The moment Yujin finished speaking, both combatants lunged, baring their fangs. The weapon of the Iron Arm Knight was a crude hammer, yet his charge was reminiscent of a heavy warhorse stampeding across the field.
The distance closed in an instant. Neither gave an inch. The hammer and sword collided with a thunderous roar, sending shockwaves through the arena. Golden light flared against the rough steel of the hammer as metal shrieked.
Grrrind... Screeech!
Locked in a contest of brute strength, Yujin observed the Iron Arm Knight through his visor. His eyes told him this opponent was not insurmountable. It wasn't like facing Netsalem, where every instinct screamed at him to run or die.
"Excellent!"
The Iron Arm Knight laughed heartily. The stalemate broke as Yujin stepped back, ending the deadlock.
Every race in Terra had its strengths. The Kuranta were known for their tireless endurance and explosive leg strength.
Yujin stomped his foot, his blade flashing with a chilling light. Arts are the manifestation of will. His heart rate accelerated, pumping vitality through every fiber of his being.
Platinum light flooded the blade from tip to guard, intensifying until the aura surrounding the weapon sharpened into a razor edge.
Shatter the hammer.
As Yujin formulated his plan, the Iron Arm Knight charged again. This time, Yujin intended to deflect the hammer with his blade and counterattack, rather than meeting it head-on.
BOOM!
But as he angled his blade to parry, the weight of the hammer felt... wrong.
"It got... heavier...!"
Before he could finish the thought, he paid the price for his miscalculation. Having planted his feet, the Iron Arm Knight pivoted with terrifying speed, using his body as an axis to slam the hammer into Yujin‘s side.
His movements were impossibly agile for someone wielding such a massive blunt weapon.
Caught off guard by the sudden shift in weight, Yujin was sent flying. He crashed through a decorative wall and stabbed his sword into the ground to arrest his momentum.
[It wasn't an illusion, Knight. The mass of the enemy's weapon increased significantly upon impact.]
"…I figured."
That was the Iron Arm Knight‘s Art. Gravity manipulation, or perhaps mass manipulation.
The Knight gave him no time to breathe, charging again. Blocking or parrying was no longer viable. Yujin had to dodge and exploit openings in the man's form.
His side throbbed painfully, but he immediately channeled the Nearl healing Arts to mend the damage. Yujin lunged, his platinum aura sharpening into a needle-point focus.
As the hammer descended to crush him, Yujin took a step forward, slipping inside the Knight‘s guard. He thrust his sword toward a gap in the armor.
The Iron Arm Knight released his hammer and punched the flat of Yujin‘s blade. The sword was knocked off course, but Yujin didn't panic. He delivered a sharp kick to the Knight‘s chest to create distance.
"Sigh. This is why fighting blind puts you at a disadvantage."
Or it would have, if the Knight had budged.
Instead, it felt like kicking a mountain. Yujin was the only one pushed back by the recoil.
His hypothesis was confirmed.
The Iron Arm Knight could manipulate weight, and that Art applied to himself as well. The force Yujin had put into that kick was significant; for the Knight not to move even an inch defied the laws of physics unless mass manipulation was involved.
"It‘s not like he took no damage."
Yujin‘s platinum eyes focused on the spot he had kicked. Increasing weight didn't negate impact damage; the Knight had simply anchored himself like a fortress to prepare for a counterattack.
Whoosh. Whoosh. The Knight picked up his hammer and swung it as lightly as a baton. If Yujin‘s theory was correct...
He had to avoid a head-on clash at all costs.
No matter how strong Yujin was, overcoming the concentrated weight of a gravity-enhanced hammer strike from above was impossible. Moreover, he didn't know the upper limit of the Knight‘s mass manipulation.
The hammer was a tricky weapon. Even as Yujin moved with fluid agility, weaving strikes and thrusts, the Iron Arm Knight intercepted every attack with his hammer, treating the massive weapon like a shield.
If Yujin had been using an ordinary sword, it would have shattered under the weight long ago.
