Chapter-38
For You, I'll Risk It All
The four participants stood at an equal distance from one another and the centre of the training field.
King Belreid held the twilight sword to his left as he stood in a wide stance, opposite to Raghav, who still had his sword in his scabbard tied on the left side of his hip. He had his right arm behind his back and his eyes locked on King Belreid.
On the other hand, Eldrain was unarmed, with both hands on his waist, standing opposite Reinhardt, who had discarded his helmet and cloak. He held his sword in both hands, holding it upright, pointed directly at Eldrain.
An Mage Olda, Vonreid and Aurelia stood under the shade, acting as spectators to the sparing match.
Aurelia looked between her father and Raghav before shifting her head towards her brother, who was doing something with Raghav's phone. "What are you doing with that?"
"Raghav gave it to me, he told me to play some songs for the sparing match."
"Your highness you know how to use this device?" Vonreid turned towards Mage Olda and nodded. "Raghav taught me how to use it this morning. It is very simple."
Raising his head towards Raghav, he called out to him. "What songs should I play?"
Without breaking eye contact with King Belreid, Raghav responded. "There is a playlist called Gym Sesh. Play that on shuffle and hand the phone to Mage Olda. I want you and Aurelia to focus on this fight." "Okay."
He then addressed the other participants. "The moment you hear, the music we start this sparring session."
Opening the playlist, Vonreid looked at Mage Olda. "Can you please enhance the sound?"
Mage Olda nodded and held his hand out, tapping the side of the phone. "It is done, your highness."
A smile spread on Vonreid's face as he pressed play and handed the phone to Mage Olda.
The first song began.
It was Eye of The Storm by Watt White.
As the sound of the whistle entered their ears. All four of them rushed forward without using Mana enhancements.
Raghav was the first to reach the middle and had to pay the price by being trapped in the middle of the other three.
He saw King Belreid ready to strike him down with his sword, and Reinhardt was about to do the same from his right.
To avoid the two swords, he twisted his body and slipped through the oncoming blades and positioned himself between the King and his guard. Avoiding the strike of both swords.
With his right hand tied behind his back, he punched King Belreid in the face with his left fist and then backhanded Reinhardt in the face with the same hand.
Using this moment, Eldrain, who had slowed down to reach the centre last, smirked as his eyes met Raghav's.
Then lunged at Raghav, grabbing his forearms, pinning them to his chest and lifted Raghav, slamming him down on the ground.
For that, he would receive a knee to the chest and get thrown over.
Stumbling to his feet, Raghav got punched by a recovering Reinhardt.
The gauntlet covered fist threw him off balance and towards King Belreid, who hit him in the face with the flat side of his great sword.
Lifting his feet off the ground and flipping him upside down
While upside down in the air, he placed both hands on the ground and spun himself, kicking Reinhardt in the stomach with his left leg and King Belreid with his right.
The two were knocked back in opposite directions, and Raghav ran after Belreid.
The King rolled on his back, coming back to his feet. He saw Raghav approaching him, his right hand still tied behind his back.
Belreid swung the great sword from his left in a diagonal down strike.
Raghav weaved his shoulder, letting the sword go past him and into the ground. He wound up his left hand for a punch to the face and threw it as his face moved past Belreid's.
A cold sensation ran down his hand as he looked to his left and saw Belreid had blocked the attack with a hand made of Mana.
Belreid then let go of his sword and struck Raghav in the side of his stomach with his left hand, and then threw him away towards the centre.
As he flew through the air, he looked down at Reinhardt getting back on his feet.
The moment he raised his head and immediately a foot landed on his face as Raghav dropkicked him.
Reinhardt fell back as Raghav landed on him and grabbed his feet, spinning him around and throwing him towards the others.
On the other hand, King Belreid attempted to punch Eldrain with his Mana hand, but Eldrain grabbed it and turned around and threw Belreid away but as he saw the Mana hand fly.
He turned around and found Belreid with his left hand and a new Mana hand raised above his left shoulder, ready to take a swing.
The Twilight sword flew into his hands, and he struck Eldrain with the flat side of the blade, sending him flying into the airborne Reinhardt.
