Chapter 6
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Once again, Jason found himself in the arena, standing face to face with Uther Lightbringer, the student to whom he had issued a challenge about a week ago. He examined his opponent. Blonde hair and blue eyes, a wide chin and light skin. His physique was very good, muscular and broad. His chest plate had two straps on either side, he wielded a gold and white hammer, a common colour scheme in Reluxior academy. The end of the hammer was studded and it had runes engraved into the side of it.
Runes were another way of imbuing weapons with magic, an ancient dwarven craft. The number of runes imbued on a weapon is limited by two factors, material quality and craftsmanship. A weapon made of adamantine can have a total of three runes engraved, whilst a steel weapon can only have one. A masterfully crafted adamantine broad sword, made by a smith who specialises in smithing broad swords can hold up to four runes. If a weapon is made of the best material but shabbily crafted, then it would be no better than a steel weapon. If one engraves four runes into a weapon that can only hold three, the weapon itself would be disfigured by the Ether radiation. The opponent's hammer had two runes engraved, however, Jason couldn't see them clearly, nor was he a runesmith. He had no way to identify which dwarven spells were engraved on the hammer.
"Ready!"
"Cast!"
The opponent raised his weapon, pointing it towards the sky whilst muttering a chant as if he were praying.
"Duel!"
{Let's see how he reacts to Umbral spells.}
"Nox Gradus"
He faded from view. Stealth took full effect. Jason quickly dashed forward. He fainted a left jab to test the waters. Sure enough, Uther LightBringer sensed something coming towards him and stepped backwards twice. Bringing his hammer above his head, he activated a rune and swung downward. The first rune on his hammer turned a bright blue, the colour engulfed the hammer's head, upon hitting the ground lightning sparked downwards from the sky. Jason had to summersault thirty meters away to avoid the spell. Stealth only concealed a small amount of noise, LightBringer ran toward his direction, he pulled his arm back before swinging out, striking the wall of the arena and summoning another flash of lightning.
{His swings are slow but powerful, with my speed, I don't need to worry about getting hit, he's full of openings, I can finish him off right away.}
Jason deliberately made too much noise whilst running back to the centre of the arena. This was because the opponent's weak spot was his back due to the hammer having a reach of only a forward cone and being a slow-to-swing weapon. Uther chased after him but suddenly stopped, he stood with his hammer in front of him, waiting for the next attack.
"Gradus Umbra." Jason whispered.
He appeared behind LightBringer, from inside his shadow. Before he could react, Jason flipped out the retractable kopis blades attache to his gauntlet and slashed at Uther's side, cutting through the armour's clasps. Quickly doing the same with the other side, Jason stayed inside of Uther, not allowing him to swing with the hammer, every time the opponent tried to escape or shift position he stayed at his back like a shadow. Finally, Jason gripped Uther's shoulders and chanted.
"Tactus Tenebris."
Black and grey spread over LightBringer's body, his eyes widened in pain. Jason released his grip, allowing his victim to fall to the ground.
"BalanceBreaker! BalanceBreaker!"
The cries echoed throughout the arena. It seemed that he had become somewhat infamous after absolutely crushing FleetFlame the week before. A sense of elation swelled up inside of him. As he walked out, he was met by his faction.
"Splendidly done master!" Alex cried out. He was visibly pumped from the match, even though he couldn't see some of what happened.
"Yeah, what he said." Eva said, seemingly disinterested but her eyes told another tale.
"BalanceBreaker, how come you were ranked so low before? With those skills, you'd give the top ten a run for their money." Elena Justice asked. Her brows furrowed, as if she were contemplating the existence of God.
They walked away from the arena. And went to the usual spot near the library, it was inside the flower garden just outside. They walked past the collection of fauna whilst chatting. Alex brushed aside the vines which concealed the secret entrance to their 'gang hideout'.
"After he attacked twice I noticed a few flaws about his fighting style, His swings are slow and his power comes from the runes engraved on his hammer, which only activate on contact. He didn't respond with any spells when I stealthed, meaning he hadn't learned any binding or dispelling magic. That means that I would actually be safer standing behind him then twenty meters away, as his rear was his blind spot."
Alex clapped excitedly.
"I've under estimated you leader!" Elena said in praise.
"What do you mean under estimated?" Jason cried in mock offence.
The group battle's details had been released two weeks before hand. The location was in Misty woods, just north of Reluxior academy. It was a VIP mission. Elena seemed familiar with the location.
"Anyhow, let's begin the strategy meeting."
"It says here that our team is starting on the side of the forest that's closer south, whilst they're up north." Eva said.
