TBATE | Fates Intertwine

Purple Lightning | Chapter 22

Arthur Leywin POV

The damp arena walls all around me reverberated as the crowds' cheers shook the floor beneath me. The light at the end of the tunnel slowly came into view before manifesting into a breathtaking sight of several thousand people watching us fight.

By this time I had grown used to the massive cheering and the overwhelming audience that has been bestowed upon me. My nerves weren't gone completely but rather tamed. The noise that has previously invaded my eardrums wasn't as distracting as it used to be.

No longer intimidated by the overwhelming crowd, I walked confidently toward the center of the stadium where Riza stood with an excited grin plastered.

Once about 200 feet apart, we pulled out our weapons and readied ourselves.

"Ready? This isn't going to be easy, nor am I going to be nice to you, Mr. Prodigy!" Riza exclaimed at the top of her lungs amidst the crowd

A small smile crept across my face. My eyes matched her gaze.

"Neither am I" Her grin widened even more.

At the announcer's signal, Riza and I immediately dashed toward each other. Both our blades were augmented with fire.

Immediately feeling the rush of adrenaline, I swung my sword in a wide arc toward Riza. She parried it with her spear and jabbed my ribs with the back of her spear. Taking the brunt of the attack I flew back upon impact.

I couldn't heal myself using aether since grandma ordered me not to use it in the tournament. Instead, I had to be more cautious when fighting since I'm used to healing myself mid-fight.

"Arthur," Riza called out in a calm voice. At this time the crowd was calmer and was watching our fight with more attention. She was no more than 5 feet away from me.

I brought my head up to match her gaze, whom bellowed me with calculating eyes, "Where does your loyalty stand with this continent?"

Taken aback by this question, my brows furrowed. 'Where is this question coming from?' I wondered. By this time I was already upon and had my sword augmented.

Her position stayed the same. Her eyes remained unchanged. Her features hardened upon seeing my confusion, "Allow me to be more clear. If you were to choose your family over the continent would you do it?"

I got into a stance. My eyes trained on hers, "Without question."

Dashing toward her. She lifted her spear to parry my strike but instead of going for her chest, I sidestepped at the last second to go for her side. She blocked it. I aimed at her other sternum. She parried it.

She countered it with a diagonal cut across my abdomen. Backstepping, I grabbed her spear. At the same time sent a flaming fist to her face. She moved her head just barely so that it wouldn't hit her.

I struck her right side. She parried it.

Aimed for her upper abdomen. She blocked it.

Cut across her chest. She backstepped it.

Putting some distance between us I conjured a wind ball to her sternum to black her back. She saw that move and blocked it with her spear. That however didn't do anything as she was sent several feet away from me.

She stood up. Her eyes never wavered when facing me, "I see. It seems that you truly are ignorant of the current state affairs of the world." She uttered. Her voice was low and barely distinguishable.

I lowered my guard for a second and that was all she needed to get an opening to me. Catching me off guard, she swung her spear at me at a blinding speed. I parried it just in time.