Charisma 100: My Academy Life As A Heartbreaking Commoner-Chapter 230: The Duel 3

Darius lunged forward in an instant.

[We’re getting right into it, huh? Fine.]

Aegis parried the incoming strike and circled around him, slashing forward. Already, using this sword felt so much more awkward than using Ruby and Sapphire, but on the bright side, the griffin fight had acted as training in a way.

Darius blocked it, but barely. His eyes widened a fraction before he reset his stance and came at her again.

Steel rang against steel. Once, twice, three times. Aegis caught his third strike on her blade and shoved him back, then pressed forward with two quick slashes that forced him to give ground.

He recovered fast, pivoting on his heel and countering with a diagonal cut aimed at her ribs. Aegis twisted sideways, felt the wind of his blade pass by her stomach, and swung for his shoulder. He ducked it.

They separated, circling each other.

[He’s fast. Faster than I remember from the Winter Trials. Probably trained hard as shit for this, huh?]

Darius raised his free hand and a ball of fire erupted from his palm, screaming toward Aegis’s chest. She threw herself to the side, felt the heat wash over her arm as it passed, and hit the sand in a roll. By the time she was back on her feet, he was already closing the distance.

She met his overhead strike with her blade, arms shaking from the impact, and kicked at his legs to create space. He stumbled back half a step, and Aegis used that half a step to lunge in and slash across his forearm.

First blood. A thin red line appeared on his skin.

The crowd reacted, a ripple of gasps and murmurs rolling through the stands, but Aegis didn’t have time to enjoy it. Darius was already retaliating, driving her back with a flurry of strikes that she could only just barely keep up with.

They broke apart again, both breathing hard now.

Darius flicked his wrist and sent another fireball at her, this one lower, aimed at her feet. Aegis jumped over it and charged in, bringing her sword down in a two-handed swing. He caught it on his blade and they locked, faces inches apart for a second before they both pushed off and separated.

Another fireball. Aegis sidestepped it and slashed at his exposed flank. He blocked, barely, and swung at her head. She ducked and backed off.

More circling. More breathing.

[He keeps mixing in the fire magic to throw off my rhythm. Smart. If Rosanna hadn’t drilled me on exactly this strategy, it would have worked already.]

Darius lowered his sword slightly, his brow furrowed.

"You haven’t used a single spell."

Aegis said nothing.

"You know I didn’t include a no-magic clause, right?" He sounded genuinely confused. "You’re allowed to use magic. That wasn’t restricted."

Aegis kept her sword up.

"I’m serious," Darius continued, shifting his weight. "I’ve seen what you can do with aether magic. Why are you fighting like you don’t have it?"

She didn’t answer. Didn’t smile, didn’t quip, didn’t give him anything. She just watched him from behind her blade, feet planted in the sand, waiting. 𝗳𝗿𝐞𝕖𝘄𝗲𝕓𝗻𝚘𝚟𝕖𝐥.𝚌𝕠𝕞

Darius studied her for a long moment, trying to read her.

Then he raised his sword again.

"Fine. Have it your way."

He charged.

Once more, their blades crashed into each other, again and again.

Darius was moving faster now. His blade whistled past Aegis’s head at one point, Aegis ducked and went for a lunge and had to twist out of the way at the last second when Darius used some spell that let him spew fire out of his mouth.

[Okay, that one was close.]

She could still feel the heat on her cheek from where the flames had passed. That was new. Fire breath on top of fireballs. Darius was pulling out all the stops now.

And he wasn’t slowing down.

His next swing came in hard, way harder than before. She tried to counter but he was already gone, repositioning, coming at her from a different angle.

Slash. Block. Slash. Block. Each hit was heavier than the last.

[Is he using some spell to boost his strength and speed? If so, he’s burning through his mana right now. Must’ve decided that if I’m not going to use magic, he’s going to end this before I change my mind.]

Smart. Risky, but smart.

Aegis gave ground, stepping backward across the sand as Darius pressed his advantage. She tried to find an opening, any opening, but he wasn’t leaving her any. Every time she thought she saw a gap in his guard, he closed it before she could exploit it. Every time she tried to reset the distance, he was on her again, swinging that sword like it weighed nothing.

A strike came in at her left side. She blocked it, and the force sent her sliding a full foot through the sand. Her arms ached. Her grip on the sword was getting slippery from sweat.

[Calm down. Stick to the plan.]

She tried to circle away but Darius cut her off, herding her toward the edge of the arena. Another overhead strike that she just barely caught. Then another. And another. He was hammering her guard now, not even trying to be subtle about it, just raw power funneled through a blade.

Aegis managed to deflect one strike to the side and lunge forward, aiming for his chest. He sidestepped it like it was nothing and brought his elbow around into her shoulder. Pain flared through the joint and her left hand nearly lost its grip on the hilt.

She stumbled back, trying to recover, but Darius didn’t give her the time.

He closed the distance in two steps, feinted high, and when Aegis raised her sword to block, he swept his leg across hers.

Her feet left the ground.

For a brief, almost peaceful second, Aegis was weightless. The sky filled her vision, big and blue and cloudless, and she had just enough time to think one very clear thought before the sand rushed up to meet her back.

[Oh, shit.]