The crowd died down when a man walked out into the centre of the stage. He was a well dressed man, almost pampered in comparison to most of the audience, and commanded the room like he was born to it. As he walked into the stage he stepped round a small puddle of blood and sweat. Ushering over one of the attendants, he motioned for them to clean up the puddle and then began looking at the crowd.

“Ladies and gentlemen,” he began, “That was an incredible fight was it not? Tense from the get go, with the underdog finishing on top. I was on the edge of my seat the whole time”. The crowd cheered in response, then quickly returned to silence. Cleo could not help but find his control over the people almost mesmeric. The most incredible part for her was he was doing it all with charisma, there were no undulations that came about due to use of mana. The man was not a practitioner of the book of Order. “Is everyone ready for the next match?” The crowd cheered. “Well, the next two fighting are something special.

“Representing the Empty Throne school, we have Law, the wild child. He’s been studying under Alistair as a core disciple for the last year and has a perfect fortnightly match record. Twenty matches, twenty wins. A formidable record by any stretch of the imagination”. A young boy in a grey uniform, like the one that the ones that stood flanking the boy Cleo had seen earlier. He looked to be maybe a year older than Cleo herself, but the strength he radiated was something that she could not compare to.

“On the other side, we have Geoffrey, a Challenger from the land of Odnw’Aldn. I believe he said he was a Lieutenant from the border patrol. He has taken the initiative to do the hammer challenge!” The crowd jeered at the man. It was odd of them, because Cleo felt that the man who walked on the stage was of a decent strength, and was far better armed than Law. “As we all know, the hammer challenge is one where the challenger must force Law to use his hammer in either offense or defense. If he does so within ten minutes he automatically wins. Law on the other hand, must incapacitate his opponent, or just last for ten whole minutes without pulling out his hammer”. The crowd let out a collective ooh sound, and a second as Geoffrey walked out into the arena. The difference between the two combatants was obvious, almost to an extreme. Law was dressed in the simple combat uniform of the Empty Throne school, empty handed. His chin length wavy hair, dark eyes, tight visible muscles, and domineering aura made him seem like some sort of child demigod.

In comparison Geoffrey was armed to the teeth. He was decked out in full chainmail armour, leather and an iron helm. With a heavy sword hanging at his waist, Cleo could not help but think that the difference in the two of them was simply unsurmountable. Laurence was strong, but the deck seemed to be so heavily stacked in his favour that she could not see how he could win without a weapon.

The announcer moved to the edge of the stage, and motioned to a man beside a bell. He stepped out and sat down, then the bell rang. Immediately Geoffrey sprung forward and moved within range of Law. Hand on the hilt of his sword, he readied his strike. If he landed the strike, it was obvious he felt like he could win. He was a challenger, his blade had been forged through the fires of the first ten floors. He had technique, skill and strength, and his journey had been longer than a child.

Law shifted his feet and raised his fists. His form echoed in the back of the minds of people, but no one could recognise it, at least not until he dived into the range of Geoffrey. As he dipped into range, Geoffrey drew his sword and swung his blade towards Law’s head. Law took a short step back and then dove forward again once blade had passed him. He reached into Geoffrey’s inner range and slammed his fist into where Geoffrey’s solar plexus would be. Geoffrey used his own momentum and Law’s arm to spin out of the way, then swung his sword over his shoulder, towards Law’s head. Law stepped back as the sword swung down and then moved forwards again once Geoffrey finished his twist. He had a natural height disadvantage, so it would be hard for him to go for the face of his opponent. Instead he went for two quick strikes to the abdomen before pulling back into his starting stance. The first strike landed, but as it landed Geoffrey shot backwards and tightened his guard.

The fight was beautiful to Cleo; everything seemed to move so fluidly, and the two combatants were not holding anything back. The only oddity to the girl was that she recognised the style Law was fighting in, but she could not place it. As Law dropped the stance and began bouncing on the spot it clicked in her head, the boy had been fighting using Orion’s Hunt, a spear style. You can use weapon styles barehanded? she thought as the fight continued.

Law leapt forwards, this time taking charge of the combat, and immediately swung a heavy kick towards Geoffrey’s knees. Geoffrey stepped back, but was not expecting for Law to land on his right leg, the one he had just kicked, pivot, and send another kick towards his side this time. He blocked the kick with the flat of the blade, but Law only used this as another pivot point. Law sprung up and sent a third kick towards Geoffrey’s head, but Geoffrey reacted in time and dropped to the ground, mimicking the victor of the previous bout in escape.

The two combatants retreated once more and began staring at each other looking for openings. Law stopped bouncing and shifted stance once more, this time with his right fist just hovering slightly above his left. He moved forwards, using arcing motions to reach Geoffrey, but Geoffrey stepped forwards and began a flurry of strikes. He swung towards Law’s waist, and when Law moved to grab the blade, he slid his hand up and caught the tip with his metal sheathed right hand, pulling it from the boy’s grasp. He swung his left arm up, and tried to slam the pommel into Law’s jaw. Law ducked, but his attempt to grasp the blade had left him slightly out of position and so the pommel grazed the top of his head.

He span backwards and skittered to a stop. Taking a fourth stance, Law began grinning, he was obviously enjoying the engagement. Cleo, on the other hand had her heart in her mouth. She could not believe what she was watching. She had not recognised Law’s third unsuccessful stance, but the second one he took was that of Amaethon’s Blade, replacing the reaping blade with his legs. She was stunned that someone her age could fight and switch stances so fluidly, and not only that, he could switch so fluidly from one stance to another.

Geoffrey was about to run forward when Law spoke. “Thank you,” the boy began, “You are the first person I have met who I think can actually combat my martial skills. I’m going to have fun trying out something I created on you. Experience Yesod, my foundation”.

Law raised his fists once more, and his aura visibly changed. Geoffrey took a step back at the threat he felt from the boy. He steeled himself and ran to fight the boy. Blade out, he stopped just short of Law and thrust his blade towards the boy, a killing blow directed straight at his chest. Law’s grin did not fade from his face, instead he shifted ever so slightly out of the way of the tip of the blade and began short spiralling motions. He struck at Geoffrey’s wrist, then spun and slammed his left palm into the man’s elbow. A second step and he was behind the man, still spinning he kicked against the man’s knees then swung his elbow into the man’s now lowered head. The iron helm Geoffrey wore cracked in two and Law kept spinning round him, his fist swung towards the man, but before he could strike Geoffrey shouted out, “I concede!”

Law’s fist stopped around an inch from the face of his competitor and smiled. “Thank you for taking part in this exhibition match”. He stepped off stage and walked out of the arena. The crowd let out a collective breath of air and began cheering at the engagement that took less than a minute to complete. It was a complete contrast to the fight beforehand and had Cleo on the edge of her seat the entire time. She could barely breathe, his fight had been beautiful and she wanted to see more.