A Grudge Deeper Than Blood

Kies heard what he needed to hear and summoned his weapon. At the same time, an electric shockwave slammed into him and filled up the arena. The anti-magic scarf...

Ayrete drew his sword and attacked Kies while his weapon was still materializing. "You should've brought that thing out beforehand! This is a fight, not a show!" he shouted, slashing at Kies' neck.

Kies leaned back and dodged the strike. He grabbed the handle of his sword and swung it at his opponent, forcing him to move back.

"But, for that sword to come out even though my magic-nullifying field is in full effect... Just what is that..." Ayrete mumbled to himself, not understanding the properties of Kies' weapon. It looked like it was summoned using magic, but since it wasn't canceled, it meant that it was something else...

Kies didn't know much about it himself, but he didn't care. "Winds, come to me!" he shouted.

"That won't work- Wait... What!?" Ayrete looked around in disbelief as the winds rushed to Kies. They surrounded him, forming a miniature whirlwind around his body. "How!?" he asked, stunned by what he was seeing. "My magic- No, wait!?" This was the first time that his magic field had failed him and he didn't know what to do.

Kies didn't say anything and attacked Ayrete, pushing him back with his magic. The soldier stumbled and almost toppled over but managed to stabilize himself and he stood back up, tall and strong.

"I don't know how you are doing that, but the outcome will still be the same," Ayrete said in a harsh tone. The smug look on his face was gone and it was replaced with a serious one. Squeezing the hilt of his sword, Ayrete clenched his teeth and charged at Kies.

The two locked blades and pushed against each other in a contest of raw strength. Normally, it should've been an easy victory for Kies since he was using magic, but he was surprised by how strong his opponent was. Instead of pushing Ayrete back, he was getting pushed back. The sword he had was also made out of some strong material that he couldn't cut with his Aeronite blade. This was unexpected...

Ayrete took the initiative again and broke out of the lock, ducking under Kies' blade and thrusting his sword at his stomach. The attack connected, but it didn't leave much of a mark on Kies.

"What!? Just what is your cloak made out of!?" he asked, growing more and more interested about who it was that he was fighting. From the looks of it, Kies was equipped with plenty of treasures.

"Hm... Since we're here, why don't we make a little wager?" Ayrete asked Kies with a grin. Without a doubt, the items that Kies had were certainly special and he wanted them.

"A wager?"

"Yes, if I win, you give me that cloak of yours, if you win, I'll give up my scarf. How does that sound?" A piece of clothing for a piece of clothing. Both were magical and useful, but Kies didn't like it.

"No. Why would I want that scarf?" He was a mage. He fought with magic. Why in the world would he want something that stops him from using it? And what's more, is that the tool is flawed. Kies was still able to use magic from the moonstone in his pouch for whatever reason.

"Well, I guess I have to take it off you then..." he solemnly said. Kies' treasures were too good to let go of like that. If he can't get it through a deal, then he will have to take it by force.

"I'd like to see you try."

"Then, please do allow me," Ayrete said creepily with a grin, taking a bow like some sort of show performer right before his act. Kies didn't wait for him to finish whatever it was that he was trying to do and shot a wave of Wind Blades at the soldier. He looked up right before they reached him and the winds disappeared just like that, without a trace.

"..."

"As I thought, holding back doesn't suit me," he said in a disappointed voice. Kies felt a surge of electricity go through the air. Suddenly, the winds stopped listening and became wild, breaking free from Kies control, and escaped back into the skies. The air around them wavered as all magic in the radius became unstable and unusable.

"There we go, much better," Ayrete said.

"What did you do?"

"I took away your magic, that's what I did," he sneered. Raising his sword, he attacked Kies, who now was weakened from losing his magic. Completely helpless against his opponent, Kies was pushed back across the arena, nearing the edge.

"Why isn't it working?" Kies kept trying to channel the magic from the moonstone into his body but it wasn't working. It stopped working. His ace in the hole to counter his opponent and defeat him was gone.

