every few generations.
Since the fellow wanted to keep it a secret, I wondered if he was like one of those exceptions.
“You know,” he said, “my friend Kelvin will probably awaken the ability before me, if he has not already.”
Snorting, I inched forward to watch the duels. With a fable-class Life-giver tending to the duels, the contestants did not have to hold back anything. There had even been one battle where someone lost a limb. Thankfully, the mender was able to reattach it immediately.
Cassius's friend Kelvin fought on the left stage, charging with a two-metre-tall spear. Compared to Cassius's calculated and sublime style, his friend seemed to have made it through the rounds by sheer force alone. What he lacked in the mastery of spearmanship, he made up for with his turbulent aura, which had already reached the advanced stage.
"I have you know,” Cassius said, “Kelvin is stronger, both in physical power and aura."
I nodded along, clearly not believing him. Cassius, seemingly helpless in selling his lies, shook his head when another tall figure joined us.
"He seemed to have barely improved since the last time we fought." It was Paximus, holding the golden spear in his hand.
Cassius crunched up his nose. "Don't mention that anywhere near him. It will save us a lot of bickering."
Paximus merely shrugged.
"Is the fool still battling without a shred of protection?"
Kelvin did not wear any protective amulet or wards, not even any armoured fabricators for protection. Well, none of that would be any more helpful than the gift of Iron Skin of his.
"He says the toughest steel is forged through battle," Cassius explained, clearly disagreeing with the sentiment. "The way I see it, he’s just reckless beyond measure."
The duel in the other section ended soon, as I closed my eyes to refocus and waited for my turn. Once the stage was in order, I stepped onto it with a confident gait. My opponent came a moment later, clad in silver armour and carrying a longsword on her back. Definitely not the look most Shapers went for.
Marie Eole Daenerys was fair, with her hair cropped even shorter than mine. She had a handsome face, though as far removed from delicate as possible. Beneath the armour and protection, she carried a bulk of muscle unmistakable even through her attire.
The referee called the rules as I sized her up, my opponent mirroring me with an innate icy look in her gaze. Although her aura hardly gave any impression, I would be a fool to believe she had not already learned about me. Any self-respecting fighter would at least examine their competitors, let alone me. In recent years, if there was any tribulation that had befallen House Daenerys, it surely came from my parents.
In case there was any misconception, I would eradicate it with my announcement, “Arilyn Arcis O’Ryon, of Karmel.”
"Marie Eole Daenerys," my foe said with adequate venom in her tone, "of House Daenerys."
With a shout from the referee, the duel commenced.
And immediately, a torrent of sizzling flame flooded to life. Marie Daenerys had already prepared her shaping, and once the whistle was blown, she did not wait ceremoniously to hurl it all towards me.
Obviously, fractal sight did not let it escape my senses. Still, I waited until the last moment to draw my blade.
The unnamed sword radiated with an oscillating aura. With one swing, I dispersed the surging flame from my way, leaving only a warm, boiling wind in its wake. Her mastery of fire-shaping was better than Ao, but it still lacked intensity.
"At least you have some abilities," said my opponent. "Good. I won't be too disappointed then."
She did not wait for me to retort, as lances of fire manifested above her head. There were four of them, each emblazoned with the full power of sixty-four essence threads. Once she made a hand gesture, all of them hurtled straight towards me.
Gripping the blade in one hand, I lurched into motion, avoiding any spell I could while dispersing the firepower with the resonance of oscillation. The Daenerys girl was better than I had given her credit for. At once, she could cast four lances. While four were not that difficult with her swordsmanship alone, as soon as her spells manifested, she repurposed her essence threads to hurl more, almost taking no breather in between.
Moreover, her shaping was battle-tested. Under her Influence and Will, they chased after me in an onslaught. Only a couple of them went awry and plunged into the ground.
To cut her rhythm, I surged at her in an attempt to take offence. Since she carried a sword, I would test if she was any good with it. But before that, her barrage of fiery bursts obstructed my path.
Levitation boots sprang to life, launching me tens of metres into the air. With Haste, I angled down at her, swinging my blade to hurl a ruthless swordlight in her way.
