Battle of the Bloodchosen (1/2)

As Dakka flies towards the nearest mountain, he's sure to travel extra slow. He wouldn't have time to think at all if he arrived there instantly... and he has a lot to think about.

In the end, his thoughts only stray absentmindedly around the strange adventure his grandfather is taking him on.

'Why are we here?'

'Why insist on this ritual?'

'What about Grandfather's status as one of these Bloodchosen? What's he been hiding all this time?'

It seems that old Fheldin is much more than he seemed before, and this has only made Dakka more curious.

As soon as he sets his large frame atop the mountain, he looks over to the peak standing opposite his.

Fheldin still isn't in his dragon form, but Dakka can still see the opposing warrior, even from this great distance.

Dakka then sees Fheldin raise is left palm up, and he traces a line on it with the other hand. A long, thing cut appears, and Fheldin holds up Drakavar's black blood on display.

"This blood," Fheldin says in a calm voice, "will grant you the power and authority to be Drakavar's representative. With this blood in your veins, the Elementals will not dare disobey you, and no dragon shall ever even think about attacking you!"

Indeed, there's a reason why all of Fheldin's descendants were far too scared of defying him. In truth, Fheldin never even tried to exert his pressure over them. Rather, they subconsciously couldn't defy Drakavar's blood, which flows in his veins.

Plus, the oppressive power in Drakavar's blood is the only reason why Fheldin had to bring Dakka here to fight. In this realm, every dragon effectively has Drakavar's blessing. Otherwise, Dakka could've never fought his grandfather – no matter how strong he was.

"This blood is the gift Drakavar gave to our ancestors of old, making us 6-Horned dragons, where we were once measly humans," Fheldin adds.

"Only here, in the seat of Drakavar's power, does her blood gift not offer any advantage. Only here can a dragon fight one of the blood chosen," Fheldin says somberly.

"As is tradition," Fheldin says in a calm, authoritative voice, "the condition our duel is set. The winner will claim the Blood of Drakavar, and the loser will never again set foot in this Realm again."

'Grandfather,' Dakka thinks telepathically to Fheldin, 'Are you sure you want to do this? I'm getting the feeling that Drakavar wants us to battle to the death.'

'Why? It's a bad time to get scared, little boy.'

Dakka is a little taken aback when Fheldin says this. This dragon had grown up with his grandfather being stern, yet scholarly. The man was warm to guests, and overall, seemed quite disciplined and civilized, all things considered.

However, the longer they've been here, Dakka's been getting the feeling that something is off about his grandfather.

The old man seems… a little off kilter… and bloodthirsty. It's like someone plucked away his grandfather and replaced him with a battle-crazed maniac.

Sure, Fheldin hasn't done anything barbaric yet, but Dakka can just FEEL it. The uninhibited eagerness leaking out of the old man's Aura is just unmistakable.

Then, Dakka watches as the old dragon reaches his hands out, and two, straight swords appear in his hands. The swords don't appear to be made of dragon bone. In fact, they're not even enchanted.

They're just normal, iron swords.

Old Fheldin swings the swords once as a test swing, then straightens his back. With the swords raised and his body poised in a battle stance, he's ready for battle.

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Seeing his grandfather actually take out a pair of swords, Dakka can't quite tell if this was supposed to be a joke.

Why would a dragon need swords? Humans only use those things to make up for their lack of strength. But dragons? Their claws are sharper than any sword and their scales are tougher than any metal. Why use those little iron toothpicks?

'Grandfather is only a 5-Horned dragon,' Dakka tries to justify his grandfather's strange choice of weapon. 'He probably knows he's going to lose, so he decided to have a little fun before he goes out.'

"Grandfather?" Dakka sends one last telepathic message, "Are you throwing the match?"

"ENOUGH TALK!!" Fheldin's voice roars across the cosmos.

Before Dakka can even think, himself and everything around him is engulfed in bright, white light.

Dakka can feel his scales burning away, and every organ in his body lurches painfully to the side.

Dakka isn't even sure what's going on. All he knows is that he's hurling through space. Every now and then, he briefly feels his back slam through something, but the feeling comes and goes so quickly that he almost thinks it's an illusion.

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By the time Dakka is flung out of the explosion, he's already hurled so far into space that… he can't quite tell where he is anymore. Fheldin certainly knocked him off Tali's moon, but where did he end up?