"Tch."
Yujin clicked his tongue and backed away. But the Iron Arm Knight used his superior leg strength to leap after him, clinging to him tenaciously.
The fundamental physical difference. It had been a while since Yujin felt it this keenly, especially against a warrior type rather than a Caster.
Yujin closed his eyes for a moment, feeling his heartbeat. Basic reinforcement wasn't enough. It was time to pull out a different card.
Yujin‘s platinum Arts were a physical enhancement type that coated his blade in energy to increase cutting power and durability. This was his baseline—without it, he would be trampled like a child by the super-human races of Terra.
Even an ordinary bow required Arts for him to draw it properly, despite his considerable strength training.
The hazy platinum aura around him condensed. It shrank until it formed a sleek, second skin over his armor.
"Ho? The pressure has changed."
The Iron Arm Knight looked at Yujin with interest. The boy‘s technique and reactions had been perfect—almost unbelievably so for his age—but his raw power had felt lacking. Until now.
Like taking a breath, Yujin layered the Nearl Arts over his condensed platinum foundation. Vitality surged through him, and spectral wings of light seemed to erupt from his back.
Crunch.
The ground beneath his feet groaned under the pressure. Yujin pulled his sword back into a thrusting stance, eyes locked on the Iron Arm Knight.
It was an obvious attack. The trajectory was predictable. The Knight gripped his hammer, preparing to counter.
"Guh!"
But Yujin moved like a flash of light, piercing past the Knight‘s guard. If the Knight hadn't twisted his body at the last possible microsecond, it would have been a fatal wound.
'I didn't see it...!'
By reducing his own weight to increase speed, the Iron Arm Knight barely managed to dodge. Yujin had moved faster than the eye could track.
Seeing the platinum fire burning within Yujin's visor, the Iron Arm Knight had to admit it. He had thought of Yujin as a rising star, a rookie. But this boy—no, this man—was already his equal.
The Iron Arm Knight sprinted across the arena, swinging his hammer. Yujin didn't dodge; he met the swing with his sword.
He had figured it out. At first, Yujin had seemed ignorant of the Knight‘s Arts, but he had been analyzing them throughout the duel.
"Magnificent! You are far better than the fools sitting up there!"
The young knights of Kazimierz no longer dreamed of chivalry. Blinded by money and fame, they scorned the Campaign Knights and idolized the hollow glory of the Sport Knights, seeking to tear down the very foundations that protected their peace. They didn't know whose blood and sweat had built the peace they enjoyed.
Exhilarated, the Iron Arm Knight laughed brightly and charged. This was a duel. Not a show for the gamblers in the stands, but a clash of names and honor!
Yujin smiled as he thrust his sword. For some reason, he felt he understood the emotion the Knight was carrying. His own heart began to race.
The Iron Arm Knight let go of his weapon mid-swing and closed in for a grapple. His brawling style was rough but effective, and the weight behind his punches was heavy.
Feather-light one moment, heavy as a mountain the next. Yujin sweated as he faced the veteran knight who switched between weight classes instantly. This was the image of Kazimierz Yujin had hoped for—a knight fighting honorably, declaring a duel with pride.
But he had adapted to the movements. No matter how skilled the user, there was always a microscopic delay when shifting mass with Arts.
The movement of the shoulder and arm before a hammer swing—that was the experience accumulated over years of battle.
He knew he should avoid a direct confrontation. But sometimes, the heart demands what reason forbids.
So be it.
He would mimic the Knight who bore the name Nearl. The one who wielded a sword that seemed ordinary yet possessed an unbending will.
Yujin stepped back, creating distance. Gripping his sword with both hands, he brought it behind his back, then swung it upward in a massive crescent arc.
The Iron Arm Knight launched himself into the air. His lightened body suddenly became heavy as he began his descent. Squeezing every ounce of his Arts into the hammer, he brought it down with enough force to shatter the world.
Impact.
A cloud of dust exploded into the arena, obscuring everything.
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