It took a few minutes before Vanis's match began, but before then, the group spent their time chatting, or more precisely, querying the Verrille lord.

  "I would have been very inclined to sympathize with them had their grief been as true as they claimed. But no, all they truly want is an opportunity to drain us to husks, like the victims of blood drinkers."

  "I'm here, brother. And I also wield the essence of blood. Are you calling me a Vampire?" Solis eyed his brother.

  "Are you?" Vanis turned to face Solis.

  "No."

  Vanis turned back to face the lady, Sareina, without a word of reply to his brother.

  "What does your mother think about this?" Sareina asked, twiddling her fingers on the armrest of her chair.

  Vanis snorted. "You should know mother well, and what she would choose. She was more for the idea of seizing a few of their worlds and bringing them under us, but Grandma stayed her hands. Rumors of the High houses bullying the lessers are already rampant enough; we don't need to validate them."

  Sareina smiled. "Your grandmother is very wise."

  "Urghh," Solis butted in with a look of feigned disgust. "I can smell the stench of adoration wafting off of you, Sar, and it burns."

  "What," Sareina blushed a little, though she turned her face away to hide it. "She's wise, and cool, too."

  "We all know that, Sar," Vanis smiled gently. "But you don't see us mentioning it, do you?

  Damien sat through all this like a quiet observer as he watched the heirs go on a back-and-forth exchange. Unlike Vanis who rarely showed any form of facial expression, or more precisely, rarely let his expression run wild. Or Solis who showed something only when he wanted to be rude and irritating, Sareina Duveyar gave off the feeling of a warm and affable person.

  Damien would have expected her to be more like Vanis; stoic most of the time with a little dose of emotion here and there, but no, Sareina was the opposite. She smiled when there was a joke, and grumbled when she was being teased. Even Vanis, who usually kept his true feelings on a tight leash whenever he was with other people, couldn't help but smile whenever Sareina laughed.

  Her smile was like a cool gentle breeze on a warm sunny afternoon. Whenever she laughed, Damien felt like he'd just taken in water after a week of treading the desert without sustenance. She positively glowed in his eyes, and he couldn't help but smile along whenever her lips widened.

  "What?"

  He blinked, suddenly realizing that he'd been staring at her nonstop for a long while. The eyes of everyone were on him, even the Warrior maidens she'd walked in with. They glared at him like he'd just done something wrong.

  Solis grinned wickedly, his joy uncontained as he watched Damien struggle not to squirm under the gaze of everyone. Vanis, on the other hand, looked at him with a strange expression. The Verrille lord said nothing, which made Damien uncertain if he was being judged or if it was the opposite.

  "I asked a question, Sir. Damien."

  "Umm, sorry, what?" Damien jolted as the lady's voice came in again. With a grimace, he looked over at her, expecting an expression of outrage or indignation, but instead what he found was a calm smile and face with a question.

  "I asked if there was something on my face, Sir. Damien?" She said again. "Given that you've been staring at it continuously for the past few minutes."

  Cold sweat ran down Damien's neck. He closed his eyes, took a calm deep breath, and then answered.

  "There was nothing on your face. I was just admiring your beauty," he said confidently. He was already caught, there was nothing left other than the truth.

  "Hmm," Sareina nodded slowly with a smile. "I will not act with false pretense, I am beautiful. Thank you, Sir. Damien, for the compliment."

  "Damien is just fine," he replied with a nod.

  Thankfully, before she could say something else, a loud, sharp sound rang across the room, across the arena, like a siren. Damien turned sharply, startled by the sudden sound.

  "Don't worry," Vanis said as he stood up, "it's just the coordinators signalling the beginning of my duel."

  The Verrille lord stood up. Damien had at first expected that he'd use the entrance, but instead Vanis walked toward the large screen at the front of the room, the one offering the panoramic view of the field below.

  "No more preparations to be made?" Sareina asked.

  "I have everything I need right here with me," Vanis said, and then walked into the screen, fusing with it like they had been one.

  Damien's eyes widened when an instant later, Vanis appeared on the field, walking out of thin air to stand on thick sand.

  "THE CHALLENGED HAS ANSWERED THE CALL!!" A voice boomed, and the crowded arena erupted into an explosion of noise so loud Damien felt his chair vibrate.

  "Who was that?" He breathed, tightening his grip on the armrest of his chair like it would keep him from falling.

  Solis sighed just as Sareina answered. "Huiron," she said, and then turned to Solis. "Who let him commentate?"

