Chương 4: Chapter 4
"We don't have Sky Tubes in Lyonesse" Elle said in reply to Ray questioning her awe at the technology that most Atlantians took for granted.
There was only the two of them in the Tube and Elle moved from one window to the next, staring wide eyed and gasping at the scene.
This apparently went against Ray's knowledge of the technology.
"I thought the Lyonesse Tubes system is one of the most intricate in all of Avalon?" Ray said. "Wasn't the Sky Tubes based on technology from Lyonesse?"
Elle chuckled. "You are right. But our Tubes system is underground. We don't have Sky Tubes systems. And because our underground Tubes system is more than sufficient to take us anywhere in the country, there was never a point to build Sky Tubes. So although we originated the technology, we don't have Sky Tubes" Elle explained.
Ray took Elle on a tour of the academic and administrative buildings. Although it was a weekend, the Academy was bustling with activity. This was not an indication that the Academy encouraged overworking and over studying and the sacrifice of rest and entertainment. Learning for Apprentices was mostly informal, self-planned, self-study and topic driven. The Masters' and Instructors' role was more as a guide. This method of learning proved to be more conducive and the activity that they saw was testament to this.
Because everyone was out and about, many saw the legendary Hero Ray going on a date (in their eyes) with a beautiful girl. And so even before noon, the news – or more accurately rumour – that Ray has a girlfriend had already spread like wildfire. This was the reason that, in the afternoon when the two of them went to look up on Penthesila, Margaret and Marry, Penthesila angrily challenged Ray to a duel.
"Hero Raiton Aetherios, Hero of the Academy of Atlantis. As a Golden Knight of the Royal Kingdom of Lyonesse, I challenge you to a duel". These were the words that met a rather befuddled Ray as he and Elle entered the training arena.
The challenge took place in VR Room 8, one of the Academy's virtual simulation training rooms. The room was dome shaped with a walkway halfway up the outside of the room for spectators. At the time that Ray and Elle entered the room, looking the image of a high king and queen on a royal stroll, the people in the room appeared to be taking a rest.
The virtual reality (VR) training simulation was turned off and the windows for the spectators was transparent both ways allowing the people in the room to see outside. When the VR training simulation is on, the windows become one way so as not to distract the ones training. At this point in time, there were no spectators.
Present in the room were Penthesila, Margaret, Marry, instructors Weise and Mildred and two Heroes that Ray did not recognise. Instructors Weise and Mildred are senior Heroes who fought alongside Ray during the war and he knew them quite well. The six of them were sitting around a wooden table that Ray recognised as being formed by Wood Aura Construction Technique which he had taught Weise and Mildred and which he in turn had learned from the Wood Elf Masters of Alfheim Academy. This was the condition in the room when Ray and Elle entered.
Penthesila, who was sitting in the discussion suddenly stood up, pointed her finger at Ray and posed her challenge.
"Um... I don't think that this is the appropriate time this kind of thing" Marry tried to change Penthesila's mind but she responded by drawing out her favoured sword Excalibur.
Master Weise jumped in between Penthesila and Ray and tried to calm the situation down in his own way.
"I think that a duel would be a great idea" the Dark Elf said with a smile that Ray felt looked very fake.
Master Weise was tall and thin with dark brown skin and long silver hair tied in a traditional Dark Elven Braid. His face appeared ageless, meaning that it was impossible to guess at his age by looking at his face, though Ray knew that he was over two hundred years old, which made him a middle aged Dark Elf. The ageless appearance is one of the unique characteristics of the Dark Elves. Although he is a wise Hero, Ray and everyone in the Academy knew Master Weise best for his propensity to play jokes on others. It is because of this that Ray did not fully believe the older Hero's kindly smile and the intention behind it. However, he kept this perception to himself.
Master Weise proceeded to explain his idea.
He looked at Ray and said: "I am sure that you are aware that the Golden Wings Knights of Lyonesse have, for the past three days been learning anti-Demon and anti-Satanist Techniques" Master Weise indicated Penthesila, Marry and Margaret with his slender, long elven hand. "They are quite talented and fast to learn I might add" the three knights beamed at this praise.