The former mentor and student collided mid and fell. Raghav and Belreid locked eyes, and Raghav pulled out his sword, holding it to his right.
An act that Belreid mirrored. Their bodies engulfed by the glow of Mana.
The fight was about to move on to its next stage, and the music accompanied the change as Feel Invincible by Skillet began playing.
The two ran forward at incredible speeds and jumped towards one another.
They swung their swords, and as the swords clashed, light, shockwaves and the thunderous clanking of metal spread around.
The shockwaves collided with a mana barrier placed around the spectator stands by Mage Olda.
It made the barrier glow blue for a moment as it began setting back in place and became transparent once more.
They then saw that Raghav's sword never met Belreid's sword, but Belreid's was instead blocked by Eldrain's giant war hammer, and Raghav's sword was stopped by Reinhardt's sword.
The student and mentor duo of Reinhardt and Eldrain pushed Raghav and Belreid back and stood up as a light blue and dark blue glow engulfed them, respectively.
Raghav and Reinhardt rushed at one another, and their sword clashed a thousand times within a few seconds. On one such clash, Raghav electrified his sword and magnetised it, sticking Reinhardt's sword to his.
This was expected by Reinhardt as he had seen Raghav use this move twice before.
So he pulled Raghav by his sword, lifting him over his head and slamming him into the ground.
However, this was according to Raghav's plan, who created a spring trampoline of Mana and bounced off it, getting back on his feet in an instant and reversed the situation on Reinhardt.
Instead of slamming him, he pulled the blade and Reinhardt over his head with such force that Reinhardt could not hold onto his weapon and was thrown towards Eldrain.
Who had his back turned to the two fighting Belreid. While in the air, Reinhardt planted a Mana sword in the ground to slow himself, just enough that his back bumped into Eldrain's.
Without looking back, he ducked, stepping to the right and turning around as a backhand from Eldrain went over his head.
In return, Reinhardt gut punched Eldrain, sending him down to the ground and raised his left hand over his head as Belreid's sword broke his gauntlets and knocked him down to the ground.
Belreid held his sword to Reinhardt's throat, and he raised his hands.
And thus the first participant was eliminated.
"King Belreid, may I have your attention?"
Belreid looked at Raghav, dual-wielding both his and Reinhardt's sword. The moment their eyes met, Raghav unleashed two consecutive Mana slashes at him.
Belreid swung his sword, deflecting the first one towards Eldrain, and then took another swing at the second one.
Raghav slowed the slash, letting Belreid miss and then boosted it, hitting him in the chest and sending him flying into the barrier as he fell.
Eldrain stared at the oncoming slash and narrowed his eyes at it, and it changed its direction, slicing through a giant pillar, like a hot knife through butter.
He then locked eyes with Raghav as he rested the hammer on his shoulder.
Raghav let go of Reinhardt's sword and sent it towards Reinhardt, sitting in the spectator seats. It sped up as it approached the barrier and deformed it like going through a rubber wall upon contact.
The sword tore the barrier and fell into Reinhardt's lap.
He looked at his sword and then back at Raghav. "He siphoned all the Mana from my sword; that is why I could not call it back."
Vonreid and Aurelia looked at Reinhardt as he sheathed his blade and then back at Raghav, only for the sight to be blocked by Belreid's back as he stood up, using his sword as a support.
Both Raghav and Eldrain looked at Belreid as he stumbled forward, holding his chest with his mana hand as a green glow of healing magic spread around his body.
The song changed once more; this time, it was I'm Still Standing by Elton John.
He took a deep breath and stared down the other two with a newfound determination.
Looking at Belreid, Raghav stepped to the left, dodging the war hammer thrown by Eldrain and spun to the right, reaching for the hammer, stopping a few centimetres from the handle and instead used Telekinisis to guide it with his body and launch it towards Belreid, accelerating it to Mach two the moment he let go.
It created a sonic boom and tore the ground apart, moving towards Belreid.
Belreid dashed out of the way, and the hammer was now headed for the spectators. 'The barrier won't stop it.'
Raghav then launched it straight up in the air. 'You saw through the mana siphoning trap, but your morality will be your downfall.'