The faction they were facing was called King's crown. They had a member count of eighteen but only eight were participating.
"We'll be taking them on one on two then." Alex pointed out.
"The standard strategy is to pair up, seeing as they are a fairly new faction as well, they'll probably under estimate us and just go ahead, in pairs." Elena stated.
"Then since we are undermanned, we should send someone to lure a pair away from the main body and gang up on them, four on two?" Jason asked.
"That's a good Idea, but It's a VIP mission, you only need to get rid of their team captain in order to win. We should send someone to assassinate the enemy captain whilst using the rest of our members to distract them." She answered.
"Well BB's our leader, so he can't do the assassination. Same with you Justice, you're too high profile, that leaves Alex and I. I think I should be the assassin because i'm well versed in Umbral magic." Eva quickly said.
"No qualms." Alex responded.
"Me too."
"Me neither."
"Well, that's the game plan then!" Jason concluded the meeting.
"Quicker than expected." Noctis said.
"But it's a good plan!" Alex rebutted.
These four quickly became good friends after meeting. It had only been a week yet they already trusted each other with their deepest secrets.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
They walked into the plaza, garnering a lot of attention. Both good and bad. They had only been browsing when a group of immaculately dressed students came over. They were wearing white blazers with blue unicorns on them. Clearly, they were wearing faction uniform.
"Jason Braveheart?" One of the three asked, in a rude manner.
"Who's asking?" Jason responded, in a harsh tone.
"Lucian Luxkraig, noble of house Luxkraig, second year at Reluxior academy, leader of The White Knights." He said.
{That's a lot of titles.}
{Well, I can do the same.}
"I'm Jason Braveheart, BalanceBreaker, contractor of the Ancient grade spirit Harmony, Leader of the Devil's Advocate." He replied in an overbearing manner.
"Well, well. I'd like to invite you to a friendly duel." Lucian Luxkraig said mockingly.
"What do you have to gain from challenging a newcomer such as myself?" Jason replied inquisitively.
"A rookie suddenly sprung up, and knocked down an influential noble, a noble who, just as it so happens is a friend of mine. This little rookie then rose to rank #130 from #300 in a single match. We can't have that now can we?" He said this in a belittling tone and a mocking face.
"Time and date?"
"Straight to the point are we? Next Saturday, nin-"
"Wait, leader, rethink this please! These are experienced Spirit Sages, they're the White Knights, famous for their brutal beatdowns of anyone who offends a noble!" Elena said into Jason's ear.
"No, i'll go through with it, if I don't deal with them now, they'll plague me for ever."
"Like I said, before I was so rudely interrupted, Saturday, nine in the morning. The arena."
"I'll be there."
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"Although he's a second year, he comes from a distinguished noble family. It's well known that he's been trained well before even coming to this academy." Elena said.
"Well, i've gone and done it, there isn't any turning back now." Jason said with an 'oh well' tone.
Jason was practicing his combat style. First, he launched a barrage of punches with faints mixed in. The pace of his attack became slow as he kicked forward, rotated, following with a reverse roundhouse. He struck out with three powerful hits before the pace once again became rapid. Blocking all of the imaginary attacks by redirecting them away, he grabbed the opponent's shoulders and slammed them into the floor. His fighting style had become more advanced as he practiced for both the group battle and the coming duel.
"Let's spar." She commanded.
"Sure."
They faced each other, like a duel in the arena. Jason heard footsteps, he turned to see the newcomer. It was Alex IronWill.
"Oh, it's you."
"Yes, what are you doing?" Alex asked with curiosity.
"Sparring. Maybe you can learn something from this." Justice said.
Alex stood parallel to them like an arena master.
"Ready!" He shouted, imitating the arena master's hand movements.
"Cast!"
Elena whipped out a staff, giving it a twirl before chanting the incantation for a Spirit Release. Jason's gauntlets were already out.
"Duel!"
She immediately struck down, the metal tipped staff moved at an impossible speed. Metal met metal as Jason blocked the hasty strike. He rushed forward, and chanted.
"Gradus Umbra."
He disappeared as he ran forward. Elena had already started her attack before he stealthed, the hit landed, dispelling the spell.
"Visus non Merentus." He chanted another spell.
A bright light shot out, blinding everyone in the room. Jason ran forward a second time. Elena span her staff to gather momentum before lashing out, once again meeting his right gauntlet. This time, instead of retreating, he pushed forward grabbing the staff and pulling Elena towards him. Jason swept out with his foot, to trip her but she quickly jumped upwards over him using the staff as a pole vault.
