Chapter 227: One Vs Two!
"Use these seven days to sharpen your bodies and your resolve.
The Demon incursions will not wait for you to grow comfortable."
Most students celebrated, treating the holiday as a rare chance to rest.
But for Elysia and Kael, it was anything but training.
Elysia returned home that evening.
Her parents offered gentle smiles, but Elysia barely spoke.
As soon as the evening meal ended, she climbed the spiral stairway to her private training room.
The first night, she stood before her reflection in the mirrored wall.
Her Oath Blade rested across her palms, the faint runes along its edge flickering like fireflies.
She whispered the old promise taught to every swordswoman of her bloodline:
"Steel remembers. The heart does not falter."
Then she began.
Her training in the private room.
Sweat soaked her tunic, her breathing harsh, but she refused to stop.
She slept only four hours before sunrise, rising again while the rest of the household still dreamed.
Day after day the pattern repeated.
Morning drills, midday meditation, evening duels against the enchanted training dummies.
Her wrists hardened, shoulders tightened, and the once-delicate muscles of her arms rippled with new strength.
By the fourth night, even the Oath Blade’s runes glowed brighter, resonating with the resolve of its wielder.
During brief pauses she looked toward the city’s distant towers and thought of Kael.
While Elysia trained within elegance and quiet, Kael chose the academy’s private underground chamber.
The first swing nearly dislocated his shoulder under careless swing.
But Kael refused to yield.
The first night he managed only fifty swings before his knees buckled.
He slept two hours on the cold floor and began again.
By the second night, the blade felt slightly less impossible.
He focused on breathing, on the subtle shift of weight between each swing.
Muscles tore and rebuilt themselves with each grueling repetition.
By the fourth day, the change was unmistakable.
His arms were broader, veins standing like cords beneath the skin.
His back thickened with layers of hardened muscle, and even his breathing carried a quiet power.
Every arc of the heavy sword sang through the air with lethal grace.
Kael paused after a set of hundred cuts, sweat dripping from his chin.
He leaned against the wall, chest heaving, and allowed himself a brief smile.
The chamber door creaked.
Kael straightened, senses sharpening.
From the entrance strode three figures wearing academy uniforms of the second-year division.
At their center walked a man, Kayle Virehart, Rank 1 of the second years.
Beside him move Kaigaku, Rank 2.
Behind them trailed a smaller group of second-year supporters, whispering among themselves.
Kayle gaze swept the chamber and fixed on Kael.
"Found one," he said.
"The famous first-year who keeps stealing the headlines."
Kaigaku cracked his knuckles, grin crooked with irritation.
"Reporters won’t shut up about the Blackstone mission.
"First years this, first years that."
"We bled for a year to earn recognition, and you kids get it in a week."
Kael wiped sweat from his brow but remained silent.
Kayle stepped closer.
"You look calm for someone who’s about to be taught a lesson.
Where are the others? Your little rescue team?"
"Not here," Kael replied evenly.
"Only me."
"If you’re looking for trouble, you’ve found the wrong room."
Kaigaku’s grin widened.
"Perfect.
No witnesses."
He drew his twin sabers in a flash of steel.
Kaigaku lunged with predatory speed, sabers slicing in a cross pattern meant to disarm.
Kael raised his heavy sword in a two-handed block.
The clash rang like a thunderclap.
Kaigaku spun, blades a blur of silver arcs.
His style was quick and precise, each strike aimed to exploit the greatsword’s sluggish recovery.
But Kael did not chase speed.
He anchored his stance, letting Kaigaku’s fury crash like waves against a cliff.
Every swing of the greatsword met the sabers with crushing force, sending vibrations up Kaigaku’s arms.
"Too slow!" Kaigaku taunted, darting in with a feint toward Kael’s ribs.
Kael pivoted, allowing the heavy blade’s weight to carry a sudden counter-slash.
The greatsword’s flat side slammed into Kaigaku’s guard, ripping the sabers wide.
Kael stepped in and delivered a brutal shoulder strike to Kaigaku’s chest.
The second-year staggered back, breath driven from his lungs.
Before he could recover, Kael swung the greatsword in a downward arc.
The blade stopped a hair’s breadth from Kaigaku’s throat, the gust of displaced air knocking him to one knee.
Kael lowered the weapon slowly.
"Yield," he said.
Kaigaku clenched his teeth, fury burning behind his eyes, but he knew defeat when it stared him in the face.
He spat to the side and stepped back.
Kayle clapped slowly, a faint smile touching his lips.
"Impressive.
But I am not Kaigaku."
He unsheathed his rapier, the blade shimmering with faint mana threads.
"Let’s see if the first-year prodigy can handle rank one."
Kael tightened his grip.
He knew Kayle’s reputation: unmatched precision, a duelist who could pierce armor seams in the blink of an eye.
The duel began with a sudden thrust.
Kayle’s rapier darted like lightning, each strike aimed at vital points.
Kael’s greatsword moved in wide defensive sweeps, the heavy blade intercepting the rapier again and again.
Sparks showered across the chamber.
Kayle’s speed was unnerving.
Every feint demanded instant reaction.
Kael felt his muscles strain to keep pace.
Then Kayle whispered, "Let’s end this," and infused his rapier with a burst of mana.
The blade blurred into afterimages, a storm of thrusts.
Kael’s eyes narrowed.
"Enough."
He drew a deep breath, focusing on the hidden strength he had forged over sleepless nights.
But before he could unleash his skills, Kaigaku—recovering from defeat—leapt back into the fray, twin sabers flashing.
"Two against one?" Kael growled.
Kayle smirked.
"Call it... senior privilege."
The combined assault came like a hurricane.
Rapier and sabers danced around him, striking from opposite angles, testing every defense.
Kael retreated a step, then another, the greatsword carving desperate arcs.
But beneath the pressure, something inside him ignited.
Every movement of his opponents sharpened into crystalline clarity.
Mana surged through his veins, responding to his will.
"Astral Severance." Kael shouted.
The greatsword flared with starlit energy as he swung horizontally.
A crescent of silver light tore across the floor, forcing both attackers to leap aside.
He followed instantly with a crushing forward strike.
"Astral Punch!"
Kael released his left hand from the hilt and drove a mana-coated fist into the ground.
The shockwave rippled outward, toppling Kaigaku mid-dash and throwing Kayle off balance.
Without pause, Kael spun the greatsword overhead.
"Abyss Cyclone!"
A vortex of shadow and astral light erupted around him, a whirling storm that filled the chamber with screaming winds.
Both second-years were flung back, weapons torn from their grip.
The storm subsided, leaving Kael standing alone amid the swirling dust.
The greatsword rested on his shoulder, faint starlight fading from its edge.
Kayle struggled to one knee, eyes wide with disbelief.
Kaigaku lay sprawled against the wall, coughing.
Kael’s voice cut through the silence.
"Do you yield?"
Neither second-year spoke.
Kael stepped closer.
"I didn’t ask for the attention you hate.
But if you think strength belongs only to seniors...
remember this moment."
He turned and shouldered the greatsword, leaving the chamber without another word.
Kayle wiped blood from his lip and let out a shaky laugh.
"First year, huh?" he muttered.
"Monsters... Arcadia keeps breeding monsters."
Kaigaku slammed a fist against the floor, frustration burning brighter than pain.
But deep down, even he could not deny the truth.
Kael had surpassed them by raw strength.