Two elders of completely different generations gazed at each other with animosity. One represented the newer elders, while the other represented the old guard. Only, it was hard to tell which was which.

Adriel, who represented the older elders, had the appearance of a man in his prime, not much older than thirty. Elder Ironskin, on the other hand, had whitening hair and wrinkles had begun to show on his face.

The lobby of the Hall of Ascendants was filled with a mix of excitement and fright. It was commonly agreed upon by the crusaders that elders seldom fought. Even when they did, they would often discuss their issues diplomatically instead of through sheer force.

Yet, two of the most influential figures in the entire order was about to throw down in the lobby. One party had publicly condemned the other’s action, while the other could not back down due to his supporter being right next to him.

A fight seemed almost unpreventable. There were even those among the crusaders that ran to spread the word of the upcoming fight, wanting to allow others to see this perhaps once in a lifetime fight as well.

“You are Elder Ironskin?”

Adriel spoke calmly while his gaze lingered on the opposing elder, his eyes shining brightly as he analysed the person before him.

“Indeed, I am Elder Ironskin of the aristocratic faction.” Elder Ironskin walked forward with a wide stride, before arriving just before Adriel. “I hear from my underlings that a certain elder has been spreading defamatory words of my actions.”

Adriel’s eyes narrowed as he observed the plain and simple disrespect from the other party. As his senior, it was natural that the other party should at least address him with his proper title of elder. Hell, he had not even mentioned his name. Furthermore, every movement and every word he spoke was laden with provocation.

It was clear that there was only one thing that Elder Ironskin wanted from this conversation and that was a fight.

“Defamatory words?” Adriel shook his head. “Are you not aware of your own words? Defamation would insinuate that I spoke falsely of your actions, but I did no such thing. Elder Ironskin, you should be aware of our orders code of conduct, are you not? It is written in clear words that no elder shall monopolize any given facility or benefit. I believe that your actions do just that.”

Sett could almost swear that he saw sparks flying from the two elder’s eyes.

“Hmph.” Elder Ironskin harumphed loudly, clearly showing his displeasure in being talked back to.” That may be so, but you have to remember the clause regarding emergencies, as well. Should an elder determine that it is necessary, he will be absolved of all his sins and violations.”

“Emergency?” Adriel’s eyes narrowed. “What emergency. I do not seem to remember the order undergoing events that would warrant such words.”

“The order? No.” Elder Ironskin shook his head. “However, Envoy Caspian from the Newson Dynasty is here to survey the order's holdings and it is of utmost importance that he is tested immediately. We have received a request from the head of the Newson Dynasty that he is to be tested within the day. Failure to do so would damage the order relationship with the dynasty.”

“You…” Adriel was truly perplexed, unable to even find words. “You would disregard the code of conduct for an outsider, even going as far as to call it an emergency?”

“An outsider? No, you misunderstand, old man. The Newson Dynasty is dear friends and allies of our order. Their interests are our interests.”

“Allies? Remember where you are, Elder Ironskin.” Although he still spoke with a relatively calm voice, it was evident that his rage was seething beneath the surface. “I may be unsociable, but I am not unaware of the inner turmoil that is going on in the order. The Newson Dynasty. Allies? Perhaps they may be your personal allies, but the order has written no such declaration. Do not think of your own interests as those of the order.”

Adriel’s words struck true. Elder Ironskin’s facial expression immediately scrunched up into a large grimace of anger. He clearly wanted to refute the words of the older elder but found himself unable to disprove even a single word.

“Hah. So, what if I skirt around the rules of the code of conduct? At most I will simply have to pay a small fine. Now, if you have nothing else to say, we have an appointment that is a little overdue.”

With those words, Elder Ironskin’s group once again began to walk, directly bypassing Adriel’s group as if they were a minor nuisance. The provocation and disrespect that was inherent in his words were no longer veiled. Everyone present in the lobby could see it clear as day.

“Halt your steps.”

Adriel’s unrestrained power spread out from his body, causing small tremors to erupt underneath his feet. Some of the nearby squires and servants that followed Elder Ironskin and even Envoy Caspian were visibly shaken by the power that suddenly assaulted him.

“I have taken your words in stride for long enough, mister Ironskin, but that ends now. Your disrespect for not only me but also the order has not gone unnoticed. Since you fail to see the wrongs in your ways, I challenge you to a show of force to prove who is in the right, in accordance with the laws of our order. Do you accept my challenge?”

Adriel no longer bothered with respect. He had given the other party ample opportunity to come clean and apologize for his misuse of status, but his invitation had only been met with ridicule. Even for a man as patient as Adriel, there were still limits to self-restraint.

Hearing this challenge, Elder Ironskin slowly turned around to face Adriel once again. Some people had imagined that he was only making noise because he felt that he was protected by his allies in the Newson Dynasty, but it seemed that they were wrong. Plastered on his face were a deeply cut smile and a glint in his eye. This was not the face of a man who was scared of the challenge.