"Inspirationus Aerus" She chanted, summoning a ball of air.
Jason had no choice but to let go of the staff and jump back. The spell smashed into the floor, sending a shockwave out which knocked him off balance. Using this opening, Elena dashed forward and jabbed out wards with a flurry of attacks.
"Nec Motus!" Jason cast bind on the staff.
Tentacles of darkness erupted from the floor, grabbing the weapon and throwing it from Justice's hands. Jason ran at top speed past it, once again attempting to sweep her feet beneath her. She avoided the attack and grabbed his back. Trying to lift him over her shoulders. He retaliated, twisting in her grip and pulling her into an Osae Komi Waza* hold. She twisted over in an attempt to escape. All it did was get their limbs entwined into an odd position.
"That's the duel!" Alex announced.
"Help! I'm stuck!" Jason shouted, his face buried behind Elena's arm.
Alex ran over, undoing their body parts like boot laces.
"We should do that more often, but next time, I'll win!" She challenged, a refreshed look on her face.
"The actual fight or the body contact?" Alex jibed but quickly took the words back as his stomach was inverted by a powerful kick from Justice.
"Next time, I won't get caught off guard like that." Jason acknowledged the challenge.
They were on the boy's dorm roof. Although the dorms were gender split, there weren't any rules against students of the opposite sex hanging out.
"I'm soo sweaty." Elena said as she bat her face with her hand in an attempt to cool herself down.
"You can use my room's shower, here are the keys." He tossed them over before continuing.
"I'm going to meditate quickly, i'll probably be back after you're done. Leave the keys on the rack next to the door."
"Sure, thanks." She quickly left.
Alex threw a thumbs up before leaving to his dorm.
[Master, you have improved.]
{Oh, Yang, I haven't heard from you or Yin recently, where've you been?}
(It's hard to explain. When we aren't in your human realm, we are in Draconia.)
{Oh really?}
[Yes, my nephew just got married.]
{Congratulations then?}
(Thank you master!)
Harmony appeared from a magic circle.
"I said that we should change take off places, but here is way more convenient."
Once they were in the air, Jason felt the wind on his back. He emptied his mind and focused on the whistling of wind past his ears. Very quickly, the black and white energies inside him started swirling before the purple energy flew over, filling him up. The sensation was like drinking slightly too hot soup, not uncomfortable but definitely not pleasant. The more purple energy was collected, the faster the yin and yang span. When he opened his eyes, he could feel raw strength flowing through his veins.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Jason took his keys out and unlocked the door, he could see condensation on the windows and mirror. He walked over to the status machine and placed his palm on the scanner.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
|| Jason || Braveheart || Alias - Balance Breaker ||
||Status||
-Healthy
-Adopted
-Black hair
-Brown eyes
-16
|| Controlled Spirits ||
Harmony - Ancient Grade - Bond 100/100
||Proficiency||
Lux - 200
Umbra - 213
Terra - X
Aqua - X
Ignis - X
Ventus - X
Spirit Releasing - 28
Spirit Honing - 260
Spirit Blade Arts - 0
Spirit Ranged Arts - 0
Spirit Armaments - 33
Spirit Surging - 240
-
Spell Craft - 413
Spirit Sage Craft - 561
-
Unique -
Please report us if you find any errors so we can fix it asap!
Once again, Jason found himself in the arena, standing face to face with Uther Lightbringer, the student to whom he had issued a challenge about a week ago. He examined his opponent. Blonde hair and blue eyes, a wide chin and light skin. His physique was very good, muscular and broad. His chest plate had two straps on either side, he wielded a gold and white hammer, a common colour scheme in Reluxior academy. The end of the hammer was studded and it had runes engraved into the side of it.
Runes were another way of imbuing weapons with magic, an ancient dwarven craft. The number of runes imbued on a weapon is limited by two factors, material quality and craftsmanship. A weapon made of adamantine can have a total of three runes engraved, whilst a steel weapon can only have one. A masterfully crafted adamantine broad sword, made by a smith who specialises in smithing broad swords can hold up to four runes. If a weapon is made of the best material but shabbily crafted, then it would be no better than a steel weapon. If one engraves four runes into a weapon that can only hold three, the weapon itself would be disfigured by the Ether radiation. The opponent's hammer had two runes engraved, however, Jason couldn't see them clearly, nor was he a runesmith. He had no way to identify which dwarven spells were engraved on the hammer.
"Ready!"
"Cast!"
The opponent raised his weapon, pointing it towards the sky whilst muttering a chant as if he were praying.
"Duel!"