Marie Eole Daenerys did not take it head-on. She had a pair of levitation boots of her own, not to mention that her armour provided further acceleration if needed. With little manipulation, she appeared in the air, a twisted smile quirking up on her lips.
"Is that all you can do?" she taunted.
Again, she did not let me return a retort, hurling streaks of fiery arrows towards me. I snorted in derision, suppressing the urge to blast her off with my strongest fire spell.
Cheers from the crowd blended into the background as I chased after her through the fiery onslaught. Both of our figures darted in the open air, as fire exploded without fanfare. Every time I drew any closer to her, a searing flame would emblazon my view, and she’d escape in no time.
Aerial fighters were the most annoying to fight, I must admit.
"That's quite good. You can be proud—"
Before she could finish, I surged with all my aura. A piercing swordlight with the full resonance of penetration and sharpness plunged at her, ripping through the barrage of spells.
Marie Eole Daenerys immediately flared all the kinetic launchers on her armour. They buzzed to life, hurtling her to the other side. The momentary panic in her eyes shifted to a contemplative one.
Although the swordlight missed by a metre, the indomitable aura still plunged towards the protective wards around the arena, creating a thin line of crack. Whoever was in charge of overseeing it quickly rushed to fix it before any further damage.
The audience jeered in an uproar, blindingly unaware of the threat they were in. Then again, there were multiple powerhouses residing in the Hippodrome. Any one of them could stop the force of my sword without even lifting a finger.
"That's quite some power," my foe said, sounding unconcerned. "I wonder how many times you can generate them."
Solas help me, she's so annoying.
"You want to find out?" Snarling those words, I lurched towards her once more, piercing aura radiating high on my blade.
Despite carrying a sword, she did not even unsheathe it to face me head-on. Perhaps it was a relic to empower her path, or most probably, she had noted that engaging with me in close quarters was a sure path to defeat.
Whatever it was, I wondered how long she would be able to maintain the distance. Her essence might carry her for long, but I was not particularly sure if her Will would. With how consistently and unrelentingly she was flinging fire spells towards me, I’d give her a few more minutes before she would have to worry about burning out.
Ruminating on that, I mounted a more defensive front. Since she did not plan on meeting head-on, I did not have any obligation to meet her spells.
As I imagined, not even two minutes passed before her barrage of spells slowed down, as well as their intensity.
She attempted to pull me around with telekinesis, but my blade felled those threads before she could gain any hold. Tactics like those might work on a regular augmenter, but I could see her threads perhaps more clearly than she could.
By the time she adjusted to narrow it down on me, I drifted farther away once more. Perhaps a fool would not be able to see what was going amiss there, but Marie Daenerys was clearly not one.
"You are quite persistent, like a fly," she growled, finally feeling some heat in her core.
"What?” I voiced, rising higher beyond the zone of her influence. “Feeling strain in your Will?"
She could already feel the duel slipping from her control.
"Some swordsman you are," she barked. “Face me head-on if you have the spine.”
I snorted at her words. Even Priam could open with a much meaner strike. But if I had been waiting for something harsher, the girl certainly delivered, and in a way that boiled the very blood running through my veins.
"Just like your spineless parents, aren't you?" she whirled in an icy tone. “Run away! Flee! After all, that’s all you are good for.”
My essence almost escaped my control, while my aura already did, permeating all my surroundings.
"Why?" The girl smiled brightly, noticing the change. "Did I strike a nerve? Did you feel angry hearing about all the treasonous deeds your mother had pulled? You think just repenting in exile will forgive all the wrongs?”
My figure froze in the air, as the torrential flood of power boiled with my fury. I could have calmed it down through a breathing exercise. But I did not. For once, I let the power—
“It surely runs in the family. Good thing, the Imperator seized all the—"
The very air froze. All the essence threads roared to life in an indomitable display of power, as my aura boiled hotter with each passing moment.
Some things should not be said. Even if I knew they were all false, a ruse to anger me, I would not tolerate anyone, anyone degrading my parents. Let alone someone who barely had the strength to stand up to me.