With mixed feelings, Cale stood on one of the high rocks that protruded like loose stones from the underground. For several kilometers, nothing could be seen but this rocky landscape, which almost looked as if someone had removed all the earth, grass and trees here. To Cale's right stretched the sea, which felt limitless, while behind them a multitude of people gathered at a distance of about 500 meters.

, Fengari quickly replied, causing Cale to sigh in relief.

About half an hour had passed since Miguel's declaration of war and both parties were preparing for battle. Miguel had shed all unnecessary clothing and wore light armor on his arms, while his white and gold uniform blended with the setting sun. Cale, on the other hand, had tied up his hair and put on sturdy clothes that he had stolen from Sylve several years ago. In one hand, he held Karekama, which emitted an imposing mana from itself and flowed through Cale's body. It was an unfamiliar feeling that he was using the sword so openly. If he didn't know better, he would think this was all a dream.

"Now then, I'm ready. You're welcome to begin," Miguel spoke up from a good 30 meters away, so Cale swung his sword several times and stretched briefly. He then raised a rock about the size of his hand into the air, tossing it up and down challengingly a few times before turning to Miguel.

"Fine. I will throw this stone in the air. As soon as it touches the ground, the battle begins, all right?"

An approving nod appeared from Miguel. With one last glance at the spectators behind him, Cale tensed his muscles and shot the stone horizontally. You could feel the excitement from both parties as the large stone took off, which headed over 100 meters into the sky before it slowed down and rapidly changed direction.

Cale took one last deep breath and allowed Karekama's mana to completely merge with his own. What Miguel didn't know was that Cale had released one of the inner barriers specifically for this battle. Cale suppressed his victorious grin as best he could, but at the sight of Miguel, he couldn't help but feel a little nervous. How long had it been since he had dueled with him? It felt like half an eternity, though Cale had often watched him from afar when he had lived in Frignez. Norgram and Exarion were probably the two cities where he had spent the most years.

The dull sound of the stone rang out and in the same second Cale shot forward. Miguel did the same a moment later, but the expression in his eyes told everything. In a split second, Cale stood in front of the blond-haired man and hurled Karekama sideways at the chiefs' son, who had no choice but to parry the jarring attack.

A loud thunder sounded while Cale used the mana of his sword to fling Miguel away from him with all his might, which I eventually succeeded in doing. The man was hurled dozens of feet over the rocks by the force and slammed Zurakekama into the ground to dampen his speed. Cale didn't hesitate for a moment, rushing after him at such a pace that humans could barely follow his movements. But before the mage could reach his target, Miguel leapt into the air and gathered the mana of his sword at the tip, which is why a shrill hissing sound was heard.

Cale didn't take this warning and thrust himself into the air with his left foot as well, while his opponent came crashing down on him from above. One could think that Cale was purposely launching himself into the lair of evil, but with the sudden reduction in distance, the skilled mage prevented Miguel from fully concentrating his mana. It was a tactic Cale had developed when he fought with his master, Jonat Paseru.

The two swords clashed and suddenly a bright light could be perceived, followed by several flashes of lightning that sought their way past Cale and into the ground. Heat was felt before Miguel's leg sped toward Cale. Reflexively, he blocked the kick with his free hand, so Miguel took advantage of the moment and used his opponent as a springboard. Cale was flung back to the ground while Miguel recklessly delivered lightning bolts at Cale.

The sound of a loud thunderstorm drowned out the area as Cale used the tip of his sword to deflect the incoming lightning. With both feet and one hand on the ground, he watched wordlessly as Miguel crashed to the ground and then set the tone. With his weapon pointed and glowing ahead, the Frignezer shot toward Cale, who quickly stood up and flowed mana in his free arm while deflecting the lightning to the side with the other.

Miguel was fast, significantly faster than William and dangerously close to the speed Cale could present. When Zurakekama was within a gust of Cale's face, he raised his left arm in the air and took a step to the side while using wind magic to deflect the swift sword away from him. He used the mana in his arm like a second weapon, which effortlessly deflected Miguel's attack to the side. But Cale's attack did not end in that move. By the time Miguel realized what had just happened, Cale was already making a full turn and shooting his foot at Miguel's head, which was just a moment too late to block the powerful blow.

The lightning bolts dissipated into air as Miguel's body once again bounced across the ground and was slammed against a raised rock with a loud bang. A muffled scream from the man could be heard before his body made a dent in the rock. Miguel's body could be seen slumping forward as Cale was already running back toward his opponent. His golden eyes were glued to the man, who was leaning on one leg and looking up at Cale.

Instinctively, Cale used his mana to fling himself to the side from his current run, only seconds before a bolt of lightning shot out of the sky and landed on his original position. Cale lost his balance from the abrupt change in direction and rolled to the side, while his eyes found themselves on the bare, burned area. If he hadn't been struck by that lightning bolt more than once in the past, he definitely wouldn't have acted so quickly and rashly. A habit Miguel had when he gets cornered.

