Date: Saturday November 24th 2017

  Helo and his party are arriving at the arena about thirty minutes before the fight. Everyone wanted to arrive earlier but Helo preferred to warm up and prepare back at the house. Walking up the arena Helo is surprised by the amount of people that are here. He expected this to be a simple fight, but instead it is turning into some kind of event.

  As they are walking up, he can hear people talking. “Do you even know who this kid is? He is fighting Dorimer. He is going to get crushed.”

  “He is kind of cute though. But a lot smaller than the Light Elf.” Another girl says.

  “Why did this dual even happen?” A guy on the other side of Helo asks his friend.

  “I heard it was a few years ago. This kid just attacked Dorimer for no reason.” The friend says with a shrug.

  Looking around Helo can see everyone is on their phones and talking about him. “Why is everyone staring at their phones?” Helo asks his party.

  “Well… You don’t have social media. So, I am not surprised you don’t know, but Dorimer started posting about it a while ago. I didn’t even know until this week.” Alli turns back and says to Helo. She is now skipping backward and seems excited for the fight.

  “I know what social media is, but isn’t it a little dangerous to post about these things?” Helo is worried that the wider world will find these posts and learn about the integration early.

  “No. It is all run through our clan system servers and is a prototype of the websites that we will release when the integration starts.” Hinata says from Helo’s side. She is playing with her hair and is nervous about the fight.

  “So, is that why so many people are here?” Helo asks.

  “Yes. Traveling is pretty easy for us. Especially before there are beasts that will tear planes from the sky. Most of the clan’s lesser families are wealthy in the normal world. There is a large following of people who enjoy watching and participating in virtual combat.” Allie says to him. “My father and uncle used to participate. They even became very popular and had a stupid nickname.”

  “Huh. Okay so this is normal.” Helo says to himself. But he can’t help but feel awkward. His senses are extremely powerful and he can hear everyone around him talking about their opinions about the duel.

  Walking up to the front of the building Helo enters to see a beautiful interior, it is filled with plant life and has screens on the walls; They show off previous fights and scenes from inside the dungeon.

  As Helo walks in he can hear a voice coming from outside. “That was him! I recognize him from the photo.” After he hears that, he can hear a chorus of people clamoring to try and see him.

  Turning to look Helo can see a ton of people rushing forward, before the doors close behind him. After they close, a man steps forward and holds them closed. Stepping further into the facility Helo can hear a slam on the doors as the crowd hits it.

  “Well, that happened.” Allie says. Looking forward, there are more people looking at them but as they are talking someone comes up to them.

  “Helo?” A woman says to him. “Come with me, we will get you situated in your waiting room.”

  Turning to the group he says. “Well. This is a lot more than I expected.”

  “I know. But it is a good intro into the politics of this world.” Hinata says. “You will be dealing with many things like this at the school next year. Now go and kick some butt.”

  “Yeah, kick that snotty elf in the balls!” Gabi shouts. Everyone else but Kenneth wish Helo good luck as he turns to leave.

  Following the woman Helo heads downstairs into a waiting room. Stepping into the room, it is a nice lounge with a screen in front showing the center of the arena. It looks like a stadium with a woodsy twist. The floor of the stadium looks like a meadow and the edge is actually made from trees that were grown into a wall. Above the stadium floor are rows of bleachers and above those are lounges for the wealthy.

  Sitting on the couch in the middle of the room Helo looks around and it is brown and green colored with white and gold accents. It is a beautiful room and is set up nicely.

  “Is there anything you need?” The woman who brought him down asks. She is white-haired rabbit-kin. She looks a little nervous as she stands in the door way.

  Studying her with his red slitted eyes Helo tilts his head. “Are you okay?”

  “Ye.. Yes sir.” She stutters, she is still uncomfortable from her altercation with Victious and Helo gives off an unconscious dangerous aura.

  Looking at her with some confusion Helo just shrugs. “Oookay. When is everything starting?”

  “Thirty-minutes, you should hear your name get called out.” She says while backing away.