{Let's see how he reacts to Umbral spells.}
"Nox Gradus"
He faded from view. Stealth took full effect. Jason quickly dashed forward. He fainted a left jab to test the waters. Sure enough, Uther LightBringer sensed something coming towards him and stepped backwards twice. Bringing his hammer above his head, he activated a rune and swung downward. The first rune on his hammer turned a bright blue, the colour engulfed the hammer's head, upon hitting the ground lightning sparked downwards from the sky. Jason had to summersault thirty meters away to avoid the spell. Stealth only concealed a small amount of noise, LightBringer ran toward his direction, he pulled his arm back before swinging out, striking the wall of the arena and summoning another flash of lightning.
{His swings are slow but powerful, with my speed, I don't need to worry about getting hit, he's full of openings, I can finish him off right away.}
Jason deliberately made too much noise whilst running back to the centre of the arena. This was because the opponent's weak spot was his back due to the hammer having a reach of only a forward cone and being a slow-to-swing weapon. Uther chased after him but suddenly stopped, he stood with his hammer in front of him, waiting for the next attack.
"Gradus Umbra." Jason whispered.
He appeared behind LightBringer, from inside his shadow. Before he could react, Jason flipped out the retractable kopis blades attache to his gauntlet and slashed at Uther's side, cutting through the armour's clasps. Quickly doing the same with the other side, Jason stayed inside of Uther, not allowing him to swing with the hammer, every time the opponent tried to escape or shift position he stayed at his back like a shadow. Finally, Jason gripped Uther's shoulders and chanted.
"Tactus Tenebris."
Black and grey spread over LightBringer's body, his eyes widened in pain. Jason released his grip, allowing his victim to fall to the ground.
"BalanceBreaker! BalanceBreaker!"
The cries echoed throughout the arena. It seemed that he had become somewhat infamous after absolutely crushing FleetFlame the week before. A sense of elation swelled up inside of him. As he walked out, he was met by his faction.
"Splendidly done master!" Alex cried out. He was visibly pumped from the match, even though he couldn't see some of what happened.
"Yeah, what he said." Eva said, seemingly disinterested but her eyes told another tale.
"BalanceBreaker, how come you were ranked so low before? With those skills, you'd give the top ten a run for their money." Elena Justice asked. Her brows furrowed, as if she were contemplating the existence of God.
They walked away from the arena. And went to the usual spot near the library, it was inside the flower garden just outside. They walked past the collection of fauna whilst chatting. Alex brushed aside the vines which concealed the secret entrance to their 'gang hideout'.
"After he attacked twice I noticed a few flaws about his fighting style, His swings are slow and his power comes from the runes engraved on his hammer, which only activate on contact. He didn't respond with any spells when I stealthed, meaning he hadn't learned any binding or dispelling magic. That means that I would actually be safer standing behind him then twenty meters away, as his rear was his blind spot."
Alex clapped excitedly.
"I've under estimated you leader!" Elena said in praise.
"What do you mean under estimated?" Jason cried in mock offence.
The group battle's details had been released two weeks before hand. The location was in Misty woods, just north of Reluxior academy. It was a VIP mission. Elena seemed familiar with the location.
"Anyhow, let's begin the strategy meeting."
"It says here that our team is starting on the side of the forest that's closer south, whilst they're up north." Eva said.
The faction they were facing was called King's crown. They had a member count of eighteen but only eight were participating.
"We'll be taking them on one on two then." Alex pointed out.
"The standard strategy is to pair up, seeing as they are a fairly new faction as well, they'll probably under estimate us and just go ahead, in pairs." Elena stated.
"Then since we are undermanned, we should send someone to lure a pair away from the main body and gang up on them, four on two?" Jason asked.
"That's a good Idea, but It's a VIP mission, you only need to get rid of their team captain in order to win. We should send someone to assassinate the enemy captain whilst using the rest of our members to distract them." She answered.
"Well BB's our leader, so he can't do the assassination. Same with you Justice, you're too high profile, that leaves Alex and I. I think I should be the assassin because i'm well versed in Umbral magic." Eva quickly said.
"No qualms." Alex responded.
"Me too."
"Me neither."
"Well, that's the game plan then!" Jason concluded the meeting.
"Quicker than expected." Noctis said.
"But it's a good plan!" Alex rebutted.
These four quickly became good friends after meeting. It had only been a week yet they already trusted each other with their deepest secrets.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
They walked into the plaza, garnering a lot of attention. Both good and bad. They had only been browsing when a group of immaculately dressed students came over. They were wearing white blazers with blue unicorns on them. Clearly, they were wearing faction uniform.
