Lilith smiled thinly. It seed Damon had finally found a worthy opponent. However, she needed to make sure things didn't get out of hand.
Yuka von Penrose belonged to the esteed Penrose family—renowned swordsn fiercely loyal to the imperial family. There was no doubt that Yuka had been trained rigorously from a young age, his skills honed to perfection as a scion of his lineage. Among the first years at the Imperial Academy, he was ranked third.
This year's Imperial Academy freshn were exceptionally talented. The institution was improving, but that wasn't a concern—Aether Academy had its own prodigies. In both quantity and quality, Aether remained superior. Its Spartan training regin wasn't for nothing; the academy was brutal in every sense, forging warriors through both physical and ntal trials.
She couldn't help but think of the upcoming end-of-sester evaluation.
'Damon won't have it too easy this ti…'
Yuka paid Lilith no mind. He walked up to Damon, stopping precisely a ter away.
"State your na."
Damon's black eyes were calm.
"I am Damon Grey of Aether Academy."
Yuka nodded.
"I see. I have not heard of you. Where do you rank?"
Damon thought for a mont. Should he reveal his forr title or his current one? In the end, he chose the forr.
"Naturally, you wouldn't have. I am Aether Academy's weakest student."
Lilith suppressed a smile as the crowd erupted in shock.
"The weakest student? No way!"
"But he just took down nineteen Imperial students!"
"If he's the weakest, then the students there must be on another level…"
"Their education system must be superior!"
Yuka narrowed his eyes. His opponent wore a blindfold yet had effortlessly defeated multiple students.
'Is he blind? No… that isn't the gait of soone without sight.'
"You lie," Yuka said coldly. "Soone as strong as you must surely be at least in the top ten."
Damon smirked.
"But you haven't heard of any Damon Grey in the top ten, have you? Your academy should have shared the nas of those in the ranking, along with their magic attributes and skills, right?"
Yuka remained silent.
"Ever heard of a Damon Grey who uses wind magic?"
Lilith smirked. What a shaless lie—he was deliberately concealing his true attribute.
Damon continued, his voice steady.
"I'm a fist fighter. Soone like would be well-known if I were in the top ten."
Yuka narrowed his eyes. That made sense. And yet, sothing about this man felt too dangerous to be unknown.
He placed his hand on his katana.
"Very well then, Damon Grey. I challenge you to a duel."
Damon shook his head.
"Not interested."
Yuka blinked, montarily taken aback.
"I am challenging you to an honorable duel."
Damon sneered.
"Great. Another pompous idiot who thinks 'honor' ans sothing."
He raised his hand.
"I don't give a damn about honor. Let's just fight."
Bang! Bang!
Two magic bullets shot forward, Damon's fingers still smoking from the release. Yuka barely dodged, but his shoulder was grazed.
His eyes sharpened as he gripped his katana, drawing it in a single, fluid motion.
'Darkness attribute magic, he lied.'
At that mont, Damon felt an instinctive warning—danger. The very space in front of him warped as if it had been sliced apart. He tilted his body to the side, just in ti. A single strand of his hair was severed. The pavent behind him split open, a clean cut running through the stone.
Yuka's voice was calm, composed.
"Spatial Quick Draw."
Damon narrowed his eyes.
'Offensive spatial magic… what a dangerous attribute and skill combination.'
But Damon had Beholder's Gaze. Before Yuka could sheath his blade, Damon had already fired his omnidirectional gear, propelling himself forward at high speed.
As he closed in, he pulled out a dagger and slashed at Yuka's shoulder. The swordsman barely reacted in ti, avoiding a deep wound but still suffering a minor cut. First blood was drawn.
Damon sensed danger and imdiately stepped back.
Yuka, unfazed, reached for the second sword on his back and thrust forward. Damon had already calculated the attack and should have been out of range—except…
His instincts flared.
The sword passed through space unnaturally, appearing behind him. Through Shadow Perception, he detected sothing manifesting at his back.
He shifted his head just in ti, barely dodging. But it wasn't over. A second thrust followed. Damon twisted, pulling out his second dagger.
Clang!
Steel t steel—even though there was a two-ter gap between them.
Damon realized he needed to close the distance; otherwise, he would be at a disadvantage, forced onto the defensive.
Their blades clashed, sparks flying as they tested each other's limits.
Yuka glared at him.
"You're fast… but after every dodge, you seem to get slightly faster. By a three-second margin. How? Is that a spell?"
Damon gripped his daggers tighter.
'He's sharp. He's already noticed the effects of Beholder's Gaze…'
Damon didn't have much ti. His [5x] skill would wear off in five minutes, and he was already out of breath after fighting the others. Yuka wasn't just skilled—he was tricky, his spatial attribute making him a dangerous opponent. Damon didn't want to use his Shadow Armor skill, not against soone this fast, but that didn't an his shadows were useless.
He activated Shadow Control and sprinted toward Yuka. The shadows beneath his sleeves flickered as teleporting sword strikes ca at him. Damon dodged, weaving between the attacks, knowing Yuka was currently using only one sword. That ant his strikes could only co from one direction at a ti.
Damon easily closed the distance—he couldn't allow Yuka to use Quick Draw again.
Yuka's violet eyes narrowed as he raised his sword to slash at Damon, but Damon's dagger arts were unorthodox. He did what no sane person would—he threw his right dagger into the air.
Yuka's eyes instinctively flicked up in surprise. It was only for a mont, but that was all Damon needed.
Another dagger was already flying toward Yuka's face.
Reacting fast, Yuka slashed it away.
His eyes glimred.
You're open.
He swung down at Damon, expecting a decisive strike—only to find Damon had slowed down on purpose. Continue reading stories on My Virtual Library Empire
Damon's palm caught the sword mid-swing.
Clang
Yuka's eyes widened. His blade had struck sothing as hard as steel.
Damon's arms darkened, a solid gauntlet of shadow armor encasing them.
Before Yuka could react—
An armored fist smashed into his face.
Blood gushed from Yuka's nose as he staggered backward, his grip tightening around his sword.
"That was madness…!" he hissed.
Damon stepped forward, delivering another heavy punch to Yuka's gut, sending him reeling.
As Yuka recovered, he reached for his katana, preparing to draw it at point-blank range.
Damon sensed imdiate danger.
But before either of them could continue—
"That's enough!!!"
A cold, unfamiliar feminine voice rang out.
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