Legacy Of The Extra-Chapter 32: Mazekin Dimitri(6)

Raul had been a Mazekin for about four years. At first, he was an F-ranked Mazekin who somehow passed the examination.

He was not from a rich, noble family and had no prior education. But no matter how small one's world is, they also have big dreams. Raul wanted to become a Royal Knight to serve the empire, but one thing stopped him from becoming one.

Talent.

An insurmountable wall—For countless others, it marked the end of their dreams, a cruel reminder that effort alone wasn't always enough.

This wall separated the remarkable from the unremarkable.

The gifted from the mediocre.

Visit freewebnoveℓ.com for the best novel reading exp𝒆rience.

The elites from the common.

Raul knew this wall all too well. He had trained relentlessly, swinging his wooden sword until his hands bled—but effort alone wasn't enough.

Yet, he refused to break.

Raul instead became a Mazekin to support his sick father. To keep the flow of money stable. At first, he was weak and unremarkable, but somehow, he survived.

He walked forward, trained relentlessly and was able to go from an F-ranked Mazekin to a C+-ranked Mazekin. He was now contracted with the Ravenspire Guild, one of the top Guilds in Germainia. And was working with a stable earning.

Going on Maze excavations or delving. Monster-hunting requests and escorting nobles. All of the available work, he had done them. He faced death many times but always returned alive—His scarred body complying.

But now he stood before that same wall. To be precise, a Young Man.

The arena air was filled with the murmurs of the applicants who stood by the stalls. Raul stood inside the arena, his feet apart from each other. His longsword pointed towards the applicant he had to duel for the combat practical.

'This guy... he is different from the other applicants,' Raul thought, looking at the young man who stood before him. He had light blue hair, tousled in a low ponytail. His face was sharp and clean—No signs of scars or battles.

A face ladies would fond over.

But what separated this applicant—No—Dimitri from the others was the demeanour with which he carried himself. He might seem like a good and handsome guy at first. But his eyes—Those blazing amber eyes told a something else.

He stood unarmed, his fists reaching up to his face covered with flickering silver light with black patches.

'Aura'

Dimitri chose to fight unarmed. Arrogance? Overconfidence? No. Raul knew better—Dimitri had a plan. And if Raul lets Dimitri's plan work, he will lose the fight.

'According to the files... He has lightning and shadow elements. And normally uses a bastard sword.'

Raul's eyes narrowed as he tried to figure out what Dimitri might do.

'I should observe for some time'

"Are both the duelists ready?" The referee asked, looking at both Raul and Dimitri.

"Yes," Raul replied, fixing his stance.

"Yes," Dimitri, across from him, responded. His fists were still raised high.

"Then let the fight begin," The Referee declared the start of the duel.

And as soon as his word echoed in the arena, Dimitri rushed forward towards Raul. The aura reinforcement in his hands grew stronger with the flickering of the silver light.

'Is he planning on fighting me head-on?' Raul thought. He took a step forward, the air around his sword distorting as fire engulfed it. He swung it in the direction of Dimitri, releasing a red-hot arc of fire towards him.

Dimitri ducked—but for a moment, his speed lagged. Raul saw his chance and lunged, his blade slicing toward Dimitri's exposed side.

Clang!

Raul's blade met a tendril of darkness, the shadow rising like a living thing to intercept his strike. It grazed his forearm slightly, leaving a small black mark, before despairing again in Dimitri's shadows.

'Shadow magic', Raul thought, falling backwards a few steps, creating distance between them. Raul was unfamiliar with shadow magic as it was rare—very rare.

Dimitri smirked, looking at him. "Surprised?"

"Kinda," Raul replied, his lips curving upwards in a smile.

Dimitri pushed forward his fists were again coated with his aura.

Raul extended his hands towards Dimitri, and embers started forming around his hands in the shape of a ball, heating his surroundings.

[Fireball] Raul whispered, and the glowing ball of embers flew from his hands towards Dimitri.

Dimitri's amber eyes narrowed at the fireball that was hurling towards him.

[Veil of Nocturne] He mumbled as a dark and shadowy hue cloaked his entire body.

