Chapter 30: Challenge

  Why? Why did it happen again? Why am I constantly embroiled in conflict? Am I truly cursed? I just want to heal my Arcane Node and then cultivate in peace!

  Damon stood in silence and gazed at the young man blankly. He was completely exhausted from the constant stress and hardships he had faced.

  The young man who had long black hair tied behind him was growing increasingly annoyed at the peasant standing in front of him. How dare a mere early stage Initiate ignore his words?

  “Let’s go. It’s forbidden to fight outside the arena. Follow me.” The man wiggled his finger at Damon in a way to signal him to follow him.

  Damon remained standing, ignoring the intricate finger movement the man was making.

  I wanted to get a read on the value of merit points… I still haven’t even managed to talk to an attendant yet, and this guy is already trying to seduce me or something. Wait, I did talk to an attendant. Why did Claire just run off instead of helping me with my inquiry? What a silly lass.

  Damon was lost in his own mind, causing the man to finally raise his voice.

  “Hey! I’m talking to you! How dare you ignore someone of my status? Do you want to witness the wrath of the Hass family?” The man said in a loud but subdued tone, his voice trembling due to his suppressed anger.

  Damon snapped out of his internal ranting session when he finally remembered someone was standing in front of him. “What? Did you say something? Who even are you?”

  The man’s expression changed. It went from anger to calmness again. Though his expression was indifferent, his voice was now laced with cold killing intent.

  “Cado. Cado Hass, from the Hass family. You dared to insult me with your actions and words. If we don’t duel today, the Hass family won’t let you off lightly. Now follow me to the arena, or else I will personally make sure your life is a living hell.”

  “...” Damon was speechless from the words he was hearing. When did he insult this guy? How did he become so offended? Though confused, Damon wasn’t going to give in to the man’s demands.

  “Why should I follow you? What’s in it for me? You’re threatening me for doing something I don’t even remember doing. Even if you could make my life difficult, I have no inclination to accept your challenge.”

  “You! Okay, fine. How about I give you my storage pouch if you so much as manage to touch my robes? In return, when I win the duel, you will serve me at my beck and call. That seems like a fair proposition, does it not?” Cado tamped down his ever-increasing anger and propositioned Damon.

  Damon’s eyes began to glimmer with interest. A storage pouch? From the way this guy is acting, I think he has a powerful background. That means he must be carrying some good things. I didn’t even scam him, yet here he is, offering me everything on a silver platter!

  “Okay, I agree to the duel! We shall have my Junior Brother, Dylan, here be the witness to our agreement!” Damon grew animated as he imagined the riches he might receive. Cado was just a late stage Node Awakening Initiate. His power fluctuations were even unsteady, as though he had just broken through to the late stage and hadn’t had the opportunity to stabilize his cultivation yet. It was going to be a piece of cake.

  Next to Damon, Dylan’s face became pale. Even if Damon was ignorant about the political structure within the Academy, he was not. He knew exactly who Cado Hass was. Cado was the grandson of the Guard Manor Master, a circuit completion Adept. He didn’t want to be involved with such a figure. But he and Older Brother Damon were a team now. He needed to be brave.

  The trio arrived at the southern end of the Academy. Here, there were five raised platforms made of what looked like white porcelain. It was surrounded by stands for spectators. However, the stands were only used when there was an official event. There were currently two duels happening on two of the platforms on the right side of the entrance, where a small crowd of observers was cheering for their respective participants. The two platforms on the left and the large central platform were both unoccupied.

  Cado walked directly to the large central platform and climbed up without any hesitation. After taking his spot on the opposite end, he turned around and called out. “Hello? Senior Adjudicator? We are here to settle a feud with a wagered duel. Please bestow your judgment during the battle.”

  Damon climbed up the stairs with a nervous Dylan clinging onto the robes on his back. At this moment, a shadow fell from above, rapidly growing smaller before disappearing beneath a man as he landed lightly next to the platform. Damon’s pupils constricted at the sight of the man. He did not have any arcane power fluctuations. Instead, he felt a more primal pressure coming from the man. Though his body was predominantly hidden beneath his robes, his large, toned muscles could be glimpsed from the way the robes hugged his curves. He was middle-aged and had shaggy blonde hair covering half his face. His chin and cheeks were covered in patches of rugged stubble. Two pitch black pupils could be seen peering out from between the strands of wavy blonde hair. He looked at the three of them as a predator would its prey.