"Jason Braveheart?" One of the three asked, in a rude manner.
"Who's asking?" Jason responded, in a harsh tone.
"Lucian Luxkraig, noble of house Luxkraig, second year at Reluxior academy, leader of The White Knights." He said.
{That's a lot of titles.}
{Well, I can do the same.}
"I'm Jason Braveheart, BalanceBreaker, contractor of the Ancient grade spirit Harmony, Leader of the Devil's Advocate." He replied in an overbearing manner.
"Well, well. I'd like to invite you to a friendly duel." Lucian Luxkraig said mockingly.
"What do you have to gain from challenging a newcomer such as myself?" Jason replied inquisitively.
"A rookie suddenly sprung up, and knocked down an influential noble, a noble who, just as it so happens is a friend of mine. This little rookie then rose to rank #130 from #300 in a single match. We can't have that now can we?" He said this in a belittling tone and a mocking face.
"Time and date?"
"Straight to the point are we? Next Saturday, nin-"
"Wait, leader, rethink this please! These are experienced Spirit Sages, they're the White Knights, famous for their brutal beatdowns of anyone who offends a noble!" Elena said into Jason's ear.
"No, i'll go through with it, if I don't deal with them now, they'll plague me for ever."
"Like I said, before I was so rudely interrupted, Saturday, nine in the morning. The arena."
"I'll be there."
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"Although he's a second year, he comes from a distinguished noble family. It's well known that he's been trained well before even coming to this academy." Elena said.
"Well, i've gone and done it, there isn't any turning back now." Jason said with an 'oh well' tone.
Jason was practicing his combat style. First, he launched a barrage of punches with faints mixed in. The pace of his attack became slow as he kicked forward, rotated, following with a reverse roundhouse. He struck out with three powerful hits before the pace once again became rapid. Blocking all of the imaginary attacks by redirecting them away, he grabbed the opponent's shoulders and slammed them into the floor. His fighting style had become more advanced as he practiced for both the group battle and the coming duel.
"Let's spar." She commanded.
"Sure."
They faced each other, like a duel in the arena. Jason heard footsteps, he turned to see the newcomer. It was Alex IronWill.
"Oh, it's you."
"Yes, what are you doing?" Alex asked with curiosity.
"Sparring. Maybe you can learn something from this." Justice said.
Alex stood parallel to them like an arena master.
"Ready!" He shouted, imitating the arena master's hand movements.
"Cast!"
Elena whipped out a staff, giving it a twirl before chanting the incantation for a Spirit Release. Jason's gauntlets were already out.
"Duel!"
She immediately struck down, the metal tipped staff moved at an impossible speed. Metal met metal as Jason blocked the hasty strike. He rushed forward, and chanted.
"Gradus Umbra."
He disappeared as he ran forward. Elena had already started her attack before he stealthed, the hit landed, dispelling the spell.
"Visus non Merentus." He chanted another spell.
A bright light shot out, blinding everyone in the room. Jason ran forward a second time. Elena span her staff to gather momentum before lashing out, once again meeting his right gauntlet. This time, instead of retreating, he pushed forward grabbing the staff and pulling Elena towards him. Jason swept out with his foot, to trip her but she quickly jumped upwards over him using the staff as a pole vault.
"Inspirationus Aerus" She chanted, summoning a ball of air.
Jason had no choice but to let go of the staff and jump back. The spell smashed into the floor, sending a shockwave out which knocked him off balance. Using this opening, Elena dashed forward and jabbed out wards with a flurry of attacks.
"Nec Motus!" Jason cast bind on the staff.
Tentacles of darkness erupted from the floor, grabbing the weapon and throwing it from Justice's hands. Jason ran at top speed past it, once again attempting to sweep her feet beneath her. She avoided the attack and grabbed his back. Trying to lift him over her shoulders. He retaliated, twisting in her grip and pulling her into an Osae Komi Waza* hold. She twisted over in an attempt to escape. All it did was get their limbs entwined into an odd position.
"That's the duel!" Alex announced.
"Help! I'm stuck!" Jason shouted, his face buried behind Elena's arm.
Alex ran over, undoing their body parts like boot laces.
"We should do that more often, but next time, I'll win!" She challenged, a refreshed look on her face.
"The actual fight or the body contact?" Alex jibed but quickly took the words back as his stomach was inverted by a powerful kick from Justice.
"Next time, I won't get caught off guard like that." Jason acknowledged the challenge.
They were on the boy's dorm roof. Although the dorms were gender split, there weren't any rules against students of the opposite sex hanging out.
"I'm soo sweaty." Elena said as she bat her face with her hand in an attempt to cool herself down.
