Chapter: The Duel of Empty Hands
The arena of Helioscrest roared like a living beast.
Tier upon tier of stone seats curved around the dueling ground, packed with nobles wrapped in silk and arrogance, academy students in crested uniforms, officers of the Phoenix Spire standing rigid in burnished armor. Above it all, solar crystals hovered in slow orbits, bathing the arena in warm, unforgiving light.
At the center stood two figures.
One radiant with power.
One terrifyingly calm.
---
The betting tables had opened an hour before the duel.
Bookkeeper: "Odds are closing! Aeron Valquist—fire and air affinity—academy elite! Daniel Evercrest—no recorded affinity, no staff, no catalyst!"
Laughter followed.
Noble One: "This is charity disguised as humiliation."
Noble Two: "The King didn't even show up. That tells you everything."
Noble Three: "Of course he didn't. Why would the Crown acknowledge a bastard who can't even cast?"
Coins clinked.
Gold flowed in one direction.
Aeron.
No one bet on Daniel.
Not a single soul.
---
On the dueling ground, Aeron rolled his shoulders, flames licking playfully around his fingers. A finely crafted mage staff rested in his hand, inlaid with wind crystals that hummed softly.
Aeron: "Last chance to kneel."
Daniel stood opposite him.
Simple sword in hand.
No armor.
No catalyst.
Daniel: "We start when you're ready."
Aeron laughed, loud and confident.
Aeron: "Don't blink."
---
High above, Leslie sat gripping the edge of her seat, knuckles white. She didn't pray. She watched.
Across the arena, Queen Althea's expression was carved from stone. This duel was supposed to end a question.
Queen Isolde, seated beside her, leaned forward slightly—eyes sharp, curious.
The heirs watched in silence.
Prince Cedric's brows were drawn together.
Princess Lyra's lips were parted slightly.
None of them spoke.
---
The horn sounded.
BWOOOOOM
The duel began.
---
Aeron moved first.
Aeron: "Burn!"
FWOOOOOSH
A torrent of fire exploded forward, a wide arc meant to leave Daniel nowhere to run.
Sensei: "Left. Two steps. Now."
Daniel moved before the thought finished forming.
His body twisted, feet sliding across sand, heat scorching the air where he had been a heartbeat earlier.
The fire passed.
The crowd gasped.
Aeron frowned.
Aeron: "Wind Blade!"
SHRRRRAAAAK
Compressed air screamed toward Daniel, slicing the ground apart.
Sensei: "Duck. Roll. Three meters forward."
Daniel dropped, rolled beneath the blade, sand spraying, and came up already moving.
Another strike followed.
Then another.
Fireballs.
Wind spears.
A cyclone forming at Aeron's feet.
The arena turned into a storm.
Daniel did not attack.
He only moved.
---
Noble One: "Is he running?"
Noble Two: "He's just delaying the inevitable."
Mage Student: "No… look at his timing."
Each step Daniel took was impossibly precise.
A half-second earlier—he would have been burned.
A half-second later—he would have been cut in half.
But every attack missed.
Barely.
---
Inside Daniel's mind, the world slowed.
Sensei: "Mana flow detected. Fire cast—high output. Wind reinforcement—moderate. He's overextending."
Daniel: "Let him."
Sensei: "He's angry."
Daniel: "Good."
Aeron unleashed another barrage, sweat forming at his temples.
Aeron: "STAND STILL!"
FWOOOOOSH—CRAAACK
Fire and air merged, a spiraling inferno tearing across the arena.
Daniel sprinted straight toward it.
The crowd screamed.
Sensei: "Now."
Daniel slid, blade scraping the sand, body flattening impossibly low as the inferno passed inches above him, heat ripping at his clothes.
He rolled through the gap.
Came up inside Aeron's range.
The mage staggered back instinctively.
Aeron: "What—?!"
Daniel stopped.
He didn't strike.
He just looked at him.
---
Aeron felt it.
For the first time since the duel began—
Fear.
---
The mage retreated, breathing hard, mana flaring wildly.
Aeron: "You think dodging makes you strong?!"
He slammed his staff into the ground.
Aeron: "I'LL BURN YOU DOWN!"
Mana surged.
The solar crystals flickered.
Flames erupted everywhere—walls of fire, rings of heat, air pressure collapsing inward.
The arena became hell.
Sensei: "Mana reserves at forty percent. He's panicking."
Daniel: "Then I wait."
Daniel moved through chaos like water through cracks.
He leapt over fire.
Slid beneath wind.
Twisted past exploding ground.
Every muscle remembered a past life spent between blades and death.
Assassin reflexes.
Predictive movement.
Killing intent without killing.
---
Minutes passed.
Aeron's breathing grew ragged.
His flames lost cohesion.
Wind spells faltered.
Mana leaked from him like blood from a wound.
Sensei: "Ten percent."
Daniel slowed.
He stopped dodging by inches.
He let attacks pass close enough for Aeron to taste hope.
Aeron roared and threw everything he had left.
A final spell.
A firestorm compressed into a single burning spear.
Aeron: "DIIIIIIE!"
The spear flew.
Sensei: "Step. Now."
Daniel stepped aside.
The spear missed.
Aeron dropped to one knee.
His staff dimmed.
Silence fell.
---
Daniel walked forward.
Slowly.
Each step echoed.
The crowd held its breath.
Aeron tried to rise.
His legs shook.
No mana responded.
Daniel stopped in front of him.
He raised his sword.
Placed the flat of the blade gently against Aeron's throat.
Daniel: "Forfeit."
Aeron's eyes were wide.
Not with pain.
With realization.
Aeron: "…I forfeit."
The horn sounded.
BWOOOOOM
---
For a heartbeat—
Nothing.
Then the arena exploded.
Shouts.
Gasps.
Disbelief.
Noble One: "He… he didn't use magic."
Mage Student: "He drained him."
Officer: "That wasn't luck."
Queen Althea's composure shattered.
Her hand slammed against the armrest.
Queen Althea: "USELESS!"
Queen Isolde smiled.
Just a little.
The heirs stared.
Prince Cedric exhaled slowly.
Princess Lyra whispered.
Lyra: "He didn't get hit… not once."
Leslie closed her eyes, breath shaking.
Relief flooded her.
---
Daniel left the arena without a word.
Behind him, murmurs twisted into something ugly.
Noble Two: "Makes sense."
Noble Three: "No magic. Just a rat surviving."
Noble One: "Born from poverty. Of course he learned to dodge."
The words didn't reach him.
He didn't care.
---
In his temporary residence, Daniel sat on the edge of his bed.
Sensei: "Outcome achieved. No magic exposure. Reputation altered."
Daniel: "Not in a good way."
Sensei: "Correct. Hostility increased."
Daniel: "What will the First Queen do?"
Sensei: "She will escalate."
Daniel nodded.
Daniel: "Let her."
A knock sounded.
Sharp. Formal.
Daniel stood and opened the door.
A mage in dark blue robes stood outside, crest of Queen Isolde pinned to his chest.
Mage: "Prince Daniel Evercrest."
Daniel stiffened slightly.
Mage: "Her Majesty, Queen Isolde, requests your presence."
Daniel met his gaze.
Daniel: "Now?"
Mage: "Immediately."
Sensei's voice was calm.
Sensei: "This is not an invitation."
Daniel exhaled slowly.
Daniel: "Then lead the way."
As the door closed behind him, one truth became clear—
The duel had ended.
But the real battle had only just begun.