Booom!

The fireball collided with him head-on, creating a black smoke screen all around the arena. Leaving Dimitri's fate to the dark clouds.

Raul stood there holding his stance.

'It is not enough'

He knew a simple fireball was not enough. His experiences at the Mazes always told him to be wary of things. And now his instincts screamed at him that Dimitri was still not done yet.

That he would emerge from the smoke.

And emerge he did.

A shadowy figure emerged from the smoke, gliding forward. His amber eyes were glowing within the black shade that surrounded him. His lips were curled upwards in a satisfied smile. His form flickered with something dark.

Raul cracked an awkward smile. He was told to go easy on an applicant by using simple spells. But looking at Dimitri, it seemed he had to use a few more spells other than just a fireball.

[Lances of Stone]

[Lances of Flames] 

Brown and red mana swirled in the air. Six lances formed in the air behind Raul—Three of stone and three of pure fire moulding the air. He extended his hands towards Dimitri and launched all six of the lances at him.

They went at a faster speed than the fireball, drilling through the air and going towards Dimitri.

[Shadow Forge] Dimitri uttered as the shadow beneath his feet moved towards his hand, taking the form of a bastard sword.

He surged forward, weaving between the lances. Those he couldn't dodge, he cleaved apart with swift and precise slashes of his dark blade.

Raul's grip on his longsword tightened. Flames erupted, covering the longsword in embers.

[Stoneguard] Raul muttered as his whole body was surrounded by dirt and stones. Few patches covered his chest, creating a breastplate of stone. His covered made of earthly brown and black gauntlet.

His blazing sword pointed towards Dimitri.

'No more holding back' He took a deep breath and rushed towards Dimitri.

Clang!

Both of their swords met in a hold, their eyes locked with each other. The blazing sword melted Dimitri's dark blade.

Dimitri moved, backing away, but Raul followed after him. Their blades met in a flurry of strikes that echoed throughout the whole arena.

Their speed increased as both of them parried and deflected each of their attacks.

Dimitri would summon and disperse his shadow blade and land a few blows with his fists, catching Raul off guard, but it was still not enough to penetrate through Raul's defense as he would block the blows quickly.

But the weird thing is that...

'Why is he not using his aura?'

Raul thought. Dimitri was not using his internal energy to reinforce his punches. Ever since he defended against Raul's fireball, Dimitri had refrained from using Aura in his attacks. He only used his blade made out of shadows.

But that thought did not matter as the duel raged on; both of them were now covered with dirt and sweat. Ragged breaths came out of both of them. Their chest heaved in exhaustion.

'This is the last strike'

Raul readied his stance as Dimitri slowly walked towards him. His shadow blade flickered, meaning he was running out of mana.

Dimitri lunged, his blade ready to thrust through Raul's earth armour.

He met head-on with Raul, their blade clashing once again.

Dimitri's grip wavered. The shadow blade in his hands flickered, its form unravelling before it melted back into the darkness at his feet. Letting Raul's blade follow through to his body.

'It's over.'

Raul cracked a smile of victory, he knew what had happened. Dimitri ran out of mana to hold the structure of the shadow blade. It was not a simple dispersal, as he did not utter a chant.

Sling!

But before he could hold his blade against Dimitri's neck. He felt a sharp sensation on his neck—A sword.

"I win," A voice behind him declared.

Raul slowly turned his head, trying to look behind him, and his eyes widened in disbelief.

It was Dimitri, who was holding a flickering shadow blade against Raul's neck. His face was drenched with sweat, showing signs of mana exhaustion.

'But how?' Raul thought. He was utterly confused; he had two Dimitris standing before him.

Raul looked towards the referee, who himself was in disbelief. But then, gaining composure, he announced the result of the match ongoing in Combat Arena 5.

"Winner, Applicant No. 75: Dimitri Novikov!"

-------------------------------------------------------------

A/N: I am kind of back because my left wrist is still bandaged and needs some proper rest. The update rate will be slow for a few days as I am currently only using one hand to type out entire Chapters. Hope you guys understand.