When he felt Miguel coming towards him, he immediately raised his sword protectively in front of him and reinforced his position with mana. But the Frignez swordmaster took advantage of this position to fling Cale backward with all his might. Immediately, Cale knew that Miguel was aiming to keep him down. Therefore, he didn't think twice and thrust himself into the air with one hand, while his opponent was already in front of him again, pushing him back one more time. But this time there was no more ground, which Cale had at his disposal.

Cale was hurled over the edge of the cliff and headed straight for the sea. Looking up, Cale realized that Miguel had stopped on the cliff with a grin on his face and was gathering an enormous amount of mana. Miguel planned to shock the sea with his lightning bolts, and since the water was relaying the electricity, that was how he planned to catch Cale. However, Miguel did not know how many times Cale had been transported to such a position in his life. By making the water a natural obstacle in the fight, he had developed a method to avoid this problem.

The lightning rained down on the sea at the same moment that Cale would have broken the surface of the water. But instead, Cale used his mana to compress the surface of the water and intercepted his dive after a spin with his feet. He could feel Zurakekama's mana spreading under his body, but his gaze was fixed on the blond swordsman, who stared at him in bewilderment.

"By the Holy Mana, you can walk on water? What kind of magic is that?", he shouted at him, but Cale was not fazed by the words. He fed the sword's mana into his legs, took a running start, and leapt a good 20 meters back into the air. A moment later, lightning bolts from Miguel reached him to push him back, but he blocked them as usual and landed on a rock.

"Something you should be able to do even if you were a real swordmaster", Cale obviously provoked him, which is why Miguel's expression darkened abruptly.

"Who was your teacher?"

"You still don't know? What a disappointment you must be", Cale countered loudly, straightening up as he took a quick breath and swung his sword to the side.

He was enjoying the fight, even if Cale didn't want to admit it. He had been hiding behind the facade of an unassuming man for so long that it was an extremely liberating feeling to be able to move like this.

"Be quiet, I am Master Paseru's only student. It can't be that we had the same teacher, impossible!", Miguel shouted back, raising his sword, because Cale came shooting at him and pushed him back.

"So you did realize that our movements are the same", Cale threw mockingly, using the power of thunder to dull Miguel's senses. The swordmaster could barely stand the sound for two seconds and rapidly brought himself to a safe distance before holding his head with one hand and concentrating on not letting Cale out of his sight.

"You're lying. Master Paseru could never walk on water!", he exclaimed indignantly and jumped to the side, causing Cale's attack to crash into a rock and split it in two. Miguel shook his head, still slightly dazed from the brief disorientation he had received from the thunder, which had caused his sense of balance to falter. With a few large strides, Miguel distanced himself further from Cale, meanwhile building up another large amount of mana. But this time, Cale chased after the swordmaster, which the man could clearly sense.

Abruptly he let out lightning bolts in a circle around his body, but in the same, he lost sight of Cale.

"You're right, I didn't learn that from Master Paseru", the mage's voice rang out, so Miguel reflexively turned backwards and swung his sword again. Cale was already behind him and in the same movement returned the attack, while the mana raged in his body.

"I made that up myself", Cale spoke in a near whisper.

A loud thunder sounded, causing a shockwave to appear that pulverized everything within a 100-meter radius. The bang was so loud and powerful that Miguel's ears could not withstand those sounds and it had a negative effect on his body. All at once he lost the feeling of where was up and where was down before his body gave way, slumping forward unintentionally. The last thing Miguel noticed was Cale dropping his sword. After that, everything went black for the swordmaster.

With a relieved sigh, Cale laid the unconscious man on the ground, straightened up and stretched his back. He then let his gaze glide over the ruined landscape, which recorded dozens of craters and cracks in the ground. In some places, it was still steaming slightly from the impacts of the lightning bolts Miguel had let off. They had distanced themselves rather far away from the spectators, so he could no longer see them. Only the hundreds of mana sources on the hill in the distance told Cale that there were still people there. They must have always known well where they were and who had the upper hand at any given moment, thanks to the lightning and the subsequent destruction of their fight.

Cale was used to fights, so much so that his body started to move as if by itself. He knew what was going to happen even before his opponent gave any signs, so he was able to react easily. Moreover, he had an immense advantage because he was basically always underestimated, so the element of surprise was on his side. But Miguel had had another major disadvantage. While he had not underestimated Cale, he did not know Cale's past. Miguel simply didn't know that Cale knew every detail of his rehearsed moves and could therefore work accordingly. The winner of the fight was certain from the start because Miguel and Cale were old acquaintances and had trained together.

Cale shook his left arm a few times, with which he had blocked Miguel's attacks. It felt a little numb as the lightning bolts had forced their way through the protective mana layer as well. Cale would never have been able to block a frontal attack with his bare hand, but his opponent didn't need to know that.

With a satisfied smile, he let Karekama and Zurakekama disappear into his null magic and lifted the motionless body onto his back before making his way back to his spectators.