Chapter 76: Demonstration

Despite coming down, I did not cease using the levitation boots in the duel, much to Priam's dismay.

Although I wasn't as good at utilising the boots on the ground as I was in the air, I had improved tremendously under Father's tutelage over the last few weeks. The main problem was that the boots were not made for running on the ground. It didn’t help that I hadn’t made the additional gears to circumvent that.

Father and I had worked together to find a way to address the issue. Essentially, it involved moving in large strides; the more my feet could be off the ground, the better. While I chose the direction, the boots would lead me there.

It was still difficult for me to move precisely in third gear, let alone while using haste. However, when it came to first and second gear, I had almost full control over my body, as long as I concentrated hard enough. If only second gear was enough to beat Priam at his own game.

Say what you would about Priam—pompous, prideful, and perhaps not a prick yet, but he was surely racing towards becoming one—but you simply could not deny that he was painstakingly diligent.

He had trained his gift to the point that scald marks had appeared on his body, and he had to take medication and receive timely healing for over a season to recover completely. His sword forms were also not half-arsed. Complemented by his terrifying speed, he was a nightmare to fight against for most of us.

Whenever Priam channelled Celerity to the limit and struck at me, I had to shift to third gear to evade his blow. If we kept on going like this for a few more minutes, he would certainly fall into exhaustion.

But I was still too displeased to keep on evading the confrontation.

With the unrelenting stance of Whispering Gale and Tidal Wave, my duelling cane hurled at him threateningly. The high speed caused my swordplay to become more erratic, unpredictable. Priam’s eyeballs darted about, tracing the line of my sword, blocking every one of my strikes.

My eyes shone glaringly, a fierceness overtook my sword as I struck more forcefully. Priam’s perfect defence only pushed me to do better.

My stances shifted from the sublime Tidal Wave to the audacious Walking Mountain, finding my opponent on the defensive. It was primarily a defensive form, but in her duel against Magus Serene, Father had shown it could be utilised as an unrelenting force as well.

But my actual play was even more audacious.

As Priam blocked all my strikes, my eyes too traced his swordsmanship, until I saw a fine line. A line through his defence. Entirely on instinct, I drove my cane, mirroring that fine line. His sword struck a block, but I brushed past it effortlessly with a piercing strike.

The cane struck him on his chest, while his blades were held under my arms, meeting only air.

“Two points to Arilyn.”

Before Priam made a move, I pushed him backwards, returning to Walking Mountain.

He looked thoroughly taken aback, unsure how I had made the move.

Since he fell onto the defensive, it became easier for me to lead him. Well, I might think it was easy, and even felt it was easy, but I wasn’t sure if I could even replicate the effect.

It had all happened naturally, like the day when I first sparred with him.

Even though Instructor Delric silenced the crowd, some of them shouted out, “Fight without using your damned boots!"

“You have no guts after all.”

I paid them no mind. I had guts, liver, heart, and all the organs, but that didn't mean I had to listen to idiots.

While there were some who were on Priam's side, there were plenty of boys and girls cheering for me. The social service I had done along with Mum had helped significantly in improving my popularity.

I paid them no mind either. They all became nothing more than background noise, as a grin split my face. An electrifying current churned through my palm.

If I left behind my sword and simply channelled my shaping skill, I could defeat Eran in two moves. But I hadn't used any of those abilities in any of my duels, simply because my swordsmanship alone was enough to defeat them.

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Now, I needed my sword to be enough to defeat Priam.

I didn’t know how the thought took over. It was a demand, a compulsion that didn’t allow anything less than Priam’s defeat under my sword.

Both of us dashed at the same time, swinging our blades as if nothing else existed in the world. Priam with his unbelievable speed, that paled most noble-class Awakened, and I matched him completely with the levitation boots.

I reduced the large strides as much as I could, only manipulating the kinetic force when needed, while my attention remained on my opponent’s sword.

Once Priam fell into forms, it was difficult to restrict him. However, although he came with overwhelming offence, he was guarded too, cautious that I might recreate the strike—the one that had slipped through his defence completely.

Our figures darted on the hardwood floor, our steps soundless, and only the sound of wood striking against wood could be heard. Sometimes a damp sound echoed, with either my sword striking at his lower body, or his at my arm.

I traced all his moves to the best of my ability, searching for the fine line. It didn’t come, but I did manage to scare Priam well, imitating the piercing strike that forced him to withdraw three steps.

Feinting the move, I managed to catch him on his side, earning another point. It became evidently impossible to strike at his vitals, as he was guarding his head to torso zealously.