"They show such promise that I have even taught them Wood Aura Manipulation and Construction. They have achieved a very satisfactory level of mastery of this skill"
"I think that the three of them have reached the end of my first level of training and are ready to proceed to the next level. However, before that, I believe that a test wouldn't be a bad thing don't you think?" his eyes glinted as he said this before adding more fuel to the flame. "The Golden Wings Knights are the Lyonesse Royal Guards. In a sense, they are the equivalent of Heroes to the Lyonesse. I think it would be highly disrespectful to offer them anyone short of the very best of the Academies – The Legendary Hero himself – as a measuring stick to measure their progress"
Ray was the only one who saw his smile as an evil grin. Everyone else thought that it would be good for the training.
"They will be going against Demons in our stead. It is the least we can do to make sure that the 'weapon' we are giving them is not defective"
This last sentence sealed Ray's fate.
The boulder in front of Ray was sliced in two as if it were butter being cut by a very sharp knife. Ray saw Penthesila's long sword coming at him from above and not a split second later from every direction almost at once, blocking his escape. A technique that was meant to be a sure kill.
"She's really trying to kill me" Ray thought as he activated Wood Aura Manipulation: Cocoon. Although Wood Aura Techniques are not Ray's specialty, he had practiced it during the war three years ago as it had properties that made it very effective at fighting against Demons and their Satanist lackeys. He himself had only studied it for two days with the High Elven Masters of Alfheim. Due to the time constraints at the time, he only learned the essence of Wood Aura. Because of this, Ray has never learned any specific Wood Aura Techniques but had developed his own Techniques. Thus although he was using an Aura Technique that had become a part of Academy syllabus (although taught as general knowledge, very few people can actually use it as Wood Aura is a 'special Aura' that only those with the affinity can use), the Techniques he exhibited were his own unique brand of Wood Aura Techniques.
Ribbons of wood erupted from Ray's body and intertwined to form a cocoon around him, protecting him from Penthesila's sword.
"You can't win if you're only going to defend" Penthesila shouted and she began raining down a rapid succession of sword attacks at Ray's cocoon.
Ray felt his Cocoon begin to break down under Penthesila's attack. She's good Ray thought to himself. Despite knowing that his defence was going to be overcome, he was still calculating and calm.
Rays cocoon suddenly plunged into the ground and from the spot where it entered the earth, a giant tree sprouted and grew to its full splendour in a matter of seconds.
Penthesila had to retreat as the tree grew and its roots spread out.
"I can see you clearly" Penthesila shouted. She was evidently not fazed by Ray's display of Aura prowess even if she was fascinated by his Wood Aura Technique. It was well beyond the level that she was capable of. Even well beyond what Weise and Mildred were capable of and they were her teachers in Wood Aura Manipulation and are above her in its mastery. No she thought. Even in overall Aura skills and even other areas of combat, Weise and Mildred are still her betters. She could tell that much from the last three days she had spent training with them. They were masters so it was not strange, but even among the regular Heroes there were many on par and even better than her. She did not know what Ray is really capable of, but he is the one that people are calling the Legendary Hero who is purported to be the strongest in all of Avalon. Although she was not directly involved in the war with the Shadow Wraith three years ago, she has heard of Ray's exploits and the vastness of his seemingly inhuman power. It was only logical that he would be far stronger than her, but Penthesila did not care about that. From where she was standing, he was just another person with maybe a bit of skill and who dared to disturb her princess and friend. She wasn't going to lose to him. Especially not in this place where a lot of people were probably watching them. The windows around the room were closed now but Penthesila was sure that there must be a lot of onlookers. To them, this would be a duel between Lyonesse and Atlantis. She was carrying her country's honour so she cannot lose. More so that her princess was also watching.
Penthesila infused her sword with Wood Aura causing it to glow green. One of the characteristics of Wood Aura other than weakening the effects of magic is that it strengthens the attributes of anything that it is infused in. In this case, it increased the piercing power of Penthesila's sword 'Excalibur' which was already a deadly weapon and strengthened the destructive power of her 'Sword Skill: Earth Render' that she was using with her sword for the next attack.
A bright beam of red and green light shot from the tip of Penthesila's sword.
The effect of Penthesila's Earth Render was just as its name claimed. A hole was gouged into the giant tree that Ray had formed, revealing his location inside the tree trunk. However, although the attack went right through the tree where Ray was, Ray himself was unharmed as was the tree trunk that was behind him.