"You can use my room's shower, here are the keys." He tossed them over before continuing.
"I'm going to meditate quickly, i'll probably be back after you're done. Leave the keys on the rack next to the door."
"Sure, thanks." She quickly left.
Alex threw a thumbs up before leaving to his dorm.
[Master, you have improved.]
{Oh, Yang, I haven't heard from you or Yin recently, where've you been?}
(It's hard to explain. When we aren't in your human realm, we are in Draconia.)
{Oh really?}
[Yes, my nephew just got married.]
{Congratulations then?}
(Thank you master!)
Harmony appeared from a magic circle.
"I said that we should change take off places, but here is way more convenient."
Once they were in the air, Jason felt the wind on his back. He emptied his mind and focused on the whistling of wind past his ears. Very quickly, the black and white energies inside him started swirling before the purple energy flew over, filling him up. The sensation was like drinking slightly too hot soup, not uncomfortable but definitely not pleasant. The more purple energy was collected, the faster the yin and yang span. When he opened his eyes, he could feel raw strength flowing through his veins.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Jason took his keys out and unlocked the door, he could see condensation on the windows and mirror. He walked over to the status machine and placed his palm on the scanner.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
|| Jason || Braveheart || Alias - Balance Breaker ||
||Status||
-Healthy
-Adopted
-Black hair
-Brown eyes
-16
|| Controlled Spirits ||
Harmony - Ancient Grade - Bond 100/100
||Proficiency||
Lux - 200
Umbra - 213
Terra - X
Aqua - X
Ignis - X
Ventus - X
Spirit Releasing - 28
Spirit Honing - 260
Spirit Blade Arts - 0
Spirit Ranged Arts - 0
Spirit Armaments - 33
Spirit Surging - 240
-
Spell Craft - 413
Spirit Sage Craft - 561
-
Unique -
Once again, Jason found himself in the arena, standing face to face with Uther Lightbringer, the student to whom he had issued a challenge about a week ago. He examined his opponent. Blonde hair and blue eyes, a wide chin and light skin. His physique was very good, muscular and broad. His chest plate had two straps on either side, he wielded a gold and white hammer, a common colour scheme in Reluxior academy. The end of the hammer was studded and it had runes engraved into the side of it.Runes were another way of imbuing weapons with magic, an ancient dwarven craft. The number of runes imbued on a weapon is limited by two factors, material quality and craftsmanship. A weapon made of adamantine can have a total of three runes engraved, whilst a steel weapon can only have one. A masterfully crafted adamantine broad sword, made by a smith who specialises in smithing broad swords can hold up to four runes. If a weapon is made of the best material but shabbily crafted, then it would be no better than a steel weapon. If one engraves four runes into a weapon that can only hold three, the weapon itself would be disfigured by the Ether radiation. The opponent's hammer had two runes engraved, however, Jason couldn't see them clearly, nor was he a runesmith. He had no way to identify which dwarven spells were engraved on the hammer."Ready!""Cast!"The opponent raised his weapon, pointing it towards the sky whilst muttering a chant as if he were praying."Duel!"{Let's see how he reacts to Umbral spells.}"Nox Gradus"He faded from view. Stealth took full effect. Jason quickly dashed forward. He fainted a left jab to test the waters. Sure enough, Uther LightBringer sensed something coming towards him and stepped backwards twice. Bringing his hammer above his head, he activated a rune and swung downward. The first rune on his hammer turned a bright blue, the colour engulfed the hammer's head, upon hitting the ground lightning sparked downwards from the sky. Jason had to summersault thirty meters away to avoid the spell. Stealth only concealed a small amount of noise, LightBringer ran toward his direction, he pulled his arm back before swinging out, striking the wall of the arena and summoning another flash of lightning.{His swings are slow but powerful, with my speed, I don't need to worry about getting hit, he's full of openings, I can finish him off right away.}Jason deliberately made too much noise whilst running back to the centre of the arena. This was because the opponent's weak spot was his back due to the hammer having a reach of only a forward cone and being a slow-to-swing weapon. Uther chased after him but suddenly stopped, he stood with his hammer in front of him, waiting for the next attack."Gradus Umbra." Jason whispered.He appeared behind LightBringer, from inside his shadow. Before he could react, Jason flipped out the retractable kopis blades attache to his gauntlet and slashed at Uther's side, cutting through the armour's clasps. Quickly doing the same with the other side, Jason stayed inside of Uther, not allowing him to swing with the hammer, every time the opponent tried to escape or shift position he stayed at his back like a shadow. Finally, Jason gripped Uther's shoulders and chanted."Tactus Tenebris."Black and grey spread over LightBringer's body, his eyes widened