When I earned my eighth point with a sharp sweep at his lower body, Priam finally found a weakness of mine and tried to exploit it. While the boots allowed me to contend with his speed, they couldn’t withdraw backwards swiftly. Well, I needed at least a few more pieces, if not full-body armour, for my movement to be effective all around.

While all that might be the case, Priam learned the lesson too late. His energy was almost spent, and by the time he equalled my points, I had earned two more.

As we approached the last phase, Priam hurled himself with new vigour, putting in his last effort. With Walking Mountain, I parried his final charge until my breathing was winded. The breakthrough I was waiting for didn’t come.

In the end, Priam fell on his back, completely spent, before I had even earned my twelfth point. I shook my head and touched his helmet with the cane.

The final duel came to an end with a score of 12 to 10 in my favour.

Only then did the burning pain agonise through my arms. I had pushed them unrelentingly without thinking of the consequences. Thankfully, it was only muscle strain.

"This is the lesson you all have to learn in the coming years," the Headmaster's voice rang out in the gymnasium. "While cultivating your gift and your qualities can never go wrong, many times just having a pair of good pieces of equipment makes all the difference."

Lunchtime was announced, but I remained in the gymnasium a while longer. My friends kept me company, congratulating me. Eran seemed happy with his result, but so far all of Diana’s results had been middling. It wasn’t surprising though, since her attention had never been on combat.

The duelling chart was updated soon, where my name was written at the very front.

Arilyn Arcis O’Ryon: 313 victories out of 321.

There were plenty of names with more victories, but they had also suffered more defeats. Eran’s name stood with 547 victories out of 787, but that only included battles fought during school hours.

Top 4 was not a bad result for him, though I knew he deserved better.

But he seemed to be in a much better mood during lunch, and it didn't look like it was simply because of his result. So I asked why.

"I'm surprised you haven't noticed," he grinned.

"What haven't I noticed?" I muttered as I swiftly opened my fractal sight to gaze at him. Instantly, I knew what he was grinning about. Around his chaotic mess of a weave, eight more threads had joined the twenty-four, entangling in their symmetrical forms.

"Congrats! When did this happen?"

Eran scratched his head. "During my duel with Markus, I think. I was too tired to notice it then."

“Oh no,” Diana pouted. "You overtook me already. Looks like you are going to catch up to Arilyn in no time."

"Ha, as if it was so easy."

While we were chatting and giggling about it, we saw Priam coming towards us alone without his flock of friends. I arched an eyebrow as our gazes met, wondering if he was going to challenge me to a duel now. Well, I wouldn’t mind, to be honest.

To my surprise, he eyed my boots for a long time before lifting his head to look at me. There seemed to be an unwillingness in his eyes, but he clenched his teeth and finally gave in.

"Your boots," he said. "I want a pair of them."

I tilted my head, unsure what to say.

"Why are you acting dumb?" he asked, glaring at me, the sting of defeat still harsh on his face. "Can your mother make them for me?"

I clicked my tongue. "Well, probably," I said. Probably, because I wasn't sure if Mum would even take such commissions.

"Be warned, though. These bad boys cost a ton of Leafs."

"It is only a lot by your standard," snorted Charis, though his eyes stared at the fabricator longingly.

Priam frowned. "How much?"

I was actually not sure of the selling price of these boots. The resources alone were worth more than forty gold Leafs. But I didn't give him the number.

After all, I had almost exhausted all my wealth on the boots. If Priam really did commission a pair, it would likely be me who’d work on it. I was not fool enough to sabotage my own business venture.

"Well, just so you know," I said, "the essence cells alone are worth twenty-five golden Leafs."

A series of gasps ran around the lunch table.

"Are you making a fool of us?" cursed Charis.

Markus looked enviously. "With that kind of money, I could buy all the meat for my life."

"You cannot," I muttered under my breath. I watched Priam; he didn’t seem outraged like the others, but twenty-five gold Leafs should be a considerable sum, even for the Octavius family.

"Even if it is a hundred gold Leafs, I want a pair of those boots,” he announced, clenching his fist.

He really didn’t like losing, huh. I could not help but smile as I watched him leave. Looks like my pockets would be filled soon enough for me to experiment on other artificing expenditures.

Wait, these boots require Essence Threads to utilise them. How will I make them work for augmenters? I didn't think it would be possible without Aura.

Well, Priam was only a step away from reaching his noble class.

I’ll think about that when I get back home. For now, let’s ace the last two tests.

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