Mythshaper-Chapter 36: Rematch (Revised)

With everyone awakening different types of Gifts, it was almost a pain to keep the rules of the practice duel fair. To maintain even a semblance of equality, different rules were invoked for different types of Gifts.

The boy I was fighting, Kash. had the Gift of Harden, allowing him to harden his skin. Theoretically, it would be difficult to defeat him in a true duel. So, taking his Gift into account, the instructor decided that anyone duelling Kash would need to earn 24 points to win, instead of the usual 12.

That boy couldn’t even cover his whole body with Harden, much less keep it activated throughout the duel. Needless to say, the advantage leaned heavily in Kash’s favour. But as if that changed anything.

Kash’s skill was better than half the class, but honestly, it was subpar.

After I invested half of my unallocated points into my attributes, he could barely keep up with me. That’s not even counting how easily I could catch him off guard. Whenever my duelling cane charged towards his head, Kash would instinctively close his eyes, preparing a futile block.

I didn’t even need to use my Shaper skills as I slowly pushed towards victory.

“Three points to Arilyn,” called the referee. “He is victorious, with a final score of 24 to 7.”

“Phew,” I breathed, removing the helmet from my head. A quick check of my Profile told me I only needed one more victory to complete the first layer of Duelling.

My eyes darted through the hall, searching for Priam. He stood with a group of others, having already fought two of his regular duels—and won both with barely any effort. Honestly, if not for wanting to complete Way of Duelling, there was nothing here for him. He could practically win against more than half the class without even activating Celerity. That was how far ahead he was.

Well, now it was time for me to find out just how far ahead he was compared to me.

With that thought in mind, I approached him, duelling cane in one hand, helmet in the other.

Priam noticed my approach and gazed up at me. “What is it?” He cocked an eyebrow. “You want to battle again after avoiding it all week?”

I merely nodded. There was nothing untrue in what he said, even if he was thoroughly dismissive. I had avoided him, even after forming my second Aether Root. Not because I was afraid of him, but because I had used that time to study his moves.

After careful observation, I found that he had thirty-two essence threads. I couldn’t see his Aether Root, obscured by the glare of his Essence Seed, but simple math confirmed it was four. Defeating him wouldn’t be easy for the current me.

Thankfully, I had a plan.

High on confidence, Priam launched himself at me with full intensity as soon as the duel began. I mounted the defensive stance of Walking Mountain and fended off his attacks. With each parry, Priam pushed me back, but I didn’t let him earn a point so easily.

I had already memorised all his moves after watching him throughout the week, so anticipating his attacks had become easier. But there was still something I couldn’t parry, even if I saw it coming.

I had to use all my mental faculties to predict his moves and prepare beforehand to fend him off. The feints were difficult to counter, but Priam hadn’t yet reached the level of a swordmaster, where his body language would give nothing away. My father might not be a master swordsman, but he was far superior to the boy I was fighting. And he had never gone easy on me—or so I would like to believe.

Annoyed with my parries, Priam charged at me with furious speed, aiming for my head. Already prepared, I managed to put up a block—but he pulled a feint and struck my lower body instead.

“One point to Priam.”

I was not dissuaded. Not even when he quickly garnered two more points. Because he had to push his Gift to its very limit to land those blows, whereas I was waiting to wear him down. As great as Celerity was, it came with a great cost—at least for the common class. Priam couldn’t keep it active for more than a minute or two at a time.

Not to mention, it required more stamina and essence to maintain. His whole profile was built around accommodating the gift. I wouldn’t even be surprised if all his attribute points were invested in Alacrity, Steadiness, Agility and Fortitude.

And it was highly effective. Priam could hold his own against opponents who had a year on him and sometimes even emerge victorious. Now, a year might not sound like much, but considering that we were all barely awakened, a year was the difference between day and night. I could complete so many Ways if I had one year and earn no less than a hundred points out of it.

But of course, Priam and I had been awakened for a while, unlike the rest of our class. A couple of seasons more for Priam, which should have given him all the advantage he needed.

“You cannot win by staying on the defensive,” Priam barked.

I kept my mouth shut and launched an attack whenever my opponent let his Gift rest, forcing him to push his speed even further.

Priam had to use his gift, Celerity, more tactfully as the duel carried on. Instead of unleashing his full ability to overwhelm me in a storm of speed, he merely increased the pace of his sword swings.

I thought Priam would burst into a flurry of attacks, finding it hard to earn points, but instead he became more cautious.

Soon, I learned how right Father’s words were.

Only the Sword Forms I learnt from him were not enough when my opponent was coming at me with tremendous speed. I guess it's time for me to finally utilize my shaping.

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“For how long are you going to run?” my opponent barked at me, becoming irritated.

I shot him a grin, which probably annoyed him further.

Priam lost his last shred of wits and unleashed the full capacity of his gift, his duelling cane moving like a blur of invisible wind. He shot towards me, his duelling cane poised for a strike in a high arc and utterly invisible to most of my classmates' eyes.

Yet I could see it as clearly as I could see the trace of his essence moving whenever he triggered his gift. I used kinetic force to slow his pace since there was no other way I could contend with his speed.

That was when I struck, yanking at his arms with telekinesis. Even under the stress, Priam managed to raise a block, the weave of Celerity enabling him. But of course, I saw it coming and feinted to strike at his lower body.

"One point to Arilyn," announced the combat teacher.

However, my counterstrike didn't end there. I drew eight of my threads of essence along with most of my influence and Weight in his direction. Weaving the threads onto my opponent's limbs, I pushed and yanked with all my telekinetic force before beginning my onslaught. With the remaining eight threads, I knotted them together to form the Empower Weave, which practically doubled the effect of my Telekinesis.