  “An official duel, huh? I haven’t seen one in a while. Okay. State your terms.” The man’s voice was very rough, like metal grating against metal.

  “Senior Adjudicator, I have a grudge against that youth over there. He offended me, and behind me stands the Hass family. We have agreed to a duel, where he will get my storage pouch if he wins, and he will become my servant if he loses. That little boy hiding behind him is the witness to the agreement.” Cado very slightly bent his back as he briefly bowed to the man.

  The man glanced over at Damon and Dylan and asked, “Is it as he says?”

  Damon was too preoccupied to respond. He was trying to control a sliver of Mindsense to secretly probe the man to gain more insight into the adjudicator. He was extremely curious, as this was his first time seeing a high realm Auron.

  Arcon always passively radiated energy, as long as they didn’t actively use a technique to hide it. Auron, however, did not radiate their power. Perhaps they had their own way of determining each other's realms, but Damon did not currently know it. All he knew was that this man was powerful. His intuition was screaming this in his mind.

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  Dylan was sending inquisitive glances at Damon because he was not answering the question. He was standing still, staring at the adjudicator with narrowed eyes. Dylan began to sweat as he bit his bottom lip in worry.

  “Y… Yes, Sir… That is the truth…” Dylan garnered all the courage within his bones and managed to finally stammer out a response. He patted his chest with his small hand. He then smiled with self-satisfaction at his show of courage.

  “Well… Okay, then. Let me know when you’re ready, and I’ll count down the start.” The Adjudicator continued to look at Damon, waiting for him to snap out of his reverie.

  Damon soon came back to the present. He had given the entirety of his focus to his Mindsense. However, it still came back with no results other than ‘this man is powerful’.

  Tch. Damon clicked his tongue and then looked between the Adjudicator and Cado.

  “What are we waiting for? Are we going to start the duel or not?” Damon asked, oblivious to the previous interaction.

  A vein bulged out of Cado’s neck as he ground his teeth in annoyance. He was determined to teach a harsh lesson to Damon.

  “Well then. I’ll begin the count. Three… Two… One… Begin.” The adjudicator did not show any reaction to Damon’s rudeness and began counting down.

  Damon withdrew his bow and nocked an arrow on the bowstring. I can’t use any arcane power. I need to win this with just mental power, without making it too obvious. How do I do that…

  Damon’s eyes began to sparkle as an idea crossed his mind. He drew the bow and unleashed the arrow, accelerating it as much as he could with telekinesis. As it soared through the air, it began spinning in a spiral, the metal point gleaming with a cold light.

  Cado had begun chanting a spell when he noticed the arrow flying toward him. He gave up on the spell and waved his hands in front of him quickly, attempting to generate some barriers. However, he was already too late.

  The spinning arrow had gained such momentum and speed that Cado barely managed to create one barrier before it had already arrived in front of him. The arrowhead made a shrill screeching noise upon hitting the barrier, before beginning to drill through it. The hastily made barrier was too thin and fragile to fend against this arrow. It paused for a split second before piercing through the barrier.

  Damon’s eyes lit up in delight at the sight. It worked! The rotation of the arrow will give it increased penetrative power. It’s similar to how the bow drill works. I have Father to thank for this. I wouldn’t have known this if I had not seen him use one in the past. However, if it had been a full barrier, it still wouldn’t work. These arrows just aren’t strong enough.

  The arrow continued in its path, flying straight at Cado’s throat. The distance between his barrier and the arrow was so small that Cado could not even move out of the way in time. He tightly shut his eyes and screamed in a high-pitched voice, expecting the arrow to pierce through his throat, killing him.

  Cado waited for his end to come. He finally understood what it was like to experience his life flash before his eyes due to his impending demise. His thoughts whirled through numerous memories, focusing mainly on his loving parents and his childhood best friend. Her name was Camoly Guavo.

