A dagger flew past Helgi’s face, producing a small cut across his cheek.

Helgi began sprinting, running toward the nearest choice of cover, a small wooden wall.

He could see the second dagger pointed toward his face. It flew at him in a straight line, without decreasing in its speed or trajectory.

He jumped to the side, ending up with his back against the very wall he planned to use as cover.

“You don’t seem to have much experience in combat. Never get yourself surrounded even if it is good cover.”

The general nodded, and the two daggers flew straight at Helgi, not giving him anywhere to escape to.

Helgi was stuck, he couldn’t move, the daggers flying towards him were going to strike him in a manner of moments.

He dropped his rune card in resignation.

CLANK!

The sound of the daggers striking a target. However this target sounded much more dense than expected.

Squinting his eyes, the general noted that the daggers had actually struck the wooden wall instead of their original target.

Helgi was crouched down below where the daggers were stabbed into the wall, having crouched just moments before they touched his skin, thus not giving the general a chance to adjust his aim mid-flight, using his control of the daggers.

The metal card that was dropped was grabbed by Helgi while it was still falling.

With a sharp twist of his wrist, he flung the activated rune card at the general.

He could see the daggers struggling to get themselves pulled out of the wall. Doing that however would take a few moments. Which was a few moments too late to stop his card from reaching the general.

“I’m not a fighter by nature, but i am quite good at creating traps in people's judgement.”

A small wink was given to the stern eyed general who was about to be struck in the face with the card Helgi threw.

BOOM!

The runes on the card finally activated, creating a small explosion around the card, which should have completely blown the generals upper body into pieces.

Yet he continued to stand, unaffected by the slight breeze created as a byproduct of the explosion.

Instead of hitting him straight in the face, for some reason, the explosion had taken place to the far side of the general.

“More magic..”

“It is actually the same magic. I wouldn’t be so lowly as to hide a very convenient powerful magic only to reveal it as i’m about to be defeated. I don’t have any such childish hobbies.”

The general scoffed and nodded at the ground.

Letting off a fair bit of smoke, laid Helgi’s card which was bent by the explosion. With it however, lay something else, penetrating the card.

It was another dagger.

“You were hiding more..”

“You’re at fault for not noticing them, don’t you remember the daggers first thrown at you?”

Pointing his head slightly upward, the general looked behind Helgi.

Sensing his intent, Helgi jumped to the side, avoiding the daggers flying from behind him, now free of the wooden wall.

The two daggers floated in front of the general, with the dagger used to push away his card flying to join the rest, along with another dagger which slowly flew in from the distance.

In total, the general had four daggers floating around him.

“It was already hard dodging two of them..now i have to deal with four..i can’t win this by just cleverly dodging anymore..”

Muttering to himself, Helgi pulled out several more cards and prepared himself once again.

“Now let’s see. How you deal with an attack which has you surrounded.”

The four daggers flew to each side around Helgi, and pointed their edges towards him.

The four daggers flew at Helgi. There was no wall to hide behind this time, he couldn’t cleverly get the daggers stuck anymore. Each direction he could escape to had a dagger flying at him.

Raising a card above his head, the activated card exploded into black smoke, covering the scene.

“There is no escape even if you hide yourself from my vision. The daggers will puncture you either way.”

Loudly saying that, the general watched the daggers disappear into the black smoke.

--

A puff of black smoke floated up into the sky, let out by a small lantern burning beneath the balloon of an airship.

“Yer a fool if yuh think yuh can fly an airship faster than meh, i’ve been drivin people around my whole life!”

Still piloting his small airship toward the relic part, Ahab quickly pulled on the airships ropes and adjusted the heat of the lantern. All of it dependent on the small shifts in wind and air temperature he had learned to feel through his years of experience.

By managing to get the airship onto the flight path with the least wind resistance, he could avoid the time consuming job of heavy adjusting which was common with airships.

Instead all he had to do was constantly make small adjustments,while making sure his driving wasn’t hindered by it.

Something that can only be compared to reading while driving a bike.

Not only was he adjusting the airships minute position depending on the wind, but he was also doing so according to the temperature difference in the air.

Wind is something anyone can learn to feel with a bit of practice.Which had a a lot of uses, concerning airships and the use of projectile weapons.But learning to tell apart the temperature of the air all around him was something that could be considered a complete waste of time unless you were a weather forecaster.

It was however something Ahab had learned to do, as weather forecasting was vital for a job such as his which required him to be constantly affected by it. Not to mention it was nice for him to tell the days when it would rain so he could stay at home.

By feeling out the minute changes of the cold air, he could feel himself to the small pockets of warmer, and in turn lighter, air. Allowing him to ride these warm pockets of air in return for a small boost to his airship.

Combining those skills together with his experienced driving. Would make him, likely the fastest airship driver in this country, and perhaps outside it.

Love this novel? Read it on Royal Road to ensure the author gets credit.

Not that his skills helped him get many customers, as his reputation was awfully terrible due to his scumbag behaviour of trying to get as much out of each customer as possible.