in pain. Jason released his grip, allowing his victim to fall to the ground."BalanceBreaker! BalanceBreaker!"The cries echoed throughout the arena. It seemed that he had become somewhat infamous after absolutely crushing FleetFlame the week before. A sense of elation swelled up inside of him. As he walked out, he was met by his faction."Splendidly done master!" Alex cried out. He was visibly pumped from the match, even though he couldn't see some of what happened."Yeah, what he said." Eva said, seemingly disinterested but her eyes told another tale."BalanceBreaker, how come you were ranked so low before? With those skills, you'd give the top ten a run for their money." Elena Justice asked. Her brows furrowed, as if she were contemplating the existence of God.They walked away from the arena. And went to the usual spot near the library, it was inside the flower garden just outside. They walked past the collection of fauna whilst chatting. Alex brushed aside the vines which concealed the secret entrance to their 'gang hideout'."After he attacked twice I noticed a few flaws about his fighting style, His swings are slow and his power comes from the runes engraved on his hammer, which only activate on contact. He didn't respond with any spells when I stealthed, meaning he hadn't learned any binding or dispelling magic. That means that I would actually be safer standing behind him then twenty meters away, as his rear was his blind spot."Alex clapped excitedly."I've under estimated you leader!" Elena said in praise."What do you mean under estimated?" Jason cried in mock offence.The group battle's details had been released two weeks before hand. The location was in Misty woods, just north of Reluxior academy. It was a VIP mission. Elena seemed familiar with the location."Anyhow, let's begin the strategy meeting.""It says here that our team is starting on the side of the forest that's closer south, whilst they're up north." Eva said.The faction they were facing was called King's crown. They had a member count of eighteen but only eight were participating."We'll be taking them on one on two then." Alex pointed out."The standard strategy is to pair up, seeing as they are a fairly new faction as well, they'll probably under estimate us and just go ahead, in pairs." Elena stated."Then since we are undermanned, we should send someone to lure a pair away from the main body and gang up on them, four on two?" Jason asked."That's a good Idea, but It's a VIP mission, you only need to get rid of their team captain in order to win. We should send someone to assassinate the enemy captain whilst using the rest of our members to distract them." She answered."Well BB's our leader, so he can't do the assassination. Same with you Justice, you're too high profile, that leaves Alex and I. I think I should be the assassin because i'm well versed in Umbral magic." Eva quickly said."No qualms." Alex responded."Me too.""Me neither.""Well, that's the game plan then!" Jason concluded the meeting."Quicker than expected." Noctis said."But it's a good plan!" Alex rebutted.These four quickly became good friends after meeting. It had only been a week yet they already trusted each other with their deepest secrets.----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------They walked into the plaza, garnering a lot of attention. Both good and bad. They had only been browsing when a group of immaculately dressed students came over. They were wearing white blazers with blue unicorns on them. Clearly, they were wearing faction uniform."Jason Braveheart?" One of the three asked, in a rude manner."Who's asking?" Jason responded, in a harsh tone."Lucian Luxkraig, noble of house Luxkraig, second year at Reluxior academy, leader of The White Knights." He said.{That's a lot of titles.}{Well, I can do the same.}"I'm Jason Braveheart, BalanceBreaker, contractor of the Ancient grade spirit Harmony, Leader of the Devil's Advocate." He replied in an overbearing manner."Well, well. I'd like to invite you to a friendly duel." Lucian Luxkraig said mockingly."What do you have to gain from challenging a newcomer such as myself?" Jason replied inquisitively."A rookie suddenly sprung up, and knocked down an influential noble, a noble who, just as it so happens is a friend of mine. This little rookie then rose to rank #130 from #300 in a single match. We can't have that now can we?" He said this in a belittling tone and a mocking face."Time and date?""Straight to the point are we? Next Saturday, nin-""Wait, leader, rethink this please! These are experienced Spirit Sages, they're the White Knights, famous for their brutal beatdowns of anyone who offends a noble!" Elena said into Jason's ear."No, i'll go through with it, if I don't deal with them now, they'll plague me for ever.""Like I said, before I was so rudely interrupted, Saturday, nine in the morning. The arena.""I'll be there."