"Time to finish this!" Ayrete shouted, raising his sword with both arms and swinging down. Kies parried the blow, but the force made him crumple down to one knee. "Still struggling? Just give up already. You can't win without your magic!" he told Kies, trying to get him to concede. In his eyes, it was a futile struggle since his opponent was longer able to fight back.

"The fight isn't over yet!"

"It isn't? What else do you have then?" Ayrete wanted to see what exactly he was going to do in this position. "Pinned down without your magic. You have no chance left. But..."

Ayrete lightened the force he was exerting on his sword and kicked Kies in the face, sending him tumbling behind him and into the wall.

"I won't let it end like this..." Ayrete said in an angry tone. He pointed his sword at Kies' face. The mask that he wore was cracked from the impact and pieces of it were breaking apart. "Yesterday, you had the audacity to challenge everyone here, yet you don't have the skills to go with your words," Ayrete said in utter disgust. "Stand up!" he barked at Kies, ordering him to get up from the ground.

Though Kies didn't like being told what to do, he stood up anyway as he was going to stand up even if he didn't tell him to. "I can disqualify you right here and now," Ayrete said in a stern voice, wiggling his finger at Kies. "The fact that you're unable to fight back right now proves that you cheated your way into the second round of the tournament."

"Then why aren't you?" Kies asked. If he could prove it then he could get him eliminated right now without having to go through the effort of fighting him.

"Why aren't I? Because you ruined this entire tournament for me!" And everyone else too, but Ayrete didn't care about the other people. He only cared about himself. "I was going to show the world how I am better than that worthless Iceblade, but you took the spotlight from me!" Ayrete said in distress, tearing at his hair. He looked like a complete mad man, lost in his desire to be better than Rui.

"...But I still can... You're nothing more than a thorn in my plans. But just a thorn... That wretched Iceblade will still fall to me..." All Ayrete needed to do was beat Kies and he would achieve his original goal of fighting against Rui. It looked like he wasn't disqualifying Kies because he wanted to take his frustration out on him.

"You're out of your mind..." Kies notes, shaking his head. What did Rui ever do to him? Kies didn't know the answer but it had to be something pretty bad. This was much more than simple rivalry. But knowing Rui, she wasn't the kind to harm others without reason. If Rui did do something to the soldier, he probably did something deserving of it.

"Raise your blade!" Ayrete shouted, raising his own as well. "You're nothing without your magic and petty tricks, but I won't let you surrender here. You will pay for mocking the tournament."

The crowd was cheering for Ayrete to finish Kies off. Behind him, he could hear some of their remarks, being right against the wall.

"Teach em' a lesson!"

"I put my money on you! Looks like drinks will be on me tonight! Hahaha!"

They were all cheering, believing that Kies had already lost. But Kies ignored them. He blocked out their voices. He was in his own world.

"What a waste..." Kies plucked off his mask, pieces of it falling off into the sand. The thing was completely trashed now. There was no point in wearing it anymore.

Ayrete was already mad, to begin with, but seeing how Kies was ignoring him, he became even angrier. "Are you deaf!? Fight me!"

Kies dropped the mask and it landed softly on the sand with a plop. He stared his opponent in the eyes. He could see the veins in his face, ready to burst from all the anger that was swelling up. He was not going to let him off easy. But Kies wasn't planning on giving up either.

As Ayrete ordered him to, Kies raised his sword.

"Good... Now take this!" Ayrete swung his sword diagonally, down from the left. Kies blocked the attack and pushed the weapon away. At the same time, he took two steps forward, getting his back off the wall. He clicked the button on the hilt of his sword and it split, transforming into its two-sided form.

Kies was already in a poor mood from this morning. He ended up taking on a bad commission. The farmer that sighted the so-called "dragon" mistook a large lizard for it. In the end, it was a huge waste of his time and he wasn't happy about it. And now this? He had to fight against an insane soldier who wants to surpass Rui?

"What a pain..." Kies did a fast flurry of strikes with his sword, swinging ten times in under a second, faster than the eye could see.

"What-" Ayrete couldn't react to the attacks at all and was pushed back significantly. Kies retook the ground that he lost, and though he still had a long way to go, he gained back a couple of meters. That was a good start. It was time to turn this fight around.

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