  Siting in the room alone Helo looks at the TV on the wall and watches as people enter into the stadium seating. After a while Helo sits cross legged and starts to meditate. Letting his aura wash out into the room Helo is a little surprised by the natural feel of the area.

  He is in a building but the energy flow still feels like the outdoors. “It must be the influence of Bernard’s druidic domain.”

  Feeling a mental nudge Helo pulls out his tablet from his necklace and sees a message.

  Bernard: Hey Wild Child, I’ll be down a few minutes to wish you good luck.

  With a small smile and a nod Helo goes back to meditation. Five minutes later he is snapped out of his focus to a bright light and his door closing.

  “So, you’re the problem that my family has to deal with.” Victious says as he pressures Helo with his aura.

  “Ahhh. What..?” Helo snaps out of his meditation and looks up. Standing in front of him is tall blonde man wearing a gaudy golden robe. As the man walks into the room, his robe swishes behind him and Helo can see his pointed ears.

  The pressure on Helo is the same strength that he has felt from Micah in their training. When Micah uses his aura, it feels like you are locked in bloody combat and your skills are pushed to the limits, but this aura feels like superiority and judgment.

  As the aura washes over him something happens in Helo’s body. The feeling of superiority stimulates his bloodline and Helo can feel it pushing back against the aura. Helo’s own aura rises out of his body. It got crushed as soon as Victious entered the room and Victious didn’t even realize Helo had an aura.

  But as Helo’s aura pushes out, Victious can feel its dark and dangerous nature. Under that dark nature he can also feel a tight flow of vitality. Stopping as he was walking in, he stares in surprise at Helo. In his reports he was told that Helo was skilled and had stats like an heir. He never heard anything about Helo having an aura.

  In that moment Vicitous almost decided to kill Helo. He is dangerous, and if he is allowed to grow, he will turn into a problem. But he stops himself because he can feel Bernard coming down to Helo’s room.

  Helo’s aura can’t go further than his skin but it does get him some relief from the weight of Victious’s aura. Forcing himself to looks up at the man that entered his room, Helo’s fangs elongate and his eyes glow brighter. “Who are you?” Helo growls out. He can feel his aura straining his body and mind as he fights against Victious.

  This question stopped Victious again. He knows he is in a rush. As soon as he let his aura out, he felt Bernard coming, and Bernard felt him. Now he is rushing to the room. Running his hand through his hair, Victious tilts his head back and laughs, “Hahaha, the beast that attacked my poor son doesn’t even know.” Looking down at Helo with a sneer he steps into Helo’s face.

  When he first came into the room he intended to threaten him. He was just a bug that his son would crush. But now he realizes that this kid might actually be a threat to his son. “Don’t embarrass yourself, just surrender as soon as the dual starts. It is to the death, but surrender is allowed.” What Victious doesn’t mention is that if someone surrenders in a fight to the death, their lives are then in the hands of the person that beat them.

  Leaving the room in a flash of light he shakes his head. My idiot son could have asked for concessions or even a normal dual. Instead, he had to make it serious and say that it is to the death. Then this disgusting child agreed, because he had no idea what he was doing.

  Back in the room Helo is pushing himself up in surprise. Due to the aura that was weighing down on him, he was forced into the couch. His mind is a little sluggish and his body feels strained from keeping himself up under a tier 3 aura. But what really surprises him is that he has no idea what is going on.

  Moments later Helo’s head snaps to the entrance to his room. He can hear someone rushing down the hall outside. His door slams open and Helo is face to face with a panting Bernard. “Ahhh, whew. Man man man, kid I thought he was going to kill you.”

  Helo looks at Bernard in surprise. He is out of breath, but he is a tier 3 individual. Catching Helo’s confused gaze Bernard laughs. “I used a boosting skill, it has a side effect of needing to catch your breath. It is a great skill when I have my familiars, I can ride them and then boost one of my skills. Being out of breath doesn’t matter much when I am riding on Twigs back.”

  Taking a deep breath to steady himself he nods and asks Bernard. “So, who was that?”