Eldrain then punched the distracted Raghav in the stomach; it sounded like a thousand thunderbolts, and it sent him flying up and over the castle.
The force of that punch was so strong that the shockwaves from the punch tore apart the entire ground going towards the castle, knocking down the bridge that connected the castle to the training ground and cracking the entire east side of the castle.
Castle White, that had stood seventy meters tall for over twelve hundred years, would have crumbled from the shockwaves had it not been for Eldrain's use of restoration magic and fixing everything he had destroyed.
A smirk appeared on his face as he turned around, clapping his hands, blowing out the blast of fire Belreid had sent at him.
Eldrain lifted his hand as his face hardened, watching Belreid rush at him.
As Belreid attempted an upward slash on Eldrain. His hammer fell into his hand, and he swung it down with such great force that it completely knocked Belreid's sword out of his hand, maybe even snapping the bone in his forearm in half.
He then backhanded Belreid in the face and threw him to the other side of the training field.
Belreid rolled on the ground, throwing Mana daggers at Eldrain.
"This is fun." Eldrain commented as the Mana daggers clashed with his body and shattered before being absorbed by Eldrain.
"It most certainly is." Belreid laughed as he morphed his Mana hand into a bow and pulled a loaded it with a Bolt made of condensed Mana.
Eldrain's eyes widened as Belreid grinned. He was about to let go of the bolt.
The world slowed down for Eldrain as he enhanced his brain to the point that Belreid seemed immobile to him. He then ran towards Belreid and held his hands, turning his body to the left and aiming the bolt towards the mountains north of the city.
Once he was done, he closed his eyes and exhaled a sigh of relief.
He heard the sound of the bolt tearing through the sky and looked as it travelled dozens of kilometres in the blink of an eye and landed in the barren and snowy northern mountains.
Blink
The mountains were engulfed by a gigantic spherical blast of Mana so bright, it appeared as if there were two suns, and it contained such force that it carved out six mountains, reducing them to ash, even splitting apart the clouds.
The entire valley and the city of Rine shook violently as the shockwaves travelled through the ground, and soon, violent gusts of wind blew towards the city and spread throughout like a storm.
As for sound. If the punch that Raghav took was equivalent to a thousand thunderbolts, this was equal to a million.
Everyone rushed out onto the field and towards the two of them as Eldrain picked up the exhausted Belreid by the collar. "What the fuck were you thinking? You could have killed us all, nay, this entire city could have been wiped out. Your city, your subjects. Did the punches to the face knock something loose in there?"
He then let go of Belreid as he fell down. "I miscalculated in the heat of the moment. I was going to imbue only a small amount, but lost control and emptied my entire Mana reserves into the attack. Maybe I was subconsciously thinking you could take it or absorb it."
Eldrain scoffed as he walked away. "I could have maybe, but even then, I was already at full capacity; there was no room for more. I would have died, and my reserves would have been added to the blast, then this entire valley. There was a possibility that I could transfer the Mana back into you. But even though it was your own Mana absorbing such a large amount instantly would have killed you."
Belreid looked at Eldrain as he frowned. "What is that?"
Everyone turned around as a figure covered by a blue glow fell from the sky and landed in the training field, cracking the ground and forming a crater.
It was Raghav, blue mana surged out from his body as he had his natural serious expression.
His sword was in the scabbard on his hip. He looked at them and saw that all of them were alright. "So, all of you are okay."
The blue glow around his body vanished as he walked forward. "Raghav, King Belreid almost killed us all."
Raghav looked at Eldrain and then at Belreid, who was being supported by Reinhardt and Aurelia. "But you saved us. Then there is nothing to worry about. Good job, sending the attack in the barren mountains. Not even wild animals were harmed this way."
"There is nothing to worry about? I apologise, but I must ask, did we knock something loose in your head as well?"
Raghav chuckled as he shook his head. "What happened happened, fixating on it will get us nothing. Just remember to not do anything like that yourself and forget it, and let us move forward and finish this sparring match."
"What do you mean finish? I won, Reinhardt was out first, then I knocked you out, and then Belreid decided to be the messenger of death and lost."
