The man I am fighting today is the male soldier who has been standing guard outside the guest room. I finally learned his name today. He is called Eric Starfall. Right now, that is all I know about him.
I can't even quantify the exact amount of mana he has since I do not know the draconion magic path. All I know about it is that they count their foundation stage levels in terms of three circles instead of the nine stages that we who follow the elven path do. The draconion path also focuses on enhancing the body along with the mana reserves.
That is why people on the draconion path should not be able to compete with a person on the elven path in terms of mana reserves. After all, we focus exclusively on increasing our mana reserves. Still, if I had to estimate it, I would put his mana to be roughly double of mine. The reason for that is that my cultivation is significantly lower than his. I am at the second foundation stage. (Technically at least.)
The other party is supposed to have completed his first circle. I don't know what that means exactly, but I do know that it is significantly superior to my cultivation. (This is all I will talk about my cultivation. What, it is an embarrassing topic for me.)
I have my advantages of course. For one, my mana sense is significantly superior to the enemy's. That means that I can predict his motion more easily.
I also have much more combat experience than Eric. Now don't get me wrong. He is clearly an elite soldier. While they do tend to be trained for it, they don't actually get to fight much in real battles. Granted, a duel is not a real fight, but the advantage still exists. I would actually say that the battle is more equal in nature than it looks like. I can hazard a guess that it is actually more favoured to my victory.
I wish I had my sword with me, though. While it's ability is basically useless in a duel, your sword is your sword. The amount of confidence it would have given me, nothing else will be able to.
Right now, I am borrowing a sword from the Snowwinders. Well, I don't expect that they will be playing any tricks on it with the importance they give to this duel. (Not that they are not willing to. It would just damage the reputation of the Starfall's too much if they are caught.) The sword is pretty nice if I have to say so. It is made from only steel, but it is good, solid steel. It will be enough to wound but not kill. Perfect for a duel.
I guess I should explain the rules of the duel. Firstly, I am supposed to only use vital mana. Well, according to these people, I am supposed to use the "mana of the flesh and the soul, ever nourishing and eternally flowing". (Which are fancy words to explain that it can strengthen the body and the soul.) I guess it is their tradition. Still, I find it funny to see vital mana described so grandly.
That is fine, since without my sword, I can't use any other kind of mana. We are also not supposed to cast any spells in the duel. That is a very good thing since we formation mages are not even able to cast spells. At least not in the middle of a fight.
Other than that, this is a duel to the third blood. That is we need to draw blood three times from the enemy to win. It is good, a duel to the first blood would have been impossible for me. I guess I should speak about how I am so calm about a duel. Normally, people are surprised when they learn about my dueling ability. It is the first thing that is taught in the Legion, you see. We call it the game of two moves there though.
The reason for that is you can only really move your mana in two directions in a duel. Firstly, you can use it to boost the strength of your body. Enhancing yourself with mana feels like your body is becoming lighter. Your senses grow sharper, and you can move faster. Your body also grows more durable. Durable enough to not bleed even when struck by a sword.
At the same time, you can use it to strengthen your weapons. Then your weapon becomes stronger (and more durable). At the higher levels, I have heard of men who can change the very nature of their weapons just with their vital mana. I can't tell you how true this is, but we can certainly make our weapons stronger. This is the only way to pierce mana-strengthened flesh.
It might sound simple, with only two things to worry about. In a fight, this can become complicated very quickly. If you sword doesn't have enough mana to strengthen it, it won't pierce enemy flesh. At the same time, if you don't have enough mana supporting your flesh, then blood will be drawn from you.
It then becomes a fight of the minds. You win if you figure out how much mana the other side is using. You also have to confuse the other side about how much mana you are using.
I can never say that I was the best at this, but I certainly am not the worst. (I know of some monsters who are geniuses at this.) I will be able to defeat somebody who has never been trained to fight a duel. (The Snowwinders train for wars, not duels.)
Finally, I guess that I should speak about the location of our duel. It is a circle that has been built in the middle of a pretty massive room in the fort. The circle itself is pretty big, big enough that it will take me a minute to move from one edge to the other. That is surprising, as I had expected a smaller circle. Duels are fought in much smaller circles. It makes for a more bloody fight and it is certainly not cheap to maintain such a large arena in the Frozen Peak. (We should not forget that a mana desert is right next to us.)
"Shall we begin the duel, Captain? We cannot keep the soldiers waiting now, can we?" Eric speaks, looking at me. As he does so, he points to the mass of soldiers that have appeared to witness this duel.
