The Beginning After The End novel Chapter 29

I held my shortsword just above my waist, ready to attack or defend. The array of sounds that filled the arena were soon drowned out as my focus centered solely on the man standing in front of me.

The man named Kaspian, the one in charge of the biggest Guild Halls, held the menacing rapier lightly with his right hand. He stood upright, making figure eights with the tip of his blade while letting out a little hum. Yet, he had no openings. The baleful pressure of his bloodlust was blatantly let loose as he dared to let out an innocent smile.

Memories of fighting inside the dueling arena in my previous world flashed to mind as the air grew tense between us. My focus sharpened to their limits. The only sounds that came through my ears were those made by Kaspian: his blade whistling in the air, the crinkled sounds of his thin clothes, and the controlled breaths he took. My body screamed to take caution against this man.

I could feel my hands tremble ever so slightly, not from apprehension, but from excitement. I didn’t think I’d find an opponent of this caliber so soon. This battle wasn’t to the death but I knew it would different from the spars I had with Grandpa Virion back in Elenoir.

"I knew from first glance that you would have to be assessed in a different manner. I hope you don’t take this... special treatment to heart," Kaspian commented as he lowered his stance.

In that brief moment, I analyzed every piece of useful information that I could about this man. His reach was longer than mine by about a foot, while his stance indicated that he primarily relied on thrusts rather than swings. Just from the amount of mana I could sense swirling near him, it was safe to assume that he wouldn’t make any careless mistakes.

"Please prepare yourself. I wouldn’t want the person Miss Flamesworth sponsored to lose too quickly."

He sprang forward, leaving a trail of dust behind him as he closed the gap between us. In one fluid motion, he lunged his rapier like a coiled spring, using the momentum of his initial step.

I twisted my head to avoid the stab, but a few strands of my hair were cut off.

"Excellent dodge," he mused, retracting his rapier in preparation for his next attack.

Immediately following up with an angled lunge, I held up my scabbard. A sharp thud echoed throughout the arena from the clash and I was thrown off-balance. It seemed like I was still unable to use the full extent of my previous knowledge in swordsmanship with this undeveloped body.

I recovered from this setback by pivoting myself, using the momentum from his attack to whirl my lacking body to generate a powerful swing.

Kaspian leaned back just moments before my sword reached his head, but a thin red line appeared across the tip of his nose.

His thin eyes widened in surprise but he recovered instantly. I took advantage of that split second, bringing my sword back to produce a sharp, upward swipe at his unguarded legs.

My blade reflected the arena lights, producing a silver arc as it whizzed through the air.

However, my opponent was able to reposition his sword to defend against my swing. The sharp ring of metal on metal made both Kaspian and I cringe. The both of us seemed to have had the same intent as we both used the opportunity to gain distance. Only a handful of seconds passed during the deadly exchange, but each of us came out with only minor injuries. I switched my sword arm since the impact of our last blow produced a sharp vibration that made my right hand tremble.

The realization that I was still unaccustomed to fighting in this body was all too apparent as I coaxed my hand.

"I must apologize for underestimating you. I shall be a bit more serious now." Kaspian’s voice was calm but his face expressed a certain degree of seriousness that wasn’t there before.

His sharp eyes gleamed with a powerful killing intent that could only be present in someone who had years of fighting under his belt. His rapier was aimed toward me, but as he brought it closer toward him, the blade began glowing with a silvery hue.

"Ha!" Letting out a sharp breath, he thrust out his rapier, piercing the air in front of him.

The hairs on the back of my neck rose as my body screamed for me to run away. I instinctively pivoted myself away from where my opponent had lined his attack. A sharp pain burst from my shoulder as hot blood seeped into the sleeve of my robe...

"Seems like Miss Flamesworth has picked up someone worthwhile after all," Kaspian acknowledged.

As far as I was concerned, this wasn’t some assessment anymore. Whether he had expected me to dodge or not, he had aimed for my heart.

Would I have been able to defeat him easily if I had the body of my past life? I wasn’t sure. There were too many factors that played into this; the quality of our swords, the use of long range mana manipulation that didn’t exist in my old world...

Taking a moment to charge his next attack, he let out two more consecutive thrusts, but I knew what to expect.

He was creating sharp bullets of wind, which were near-invisible. However, it didn’t mean that they were impossible to dodge. By the timing of the thrust to when it had reached my arm from his previous attack, I was able to gauge the speed the spell travelled.

The spell travelled in a straight path based on the direction of his jab, so while the speed of the spell was frightening, there were holes to take advantage of.

I ducked underneath the first bullet of wind as it barely grazed my hair. I parried the second bullet with the flat of my blade, redirecting his spell away from me. Immediately after, I willed mana into my legs and dashed toward Kaspian.

I had to shorten the distance between us now that I knew he had a long range spell at his disposal, but I knew even in terms of melee combat, it would be a hard battle.

I had a body that was more than several inches shorter than what I had been used to when sword fighting and a much smaller pool of mana to utilize. So even with the assimilation of Sylvia’s dragon will making my body tougher, I didn’t have that much of an advantage against a veteran fighter with a body enhanced with mana.

The only advantage I had was the fact that Kaspian didn’t know what I had up my sleeve.

Focusing mana into my free hand, I ran my fingers down the blade of my sword, imbuing it with fire. Approaching him, I swung down to release an arc of fiery red.

I could see the concentration on Kaspian’s face as he willed more mana into his rapier until it, once again, glowed in a silvery white. He fanned away the flames with a powerful swing, leaving an ever-so-slight window for me to take advantage of.

Gathering mana into the sole of my left foot, I molded the spell to manifest into the proper form.

[Piston Stamp]

A succession of fiery explosion erupted underneath my foot, propelling me directly beside Kaspian.

"How—" was all he could manage. His mouth agape, his rapier was still held up from his defense against my previous attack that I had used as a feint.

My position wasn’t optimal; I had launched myself a foot more than I had wanted to, but it was enough.

Without enough time to form a proper spell, I simply strengthened my body with mana as I thrust my sword forward.

However, even as the distance between my blade and Kaspian shortened, I could make out the words that the Guild Hall manager was chanting. "Gather and unleash!"

[Gale’s Vortex]

I was barely able to rescind my attack and jump away as an intense swirl of airstream burst out from Kaspian, surrounding him in a protective twister.

The Guild Hall manager was hidden from view within the twister of wind and debris, allowing me some time to prepare for his next attack.

The spell was released to reveal Kaspian, sweating and panting, with his sword arm tucked closely to his side like a snake about to lash out; his left arm was stretched out—palms open—aimed directly at me .

He was obviously chanting as the blade of his rapier began glowing even brighter in silver.

"Pierce those who stand against me!" he roared as his rapier disappeared into a blur of countless thrusts.