Penthesila only had time to see a smirk form on Ray's face before the tree healed itself and the hole was covered.
Even as the hole was healing, a few of the roots intertwined into a larger body and formed into the shape of a dragon that charged at Penthesila.
Rays Wooden Dragon Technique was so fast that Penthesila could only defend herself, though the speed of her reaction and the strategy that she employed could also be commended.
Penthesila knew that she wouldn't have time to avoid the attack so she blocked the charging dragon with her sword. The force of the collision was so hard that every bone in her body rattled and she almost lost consciousness but Penthesila managed to muster enough concentration to cast a basic Teleportation Technique which took her out of the dragons grip.
However, although Penthesila managed to escape one dragon, three more erupted from the ground and came at her.
Penthesila had known from the start that there was no way she could win against Ray. At least a part of her did. The proud part of her however refused to admit this fact. It was actually obvious. Even with the help of Margaret and Marry and even after they had drained Princes Elle of her massive Aura reservoir, they still couldn't defeat that Minoan in the Labyrinth of Daedalus. Ray defeated it as if it were Childs play. The gap between her and Ray was unquestionable. Yet despite knowing this, she still held back in this duel despite having initiated it. Although she doesn't like Ray for his flirting with the Princess, making her into just another teen romance gossip character, he wasn't exactly an enemy. This title can only be reserved for the Demons and their henchmen. It felt wrong to go all out against him with murderous intent. However, now that she has been cornered to this point, Penthesila was left with no other choice.
Although it has only been three days since they trained with the Heroes of Atlantis Academy, Penthesila had already developed a new trump card. Although this can be counted as an impressive achievement, it was not entirely unheard of. In the first place, Penthesila was a prodigy of the sword and of Aura Manipulation. She was also desperate in getting stronger to free her country from the Satanists. Even before they arrived at the Academy, Penthesila had already been thinking about new fighting techniques. She already had a rough blueprint for a new trump card and when she was offered to be taught new skills and knowledge by the Academy, she knew exactly what she needed to learn to perfect her new technique.
Rays Wooden Dragons struck Penthesila at the same time. Even as they did, countless tendrils of wood extended from the tree and erupted from the ground and formed a cuboidal prison around Penthesila. This was another of Rays original Wood Aura Technique that has been incorporated into the new syllabus for Wood Aura training thus becoming a widely used Aura Technique. However, the imitations that others could achieve was nothing compared to the original. If used on Demons, the Aura Technique 'Wood Aura: Holy Prison of Exorcism' can render Demons totally powerless. It could make most magic ineffective and weaken a Demons physical and mental strength. Rays version however totally negates all magic and can make even high level Demons lose consciousness.
Penthesila however was not a Demon thus the anti-Demon properties of Wood Aura was not of much use against her. A purple flame was surrounding her. It was this flame that had protected her from Rays Wooden Dragons. The flame grew and began to form a tornado around her which quickly grew in ferocity until it shattered the Holy Prison of Exorcism.
Inside the purple flaming tornado, Penthesila was surrounded by what appeared to be a purple armour. Purple flames seared brightly around her sword making the blade glow purplish white.
"I'm going to burn your little tree" Penthesila shouted.
Penthesila held Excalibur in her right hand and moved her left hand down its entire length in a slow and purposeful motion. The image of a ten foot long flaming purple lance formed around the sword. Penthesila changed her grip on Excalibur's hilt into a throwing grip and threw it with all her might.
Even as she let go of the lance, Penthesila's face changed to horror. "God no" she made to chase after the lance but was nowhere fast enough to reach it.
In that split second from the moment that Penthesila threw her lance to the time it took for it to reach its target, Ray summoned two giant wooden hands that emerged from the ground and caught the lance.
As the lance touched the hands and unleashed its destructive power, the wooden hands covered it and confined the blast.
After this exchange of Techniques, Penthesila powered down her purple Aura and Ray de-summoned his wooden Aura constructs.
Weise's voice filled the silence that followed. "Brilliant". The blind on the windows fell and the silent room was filled with applause from the audience. In truth though, few truly understood what had actually happened at the end. The few senior Heroes and the Masters that were in the crowd though, understood.
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