Chapter 23)

As soon as Barsanti gave us the start, I immediately forged my katana into my hand. I had no idea what type of weapon this Morant guy would have, but I was prepared for whatever it was.

As he stood, I could see a gleaming light appear in his right hand. In no less than a second, a strange looking sword could be seen. It looked like it was bigger than my katana, it's grip looked big enough to be held by two hands. There were two rings enclosed where the guard of the sword should've been, as the blade of the sword flickered with light. 

The blade seemed as it had been seperated from the middle, leaving a gap between the two pieces of steel. The sharper side of the blade stayed intact, as the weaker side split off and curved slightly. 

Looking closer, I could see a seemingly green flame coming from the sword's blade. It looked as though the fire was tainting the sword green as well. Could fire be green? I had no idea in this world.

I was actually becoming drawn to the sword at this point, I created the image of the sword in my head, and a moment after snapping out of it I realized that Morant was no longer there anymore. Suddenly, I could feel a sharp breeze slap against my back, as I raised my sword according to where I thought he would attack.

I shifted and planted my feet backwards, twisting my body accordingly to where I placed my sword. I could see Morant's blade almost directly touch my nose, as I could see the struggle between our swords trembling. I had no idea how he got behind me, but I couldn't let myself get distracted again.

"You've got a quick reaction for someone as weak as yourself." He said, mockingly. 

"Nah, I guess you were just too slow!" I insulted back at him, which seemed to work, as I could see his face twist into irritation. 

Withdrawing from his attack, he stood tall as I regained my step. I held my sword in front of my body, preparing for any other sudden attacks.

"If I recall, Barsanti should have taught you how to use Essence Projection by now. It wouldn't be fair to have such a one sided fight between us, so I asked him to teach you." He said.

"Well, thanks for that, I guess." I had no idea what he was planning to do, or what type of essence he had. Maybe something to do with that green fire his blade had? 

"But now that you know how to use, I can use it against you!" Without a pause in his words, he raised his left hand as a green burst of energy shot out of his palm. The sound of the energy echoed, as I tried to dodge the attack with my blade. 

I had managed to reflect two of the flaming balls of energy he spewed out, but I had to move my body away from the last attack. As it flew past me, I could hear an explosion as I turned around to see a patch of grass now covered in smoke. 

"Don't turn your attention away from me!" He suddenly shouted, as I turned back around to see him rushing towards me with his sword held high above his head. Thanks to my seemingly quick reactions, I managed to guard against his sword, as a loud clanging sound emerged from the clash. I held my katana with my left palm on the blade and my right hand on the grip. 

I could feel the fierce heat from his sword on my face. It was like sitting right now to a piping hot pot of boiling water, and I could feel my vision blur slightly. 

"You should just give up now while you can. Don't embarrass yourself by trying to win, you won't be able to."

This guy was really starting to get on my nerves, as if I would just quit because he said so. 

"Damn, won't you shut up?!" I yelled, as I focused essence into my hands to create more power and reflect his attack, giving me the chance to move back. 

He looked like he was caught off guard, as it gave me the perfect chance to deliver a strike against him. I raised my sword from the ground, and aimed for his chest. 

I should have known though, that it was going to be a lot harder to finish this match off quickly. Holding his sword with two hands, he was able to counter my attack with ease. 

"This is the end!" He yelled, as with little restraint, he parried my attack, and came at me with quick and jolting slashes from his sword. As I struggled against each attack, I thought I could see the flame of his sword grow brighter and brighter. 

After what seemed like an eternity of dodging and countering his sword, he stood back from me, and gave off a small snicker as he brandished his sword, the flames crackling and flying. 

"I told you that you should have just withdrawn from the match when you could have. You put this on yourself, and now you have no choice to but to suffer the consequences like a weakling." He kept rambling. I knew I had the ability to try and catch him off guard and strike him, but I knew that he wouldn't leave himself vulnerable. I just had to wait and see what type of attack he would pull out next. 

"I'll end this with one final attack. Not even Barsanti will be able to stop you from suffering injuries." 

He twisted his body, holding his sword behind his body and stepping forward with his left foot. I could definitely tell this time that the green flame from his sword was brighter than ever, and if I was too stupid to realize by now, I would never have known that if I didn't try to dodge this attack, 

I would definitely not survive.