Blade Over Magic

Mock Battles II

The appearance of the Lowell knight caught the attention of those watching.

Since Xander and co had obviously been within the Lowell Residence, and seeing how blatantly Xavier was supporting him, many had their suspicions on whether or not Xander had done anything in regards to spreading his methodologies.

Even King Hemlock showed some interest as the two knights gradually approached each other.

Most knight were quite large due to them always exercising to increase their physical strength. The Lowell knight was no exception, however, his opponent looked almost like a human behemoth.

His brown armor covered his entire body, making him look like a small mountain, and he stood comfortably as 7’0. His body completely covered.

Resting on his shoulder was a greatsword half his height, and every step he took caused the ground to shake.

It was definitely a bit imposing.

However, the Lowell Knight in his silver and green armor seemed unperturbed as he wielded his longsword. When the two of them were a few meters apart, the large knight slid his sword off his shoulder and let it fall to the ground with a large thud.

He then gripped it with two hands and got into a position indicating he would start with a wide horizontal slash.

In comparison, the Lowell knight gripped his longsword and held it hight next to his head, the tip angled down while aiming forward.

Seeing the odd stance, and audible scoff sounded from underneath the bigger knight’s helmet.

”So you Lowell knights really did get trained by that guy. What exactly do you hope to achieve?” He mocked. ”Do you honestly think you can replicate that guy? How long have you trained in his ways? You must have fought in the usual manner for years. And what? You hope to fight in a different way after a few weeks at best?” His voice was deep and condescending. But it was loud enough for many of the viewers to hear, and it drew some nods.

Most people had no clue that the whole Lowell Residence had been under Xavier’s time dilation. So to most, the group had only been gone a few weeks. Very little time to completely change how one fought.

In response to this, though, the knight just held his stance and spoke.

”Won’t we see when we fight?” The question was simple, but the bigger knight harrumped.

”You must think you’re hot shit then. Fine. How about this!” He roared as swung his sword. As he did so, earth materialized and coated the sword, almost making it look like a club as he swung in a wide arc.

The Lowell knight anticipated this and stepped back, evading the swing by inches. The larger knight then held his sword overhead to swing downwards, the force no doubt bound to be terrific.

Yet in doing so, he left himself completely open, and far faster than anyone expected, the Lowell Knight moved in and entered his attack range.

The large knight saw this, but he didn’t panic as he continued to swing down.

’My armor is made specifically to endure lots of hits. I’m not just big for nothing. When your sword gets blocked, I’ll crush you!’ He grinned behind his helmet.

And yet the Lowell knight seemed fearless as he performed... a thrust.

It was clean and well placed, but it wasn’t coated in any element. For all intents and purposes, it just looked like a simply, unadorned thrust.

The other knights who could keep up with the fight were confused by this. If he wanted any hope of breaking through the armor, he had to channel on his weapon. So what was he doing?

The thing was... he was channeling. Just not the channeling they were used to.

Under everyone’s gaze, the sword’s tip met the armor... and completely blew through it.

Under the shocked faces of everyone. The Lowell knight’s sword went through armor and flesh, completely penetrating the larger knight’s body just beneath his right lung as blood spilled.

The larger knight gasped as pain bloomed in the affected spot, causing his downward swing to halt, which gave the Lowell knight the chance to pull his sword out and retreat.

In pain and enraged, the larger knight roared.

”You Bastard!” He rushed forward and swung his sword wildly, but once again, a stunning scene played out.

Many of the knights there were sure that they wouldn’t be able to endure such an onslaught with their bare bodies. And the Lowell knight was no exception.

And yet, somehow, with every swing the larger knight performed, he calmly deflected each strike with no damage taken. It didn’t matter how hard the earth-covered sword was swung. The Lowell knight always seemed to be in right position to parry and deflect the strikes of his opponent.

This went on for a few minutes, and soon, the sounds of panting could be heard from underneath the larger knight’s helmet.