“Hah! Aye’’ll be there and back before yer even halfway there!”

Ahab smirked at the faraway red ballooned airship.

As if in response to his mocking, the red ballooned airship slowly increased its speed. Until it was going at the same speed as Ahab’s ship.

“H-huh? That bastard’s more skilled than aye thought..!”

He pulled roughly on a rope, making the balloon above his airship shift higher up.

“Yah bastard..don’t think aye am done yet..i’ll use my best trick..which usually i avoid as aye’ve deemed it too dangerous..but..”

Ahab pulled on the lantern switch all the way. The lantern firing up in a yellow-red blaze that almost blinded him, the flame’s tongue reaching so high that it almost touched the balloon.

The propellers on the side of the ship, which were powered by the hot air in the balloon, suddenly began spinning wildly. The airship shaking slightly due to the intensity.

Holding on to the steering wheel, Ahab felt himself getting pushed back as his airship was pushed through the air with an intense force.

His speed was now several times faster than his opponents.

“Haha! Yah can never do somethin like this! This trick is so difficult to do that aye’ve destroyed several airships usin it! Only aye am able to use it..!”

He was almost at the tall rock over which the relic part floated upon.

“Yah wanna know why?!” Ahab yelled over the howling wind to no one in particular, simply drunk off of his own recklessness.

“Because if yuh do it wrong, the flame ends up burnin yer balloon and makin yeh fall down into the deep below! The only thing that lets me use this trick is one thing! Not my skill! It’s my luck! My luck is the only one capable of lettin me survive all the failed attempts!”

Laughing wildly, he reached out of his airship and grabbed the relic part as he flew past it.

“Looks like aye’ve won! And this prize should serve well as compensation for freein our country from the walls”

Ahab observed the strange piece of white metal and shrugged before pocketing it.

“Whatr’ya still flyin over here for, i won! Don’t be a sore loser”

He yelled over at the red ballooned airship, which was still flying incredibly quickly. Now he noticed, that it wasn’t headed towards the tall rock where the relic used to be, but towards him.

“Whatr’ya gonna do! Ram meh? Yuh’ll die too yah know!”

He finally saw the man in the red ballooned airship. A guard, wearing the red armour that signified him as an enemy. He was also wearing strange goggles along with a long scarf around his neck.

“Yer a weird lookin one arent’ya..fine then! Ram meh! Yah want a chicken race then!”

Ahab pointed his airship towards his opponents and began flying at top speed towards him.

“What a fool, sore losers always tryina prove somethin”

Gripping the steering wheel confidently, Ahab continued on his head on collision with his opponent.

He knew fully well that no opponent would ever crash into their enemy, no matter what prize. Nobody wanted to lose their lives, more than that, nobody wanted to to fall into the deep darkness below and meet a sorry miserable fate down there.

It was a challenge, of who would turn away first. Of course one of them would turn away, neither of their ships were strong enough to withstand even the weakest of crashes.

Any manner of impact would likely send them flying to their doom.

They were now only mere seconds away from colliding into each other. Ahab was so sure that his opponent was going to be the first to turn away, that he felt completely relaxed. Still drunk off of his speed euphoria and adrenaline rush from earlier.

Then he noticed something about the strangely clad opponents ship. The colour of the ship was strange...almost as if..it wasn’t even wood.

The light reflected slightly off the shiny surface of his opponents airship.

“Shiny..!?”

Eyes going wide, his hands quickly grabbed the steering wheel.

The goggle wearing opponent patted his ship with a smile. He wouldn’t turn his ship away. He had no reason to. After all. Unlike Ahab’s ship that was made of thin wood.

His was made of metal.

--

Hikaru landed on a desolate grassy floating island.

A white piece of the relic was in the middle of it, towards which he began heading.

“I should be able to make it back to Helgi and make sure he wins his fight, before going after the next part. Luckily no one has arrived here yet, it must mean i have some time before they reach the last relic part as well..”

“Thou art mistaken.”

A voice came from behind Hikaru. Turning around, he found that the voice came from a nearby rock.

“Mineself hath been waiting for whomever would try his luck at thieving our great relic.”

The rock moved, and slowly stood up.

It wasn’t a rock at all. But a man wearing armour so dull coloured it was the same shade as a plain rock.

He had been sitting so impossibly still and quiet, that even Hikaru’s sharp senses had not managed to detect him.

“You are a fool, your greatest advantage was your concealment, now that i know you’re there, you do not stand a chance.”

Hikaru explained his confidence in his own skills.

“Minself doth not conceal mine presence in an attempt for such a lowly attack. The duel mineself hath been awaiting is now imminent. Wasting such an opportunity by ending it with a single dishonourable blow is beyond my will.”

The armoured figure explained. His voice sounded dull, just as his armour. As there was no way to see his face, which was covered in a helmet that left only small slits for eyes. His whole appearance looked unimpressive. Even his sword looked slightly grimy and grey.

“I see..it has been a long time since anyone considered honour to be part of their fight..”

Nodding understandingly. Despite the unimpressive appearance. Hikaru was impressed by this knight’s determination.

