Chapter 27:

Duel

Warpainter: From Office Workers to World Warriors


The next day, Leo attends breakfast with Arte. Leo had a plate of bacon, pancakes, and a giant boiled egg the size of his head. Arte had some fruit, oats, and some bacon. Using the same spot as yesterday, they converse.

“So, how was your training?” She asks.

“It could take a while; the hero really makes it look easy.” Leo sighed.

“I understand the principle behind it, but I can’t stick the landing.” She said with her head resting on her palm.

“Really puts into perspective how overpowered the hero was.” Leo says.

“Yeah…” She mutters. “It makes sense, he’s held a blade since he was three.”

“Today's the day, though. We’re gonna be doing active practice with our styles. Although we did get a bit of a head start.” Leo says.

“I’m looking forward to it.” She says.

“Me too!” He exclaims.

After they finished eating, they headed for the school’s arena. Today, all the classes were spread out in the arena, each occupying a different set of arena tiles. Arte’s class had the tiles in the center of the arena, and Valeria stood before the class.

“Today we’re going to try activation. If you’ve been practicing your trigger, then we’re going to put it into action today.”

Behind her, at her hip, was a thin sheath. She pulled at the handle, drawing a rapier into her hand. She pointed it toward the class, then drew the blade back, scraping it against her arm guard, causing the blade to ignite suddenly.

“The final step is adding in a sequence. A sequence can be anything that you do before activating the ability to get yourself into the right mindset. Such as what I just did. By drawing my blade against my arm guard, I’m able to instantly recall the memory I have, and my anima responds in kind by igniting my blade. It may seem like an extra step, but it makes the process much smoother until…”

She swings the blade, causing the flames to go out, and reignites it without a moment of hesitation. A student in the back raises his hand.

“Can I test it while fighting?” He asks. “I learn better under pressure.”

“Sure, as long as your opponent agrees.” Valeria agreed.

“Then I want to fight her.” He points.

Arte already knew who it was from their voice. The crowd parted, revealing that Lance was pointing directly at her.

“I don’t mind.” She says.

“Then it looks like we’ve got a match on our hands,” Valeria says. “Everyone else, give them some room.”

Arte and Lance were the last two remaining on the tiles.

“I’ll be paying you back for yesterday.” He draws his blade, a longsword adorned with a golden handle with green gems inlaid. Arte draws her sword, and it glistens in the light. The dark markings along the edge pulsed as she held it in her hands. Valeria’s mouth was agape when she saw it.

“I’ll give you the first move,” Lance says.

“Well, since you’re so kind.” Arte smiled.

Arte remembered what player versus player content was like. The crux was figuring out your opponent’s class while hiding details about your own. Allowing you to exploit the weaknesses presented by their class. She filled her sheath with blood, causing her eyes to turn red. ran forward and threw a horizontal slash at him. He tilted his sword to the side, parrying her blade and causing sparks to fly. Arte’s arm was nearly blown back from the impact. Lance thrusts his sword forward while her blade is away from her body. She turns to the side, dodging the thrust, and grabs her blade with both hands. A diagonal slash comes flying out, and he does a slash from the opposite angle and parries it with his blade. But he notices his hand shaking from the impact. The fight progresses with him parrying each of her strikes, but the shaking in his arm grows more dramatic. The two of them back off, and Arte flourishes her sword.

“I thought the purpose of this fight was to practice elemental edge.” She says.

“Forgive me. I got a little too into it.” He smirks.

Lance lowered his blade and closed his eyes.

“I guess he’s giving a real go,” Arte says.

She lowers her blade as well and closes her eyes.

“What is my sequence?” She wonders.

Remembering the roar of her grandfather’s old motorcycle, she twisted the cloth on the grip of her sword, like revving the handle on a motorcycle. The sound of a motorcycle revving filled her mind. With one more turn of her hand, a gout of flame burst forth from the sword, sending her hair flying wildly. Cheers from classmates filled her ears as the initial burst of flame vanished into the air, leaving her sword wreathed in flame. While holding her sword and looking from the hilt to the blade, she smirked.

“I’ll call this ignition.” She says.

“Not bad…” Lance says.

He raises his sword, and anima begins flowing from his body in a spiral toward the blade, creating twin pillars of flame that surround his blade, leaving it enveloped in flames.

“I must admit, this does wonders for morale,” Valeria admits. “The output is a little low for both of you, but it’s passable. We can work on that going forward. Finish your fight.”

Lance lowered his weapon from the sky and pointed it at Arte.

“Be warned. I’m not holding back going forward.” Lance spoke.

Lance ran toward Arte; his speed kept picking up, surprising her. He launched a diving thrust at her, where he grazed Arte’s side. The heat from his burning blade cauterized the wound, stopping any blood from escaping.

“Argh.” She groaned.

Lance stopped on a dime, transferring that momentum into a spinning slash. Arte raises her blade to block it, and the two remain locked with their blades grinding against one another.

“Give it up. Your skill is so-so at best.” Lance taunts.

“You underestimate my power.” She grins.

She puts more force on his blade, causing his arms to shake from the sheer power behind it.

“What are you, a Graverilla?!” He questions, sweat rolls down his face.

A vein pops on her head.

“A Graverilla?” She smiles with no kindness in her eyes.

She forces more downward force into her blade, forcing him to one knee, which cracked the surface of the tile beneath it

“Wanna drop to two?” She asks while smiling.

“I won’t quit just because you’re… pressuring me.” He states.

“Two knees it is then!” She says.

She uses more strength, and his second knee slams into the ground, cracking the tile even more. His arms are shaking violently as he struggles to hold the blade back.

“You know, if your sword broke now, I’d split your head like a watermelon, right?” She asks in an upbeat voice. Then lowers her voice to a whisper. “Quiet… I can hear your sword cracking under the pressure.”

“I-I yield.” He says.

“Good.” She relieved his sword of her strength and sheathed her own.

The rest of the class was a mix of scared and amazed. Arte grew embarrassed when she remembered there was an audience and quietly walked off the arena tiles.

She stood behind the rest of the class, waiting for the redness of her face to die down.

“I haven’t seen you that mad since I lost your necklace way back when,” Leo spoke.

“Y-you saw that?!” She questions.

“I just wish I had popcorn,” he sighed.

“Can it!” She says.

“I could go for some watermelon about now, though.” He teased.

“You heard that too?! I’m gonna kick you in the shin.” She pouted.

“You gotta catch me first,” Leo replied.

Arte grit her teeth and sighed.

Erstwhile, Caius was tailing a noble from his class, watching as the man was still with his friends. Once they separated, Caius watched as he walked back to the dorms alone and quickly ran up to him.