  Bernard’s expression turns to surprise. With a shake of his head, he says. “They focused on your enchanting and fighting so much that they failed to teach you anything else.” Smacking his hand over his face he continues. “That was Dorimer’s father Victious. He is a cunning and vile man.”

  Walking toward the exit of the room that leads into the arena he continues. “But right now it doesn’t matter, we only have a few minutes before the start. I know you have been training so I am not too worried, but be careful.” He says this in a serious voice and looks at Helo. “Now tell me what he said.”

  “Well, he came in here and crushed my aura. But something inside my bloodline fought back.” Bernard holds up his hand to stop Helo.

  “So, this means that he knows you have your aura. This isn’t great but was inevitable. This makes the fight easier for you. Try to hide your affinity but you can use your aura. Your natural ability to bleed away the power in magic will help you in this fight.” Bernard says before waving Helo to continue.

  “Then he told me to surrender.” Helo looks perplexed. “Why would I do that?”

  “Don’t. He came in here way to aggressively. He probably thought you were no match for his son, once learning you had an aura, he probably changed his mind and told you to surrender.” With a hand on his chin Bernard nods. “Yeah. It was probably like that.”

  “Now. No surrender. In a fight to the death surrender means you forfeit your life to the winner for a time or give up your wealth.” Bernard says while walking to the door. “I’ll be calling you out in a moment.” Turning back around he looks Helo up and down. “At least you don’t look to bad.” Helo is wearing his normal attire. He put on a red sweatshirt with a swirling dragon pattern and black joggers. Before he left the house Hinata used her mana to change the sweatshirt into a haori. Underneath Helo has a simple white shirt.

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  In the room Helo sits back down and watches as Bernard walks onto the screen. He is standing in the middle of the grassy arena and stepping in a small circle to look at the people that are there to watch.

  His tablet that he set on the table next to him sends him another nudge.

  Allie: Kick some ass! Oh. My dad said to let the Starhaven brat underestimate you.

  Smiling at her last-minute text Helo shakes his head and looks back at the screen.

  Bernard raises his hand to quite to crowd. Speaking in a loud and clear voice he starts. “Now we have already had a few duals today and will still be having a few more! But now we have the main event. This is a duel that was demanded by the Starhaven Heir! Two years ago, Helo Vital struck Dorimer Starhaven at the BackRoom club. At the time Helo was under fifteen and ineligible to duel.” His voice echoes throughout the arena. “Three months ago, Helo turned fifteen and, on his birthday, a was challenged in an honor duel. The challenger requested a dual to the death… It was accepted!”

  At the last phrase Bernard throws both of his hands into the air and the crowd starts cheering. After a few moments Bernard starts talking again. This time in a more normal voice. “Now nobody wants to watch two young men get killed. So, the Starhaven Clan Leader spoke to me before I entered to arena and proposed that both participants can put up a treasure to be taken upon surrender.”

  Hearing what Bernard said Helo nods his head. He has no desire to kill the Starhaven Hier or take him as some kind of slave. That sounds like it will be a massive headache.

  “So! Let me introduce the challenged HELO VITAL!!!!!” At Bernards words the exit to his waiting room opens and Helo starts walking down a long hallway. At the end of the hallway, he can see the light of the outside. As he gets closer Helo’s heartbeat starts to pick up, he can hear the excitement from the crowd.

  Stepping into the arena, for a moment he is blinded by the light. His bloodline enhanced eyes quickly adapt. Stepping further into the arena Helo can’t help but gape at the surroundings. The arena is larger that the screen makes it seem. It is a circle about one-hundred-meters across and the tree walls are twenty-feet tall.

  Turning around he winces slightly at the cacophony from the crowd. They are cheering and booing in equal measure. The booing doesn’t affect him much. He knows that he lashed out at Dorimer all those years ago. But at the same time Dorimer had no reason to grab him.

  “Now we have the challenger Dorimer Starhaven.” As Bernard finishes, he jumps from the ground, over one-hundred-feet up and into a viewing lounge. Following him with his eyes Helo can see his party in the box with all the adults. Giving a slight wave Helo smiles before he hears Dorimer enter the arena behind him.