  "Probably snuck in there. It's his go-to mojo, after all."

  The Duveyar heir giggled. "I pity those tasked with getting him out."

  Solis only sighed.

  Damien watched on, perplexed as the voice sounded again.

  He saw Vanis's head snap up with a narrowed look just as the voice said. "PUT YOUR HANDS UP FOR THE CHALLENGED, LORD VANIS, REPRESENTING HOUSE VERRILLE!"

  The crowd roared again and feet and hands began stamping and clapping.

  "YOU WON'T BELIEVE THE SURPRISE WHEN I WOKE UP THIS MORNING, ONLY TO HEAR THAT VANIS THE BRAVE, VANIS THE BOLD, VANIS THE STRONG, HAD JUST BEEN CHALLENGED TO A DUEL—

  "Hey!" Solis shouted in protest. "Those are my titles!"

  "Sorry dear," Sareina patted him on the shoulder. "We'll find you another one."

  "—AND NOT BY ONE HOUSE, BUT BY SEVEN! SEVEN HOUSES, VANIS! WHAT DID YOU DO, SLAP THEIR GRANDMOTHER AND STEAL CANDIES FROM THEIR CHILDREN?!"

  A ripple of laughter spread across the arena, giggles and chuckles. Solis palmed his face and sighed in resignation, while Sareina only grinned. Vanis, who was on the field, could only shake his head.

  "ON THE OTHER SIDE, WE HAVE LORD ZEIN, PRETTY BOY SCION OF HOUSE UZEER!" The voice said just as another person stepped into the field, like Vanis, appearing out of thin air.

  And truly, like the commentator had said, he was truly pretty. From a distance, Damien would have pegged the young man who appeared as a lady, somewhat of a masculine female. But as he looked closer, he picked out the little differences.

  Honestly, there wasn't much to differentiate him other than the emergence of a beard growing under his chin. And even then, Damien almost assumed he was simply one of those rare cases where beards appeared on the faces of women.

  Zein Uzeer walked into the arena with an expression of cold detachment, similar to Vanis's. Except where Vanis's was born from neutrality, this one had a thick sense of contempt to it.

  The young man's lips curled into an expression of distaste as the voice of the commentator rang out again.

  "ZEIN HERE—" He chuckled. "—HAS DECIDED... IN HIS ALMIGHTY WISDOM... TO CHALLENGE THE CRIMSON SCOURGE! SUCH BRAZENNESS! SUCH AUDACITY! WHEREVER YOU'RE GETTING YOUR CONFIDENCE FROM, ZEIN, I WANT IN. THE LADIES SEEMS TO LIKE THOSE SORT OF THINGS."

  This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

  Damien saw Zein's expression twist into irritation and veiled anger. The man glared up at a section of the arena like he could see who was speaking. Vanis, on the other hand, went suddenly neutral, his previous resigned expression collapsing into a cool neutral mask.

  "What is he doing?" Solis hissed. "Is he also trying to get himself challenged?"

  "That would be the height of their stupidity if they did so," Sareina shook her head. "Leave Huiron to his antics, Sol. Unlike you, he knows how to escape the consequences."

  Solis looked at her, but didn't argue.

  Damien turned his attention back on the field, where it looked like the train of words was just wrapping up.

  "HOUSE XYLENE HAS LOST, AND HOUSE UZEER IS NEXT. WILL THEY BE ANY DIFFERENT?!" His voice dimmed a little bit. "I sure don't think so."

  "ANYWAYS, ENOUGH WITH THE YAPPING. WE ALL CAME HERE TO SEE SOMEONE GET BEAT, AND I SURE WILL NOT BE THE BARRIER THAT PREVENTS ALL YOU WONDERFUL PEOPLE FROM SEEING THAT." There was a drumroll. "AND WITH MY BLESSING, I PROCLAIM THIS DUEL OPENED!!"

  The crowd roared louder just as Vanis and Zein began circling each other, eyes trained on each other like two predators. Before Damien could even blink, a blanket of shadow covered the entire field, shrouding it in unlight. Damien expected that view of the fight would be obscured, but luckily, it wasn't.

  Like the one in the room, a huge llusory screen appeared in the sky, broadcasting in full and detailed view the battle that was going on within the domain of shadow.

  Vanis and Zein were in the middle of a violent clash, their weapons flashing as each blow was exchanged.

