“I’m sorry?”

Tyler frowned, pushing the man’s hand off his shoulder. A duel? What on earth was going on?

“Do I know you?”

“No, but I know you. Tyler Smith, leader of the Mauv Kingdom Heroes. Wields a great shield and short sword. One of the youngest heroes to date, with rumored S-Rank potential in the far future.”

The moment those last words were said, everyone collectively stopped and froze. Tyler grimaced. It wasn’t necessarily a secret, the Mauv Kingdom had put that out there for kingdoms to find to hide why he got strong so quickly. Better for people to think he was a potential S-Ranker, a genius among geniuses like Riary, rather than a True Hero. Still… Tyler wasn’t stupid. Only certain people were suppose to know that.

“Travels with a Priestess of Truth with a rank higher healing ability, who fought in The Great Demon War, a second S-Rank potential mage,” Tyler heard gasps this time. “And someone else. A new party member.” The man spoke in hatred.

“A Demon.”

The surrounding adventures were now staring, in shock. Konohora had warned him but it was only now setting into Tyler’s mind. They had Derek join their team when they’d accepted the Caravan mission. It had gone smoothly at the time, but Konohora had privately told him that it would most likely cause problems and that the Mauv Kingdom would not be happy with him.

Turns out she had been right. It wasn’t that a human and a demon were in an adventurer party together. As a Heroes team, they were the face of a kingdom. Each of their members had been selected and received royal training. Konohora had been… crystal clear.

‘Once it’s known that Derek is part of our Heroes team, that is no different to many that the Mauv Kingdom is now siding with demons.’

‘Can’t we just, I don’t know, have him travel with us without registering him?’ He’d asked.

Konohora had shaken her head. ‘So long as he continues to travel with us, this information would spread inevitably. It would also prevent him from getting paid for team missions and I highly doubt he’d agree with that.’

“I am Rhicontinu Vegarl, of the Vegarl Kingdom. Team leader of the Vegarl Heroes. I challenge you to a duel Tyler Smith.”

Tyler was at a loss for words, mouth slightly open in shock.

“Do… we have to? I don’t have any problems with you.”

Rhicontinu grit his teeth, his face morphing in rage.

“That is where we differ, it seems, for I have a problem with you. My father, brother to the King, died in that war. Your inclusion of a demon spits not only on his memory but on the entire human race. You are a disgrace and I will battle you either in the dueling ring or in the streets. My professionalism has limits so choose quickly.”

It was clear he meant it too. Tyler didn’t know what to say. He’d never had to deal with something like this before. He’d known people hated demons, hell he traveled with Riary and had heard her story, had seen her rage at Derek.

But he’d never been on either end of it before. He wasn’t a demon and although he was human, he had absolutely nothing to do and no relation with The Great Demon War. If it wasn’t for Riary, Konohora, and recently Derek… it would feel incredibly distant to him.

Now he was the one receiving the hatred and he was in awe Derek had handled this before. Tyler wanted to get angry… but to who? It wasn’t Rhicontinu’s fault his father died to demons, Tyler’s fault for making friends with a demon, or Derek’s fault for simply being alive. Tyler… was stuck between a rock and a hard place.

“Look, I don’t want to fight you.”

“I do not care what you want. You will fight me, whether by your choice or not. My father’s honor demands it.”

Tyler was trying to figure out another way to refuse… when he nearly hopped into the air at a voice nearby.

“It seems there is a problem here.” A new voice. Tyler looked to the right, seeing an elven woman. Thin, long pale white hair, young, but with green robes. She had snuck up on him without him noticing.

Rhicontinu nodded. “Guild Master. I merely wish to use your dueling ring.”

The Guild Master smiled. “Very well. Let us go then.”

Tyler tried to get back ahold of things. “Wait. I haven’t agreed to-”

“Tyler Smith correct?” The Guild Master called out.

“...Yes?”

“You would be… wise to accept this duel.” She said and for a moment, Tyler felt a horrifying power nearly suffocate him. He looked at her in surprise, noticing the malicious glee in her eyes.

“We elves did not participate in the war… en mass. But individuals were free to make their own way. You will find many… unhappy with your choice of companions. Best to make this as civil as possible.”

Rhicontinu nodded along, face still a mask of anger.

Tyler was sweating now. He hadn’t expected their to be any issues here! It was an elven capital right? It was fine at the last town and half the people there had been human. Why was here so different?!

This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version.

Not to mention… he hadn’t expected any hostility from the elves or guild master none the less.

He followed along towards the dueling ring, worry gripping him. He had left his party members behind and now he wanted to do nothing more than to get back to them as soon as possible. This city… wasn’t safe at all.

He shook himself out of it though, as soon he was outside and in front of him was a large wooden arena. It was flat, but slightly raised, plenty of bleachers and seats on the edges. Not only that, but people were rapidly filling them. He looked around and realized that this adventures guild was no joke. This was just one of many, many dueling rings around. It seemed the entire side of the building was a massive area dedicated to training or fighting, with more than a few courtyards filled with groups praciticing.

Rhicontinu hopped into the wing, moving with ease. Tyler took in his weapon. A rapier but Tyler doubted it was just that. The reason he didn’t focus on magic or anything else was because it was hard to dig multiple ‘wells’ as Michael, his training instructor, had said.

‘Why can’t I learn magic?’ Tyler asked.