  Turning back Helo can see Dorimer wearing a set of golden robes similar to his father’s. The robes seem to be stiff and Helo assumes that means that they are reinforced somehow. As he stomps his way further into the arena, he is glaring at everything. Turing around he looks toward his father and yells “WHY! WHY GIVE THIS PATHETIC CHILD THE OPTION TO SURRENDER.”

  At his yell the crowd goes silent. In his lounge that is overlooking the arena Victious just shakes his head and scowls. “Don’t argue with me in public boy.” The glare on his father’s face makes Dorimer realize that he made a mistake.

  Whipping around he looks at Helo with hatred in his eyes. “This is all your fault. Two years ago, you got in-between me and my fiancé. Now I will put you in your place. At least once I am done with you nothing will stand between me and my fiancé.” With a flash of white light, he pulls a large golden staff from his bag. On top of the staff there is a large crystal. Looking at Dorimer Helo uses ‘identify’

  Dorimer Starhaven

  Tier 1 Level 43

  Light Mage

  Helo wasn’t sure what to expect but he is a little nervous to learn Dorimer’s level. If his stats are anything like Allie or Hinata’s then at Level 43 he should have about 370 stat points. This is one-hundred more than Helo, but he does have percentage modifiers. Shaking his head Helo realizes that this is going to be a difficult fight. He hasn’t had many opportunities to blend his skills with his new naginata techniques. They focused all their training on learning how to use the ‘Moon-Staff’ style to hid his potential, that they didn’t have time for anything else.

  From around the arena a voice booms out. “Both clan leaders have put a prize on the line instead of the usual surrender restrictions. From the Starhaven Clan there is five pounds of Celestial Metal. This is an incredibly rare metal that can only be found on earth with the Starhaven family. It is an amplifier for light mana. From the BrightMoon clan there is a vial of Pure Cleansing Water. This is a rare water found in the purest natural springs. It can cleanse the body of almost all toxins and is useful in purifying the body for cultivation.”

  From all around the stadium Helo can hear the ohhs and ahhs from the crowd. They are talking about how voluble these resources are. Helo even heard someone mention cultivation resources. He remembers how he got a cultivation notification and still has to look into what it is.

  “Now the duel will begin in 10…9…8…7…6”

  With the count down going Helo reaches behind his back where he placed his storage pouch. Reaching into it he pulls out his naginata. Spinning the weapon around himself Helo takes a few steps forward before stopping in the lower defensive position.

  “5…4…3…2… And 1!” Bernard’s final shout echoes through the arena and Helo is blinded by a flash of light.

  Blinking his eyes Helo is surprised by the effect of the skill. Tightly shutting his eyes Helo focuses on his hearing. Through the noise of the crowd, he can hear the whisper of a chant.

  “The lance of light that strikes down my foes, form before me in a radiance.”

  As he hears the chanting Helo starts spinning is staff. He is building up the energy and speed to use the ‘AfterBlock’ technique. Moments later Helo’s eyes have cleared up enough that he can see Dorimer standing with his feet braced and both hands holding his staff. He has his staff held over his head. Infront of the crystal that is on the end of the staff a massive lance of light is forming.

  Helo pulls on his bloodline and feels a twinge of pain radiate through his body. Fighting against Victious’s aura pressure hurt Helo more than he expected. Ignoring the pain with a clenched jaw Helo empoers his eyes with his bloodline. The world around him resolves with new clarity, it is like he is now using the eyes of a bird and the world slowed down just a fraction.

  Using his bloodline to this degree is putting pressure on his body and mind. Helo pushes through and squints through the radiance of the ‘Light Lance’, he sees as Dorimer’s arm muscles twitch.

  Creating an energy projection and diving to the right Helo barely manages to dodge the light lance as it crashes into his technique. The explosion of energy from his technique breaking pushes his further away from the heat of the lance, it sears past his side and misses because of a deflection by the energy projection. The lance rockets by and explodes in a conflagration of heat and light against the tree walls.