"That is where you are wrong, I was not knocked out, I fell on the other side of the castle and was going to come back, but I met someone there, and it would have been incredibly rude to leave him there, so I thought I would talk to them and then return. But my conversation was cut short because I heard something fly through the sky, and I turned to my left and saw the mountains turning to dust."
Raghav was using his hands to express himself while speaking, and this made the others smile and helped defuse the tension and unease in the group.
Aurelia sucked in her lips as she looked away and saw Martel walking across the bridge along with three soldiers carrying something wrapped in a white cloth.
"Mr. Martel?" She voiced her thoughts as everyone looked at Martel.
Raghav looked back and pointed at him. "He is the person I met when I fell on the other side. He is here to deliver my sword, which I asked him to make yesterday. Since I had to leave our conversation incomplete, I asked him to come here and join us."
The entire group, except for Eldrain, was sceptical as they looked at Raghav. And King Belreid voiced their concerns. "Raghav, are you sure about continuing the sparring match after what happened. I just don't want things to get out of control again."
"Worry not, we will be sure to keep it under control. If it makes you happy, we can move the fight to Octiv's pocket dimension."
"I would have accepted that I won, had anyone other than you been knocked over the castle. I would have believed they were lying. But I know you do not lie. So let's finish this fight."
The two remaining contestants looked at one another in the eyes as Martel drew close. He bowed down. "Greetings, everyone." He looked up at Belreid before bowing again. "Your Grace."
"Rise, Mr Martel. Raghav told us the purpose of your visit, and he has also invited you to join us for the duration of the match. We would be honoured to have the greatest human smith in the world by our side."
"It would be my pleasure, your grace."
He then moved out of the way as the soldiers presented the sword to Raghav, removing the cloth.
"I made it exactly as you had asked. A great sword version of your long sword. I made it five feet long and one foot wide. The handle is one foot long. It does not use leather, and the scabbard is just like the long sword's, the only difference being, this one needs to be tied on your back, diagonally."
He paused for a moment as he looked at Raghav, and a smile appeared on his face. "And I must admit, I admire your imagination. Having swinging flaps on the thin sides of the scabbard allows you to swing your blade out from left or right instead of pulling it out. It is genius, you also connected it with the sword lock that prevents the sword from falling out."
Raghav picked up the great sword and tied it on his back with the handle leaning to the left. "You have done an excellent job. Thank you."
"Alright, Vonreid, Aurelia. We have told you what Mana is, what it can do. We have demonstrated how masters do it. Now let us demonstrate how Grandmasters do it."
A portal opened before them as Raghav began walking towards it. "Time to show you the limits of Mana."
The music was still playing as Raghav pulled his phone towards himself and paused it. "I was hoping I could listen to some songs, but we only got three."
Scrolling through the playlist, Raghav looked for a song and smiled. "Found it."
As they entered the portal, they found themselves in a white void. Those who had been here before were calm, but the others were looking around and spotted Istreid's vault in the far distance and below it a giant network of teleportation windows, being used to receive mails and items from one location and send them to another.
"It is mesmerising. Truly fascinating." Mage Olda could not keep his words to himself as he looked around.
Raghav tapped his foot on the void, and an Arena made of white marble was formed. It was identical to the Arena that was behind the castle; it even had chairs for the spectators.
"Let's do this. This will be my first time going all out. There is no risk in this place." Eldrain was excited for the opportunity to go all out.
"I know. Let us begin." He turned around and nodded.
Everyone else was moved to their seats as Raghav and Eldrain stood on opposite ends of the arena.
"My apologies for moving you all. But it would seem Mr. Exter is getting a little too excited. I will not use the powers that come with this dimension. That way it will be fair. Thank you for not resisting."
He then pulled his long sword with his right hand and held it to the side. Then, with his left hand, he grabbed the handle of the Great sword and pressed the button, releasing the lock and swung the sword to the right and over his head, until it came to his left.
Finally lifting it and resting it on his left shoulder as the blue glow engulfed him.
"I knew you would not harm me, and so I did not resist you moving me around the arena. Will you play a song to signal the start of the match again?"
Eldrain held his war hammer with both hands as the dark blue glow engulfed him.
