I couldn’t believe I just did that. I pulled back my fist just as soon as it had got done splitting Damian Voss’ lip and got ready to deliver another blow.

  I felt the kick to my ribs before I saw it. I got shot back into a pillar behind me like I was a pinball.

  I gasped, clutching at the pillar as I righted myself. Fuck. Ouch.

  I was alright. A bit winded but I was alright.

  Yeah, I’d gotten stronger. Old Cael got his soul kicked out of him from a blow like that. I was winded at best.

  “Shall we at least take this to a—”

  I drew my jian as he spoke. I wasn’t giving him time to prepare. He pulled a spear off of his back as I charged him, the sea of people around us parting as I attempted to slash him open.

  I’d fight him hand to hand if my life wasn’t on the line, but I knew my sword skills were far too good to waste. I had to use every tool at my disposal if I wanted to win, and that meant ruthlessness. That meant being willing to kill the guy that would kill me without a thought, that basically did once already.

  That’s what it was like here. That’s what I’d learned from my short time on this planet. Play hard and play to win, don’t worry about the living, breathing opponent in front of you. Just fight.

  I brought my jian forwards in a flurry, aiming first for his left arm and then for his chest, only to have the blade deflected at the last instant. I attacked again, and he blocked me with his spear. We locked up in the centre of our clashing blades, only for me to headbutt the bastard.

  It seemed to do almost as much damage to me as it did to him, but it stunned him long enough that I was able to slice him along the arm. It was a glancing blow, but enough that he clutched his spear tighter.

  I could do this. Even if it took a thousand papercuts for me to whittle down his defenses, I was faster with my weapon than he was with his. I kept up the attack. I wove in feints with my usual strikes, I pivoted midair with my blade and aimed it elsewhere.

  Damian, to his credit, was able to keep up with me entirely. While I managed to nick him here and there with my smaller weapon, whenever he managed to get his own counterattack off, it had all of his weight behind it, and I had to fight with both hands to stop my shoulder from being crushed under the weight of his sheer force, even when his blade missed me.

  He managed to smack me across the face with the pole, once, then slash me across the midsection.

  Again, it was glancing, but it freaked me out for a second. I worried he might have killed me then and there. That I’d be holding my guts in my arms in a few seconds.

  As I patted at the pooling blood around my stomach, he paused in his attack. He almost looked concerned.

  I stared at him. Noticed the hesitence on his face.

  “What?”

  “Shouldn’t… shouldn’t we at least dull our blades before we continue?”

  If you come across this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.

  Dull our blades…?

  Right. Shit. The guild had a rule about fighting with weapons. We were supposed to have an elder dull them first, and officiate the match.

  Guess I jumped the gun there. I was so nervous to get the jump on him that I’d completely forgotten.

  We both got a few seconds to breathe as an elder was fetched by one of the many initiates watching. Both of us were offered water, but neither of us took it.

  The process of dulling the weapons only took seconds, seeming to involve the placement of a barrier of mana around the blade’s edges, but in that time it got me wondering if I was at any more of a disadvantage being unable to cut him.

  I couldn’t wear him down via blood loss anymore, and stabbing wouldn’t work either, but the same things applied to him. I could still bruise him heavily with a strike, wind him with a stab. The weapon I was holding was still made of steel and relatively thick.

  His spear still functioned pretty effectively as a club, however. I needed to watch out for being struck at all. Simply being cracked over the head with that thing could be enough to knock me out cold.

  Not that I was planning to give him the chance. The moment the elder okayed us to continue our fight, I rushed in as close as I possibly could to him, stabbing forward with my blade.

  He twisted his body just enough for me to miss his chest, but I kept close to him all the while, only allowing him to move back a couple of feet before striking at him again.

  I needed to keep close if I didn’t want him having a range advantage over me. Not only was he taller and more built than me, but his weapon reached further than mine. Luckily, I appeared to have speed on my side. Even if it was only by a slight margin, the rate and complexity of my attacks seemed to be enough to throw Damian off-guard, and it was becoming increasingly easy for me to land blows on him. He wasn’t guarding every attack, allowing me to slash repeatedly at his arms and even land a stab against his leg that must’ve hurt, if the sound he made was any indication.

  Still he didn’t relent. He looked almost as if he was willing to take the punishment if it meant he could get a big swing of his own off, and the speed at which he moved his spear was astounding. It took everything for me to manage to defend myself in time when he swung at me, when he thrust in my direction, when he pressed the polearm up against my neck.

  It was like he was trying to take my head off. Or skewer me. The power behind his blows was so staggering that he left cracks in the stone floor when I dodged his downward swing, that the wind whistling past my face from a thrust that almost connected was almost enough to topple me on its own.

  I managed to snag him three more times over the next twenty seconds, including a blow against his cheek that made his head turn, but as soon as I went in for a finishing blow, he swung his spear ferociously in an upward curve.

  I tried to block it with my jian, too close to dodge it in time, but only managed to knock the weapon from my own hands, sending it sailing as my face took about half the remaining impact.

  It wasn’t enough to make me fall, but it was definitely enough to stagger me. As soon as he saw an opening, he charged at me full force, a building storm behind his eyes, alacrity in his motions, a thunderous presence enveloping him as he crashed his weapon into me and sent me careening back three feet as I put my arms out to catch it.

  We struggled in a tug of war over the spear, both of us attempting to wrest control of it from the other, until eventually, with another famed Damian Voss kick, he separated the two of us, shooting me backwards even as the spear fell from his grasp, carried by the force of my momentum.

  Both of us eyed our weapons, me from my crouching position and him standing, panting, attempting to get his bearings.

  I had a choice to make, run after my jian, knowing he’d reequip himself first, or dive straight at him and make this an all-out slugfest.

  I was better with my jian than I was with my fists, but I wasn’t sure I’d be able to grab my weapon before he was attacking me again. I didn’t know if I’d be able to win against him hand to hand either, but I knew I needed to make a judgment call now, and if there was something I’d learned through my very limited time fighting so far…

  People didn’t expect me to do whatever the fuck it was that I did next, so I went for the unexpected option.

  I ran across the courtyard as Damian bent down to pick up his spear, jumped onto his back, latched on as hard as I could, and bit into the bastard’s shoulder.

  How’s that for a fucking honour duel?