With him swinging his evidently heavy weapon like that without pause, constantly supplying his already limited mana to coat it, which made it even heavier, it wasn’t surprising that he started to grow tired. Add that to the blood loss from the initial wound he received, and his fatigue was simply to be expected.

In comparison, the Lowell knight didn’t even seem winded as he simply carried the incoming attacks, never exerting himself too much.

It wasn’t as clean as Xander, but the efficiency was still there.

Sensing that things weren’t going his way, the large knight growled and suddenly stopped his assault.

He backed away and raised his sword high, and his mana started to gather as he prepared an attack.

”I’ll blow you away!” He roared as his sword began to change.

But that’s when the Lowell Knight bent his legs slightly, then he inhaled and exhaled. The sound very distinct.

Xander recognized it immediately as Mana Breathing and shook his head.

’This fight is over.’ The Lowell knight suddenly moved forward with incredible speed, faster than his larger opponent could react, and he swung his blade down in a sharp arc.

The converging mana was cut apart as his sword, trailed by blue flames, cleaved through armor and flesh.

The heat was enough to sear the wound shut before blood was spilled, but it still traveled into the large knight’s body as he fell to the ground screaming, feeling like his insides were being cooked.

The Lowell knight exhaled and opened the visor of his helmet, revealing a fairly young face that shouldn’t have been older than 25.

He looked around the crowd before spotting Xander who gave him a thumbs up.

”Victory to the knight of the Lowell Family!” The referee who hadn’t said a word since announced the victory, and the writhing knight was taken off the stage while the Lowell knight walked away, and obvious bounce in his step.

Above, the King hummed and spoke to his wife.

”Beatrice, what’s your opinion on all of this?” Hearing her name, the Queen, Beatrice, looked at her husband before looking back down, her expression contemplative.

”I think at this point, it’s evident that the martial path that boy wishes to propagate does indeed possess potential. But it’s too early to say that it can truly be on par with standard casting. What we saw just now was a knight against a knight. A class of power generally acknowledged to be limited in its capacity. If we want a true confirmation, it will be when a knight fights against a mage of the corresponding level and wins.” The King nodded slightly.

”And what about the boy’s performance against the wyvern?” Beatrice lingered for a moment.

”While he said that everyone could learn and develop the same fundamentals. It’s hard to say that truly is the case. He truly could just be an anomaly that managed to take a slightly improved methodology to such heights.” She offered a logical rebuttal, and King Hemlock hummed again. That was something he liked about his wife, she always responded objectively rather than simply trying to appease him.

”What if I said he wasn’t the only one?” That drew Beatrice’s attention, and King Hemlock gestured to Irene who manifested a screen in front of the two royals.

On it, the scene of Aubrey, Falael, and Curtis during the hunt could be seen, and it didn’t take long before Beatrice saw what her husband was referring to.

The sight of Falael’s strange fist forms which resulted in the devastating impacts aided with her starlight magic, and Aubrey’s archery that penetrated the tough hides of beasts like paper.

”I see...” Beatrice fell silent as the evidence was right in front of her.

”If that’s the case, then logically speaking, there’s no reason not to allow such things to propagate. Even ignoring the future threat. If we can internalize these methodologies and allow both standard casting and these new martial paths to meet, Solvaren’s power would spike dramatically compared to other species, and it would open many more possibilities. Even in the situation where it still falls behind casting a little, just having our regular soldiers display prowess similar to that knight just now...” She trailed off, the meaning clear.

”Indeed.” Hemlock nodded.

”So I’ve decided not to interfere with Xavier and Bellion’s bout. To be frank, I’m sold, but I can’t just ignore any of them either. So we’ll see how things progress. And if that boy’s ideology comes on top, we’ll support it as best as we can.” Beatrice nodded slightly.

”And the Nobility? I can’t imagine they would be happy with this.” At the Hemlock scoffed.

”That’s what we have two Archmages for.”