Dakka looks down and sees the bloody hole in his abdomen… Judging by the long, thin shape of the hole, it seems that Fheldin's sword cut straight through the 6-Horned dragon's scales.

'The old man's really trying to kill me!?'

'Very well,' Dakka thinks, 'I can tell that we're both a lot stronger in this Realm than we were in the other Realm.'

How else could a mere 5-Horned dragon harm Dakka – a 6-Horned dragon?

Dakka somberly rubs the hole in his abs, which is rapidly closing up.

'That first strike was probably just a warning shot. It's like Fheldin is telling me that I need to use the power in this Realm to strengthen my defenses.'

'Still…,' Dakka thinks as he braces himself for his Grandfather's next strike, 'he IS my Grandfather, and he has 1 less horn than me. I shouldn't be too hard on him.'

Fheldin mentioned that a 5-Horned dragon can move galaxies.

Doing that much should be enough, right?

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When Fheldin released his first strike against his grandson, the reason Dakka wasn't able to find Tali's moon anymore is because the moon was blown apart.

Evidently, Fheldin was strengthened much more by this Realm than Dakka anticipated. Destroying a moon from the core to the surface isn't something even a 6-Horned dragon should be capable of.

That aside, Fheldin doesn't lose sight of his grandson for even a second. He could've swooped in and struck a final blow against Dakka, before the little kid realized exactly how to strengthen himself with Drakavar's ambient power.

When his sword hits Dakka's chest, he feels a hard *thunk*, and his strike is deflected to the side.

'Good. He's learned already,' Fheldin thinks in satisfaction. 'It took me twice as long to get used to the abundant power here.'

Thinking about this, Fheldin's heart can't help but swell with pride.

'Still… He's not using all the power he could be using! How dare he look down on his opponent!?'

"That tickled, old man!" Dakka taunts him.

"Don't get cocky, little kid. Dragons have a long history with arrogance. It gets them killed," Fheldin replies in a calm tone.

As if his next strike is meant to teach Dakka this lesson, the younger dragon is slapped in the face with his left sword. If Dakka hadn't had his defenses up, he's skull would've been cleaved in half.

Even still, the force of the blow sends the younger dragon hurling off into space again.

After Dakka rights himself again, the dragon lifts his hands up and starts using his power on the nearest galaxy.

Dakka may have known he could do it in this Realm, but he's still surprised when the galaxy above him starts shifting from its place, and when all the power trapped within it starts flowing between his fingertips.

Fheldin stops for a moment and looks at the genuine surprise on his grandson's face. Clearly, the child may have known that he could harness the power of a galaxy here, but actually doing it for the first time is still shocking.

Then, Fheldin watches fondly as wonder fills his grandson's eyes. It's pure, childlike joy.

'I'm glad it was him who got this powerful,' Fheldin thinks fondly. 'Most of my other descendants are far too caught up in themselves to handle this kind of power.'

Fheldin has heard of more than a few idiotic bloodchosen-candidates who, when drunk on this much power, when to challenge Drakavar to a duel. They thought this power made them invincible.

Needless to say, their stupidity proved them unworthy to be Halnith-Kae.

Rather, their stupidity proved them unworthy of existing.

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After that slap, Fheldin and Dakka enter a bit of a dance. Both sides attack each other while carefully raising the power in their strikes.

Dakka is unwilling to use his full strength against an elder he respects – all because the old man has less horns than him. Isn't it ungentlemanly to completely crush the old codger?

And so, once Dakka figures out how strong his grandfather's attacks are, he's already adjusted his power to match what the old man is using.

And thus, both sides finally start contending with each other as dragons should.

With each bite, a planet is crushed in a dragon's teeth. With every kick, space caves in on itself. With every breath, a bright flash akin to a supernova explodes in black space. With every swing of a tail, a galaxy is dispersed.

As the dragons fight on longer and longer, Dakka starts letting his tongue hang out, and he starts panting in excitement.

'This is fun!' His tail can't help but wag to the side just thinking about this. 'I want this fight to last forever!!'

The feeling of the heavens' powers flowing through him just feels… way too intoxicating!

Meanwhile….

Fheldin is thinking sourly, 'Why's this little sh#t holding back!? Is he looking down on me?! He's a 6-Horned dragon. He should be capable of far more than this!!!'