  Twisting his body Helo lands on his feet and brandishes the naginata in front of him. To his surprise Dorimer is standing there with his mouth agape.

  That was suppose to kill him! How did he fight though my ‘Blinding Light’ skill. Dorimer thinks as his most used skill, that he enhanced with a chanting skill, is now on cooldown. Glaring at Helo, Dorimer is filled with fury and hate. It is all this kid’s fault. I would be engaged if it wasn’t for him. Now he has the audacity to dodge my attack!

  All around the arena people expected to see the kid be killed after the blinding light. Half of the crowd is impressed by the dodge, another smaller portion realize that importance of the energy projection, and the final group think that he is just lucky to still be alive.

  Feeling the excitement of the fight Helo’s body start to take on his more deadly aspects. But as his fangs and claws grow he is racked with pain from Victious’s earlier aura attack. This pain causes him to falter and is enough for Dorimer to cast ‘Light Bolt Barrage’.

  Waving his staff in an arc, bolts of lights are produced behind the crystal. Helo blocks a bolt his staff, dodges a few more, but on strikes his leg and the other on his chest. Being blasted back by the searing heat, Helo rolls backward and onto his feet with a grunt.

  Wincing in pain Helo realizes that the power of light is akin to a laser. It has heat and can cause some intermittent damage. But it’s true power is in its penetration. There is a hole in his chest and leg that is slowly healing.

  Looking up with a snarl Helo meets Dorimer’s cocky look and as Dorimer waves his staff, Helo remembers one of the last things that Bernard told him. Letting out his aura Helo focuses it toward his enemy and smirks while seeing the how the light bolts that are forming behind his staffs arc are weakening.

  This time when Dorimer send out the arcs of light they are slower and weaker. Helo is able to dodge and block all but one, but this one strikes Helo on his hip and thanks to his underwear is blocked. His aura is surrounding him in a circle that is weakening any attack that is projected out of the body.

  Using a quick ‘Identify’ heal notices that the energy storage he usually forgets within his underwear now has fifty missing units of mental energy.

  With a laugh Helo starts spinning his blade again and slowly walking his way forward. As he does Dorimer starts to freak out, his fear turns into indignation and rage. He is nowhere close to having his own aura and knowing how to identify one.

  All around the arena people are starting to think that Dorimer has horrible mana reserves. His attacks are growing weaker and he is starting to look uncomfortable. It is only the tier 3 people in the audience that know what is truly happening, and for them a Tier 1 individual to have an aura, which is a tier 3 requirement is astonishing.

  Even with the pain from the attacks he has taken and his own anger, Helo listening to his training. His eyes are glowing red and with each breath out he is softly growling, but he still approaches slowly and steadily like he was taught to do.

  Spinning his weapon in a fast and practiced pattern Helo is creating projections to defend himself while using his naginata to block his other side. The barrage from Dorimer is never ending. He is a mage that is over twenty levels above Helo. His reserves are enough to keep going. The closer Helo gets to his enemy the longer his aura has to weaken the attacks.

  Surprised that Dorimer is letting him approach without backing away Helo gets lost in a fight. Sidestepping and batting away a bolt of light, twisting his body to avoid attacks, Helo is starting to enjoy himself.

  Letting himself get distracted by his enjoyment, Helo gets close to Dorimer and is ready to attack. Locking eyes with the elf, his instincts start screaming in warning and Helo is suddenly blinded. With his eyes closed Helo can hear Dorimer shout. “Lance of Judgment!”

  Flinching back Helo activates ‘Dashing Lunge’, with over five seconds of increased speed Helo dives backward and can feel the heat on his back as a pillar of light strikes the ground directly in front of Dorimer.

  With a few seconds remaining Helo avoids the slow approach and dashes toward the elf with increased speed. Snarling through the pain in his injured thigh, he can feel as the wound that was starting to close starts to bleed again.

  Arriving in front of the elf in a blur of speed Helo is holding his blade in the upper attack position above his head. Slashing down Helo has to redirect his attack to defend against a ‘Light Lance’. This attack is much weaker than the chanted version. But it is still far more powerful than the individual bolts.

