Chapter 45: Duel

Edol dove to the side, narrowly dodging the spear that stabbed for his head.

'Shit! What's going on?!'

Nes stepped forward again, not giving the Brit any breathing room. Edol was entirely unprepared, void of even his usual earthen daggers. A relaxing lunch was suddenly becoming a fight to the death.

"Edol, you have to kill him. If he escapes and lets that secret loose, we'll be hunted down."

Nes lunged at Edol again, his spear glancing against the boy's shoulder and drawing a line of blood.

'He keeps coming! I need my daggers!'

Nes lunged again, but this time Edol didn't dodge away. Earth magic shot forward, moving to just below the hunter's feet. For a moment, Nes's balance was lost, and Edol jumped forward to body slam the aging man.

Crack!

Nes instantly regained his composure, but Edol was already too close. The elder swung his arm equipt with the buckler, and the top rim of it impacted on the boy's head as the two collided.

The two were flung away from each other, both rolling in the dirt for a few moments before returning to their feet.

"Nice moves, kid. Unfortunately, you'll need better!"

Nes aimed his spear back at Edol, taking up an aggressive stance. Edol also reacted, raising his hands. He was no longer unarmed.

The second of rolling had given him enough time to quickly pump his mana into the ground, creating a pair of daggers.

"Sweet Danu! How did you make those so fast?!"

Edol grinned, a trail of blood creeping down to his mouth from the cut on his forehead. Taking advantage of Nes's shock, the earth beneath Edol's feet shifted, and he sprinted forward, reaching his top speed in just a second.

Nes moved at the same time, his eyes roaming between the ground and the Brit's chest.

The patches of the ground seemed to tremble a bit in front of the boy, marking where he would step next.

'This kid is insane! With a bit more practice, he can definitely take me down! Heck, he might even beat me now!'

Their weapons clashed a few times, neither gaining the advantage. Edol's daggers sought out any chance to close the distance, while Nes pushed him away with his buckler.

After breaking apart for a moment, the Brit charged back in.

Edol closed the gap between the two, sidestepping Nes's prepared spear with unnatural agility and diving toward the old man. A smile appeared on both of the combatants' faces as they both saw their own victories.

"Ha!"

Nes's leg outstretched to where Edol's next footstep would be, kicking into the boy's shin and destroying his balance. Simultaneously, the spear swept back, blocking the daggers from ripping through the old man's neck.

Edol, unable to control his momentum, crashed into a nearby bush, and Nes prepared to re-engage.

'Hah, still too young to-...?!"

Lifting his spear, something felt off. A deep cut scarred the old oakwood shaft, leaving only a tiny sliver of wood left to hold it together.

Beads of sweat ran down the old man's face as his hand reached for his neck, double-checking to make sure the blade hadn't also cut there.

'This spear is an artifact! How the hell?!'

Edol stood up from within the bush, a wide smile spreading across his face.

"That spear is incredible! It's the second thing I've seen that my daggers can't cut!"

Months of isolation in hell with only Ghost to speak to had led to a strange hobby- perfecting making daggers. It didn't really matter if the weapon was damaged after a single use since Edol could repair it instantly with his earth legacy. Furthermore, the boy had discovered that he could channel a bit of mana into the blade, greatly improving its cutting capabilities.

"I hope you can still fight, old man. This is fun!"

Edol charged forward once more, and Nes scrambled to retrieve a backup dagger from his belt. The spear was now useless, and the old hunter tossed it to the side. Still, he wasn't done fighting. Up until now, he still had yet to use his legacy.

Nes's dagger ripped through his own satchel, spilling a plume of cattail-looking fluff into the air. Dashing back as Edol reached the cloud of fluff, Nes smirked and snapped his fingers.

Boom!

The cloud exploded, blasting out and replacing the air with a cloud of dense black smoke. Nes stepped in, his hands reaching back into his satchel as he searched for Edol's remains.

"Old man, did you really think I'd fall for that? You'll have to try harder!"

Edol's voice confirmed that the boy was still alive and well. Nes grinned, pulling a few smaller bits of cattail fluff from the bag. These looked a bit different, having been soaked in some kind of solution.

Spreading his arms and using his fire magic, Nes released a bunch of tiny, slow-burning bits of fluff into the cloud of smoke, then closed his eyes.

After standing still for a moment, Nes charged to one edge of the cloud, thrusting his dagger out at the boy. Somehow, Edol managed to respond in time to block the attack, and Nes retreated back into the pitch-black cloud.

Nes created a perfect smokescreen!

'Heh, unfortunate for the old man, though. I can still sense his footsteps!'

Edol spread tendrils of his earth legacy out under the black cloud, feeling for any movement. After a moment, something impacted the ground lightly, and Edol charged in. Losing his sight was a bit disorientating, but he just focused on where he'd sensed the footstep.

'Sorry, old man. You were a good opponent!'

Edol extended his arms, his dagger slicing through the air as it flew to where Nes was standing. Rather than the sensation of cutting through flesh, though, Edol felt nothing.

'Crap!'

Behind the boy, Nes appeared silently, swinging his buckler down on the boy's head. Edol fell to the ground, unable to avoid Nes's ambush.

"Sorry, kid. I probably can't beat you after this, so I'll have to end the fight here."

Nes's dagger dove for Edol's neck.

Clink!

A small gust of wind swept over Edol and Nes, revealing a pillar of earth that'd blocked the strike. Right behind the boy stood a large gray eagle, glaring at the aging hunter.

"Ah. I was having so much fun, I completely forgot about you."

Nes dropped his weapon to the ground and raised his arms in surrender.

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