This is the most words I have heard him speak in the last few days. He just stands outside our room like a statue, otherwise.
"Certainly," I reply in one word, entering into a defensive stance.
The instant that I do so, the enemy is by my side, striking my throat. I can't block the strike even as my sword rises to do so. (I am just a fraction too late.) I can feel a stinging sensation in my throat as the other party draws first blood.
He is focusing quite a bit of mana into his body. Gambling a bit, I focus my mana on my sword and enter for a strike. The enemy might be faster than me, but in such a close range, it does not matter. I almost succeed, as the other side ducks out of the way at the last second.
Redirecting my sword downwards, I barely manage to catch the other side's retaliation. It is enough to force both swords away from each other. I take this moment to retreat backward. I risk a glance at my surroundings to get my bearings. Focusing exclusively on the enemy is the quickest way for me to be tricked out of the ring. (Such base tricks do seem unlikely for such a ferocious man.)
For now, I am still decently far away from the edge. Looks like I will need to play this a bit more defensively. Thinking this, I begin to push my vital mana. I feel it strengthen my body as I begin to feel lighter. I take care not to push too much mana. The goal is to just make myself fast enough to block any attacks. Any more is a waste I cannot afford.
As I think this, I have to block two more strikes from the enemy. One to the head, the other to the knee. I block both of them, though it is close. The other side is significantly faster than me. Even then, he is struggling to strike me. This is the advantage of having a superior mana sense. You can predict their movement before they make it.
He tries another attack, which is a bit more successful. I jump back dodging it, but I feel a tiny sting on my arm. A quick glance and I see the man's sword has left a tiny cut on me, from which a tiny drop of blood is flowing out. (Shit, That is second blood.)
This is where Eric's larger mana storage helps him. The man can waste so much more mana. While I am bleeding less vital mana than him, it is still pretty significant. I can't do this forever. Looks like I need a more decisive plan.
"You certainly fight well, my friend," I say.
"Meanwhile, you stand there waiting for me to strike," he replies, trying to taunt me. "One would think that you were scared."
"What can I do? You are a mighty soldier that might claim my head," I reply, with my most taunting voice. "Maybe if you dared to get a bit closer, you could finally end the match."
He doesn't reply to this, other than stepping away from me. Things would have been so much easier if he was not so careful. Waiting would be beneficial for him. He can waste the mana to wait me out. I have done nothing with this duel but make it into a battle of attrition, which he will win. (I can't really relax as well. The man is already at second blood.)
It is fine, I do have a plan. I am sure that most people familiar with duels would have already guessed it. (There are only so many desperate plans out there.) If the others were here, I am sure that they would have thought of something more creative to deal with the enemy. Me, I will stick to the old tricks.
Well, this is going to be quick at the very least. I can feel my body heat up as I begin to push all of my mana into my body. For the next few moments, my body is faster than the other party. The trick is now to make use of these few moments to win this duel. I begin by charging towards my enemy. He reacts as I expect him to. He begins by pushing more mana into his body.
I do not give him the time to react, though, as I strike him. He barely manages to block it, but the force of the block is enough to push him backwards. It is enough to get him out of balance as I press my assault. I strike again and get my first blood. (Thank God I managed that. I barely have mana reinforcing my sword.) I go in for a second attack, but the other side ends up blocking. The block is enough for him to regain a bit of his composure.
In this little while, I have burned through roughly a third of my remaining reserves. I won't be maintaining this for much longer. Even as he gets up, the man has already increased his mana output, though he is not being as wild about it as me. The other side is burning only enough mana to ensure that he would be able to survive my assault. That is sad, it would have made things easy for me if he were a bit more reckless.
I continue my assault while having this thought. He barely manages to block each strike. Damn, this man is more skilled than I expected. Still, he is not as careful as he thinks he is. I jump back, pointing my sword just a bit below the usual. This leaves my throat exposed, which is exactly where the other side strikes. I take a step back, dodging his sword and striking the man's right arm. That is second blood.
I keep pushing my attack, feeling the man slowly retreat. He maintains a solid defense due to which I cannot get the final strike in. I can see in my enemy's eyes his confidence. Well, with my mana so dangerously near exhaustion, I make my final move. (There is a reason I burned through my mana like that.)
It is a stupid plan that would have never worked if the enemy expected it in any way. (He is certainly not expecting it.) Throwing my sword to the ground, I duck down. As the enemy stands there paralyzed, I charge towards his legs. The force of our collision is enough to cause him to trip right out of the boundary of the duel circle.