He knew he was a knight. Even if he was not officially one, or even if he did not consider himself as one. His tone and determination in terms of honour. Was something that immediately made him a knight. A position Hikaru used to occupy himself.

“Do you wish for a duel?”

Hikaru asked.

“Undoubtedly. Minself senses that thou are one possessing incredible skill. It would be unfortunate to pass on the opportunity to defeat an opponent such as thyself...Or be defeated by one such as thyself.”

The dull tone of the dull knight emanated across the grassy field.

“Then draw your sword. The winner will receive the relic part.”

Deciding this, Hikaru drew his sword. He figured Helgi was skillful enough to hold on for a few more seconds. He felt nostalgic being in the presence of a real knight. Despite everything and despite all his dishonourable actions against all that knights stood for which he commited by assisting Yuri. Hikaru still felt in his heart, that had he been human, he would have chosen the true path of the knight.

“Prepare thyself.” The dull knight unsheathed his dusty sword “May the better knight be victorious.”

“Indeed.” Helgi nodded, and he disappeared.

“I am sorry, but this duel will have to be short. I have things i must do.”

He appeared behind the knight, a flick of his wrist was all it took for his sword to slash through the dull knight.

Except. What his sword went through felt empty. He had struck nothing but air.

“What the..”

Not finishing his words, Hikaru turned around and raised his sword, successfully blocking a slash from the grey knight who had somehow appeared behind him.

“Thou art skillful. Crossing swords with thou shalt bring mineself much joy.”

The grey knight hummed, twisting his sword away from Hikaru’s sword and striking at his eyes.

Hikaru skillfully parried the attack and created an instant counter slash aimed at his opponent's weak spot, the slits in his helmet.

Yet once again. His sword stabbed through nothing, and the figure of the grey knight dissipated into nothing.

“...This is strange. You are fast. Faster than me. But this doesn’t explain the trickery behind your empty form..”

Holding his sword at the ready. Hikaru scoured the area, finding the grey knight standing across the field.

“Mineself knows not of what trickery thou speak of..?”

Standing as still as a stone, the grey knight breathed in thoughtfully.

“Ah. I believe mineself knows of what thou speaks of.”

Slowly raising his hand, the knight swiped a finger across the breast of his armour. Leaving a grey line as he did so.

“...Dust?”

“Indeed so. Minself doth not have the opportunity to clean mine armour. Thus it gathers many layers of dust, which accumulate while mineself rests. Mineself apologises that thou must fight mineself while in such a dirty condition.”

The knight apologised.

“That doesn’t explain your illusion trickery..”

“It does. Tis windstill is it not? When mineself moves, a layer of dust is left behind for a moment.”

“....How fast would you have to move that the dust left would form the exact shape of your body.”

Hikaru was now even more impressed by this knight’s speed which might surpass even his.

“Quite fast.”

The knight appeared in front of Hikaru, while his dust double was still watching them in the distance.

Hikaru barely had time to pull up his sword and block the attack, before another one came. This one from the side. Hikaru twisted his arm in an unnatural manner in order to parry it. As soon as he did, yet another attack came. And another, and another, from different directions around him.

They came so quickly that he had to resort to only bouncing the opponent’s blade off his own, instead of fully parrying, letting the opponent strike his body with decreased force. Just so he could have enough time to block the next attack.

Then the attacks stopped. What felt like minutes, was in fact only a few moments.

“Thou art powerful in thine strikes. Thou art also quick. However. Thou art not as quick as i.”

The dull voice of the knight came from closeby. Although Hikaru could not see him.

At least not the real him. All he could see were the dust doubles around him. Dust particles perfectly forming the image of the knight while they lingered in the air.

Dussins of knights. All made of dust, stood around Hikaru, in the mid motion of an attack. On all sides, even above.

It appeared like a surreal piece of art.

In the middle of this small army of identical grey knights. Hikaru stood. Barely standing, his body bleeding from several cuts all over his body, incredibly close to where his major arteries were. Only barely missing them.

Hikaru stood straighter, despite his head suddenly swimming due to the heavy loss of blood.

“...You are..above my level of speed. Despite wearing all that armour.”

He swished his sword around him, dissipating the dust doubles into mere dirty air.

“I can’t completely block all your attacks..so i need some armour myself.”

Hikaru lightly poked the ribbon on his sword, which had been twitching in worry for a while now. Worried over his heavy bleeding.

It quickly wrapped itself around him, blocking his wounds from spilling more blood. On top of granting him some much needed armour. It drained some of his internal mana, colouring itself in the dark colours that were unique to his mana.

Although this time the colour was much darker, due to the blood which the ribbon was now soaked in.

“Thou art truly a worthy opponent..mineself am delighted to have found thou before mt timely end.”

The knight’s dull tone seemed to have a hint of joy to it.

“Enjoy it while you can. Because your timely end is now!”

Hikaru appeared in front of the knight, their blades crossing. A cloud of dust forming around the knight due to the impact, while a spark from their crossing blades lit up the air around Hikaru.