Michael snorted at the question. ‘You already need to learn the sword, the shield, and Aura. Even for you, that’ll be hard enough. Adding magic in as well? There’s a reason most mages don’t practice the sword. They aren’t a ‘unified path’. Think of it like a well. Sure, having two wells is great. But it’s better to have one really big, deep well than two shallow ones. We’re already pushing the limits here. Aura isn’t something most people learn till much, much later in their life and it takes ages to get good at it. If it wasn’t for your ‘special status’, I’d refuse to teach it to you. With it, you’ll only look like a genius instead of something… otherworldly.’

So… would he only have to fight a Rapier today? Tyler doubted it. He wasn’t the only one trained well.

Tyler hopped into the ring, and took a breath. There was an audience now, watching him. He could hear ‘S-Rank potential’ and ‘Demon’ on everyone’s lips. The guild master briefly hopped into the ring herself.

“This is a duel between you two. No death. That’s it, have fun.”

Tyler was almost caught off guard, as the moment the guild master left the ring, Rhicontinu sped towards him. Fast. Tyler had been right, it wasn’t just the Rapier he’d have to deal with. Rhicontinu knew wind magic.

Tyler dodged to the side, batting the side of a Rapier that had come for his face. Rhicontinu spun, his body twirling like a top with the momentum. Tyler wasn’t prepared for it, failing to get his shield up in time as a foot slammed into his face. It hit hard, much harder than he expected. He could feel his lip bleeding.

Tyler realized for some reason he’d been underestimating his opponent. That ended now. He slashed outwards, Rhicontinu nimbly dodging away, being pulled from the air. He stood across from him, breathing out, winds stirring around him noticeably.

“This is the best you can do?” Rhicontinu said. “Disgraceful. Ridiculous.”

Tyler frowned but didn’t let himself get too affected. After all, it was only a duel.

Rhicontinu came rushing back in, fully serious this time, and Tyler met him blow for blow. He’d fought with Derek slightly while traveling and he was reminded of him now. Derek was fast. Whatever he’d gone through in the Jungle had made him move incredibly quickly. Rhicontinu used the wind to stab forward what seemed like a dozen times in only a few seconds.

Part of Tyler felt bad for him. Tyler had spent months fighting recently, more than a few of those creatures were basically living snow and ice storms. He’d also then trained with Derek who was almost literally a speed demon. Tyler had no issue diverting, blocking, or otherwise defending from Rhicontinu’s volley of piercings.

Rhicontinu also saw that, grimacing heavily. He slowed a bit, and then stabbed forward. Tyler made to block it, only for his eyes to widen a moment later. He dodged out of the way, but he still wasn’t fast enough. A mass of wind slammed into his side, his arm taking the brunt of it. Tyler grit his teeth, feeling his arm nearly break.

Tyler's eyes focused. That attack… it could not have just been made. It was strong. Rhicontinu was panting heavily, but that didn’t change anything. It was only instincts that made his arm take the damage as he dove to the side, and not his head. If he’d been quicker, it would have been shield. Slower and…

“You…”

Tyler said, but Rhicontinu began attacking again. Tyler was having a harder time now. The arm that had been damaged was the one holding his shield. Made him slower, harder to deflect. He had been passively defending, focusing on that, but he’d been preparing to attack afterwards. Now, he gave up on that immediately, focusing just on defense.

Seconds and minutes ticked by, as his shield showed no signs of wear or tear. He’d gotten it from that vampire’s mansion and it was tough as could be. But his mind was barely on the fight watching for-

There!

Tyler used his sword to block the attack from the Rhicontinu while another attack from the wind came for him. He rose his shield to block it, but it was mighty. His arm felt like it was going to buckle, while there was still enough force from the wind to go around the shield and ‘punch’ him in the face. Hard. He reeled back, but his eyes caught three exhausted looking individuals in the crowd.

‘So that’s how it is… they’re actually trying to kill me.’

Tyler was done messing around. No, he was done dueling. He focused on Rhicontinu and slashed. Rhicontinu tried to block… but Tyler had never stopped practicing the sword. Tyler may consider the shield his calling… but he knew when he needed to attack that his sword would always be by his side. Michael had gifted it to him and it had survived the fight with that vampire with ease. Now, he slashed.

Tyler cut, leaving a line of red across Rhicontinu, and then stopped. But soon, it was cleary why. It may have looked thin, but it wasn’t. That red line deepened and grew wider and wider. From hip to shoulder, Tyler had cut an inch deep into Rhicontinu, causing blood to spurt out of him.

Rhicontinu stared down in shock and fear, watching himself bleed out. He wouldn’t though. Tyler had made sure not to damage anything vital. Anatomy lessons had been one of the first things Konohora had taught him when he’d begun fighting monsters and bandits.

He quickly left the stage, as a healer casually walked over towards Rhicontinu and those three exhausting looking people, Rhicontinu’s team members, rushed to him as well.

*****

“...and that’s what happened.” Tyler said, now fully healed.

I looked at him in disbelief.

“How could you let yourself be injured so easily?” I said. I mean seriously, I knew how strong Tyler was. Sure, it had been a surprise attack but still.

“Hey.”

“Anyway,” Konohora said. “We should find ourselves an inn to stay to discuss things both now and going forward.”

“You mean we should leave before someone tries to pick a fight.” Riary said.

“Oh yeah, did anything interesting happen while I was gone?” Tyler asked.

Riary started laughing, while Konohora smirked, and I sighed in exasperation.

“Uhh…” Tyler let out. “Is that a yes?”

“Later. Go lead us to an inn. And a bed. I’m serious you two, I told you I was about to pass out. That wasn’t a joke. My vision is going black. I lost vision in my left eye about ten minutes ago.”

All three of them look startled at that, but I just shrugged.

“Go go go go.”