  The Uzeer lord wielded two serrated sharp daggers, black with jagged edges. They flashed through the air as their wielder used them like a second limb, twirling them in-between his fingers to shift from defense to attack. The young man wasn't stationary. He moved like a ghost, disappearing in and out of existence like he was the shadow made flesh.

  "A movement technique right off the bat," Sareina said idly. "At least he's taking this battle seriously."

  "Why wouldn't he?" Solis replied. "A little mistake and Vanis would chop off his head."

  "So brutish," Sareina said but didn't argue.

  The fight continued on. Zein and Vanis exchanging blows. Unlike Zein who moved continuously, staying in a location no more than a second, Vanis was mostly stationary. The Verrille lord took a step or two for every dozen steps taken by his opponent.

  His bident came up in a whirl, like a fan, both ends defending and attacking at the same time against the storm that was Zein.

  The battle took on a new pitch when out of the gloom, daggers began manifesting, firing in blurs at Vanis from everywhere.

  "WOW, SHADOW BOY SEEMS TO BE KICKING UP A FIT!!"

  Damien wasn't paying much attention to what the commentator, whoever they were, was saying. He was focused on Vanis who, caught in an attack that came from different angles, instantly withdrew from the daggers of Zein.

  The Verrille lord swiped his weapon and a thin circle of crimson appeared around him, brightening his surroundings for a bit. It only appeared for a second, but when it disappeared, the daggers that were about to hit him vanished, vanquished instantly.

  Damien would have applauded the cool display, if there weren't half a hundred daggers behind those ones.

  "UH OH, IT SEEMS OUR GOLDEN BOY HAS BEEN CAUGHT IN A BIND. WHAT IS HE GOING TO DO?"

  Vanis didn't leave them wondering for long. The darkness ignited as a bright curtain of lightning, similar to the ones summoned by Nalon and Vanis at the Aveanii outpost appeared into existence, encircling the Verrille lord.

  The daggers, flashing so fast that they only left shadowy tendrils in their wake, popped loudly as they impacted the lightning curtain.

  "OH HOOO!! NOW THATS MORE LIKE IT!" The voice roared alongside those of the crowds. "BUT WILL LORD VANIS'S DEFENSIVE TECHNIQUE WITHSTAND THE CONTINUOUS ONSLAUGHT OF SHADOW BOY'S ATTACK TECHNIQUE, OR WILL IT FAIL... JUST LIKE HIS LOVE LIFE?!"

  "That was harsh," Sareina grimaced, and then turned to Solis. "What do you think?"

  The other Verrille lord was quiet for a while, face intense as he watched the duel below. Eventually he sighed and then spoke.

  "I think Vanis will withstand it, but his defensive technique is not so invulnerable that it would take on Zein's technique indefinitely. Eventually, all defenses fall."

  He was right, Damien had to admit. As he watched, the curtain of lightning erected by Vanis began to dim under the onslaught of the storm of shadow blades. Zein, the Uzeer heir didn't slack off either, he jumped back into the fight, alongside his flashing blades, and surprisingly, slowly began pushing Vanis back.

  Damien wondered at first how he was able to step through the curtain of lightning, until he realized that the curtain lost its effectiveness as it dimmed, and while Zein might have lacked the sharpness of his blades, he was more durable and could withstand the lessened lightning curtain.

  "SEEMS LITTLE VAN'S WALL... OR SHOULD I SAY, BLANKET OF FLAMES, IS ALREADY LOSING IT'S POWER." The commentator said again. "SHADOW BOY, PUSH HARDER!!"

  "Whose side is he on?" Sareina huffed, to which Solis only grunted. But Damien had already turned his attention down on Gray, who was sitting next to a napping Pinkie on Keilan's lap.

  Gray," Damien called. "What is this attacking technique, defensive technique thingy that's being talked about?"

  [Ahh, you finally noticed, eh?]

  "What's that supposed to mean?"

  [It means that I don't have to twiddle my foot, wondering when you're going to notice something you ought to have ages ago.]

  He paused for a bit, and then continued.

  [Tell me, compared to your Star fall technique, how quick does your beam one appear?]

  Damien frowned, surprised by the question. Unlike what unawakened usually thought, techniques were incapable of being instantly summoned, or at least, in the early stages. It took years of practice and continuous use before one could summon their techniques as quickly as thought, and even then, there was still a lag. This wouldn't have been an issue against foes considered lesser or even on the same level, but when he was fighting creatures more powerful than him, he felt that lag painfully.

  Damien couldn't count how many times he'd almost died just because his technique came to fruition slower than the enemy could attack. A few times he'd been forced to flee because he lost his upper hand from slow technique creation.