“Do I agree?” Elder Ironskin laughed out loud. “Of course, I agree! Though, I must wonder if your old and frail body will allow you to keep up with me. I would hate to accidentally kill you during our little spar.”

Not wanting to be outdone, Elder Ironskin also released his own power of essence. It did not at all seem inferior to that of Adriel’s. More importantly, it was able to comfortably shield those among his group who were weaker. Noticeably, Envoy Caspian also recovered and glared with evil intent at Adriel’s party.

“Good, let us not dally.” Adriel swung his sleeves. “Our fight will take place on the main duelling platform in five minutes.”

With those sparse words, Adriel departed with a quick kick of his feet from the lobby of the Hall of Ascendants. Elder Ironskin followed in his tailwind soon after.

Left behind were the two groups of the elders.

Caspian, who had been glaring with evil eyes at Adriel a moment before, suddenly became incredulous at the sight of Adina standing among the group that belonged to Adriel. His expression conveyed many different feelings, but he eventually settled on a darkened expression. Seeing Adina with the group had clearly placed many thoughts in his head.

“Let us depart for the duel, as well.”

Ivis, not caring for the thoughts of the envoy, decided that it would be for the best that they for the duelling platform.

Sett, who had inadvertently been the thing the sparked the conflict between the elders, felt at a loss for words. Were they not here just to test out his lowly capabilities? How did it suddenly turn out to become a full-blown fight between some of the most fearsome fighters that existed in the order? It had all gone far too fast for him to properly register what had happened.

“Will Adriel be alright?”

Feeling a large part of the blame fell on him, Sett could not help but ask Ivis about the safety of his potential future master.

“My master may seem reckless on the surface, picking fights on a whim because of honour and justice, but his every action is thoroughly calculated. He has lived for many years and experience countless things. He was a grandmaster before this Elder Ironskin was even born. For him to pick this fight, I have the utmost confidence that he will at the very least be able to emerge unscathed.”

Sett sighed a sigh of relief.

As they walked, Sett noticed that not only those who arrived from the Hall of Ascendants were heading in the direction of the duelling platform, but many came from other directions as well. There were even those who came from the training fields dripping with sweat. To say that the fight between two elders had riled the members of the order up was no understatement.

“Who do you think will win?”

“I don’t know. I have heard some great things about Elder Adriel.”

“That is true, but Elder Adriel is many years older than Elder Ironskin. Even a legend cannot allow you to retain your strength for a hundred years.”

“I’m betting on Elder Ironskin!”

“Screw that, Elder Adriel all the way!”

“Do you guys think that the fellows from the 30th company will be facilitating betting again? I managed to gain some lower-tiered essence crystals on a recent expedition and I want to bet them on Elder Ironskin.”

The closer they got to the duelling platform, the more fervent the discussions got. Although the opinions were considerably varied, Elder Ironskin got out on top in the end.

There were multiple reasons for that. Adriel was, after all, incredibly old. Even higher-tiered ascendants would have long since have kicked the bucket. With such thoughts, it was only natural to think that his strength had weakened over the years. Elder Ironskin, on the other hand, was younger. Although his hair was whitening, he still retained all the strength that he had gathered over the years.

Another reason was that Adriel seldom showed himself. Thus, people were quite uncertain at which level his strength laid. Unless he outright stated his level, it would be hard to gauge even if displayed all his essence. On the flip side, Elder Ironskin was truly renowned in the order, granting him an almost celebrity-like status among the crusaders. He was known to constantly show off his strength whenever possible. He was even named as one of the candidates for the position of grandmaster.

The last comment was the most surprising one. For one reason or another, Sett had thought it above the crusader order to allow betting, but it turned out that was a false pretence.

Finally, they arrived at the duelling platform. The journey that should have taken them a couple of minutes at most, had instead taken them a full five minutes, almost causing them to miss the start of the duel.

The duelling platform was situated on one of the smaller islands. As such, the duelling platform took up almost all the space on the island. The duelling platform itself was a large square of perfectly flat tiles that created a one hundred by one hundred meter platform. Every single tile was protected by a rune that greatly mitigated the damage done to the environment.

Surrounding this platform was many stands filled with chairs. During duels between crusaders and captains alike, the massive seating area was truly overdoing it, but with the fight between elder looming, it seemed that the number of chairs was simply too little.

Every square meter of the stands was filled with eager crusaders, all of which were waiting with fervent gazes for the fight that was soon to happen.

Thankfully, in consideration that they were following the tamed beast of Elder Adriel, they were allowed into the elder’s private area.

Not a moment after they had sat their butts down on the chairs, did the sound of fervent excitement reach its crescendo from the stands.

The elders had arrived, and the fight would soon be underway.