  Damon watched from afar with his eyes wide open. Cado was standing stock still, muttering under his breath with his eyes closed. Right in front of him, the Adjudicator was holding on to the arrow, the tip a mere inch away from Cado’s throat.

  When did he get there? He was still standing at the side of the platform when I saw the arrow break through that guy’s barrier. I blinked and then… He was there! What incredible speed!

  The adjudicator ignored the soft and sweet whispers being murmured by Cado next to him and focused on the arrow in his grasp. It was still trembling, as though power was still coursing through the shaft. Suddenly, the arrow fell apart into little pieces and dropped to the ground. He looked up at Damon with curiosity.

  Damon was not fazed by the scrutiny of the Adjudicator. Like how he was unable to see through the man, the man would be unable to see the secrets of his mind cultivation. He had even caused the arrow to disintegrate with his mental power. He walked up to the two and said, “So, as you intervened to save this guy, it is my victory, correct? Please make sure I receive the promised wager.”

  Cado slowly opened his eyes and looked around in surprise. Until he heard Damon’s voice, he had thought he was still experiencing the flashbacks. He glanced at Damon, noticing that all the hostility and anger from before had completely disappeared. It was instead replaced with complicated emotions, such as shame and gratitude.

  “Sorry, what was your name? I don’t think I asked earlier…” Cado said in embarrassment.

  “It’s Damon. Damon Fletcher. Now, where is the storage pouch I was promised?” Damon said indifferently.

  “Oh, so it’s Damon… I just wanted to first apologize for my earlier actions. I don’t know what came over me, but I grew so jealous and agitated. However, my near-death experience allowed me to overcome those petty emotions and be reborn into a new man. This is thanks to you. So I extend my appreciation, along with this.” Cado put his hand into his robe and pulled out a storage pouch, handing it to Damon with a deep bow.

  Damon glanced down at the storage pouch before looking at the bowing Cado. How did his personality shift so drastically? He’s a completely different person! Well, whatever. I got the pouch that I wanted in the end, so it’s fine. He grabbed the pouch and said, “That’s fine. It’ll be better if you don't treat others like that in the future. Anyway, I’ll be off then.”

  Cado remained bowed as Damon walked away with Dylan. After a couple of minutes, he stood straight again. He looked at the Adjudicator standing next to him and smiled.

  “That youth helped me regain my clarity. I had only seen the roots of the tree next to me, rather than seeing the beautiful blossoms up above. In my ignorance, I chased after a pretty flower instead. I must be off to claim the tree I had once abandoned!” Cado yelled out of the blue and ran off.

  The Adjudicator continued to look in the direction everyone had gone.

  “That arrow… Felt similar to an aura imbued weapon. But he is in the Arcane Academy. Is he a dual cultivator?” The man mused to himself before squatting. He extended his legs, upon which he vanished as he jumped high into the sky.

  At the side of the area, a group of cultivators was situated on the stands. They had arrived earlier and had been observing the battle with great focus. In this group, there were three boys and one girl. One of the boys was Kelvin, and the girl was Samantha, both from Combat Class Alan. They, and one more boy, were standing behind a seated young man. He was clad in a robe with the same design as the Academy robes, but they were shimmering with golden runes, and the verdant lining was embroidered with regal markings.

  “Interesting. So that boy with the bow was Damon Fletcher? I thought Cado would be a good opponent to test his combat prowess, but Cado lost to a single arrow. Maybe there was more to the attack than meets the eye. I guess I can’t help it. I will test him myself.”

  The seated man’s eyes glowed faintly with a golden light. His irises were a brilliant green, filled with minuscule, yet intricate golden runic patterns.

  “Continue watching him for now. I’ve got something else to do. I’ll test him when I’m done with that.”

  Damon had parted ways with Dylan and arrived back at his dorm room. He was fiddling with a storage pouch in his hands, inspecting the fine cloth it had been made out of with glee.

  “Now, this is what it means by an unexpected windfall. I can’t believe I was able to get that Cado guy to hand over his storage pouch without even needing to ask! I guess sometimes I don’t even have to use trickery to gain things.”

  Damon snickered to himself for a while before finally channeling his arcane power. He froze from the sheer shock of what was inside the storage pouch.

  Damon found in the storage pouch? Comment down below!

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