  His Star fall technique had been inspired from the sights of a shooting star. This had been when he was just stepping into the lord realm, unlike his beam of destruction which had been born much later than that, inspired from a devastating clash with a dragon. That dragon had gone on to become his scaled armor.

  "I mean, my beam technique is slower than my star fall by an instant or so, but that shouldn't be surprising, considering that it's younger than the latter."

  [True,] Gray acceded. [As you well know, Wielders are not restricted in the amount of technique they can create. A wielder could have as much as twenty techniques, three times that, even. But contrary to what such wielders would believe, having such an amount does not make them an unmatchable powerhouse. On the contrary, it's the opposite.]

  Damien frowned. "Because the more techniques they have, the more it takes for them to master."

  [Yes,] Gray nodded. [A wielder with thirty techniques in their arsenal could die to one with just only one technique. Why? Because of the time it takes to shape them.

  [Because of this, research was conducted and it was revealed that having four core techniques should be the maximum a wielder should go. It doesn't mean you can't practice freeforms, but make sure to have four core techniques mastered before anything else.]

  "And let me guess," Damien sighed. "Those four techniques correspond to the different aspects of battle?"

  [Yes. An attacking technique for when you're on the offense. A defensive technique to shield you against attacks. A movement technique to move you away from the paths of things you can't handle. And finally, a Master technique.]

  Gray paused dramatically. Damien knew the construct was just waiting for him to ask, and while he would have loved to simply disappoint him, he very much wanted to know, so he asked.

  "What's that?"

  Gray smiled, a smug look on his face.

  [Master techniques are the pinnacles of your abilities. They can be utility focused, or defensive, but most people tend to focus them on the attacking aspect. Unlike the other techniques which can be used more than a dozen times, Master techniques are commonly only used once or twice in a single battle, and are used strategically. So take note so you don't fumble yours and get yourself killed.]

  Damien sighed, already knowing what was coming up. At this point, he had two techniques: his starfall and his breath of destruction. Both were powerful, but not so powerful Damien would count them as a finisher/ender kind of technique. The closest he could think of was the singular star he occasionally created, but that one felt like a bigger version of his Starfall. It's only difference was the bigger essence he poured into it.

  Lese was a new start, Damien hoped. If he was going to do things right, he needed techniques with more depths, not just something that only went boom.

  Ideas began creeping into his mind, but Damien paid little attention to them. He needed more time to think about this. Both his movement technique and his master technique.

  "What about you?" He turned to Keilan. "Any ideas what you'll do?"

  Keilan was quiet for a while and then he raised the hand he'd been using to massage the sleeping serpent to push hair away from his face.

  "I have some ideas, but fortunately, I don't necessarily have to change anything."

  "What? Why?"

  "Damien, do you even know what my techniques are?"

  Damien blinked, surprised by the question. "Sure, we've got your wind blades, your physical constructs—the giant bird and the titanic humanoid. And then we've got your tornadoes."

  His brother smiled. "First off, the wind blades are not my main techniques, they're freeform wind manipulation that simply work for many occasions. The giant bird only becomes truly effective during aerial battles, and since I'm not a bird and can't maneuver instinctively like one, it loses the vast majority of its effectiveness, hence why I don't use it often. The titan, on the other hand, due to its massive height and durability, has a reach almost as long as the bird. Plus, it doesn't need me to limit the energy flow, unlike the bird which requires me to sacrifice durability for greater mobility. My tornado technique...well," he shrugged. "There's nothing much to say about it."

  Damien stared at his brother, silent. He blinked. "Soo...?"

  "Celestials, Dame! I don't need a new technique because my titanic construct functions as both an attacking technique and a defensive one. The tornado isn't that much different from a Master technique. The only adjustment I'd make for that is to cut short how many I produce and instead just produce one super ginormous one."

  Damien shivered involuntarily at that. Keilan's tornado technique was already devastating as it was, a new one with a dozen times the power was beyond his imagination.

  "But what about your movement technique? Won't you walk on that?" He asked.

  Keilan shrugged. "I move faster than most Spirit lords on just pure physique alone. Add my intent to it and I basically become as elusive as the wind. I don't need a movement technique for combat," He said, and then added a second later when he saw Damien's face. "...But I'll think about it."

  Damien nodded, and was about to say something else when there was a bright flash of crimson, piercing through the world of gloom that was the field.

  And then the crowd roared.