Raghav nodded as the solo version of E.T by Katy Perry began to play throughout the dimension.
Their glow intensified as the first beat dropped, and thus began the match between two Grand Masters.
Lightning was hurled from the war hammer at Raghav, who absorbed it through his great sword and launched a continuous beam of Mana toward Eldrain, travelling at Mach nine.
Who simply threw his hammer, tearing through the beam of Mana at Mach fifteen.
Raghav stopped using the Mana blast and swung his great sword as it collided with the hammer, knocking it away. He then engulfed his sword in Mana and extended his range, and slashed at Eldrain.
Eldrain grabbed the Mana blade and began siphoning mana from it until Raghav let go of it. He then conjured a pillar of fire under Raghav, then mixed it with lightning.
After which, he increased the gravity of the point where Raghav was, and the arena began breaking apart and falling towards Raghav.
'He should not be able to last long in this situation.'
Eldrain felt a tap on his shoulder as he turned around and saw Raghav standing behind him, and was punched in the face.
Knocking him back, he quickly removed all the magic he had cast and saw Raghav standing there unfazed. He even waved at Eldrain.
Then he noticed it. A minuscule thread of Mana was connecting the two Raghavs. The one who had punched him had none, while the one who was at the centre of the magic attacks was glowing with Mana.
"To bewitch my senses with this illusion. You emptied your entire Mana and gave it to your form. Never have I seen such risk. You left yourself completely vulnerable, with no Mana left in your body."
He rushed forward at Mach twenty, calling his hammer towards himself, ready to squash Raghav like a bug.
Raghav raised his hands over his head and braced for impact as he absorbed all the Mana back in his body instantly.
The hammer collided with his hands, and the arena beneath his feet broke apart completely.
He stepped to the right, guiding the hammer to the ground and used his free left hand to summon his great sword and sliced off both of Eldrain's hands.
Then he grabbed Eldrain's hammer and hit him in the chest, sending him flying into the Arena walls.
Aurelia was watching the two fight in awe, as was everyone else except An. She knew what her husband was capable of.
Meanwhile, Aurelia's eyes were focused on Raghav's back as he tossed away both his sword and Eldrain's hammer.
However, Aurelia's ears were fixated on the song playing in the background as one of the lines made it into her ears, and she sang along, watching him. "For you, I'll risk it all."
A storm began brewing above the arena as Eldrain stood up and regrew both his hands.
Raghav took off his brown jacket and his silver locket, sending both to the spectators' stands.
Eldrain rushed forward at supersonic speeds. Unlike Paneria, this dimension did not have concepts such as air resistance, which meant the two could reach their max speeds.
Raghav braced himself as Eldrain drew close and the two began fighting hand-to-hand. Eldrain attempted to punch Raghav, but he ducked under the punch and hit him with an uppercut. Eldrain grabbed both of Raghav's hands and then extended a blade of Mana from his stomach and tore open Raghav's stomach.
Raghav's intestine began falling out as he kicked Eldrain in the knee and jumped over him, tying his intestine around Eldrain's throat and landing behind him, choking him with it.
The two of them created a mana storm, unleashing lightning that struck a thousand times within a second, ice that froze the entire arena, cooling the air, fire which heated the cold air, causing explosions, water flooded the arena as both men were covered in electrified water up to their knees, Mana constructs, and summoned meteors.
This arena was in chaos, controlled by these mortals who wielded the powers on par with deities and ancient spirits.
All the spectators were left in shock at the scale of magic being performed so effortlessly. "So this is what a Grand Master is capable of."
Raghav let go of the intestine and ran away, dodging a giant meteor and other magic attacks, stuffing his intestines and every last drop of his blood back in his body, before healing the wound as if it never happened.
He ran around dodging the countless magic attacks, and Eldrain was in the same predicament. The two looked at one another and nodded.
They stopped the use of Magic attacks as the storm cleared and ran at one another. Their fists glowed brighter, and the two punched each other in the face with their right hands.
A giant explosion engulfed them both, nearly reaching the spectators and once it cleared.
The victor was revealed as the song came to a close.
Eldrain was the one who lost; he lay at Raghav's feet on his back.