----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------"Although he's a second year, he comes from a distinguished noble family. It's well known that he's been trained well before even coming to this academy." Elena said."Well, i've gone and done it, there isn't any turning back now." Jason said with an 'oh well' tone.Jason was practicing his combat style. First, he launched a barrage of punches with faints mixed in. The pace of his attack became slow as he kicked forward, rotated, following with a reverse roundhouse. He struck out with three powerful hits before the pace once again became rapid. Blocking all of the imaginary attacks by redirecting them away, he grabbed the opponent's shoulders and slammed them into the floor. His fighting style had become more advanced as he practiced for both the group battle and the coming duel."Let's spar." She commanded."Sure."They faced each other, like a duel in the arena. Jason heard footsteps, he turned to see the newcomer. It was Alex IronWill."Oh, it's you.""Yes, what are you doing?" Alex asked with curiosity."Sparring. Maybe you can learn something from this." Justice said.Alex stood parallel to them like an arena master."Ready!" He shouted, imitating the arena master's hand movements."Cast!"Elena whipped out a staff, giving it a twirl before chanting the incantation for a Spirit Release. Jason's gauntlets were already out."Duel!"She immediately struck down, the metal tipped staff moved at an impossible speed. Metal met metal as Jason blocked the hasty strike. He rushed forward, and chanted."Gradus Umbra."He disappeared as he ran forward. Elena had already started her attack before he stealthed, the hit landed, dispelling the spell."Visus non Merentus." He chanted another spell.A bright light shot out, blinding everyone in the room. Jason ran forward a second time. Elena span her staff to gather momentum before lashing out, once again meeting his right gauntlet. This time, instead of retreating, he pushed forward grabbing the staff and pulling Elena towards him. Jason swept out with his foot, to trip her but she quickly jumped upwards over him using the staff as a pole vault."Inspirationus Aerus" She chanted, summoning a ball of air.Jason had no choice but to let go of the staff and jump back. The spell smashed into the floor, sending a shockwave out which knocked him off balance. Using this opening, Elena dashed forward and jabbed out wards with a flurry of attacks."Nec Motus!" Jason cast bind on the staff.Tentacles of darkness erupted from the floor, grabbing the weapon and throwing it from Justice's hands. Jason ran at top speed past it, once again attempting to sweep her feet beneath her. She avoided the attack and grabbed his back. Trying to lift him over her shoulders. He retaliated, twisting in her grip and pulling her into an Osae Komi Waza* hold. She twisted over in an attempt to escape. All it did was get their limbs entwined into an odd position."That's the duel!" Alex announced."Help! I'm stuck!" Jason shouted, his face buried behind Elena's arm.Alex ran over, undoing their body parts like boot laces."We should do that more often, but next time, I'll win!" She challenged, a refreshed look on her face."The actual fight or the body contact?" Alex jibed but quickly took the words back as his stomach was inverted by a powerful kick from Justice."Next time, I won't get caught off guard like that." Jason acknowledged the challenge.They were on the boy's dorm roof. Although the dorms were gender split, there weren't any rules against students of the opposite sex hanging out."I'm soo sweaty." Elena said as she bat her face with her hand in an attempt to cool herself down."You can use my room's shower, here are the keys." He tossed them over before continuing."I'm going to meditate quickly, i'll probably be back after you're done. Leave the keys on the rack next to the door.""Sure, thanks." She quickly left.Alex threw a thumbs up before leaving to his dorm.Master, you have improved.{Oh, Yang, I haven't heard from you or Yin recently, where've you been?}It's hard to explain. When we aren't in your human realm, we are in Draconia.{Oh really?}Yes, my nephew just got married.{Congratulations then?}Thank you master!Harmony appeared from a magic circle."I said that we should change take off places, but here is way more convenient."Once they were in the air, Jason felt the wind on his back. He emptied his mind and focused on the whistling of wind past his ears. Very quickly, the black and white energies inside him started swirling before the purple energy flew over, filling him up. The sensation was like drinking slightly too hot soup, not uncomfortable but definitely not pleasant. The more purple energy was collected, the faster the yin and yang span. When he opened his eyes, he could feel raw strength flowing through his veins.----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Jason took his keys out and unlocked the door, he could see condensation on the windows and mirror. He walked over to the status machine and placed his palm on the scanner.----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|| Jason || Braveheart || Alias - Balance Breaker ||||Status||-Healthy-Adopted-Black hair-Brown eyes-16|| Controlled Spirits ||Harmony - Ancient Grade - Bond 100/100||Proficiency||Lux - 200Umbra - 213Terra - XAqua - XIgnis - XVentus - XSpirit Releasing - 28Spirit Honing - 260Spirit Blade Arts - 0Spirit Ranged Arts - 0Spirit Armaments - 33Spirit Surging - 240-Spell Craft - 413Spirit Sage Craft - 561-Unique -
