“What is happening?”
“Should we do something?!”
“Did Riana just go to the cathedral? Don’t tell me she’s planning to…!”
As the merfolk kept hesitating and looking around to see if anyone else would step forward, Alviss and Erik had finally gotten some space for their duel.
Even Bakari and Liv dragged both Baahir and Cleitus’s unconscious bodies away, all the while the bronze-colored man kept shouting about bringing backup as soon as possible.
I don’t need such a thing! Erik had scoffed inwardly.
“Alviss of Blackforest. An unusual name for a dwarf, which is why it stuck in my mind.” Erik snickered as he swung his sword to the side a few times, as if to warm up his arm.
“Say what ya will, I take pride in it.”
Alviss simply stood, holding his golden hammer with his right hand, and the battle ax of the same color and design in his left hand.
Unlike other dwarves, Alviss was more knowledgeable about the world. Even at a first glance, he had already figured out which Royal Clan Erik had belonged to in the past.
His use of the Lightning Manipulation Sign earlier on that Captain was just a confirmation to his speculation.
After all, only the Royal Clan of Elding was comprised of Lightning Manipulation Sign users.
They were a clan of brutes who only cared about starting wars and enjoying the bloody taste of the battlefield. Their ultimate aim was always made very clear, to die with honor to a great warrior’s hand so they could join their lightning god on his neverending battlegrounds.
“Your name aside, what intrigues me most is that golden weapon you’re holding. The legendary hammer Amphygyeis! The very reason you are hunted by your people, by the Saorsa clan, and why you are seeking refuge on this hidden continent, I presume?” The tall man with the broad shoulders and flexing muscles pointed at what Alviss was holding in his right hand.
“...” The dwarf didn’t respond, but he began to sense a knot forming in his chest.
“To think a legendary hammer from almost a thousand years ago is in the hands of such an inexperienced dwarf.”
Alviss raised his arm a bit and looked down at the golden and light blue design within the ancient weapon.
He remembered everything that led up to the moment of obtaining it, how everyone aimed to be the new hope of the Saorsa Clan, only for a mere young dwarf to steal their dreams from under them. They couldn’t accept it, especially when he was unwilling to do what was expected of him…
By picking up Amphygyeis, he had chosen to forge his own path, to take fate and destiny into his own hands.
“Aye, tis true. Amphy chose me to carry it, and I aim to shoulder that burden m’self. If yer aim here is t’ take it away from me…” The dwarf instinctively touched the round necklace around his neck before he lowered his arm again and looked straight into his opponent’s eyes. “I’m afraid I can’t let ya do that, lad. Precious folk have died so I could stand here, ya see.”
Even from afar, the merfolk could sense the change in the air as the previous weak dwarf they had easily captured was now exuding the aura of an experienced warrior.
The atmosphere around him and his opponent was becoming so tense to the point of being palpable.
“Heh, while the bounty on you and the weapon is quite tempting, I have no shortage of gold as someone who is part of the Golden Garden Guild now.” Erik cracked his neck to the side, then took a step forward with open arms, releasing his own battle aura to meet his opponent’s in kind. “What I want is a great battle! One that is worthy of being called legendary! One so glorious that I may recall it to my brothers with pride in the afterlife! Come, swing your hammer that is similar to the god of lightning, Vingthor! Come, oh warrior, let us spill each other’s blood without animosity, but in the name of great glory instead!”
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“...”
Hearing his opponent’s battle cry and seeing him repeatedly hitting the blunt side of his double-edged sword, Alviss tightened his grip on his own weapons and returned Erik’s stern gaze.
After a second, a moment of sudden silence overtook the surroundings, forcing the spectating merfolk to gulp and sweat nervously.
And then…
CRACK!!
The ground shattered beneath the sudden azure lightning strike that crackled through the air, signaling the start of the duel.
In an instant, the two fighters rushed forward, leaving only dust where they originally stood.
Before the two could collide, Alviss flexed his arm muscles and threw Amphy towards the opponent’s head.
“?!”
Seeing it coming, Erik simply sidestepped it before noticing the dwarf entering in his range. He quickly planted his foot in the ground and swung his double-edged sword in a long arc, all the while summoning lightning to surround his blade.
