Two girls were fast walking through the village, their route set for the place the fight was happening.
As they walked, they were discussing amongst themselves in hushed tones.
"Did you hear? Chief Lazarus has challenged lord Eliron!"
"Really? But lord Eliron is still so young. Why would the chief challenge him?"
"I don't know, but some people say he wants to become the next lord at the confluence, so he is showing his authority now…"
"Hmm… let's go see the fight!"
They increased their pace, rushing past Artie who was adjusting her bow.
Artie glanced at them as they retreated, then sighed. "Gossips…"
By her side, Terra was fraught with concern after hearing the news. "My lady… do you think it's really true? Is your father challenging Eliron?"
Artie noticed the lack of honorifics but chose to ignore it. "Well, I doubt the girls would be so chatty if it's false."
Terra was silent for a few seconds.
"What is on your mind?" Artie asked, placing the tip of her long bow on the floor.
The blonde woman remained silent for a few seconds before speaking. "Aren't you going to do anything about it?"
Artie frowned. "It's just a spar, why should I get involved?"
"But you know how your father is, he has the tendency to take things too far. What if he hurts Eliron?"
"He should learn to handle himself. If you are so concerned then you can go and watch the match." Artie said as she continued adjusting her bow.
"I'll leave you then my lady." Terra quickly turned and hurried towards the sound of the commotion."
But Artie remained where she was, constantly tightening the string of her weapon.
They only had one more day until the hunt, everyone should have been busy preparing, not playing games.
After sometime she sighed angrily. 'This isn't working…'
Due to Terra's words, she had been unable to focus on anything else except the match.
'I'm only going to evaluate his strength, nothing else.'
Technically, if something were to happen to Eliron, her plans would fail, so she needed to keep him alive.
With an angry huff, she placed the bow by the side of the wall and walked towards where rhe cheers were loudest.
•••
"My lord, chief Lazarus is not like any other opponent you have faced. He is centuries older than you, and he is of noble blood." Ash cautioned from Eliron's side.
"I see. Could he best you in a fight?"
Ash thought it through for a moment. "In a sword fight, no, but if it was a battle of magic then I would most certainly lose."
Eliron nodded. "That is all I need to know."
By the side of the clearing, Eliron's new students were having a clash with Lazarus's disciples.
"Who do you think will win? Lord Eliron or Chief Lazarus?" Durin asked as he observed both of them.
"Don't be foolish, you of all people should know how powerful our chief is." Lazarus's disciple scoffed, a proud smile on his face.
"Your lord would be lucky if he even leaves this with all of his sanity intact. Today is going to be embarrassing for him, trust me."
"Don't talk like a fool Malak." Eliron's student shot back. "If you talk so big, where will you hide your head when our lord mops the floor with your chief?"
"How dare you?!" The disciple barked, his jaw clenched.
Meanwhile on the stage, the battle had begun.
Lazarus's disciple smiled. "Just see for yourself, you'll soon realise just how great our chief is."
Eliron swiftly pulled out his saber from its sheet and tested the weight of the blade.
'Not bad…'
In front of him was Lazarus, a condescending look on his face as he drew his rapier.
"I'm proud of you boy, despite your appearance, at least you have balls between those legs."
Eliron smiled but said nothing.
Ring!
The sound of the bell indicated the start of the match.
Lazarus rushed in immediately like a tiger mid pounce, swinging his blade with chilling precision.
Clang!
His sword crashed into Eliron's, sending sparks flying into the air.
Eliron adjusted his footing and twisted Lazarus's blade to the side, before launching a strike of his own.
But Lazarus easily evaded, dodging to the side, then unleashed several quick slashes right at Eliron, each strike causing reverberations to fill the air.
Clang—Clang—SKRRR—Bang!
A heavy forward slash sent Eliron staggering back a few steps.
'He's strong…'
But Lazarus was not done, he hadn't even stopped to take a breath throughout the fight.
He was not treating this as an ordinary spar, he was putting his entire energy into it, hoping to take down Eliron as quickly as possible.
"I thought the Elven lord would be a little more skilled. Shall I take you as my student after this?"
Bang!
Swords collided with a flash of light, both fighters pushing their blades against each other in a test of strength.
"Defense is good at the start kid, but after sometime—!"
He unhooked his blade and delivered a sideways slash that struck with a bang.
"After some time, you start to lose steam!"
The two opponents clashed with a variety of strikes and stabs, the two of them dancing across the battlefield.
As always, Lazarus was more vicious than a wild beast. His attacks came with the weight of centuries, and his precision was not something to scoff at.
It was clear that he was leaving no room for errors, no room for an upset, and no time for recuperation.
But Eliron on the other hand had looked average throughout the fight. He had not managed to pull off a counter attack throughout.
By the corner, Ash was watching closely. 'Our lord seems overwhelmed, is he unable to do anything because of how powerful chief Lazarus is?'
He sighed. 'He has never even taken any formal lessons, it was too early to fight an opponent like him…' he thought.
"What are you doing looking all gloomy?" Yennefer asked from beside him.
She had a meat jerky in her hand and was nibbling it slowly to prevent it from finishing.
Yennefer sighed. "Don't tell me you still haven't noticed?"
Ash raised a brow. "Noticed what—?!"
It was then that he saw it…
Even though Lazarus seemed to have the battle under his belt, it was just the perception that Eliron was giving off.
Because if anyone bothered to look closely, they would realise that he had not been scratched even once throughout the fight.
'Don't tell me, is he…'
..
..
A/N
A littl disclaimer, I write two books so I might sometimes mix up the name Kyle (my other mc) with Eliron, just point it out whenever I do and I'll fix it!