  After blocking the blow with a downward slash to his left, Helo spins with his momentum and slashes forward from right to left. Activating his new skill ‘Bleeding Cut’ Helo’s blade draws a shallow wound along the elf’s torso.

  Dorimer is surprised by the pain he can feel and uses his skill to flee, ‘Light Shift’. With another flash of light Dorimer seems to appear backward twenty feet. In reality his skill sent out a flash of light and he used an enhance jump to back up.

  “I am getting sick of all these light flashes.” Helo growls from his place as he resets his stance. Stepping forward again Helo is pleased to notice that Dorimer is having trouble stopping his bleeding.

  “What is this! You dare to wound me! The unending light the comes forth, strike down in a barrage.” Dorimer starts chanting again and this time as he sweeps his staff forth a massive wave of ‘Light Bolts’ are formed.

  Pushing out with his aura as hard as he can Helo can feel the strain it is putting on his body. His reserves are also taking a hit from his constant use of the ‘Moon-Staff’ projections and his own use of his aura.

  Using the last moment of his ‘Dashing Lunge’ Helo pushes himself forward and toward Dorimer. At the same time the barrage of attacks comes forward in a massive barrage. Rolling forward and to the left Helo dodges the majority but is struck by a few on his back and arm.

  Due to the explosion of heat from all the dodged attacks Helo is pushed forward in an uncomfortable roll. The attacks continue to come as he scrambles to his feet and creates another projection to block an attack to his front.

  Twisting his body Helo draws a throwing knife and activates his skill ‘Forced Still’ on his blade. Spinning forward Helo blocks another bolt on the blade of his naginata and throws the knife at Dorimer’s leg.

  Helo still hasn’t learned how to use his bloodline penetration on thrown weapons but by throwing his knife at Dorimer’s leg Helo can hear as the leg locks up. “AHHH, what!”

  Hearing his opponent yell Helo runs forward and blocks or dodges the last of the bolts. Finally able to see his enemy without all the light in the way, Helo watches as Dorimer falls on his back. At the same time the knife that was stuck in his leg disappears and Helo can feel as the comfortable weight reappears back in his bracer.

  Stepping forward is a struggle for Helo, he has bleeding wounds on his back, chest, leg and arm. Fighting through the pain, the only reason that he is still moving is his enhanced physical and mental abilities. His healing and regeneration are high and his willpower is strong. His regeneration would be higher if the curse didn’t affect him, but at the same time he would have his dark affinity abilities.

  As Helo steps forward he can feel as his hunger starts to grow. His opponent is starting to look more like a nice snack. Dorimer is starting to feel fear for the first time in the fight as he watches those red eyes come closer. It remind him of the vision he had two years ago. He convinced himself that it wasn’t real.

  As Helo walks over the blood that fell from his use of ‘Bleeding Cut’ Helo’s eyes softly flash golden and some of his wounds stop bleeding.

  At that point Helo didn’t even realize what was happening and only the people in the crowed that knew what to look for saw how his eyes changed color of a moment.

  Thinking that his regeneration is finally starting to work Helo shrugs his shoulder that hurts a little less and prepares to attack. At the same time Dorimer snaps out of his fear and it is replaced by malice and anger. Slamming his staff on the ground he activates the skill held within the staff. ‘Summon Light Golem’

  Stepping back in surprise Helo dives back as another pillar of light slams down in front of Dorimer. This time the light isn’t destructive but is building a golem made from hard-light. As Helo moves away Dorimer gets up from the ground and limps forward to lean on the forming golem. His stomach is still bleeding and his leg now has a puncture in it.

  Shaking his leg that was under the effect of ‘Forced Still’ Dorimer shouts. “You thought you had me. Your just some pathetic orphan. I am the Heir to Starhaven. My gear is worth more money than you have ever seen!”

  In the audience the crowed is excited that the fight seems like it will be continuing. But at the same time, they are a little disappointed in how Dorimer is acting. Is it truly a duel if he is going to crush his enemy with his gear.