CLANG!
Alviss quickly blocked the oncoming strike with his battle ax and stomped his leg in the ground to hold his position. The blue sparks surrounding the blade exploded on impact and even began to travel across the dwarf’s weapon, aiming for his grip.
He clenched his fist and braced himself for what was coming next. However, to Erik’s surprise, the battle ax didn’t seem to budge at all and kept pushing against his sword.
“Hahah! To think I can’t even push back a dwarf half my size!” Faced with an opponent even his lightning sword couldn’t budge, Erik’s eyes naturally beamed with excitement. “Your race really lives up to the rumors! A sturdy bunch indeed!”
Seeing no point in responding mid-fight, Alviss used his free hand to call back his hammer, now positioned between him and his opponent’s back.
Responding to its master, the legendary hammer Amphygyeis that was hovering in the air, suddenly rushed back to the dwarf’s hand.
WHOOSHH!
CRACK! CRACK! CRACK!
“Heh, you thought that would work? Give me some credit!”
Having realized his opponent’s plan from the second he threw his flying hammer, Erik summoned lightning strikes behind him to block it from reaching his back.
Even though it kept resisting against the onslaught of lightning strikes, it suddenly was overtaken and crashed into the stone ground, creating a small crater around it.
“!”
While Erik questioned why it suddenly lost vigor, he suddenly felt a surge of strength pushing against his weapon that wasn’t previously there before.
“Eyes up front, lad. Lest ya miss it.”
“?!”
THUD!
“Blerghh!
Before he even realized it, Erik’s towering stature was thrown back, flying through the air like an arc of lightning striking horizontally, before crashing into a nearby cart.
The image of an oversized fist flashed into the warrior's mind, It was the last thing he glimpsed before an overwhelming, but enjoyable sensation of pain overtook his stomach.
“That dwarf…”
“... He was this strong all along?”
“I can’t believe it…”
The merfolk muttered between themselves as they witnessed things from the sidelines.
Alviss resized his arm back to normal, then called on his hammer to fly back to his grip. He perfectly caught it in an instant, it fit like a glove tailored specifically for his grip.
Sorry, Amphy… I had t’ let ya get hit, but I knew ya could handle such light bolts of thunder. Alviss took a step toward the dust-covered cart as he inwardly apologized to his grumpy hammer. He could just sense it wriggling in his grip as if releasing pouts of anger for letting it drop to the ground.
“I knew it…” Erik quickly got back up with a wide grin, rubbing his stomach for a second before switching to fixing his copper-colored mohawk instead. “You are strong, Alviss of Blackforest! You are truly a worthy foe! Unlike those weaklings standing there shivering in their boots!”
“...”
“Earlier, you used that flying hammer to cave Baahir’s face in, and then you used your Sign against that new weakling too… That gave me an advantage.” As he talked, the tall man’s previously yellow eyes suddenly glowed with a new blue gleam. “But now that you’ve seen what I can do, we’re even. We are on the same plane!”
“‘Nough talkin’, lad. Ya’re spouting nonsense.” Alviss ignored the crackling sounds and rising heat around his opponent and continued to walk towards him.
“Nonsense?! You’re mad for those weaklings behind you? We, the strong, do not need to worry about such shivering ants! Look!”
CRACK! CRACK! CRACK!
As Erik opened his arms wide, countless lightning strikes continued to assault the ground around him. The little remnants of spark left behind began to gather together and get pulled to their master, forming an azure crackling emblem in front of his forehead.
Alviss raised an eyebrow as he noticed the change. “Rupture?”
“That may be what the dwarves and some other races call it, but here it is called Pathbreak! Now, call onto yours and let us fight in earnest this time!”
CRACK! CRACK! CRACK!
Alviss watched as more lightning strikes continued to descend around their master and quickly expanded their radius, eventually creating a cage of lightning to trap the dwarf and his opponent.
He was now trapped in a one on one with no way out.
Not that he ever considered backing out from this duel.
CRACK! CRACK! CRACK!
The dwarf felt the hammer in his hand tremble with excitement.
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image [https://i.imgur.com/KQmIY8F.png]