While Priam's Celerity only increased his speed, my weave worked in harmony to slow him down and impair his coordination. It added some extra weight on him, but the continuous push and pull was sufficient to disbalance his movements.

Even then, my speed couldn't match his, but who said I even needed to be faster to win?

I simply had to maintain my hold on him far longer than he could withstand the drawbacks of his own gift.

Priam had been leading the duel from the beginning with a score. That began to change now.

As the power took a toll on his body, I seized my opportunity. Swiftly, I dealt a blow to his shoulder and then to his lower body, scoring two points in quick succession with the second form, Tidal Surge. I transitioned to the first form midway as Priam went on the defensive.

Sweat poured down my face as our duelling canes clashed. The echo of their collision resounded in the air. The referee's remarks about the points barely registered in my ears as I entered a flow state, pushing my ability to its fullest.

An attack on his helmet would have ended the match, but Priam was guarding it rigorously. He only managed that until he exhausted himself and needed a good few minutes of downtime to recover his gift.

"Three points to Arilyn," called the combat teacher. "The duel is over. Victory goes to Arilyn, 9 to 12 in his favour."

I probably could have done better by not giving him some points and by using my other elements. But it required more essence and Will to transfer from one to the other, not to mention the downtime between.

For my combat classes, I mostly focused on Kinetic Force and Fire, though I rarely used the latter against any of my opponents.

Even if it was a close call, a victory was still a victory. Priam was a good swordsman, and his build and gift complemented his forms well. Not to mention, he was two seasons ahead of me.

[Congratulations! Way of Duelling I (10/10) is complete.]

[+2 Unallocated Points.]

[Way of Duelling II (10/25) is now available.]

Finally, it was completed only a week into the institution. The thing about the Way of Duelling was that there needed to be a semblance of rules and refereeing in play before the Spell would count it towards the Way. And also, I had to emerge victorious.

"It was a good fight," I said, falling back and wiping the sweat from my face.

Priam didn't answer; his breathing was laboured. However, frustration was evident on his face as he clenched his fists and punched the ground.

With that, I turned my eyes towards the board where the scores of our duels were recorded.

Arilyn Arcis O'Ryon. Victories: 16 out of 18.

About half of them weren't even counted in the Way since no teacher or referee presided over them.

"You actually managed to defeat him," Eran said, clasping me on the shoulder. He couldn't believe it. "And only with swordsmanship too."

"It wasn't only swordsmanship," I said with a grin. "Shapers are not too shabby if they put their will onto it."

"Don't get too cocky," Priam snorted, turning his eyes from the board to me. "I'll take the victory tomorrow."

He probably wanted to fight it out right then, but the Institution would be closed soon, not to mention how weary he was.

I gave him a customary nod before turning to Eran. "So, how did your fight go?"

My friend sighed. "It was tough, but I managed to get the victory. Two wins out of three today," he said with a laugh, though I could see the lingering unease in his expression. Exhaustion, too.

Eran was in ninth place among the 42 students in our class. That might look like a respectable number, but considering half of the students weren't even serious about duelling, it was rather a middling score. At least, that was what I thought was middling for my friend.

Eran's swordsmanship was fine. He had all three forms nearly perfected and could run anyone for their money if they didn't use their gift in the fight.

Unfortunately, unlike how Priam's or my gift augmented our combat abilities and swordsmanship, Eran's gift didn't help at all, leaving him at a disadvantage against almost anyone. His weave since awakening had remained in a jumbled mess, and any attempt at triggering it had only resulted in terrible pain with his skin swelling into angry purple marks.

He had never managed to win against either Priam or me in any of our battles. Even against opponents with unsuited gifts, it was a struggle for him to gain victory.

“Want to join me for some more practice later?” he asked.

I shook my head without thinking. “Sorry, have an important appointment with Mum today.”

“Knowing you, it’s probably more work or some sort of essence training.”

“Well, you’re not wrong,” I said with a grin.

It was finally the day to try my hand at creating a fabricator. It had been a couple of months since my awakening, and Mum finally deemed my education adequate for the entire process, which included designing, engraving the runes, and carving the essence pathways.

Designing had been a tough nut to crack, as it required me to study hundreds of designs to understand the essence behind them. Utility and efficiency, with expense somewhere in there. While studying, I was always concentrating on efficiency, either discounting utility or doubling the expense of creation.

Diana joined me on the way back. Since Mum had taken her under her wings, she usually showed up in the morning to practice, but knowing the occation today she insisted on coming along.

“Feeling nervous?” asked Diana, tugging on my shoulder.

I finally spared her a look. “No,” I said, checking in with myself. “Not at all, actually. I’m pumped for this.”

I’d been training runes for a year, compared to her few days. While Diana wasn’t completely sure about her path, she was still interested in learning the process. Her gift, Purification, allowed her to purify metals to a lesser degree, while its true use lay in purifying medicinal herbs and alchemic materials. But she still had the Enchantment-type essence and could practise runes and artificing, even if alchemy was her first choice.

She was pursuing that too. Unfortunately, the only alchemist skilled enough to take her under their wing was that irritable old man her mother had a fight with.

So, she learnt what she could from my Mum, who turned out to have some knowledge of alchemy as well, though her expertise in it wasn’t as deep as her skills in runesmithing.

As for me, the only people I was apprenticed to were my parents.

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When it came to shapers, the only one skilled in casting with extensive experience was the headmaster of our institution. Unfortunately, he was too busy to take on new apprentices. There were others, mostly auxiliary-class shapers, but Mum felt I would learn more with her guidance and on my own. She taught me the Way of Hammer too, as I insisted on learning that. I was still a long away from completing the first layer.