Chapter 227

“I will be the Referee for the duration of this battle. You will have precisely three minutes to choose your weapon of choice from the available training weapons. Choose wisely because you will only have that choice from start to finish; no substitutions will be allowed. Also, bear in mind that no outside weapons or armor are allowed. Your three minutes begin now.” Stepping forward, Instructor Alistar the thinner of the two Instructors, spoke in a gruff burly voice, giving instructions to the brothers, who, at his order, stepped over to opposing weapons racks.

[No hidden blades; what will you ever do, Assassin.] Scanning through the multitude of different armaments on the rack, Brance teased.

[By the way, don’t start with a shield. It doesn’t matter; we will most likely destroy them anyway after a few clashes.] Picking up a dulled carbon fiber hatchet, Cynrik whipped it around, testing its balance before placing it back on the rack.

Benny, Selene, and Gabby huddled together to gossip about the brothers’ choice, moving to the opposite side of the training field.

“Hey, roomie, let’s bet two nights of dessert on what they will choose. Im thinking that my hubby will pick a hatchet, or a small blade, like a dagger, and your hubby is gonna choose a spear or something.” Selene said as she watched Cynrik test different axes one after another.

“I have no idea what my hubby will choose, but he may go for a greatsword, especially if Big Bro doesn’t want them to use their standard weapons, so a shield wouldn’t be an option; as for Big Bro, I don’t think he will choose a short-bladed weapon, he has been talking about using a long sword lately.”

“Both of you are wrong about Big Bro Ivar; he will go for something with a more extended reach advantage. He knows that getting in close will leave him at a disadvantage. But I think Gabby is right about Brance using a Greatsword; anyway, get your picks in; they only have a minute left.” Fighting the urge to cringe at the girls’ use of the word “hubby,” Benny weighed in with his opinion.

Professor Alistar stood motionless in the center of the battle area, watching the timer he set on his Watcet.

“One minute left, make your choices, and assume your positions on the battlefield.”

In the bleachers, the students placed their own bets on either who would win the fight of brothers or what weapon they would choose.

Standing off to the side, with his arms crossed, Professor Dennis and Instructor Garrison watched quietly as the two brothers tested over ten weapons each without taking one.

“Those two, they don’t move like inexperienced fighters. On the contrary, every one of their motions is calculated to a high level without wasting any energy.” Instructor Garrison spoke his observations in a low voice so that only Professor Dennis could hear.

“What I am curious about is why neither one of them is looking at their standard weapons. For example, during the Group Faction Battle, Ivar wielded dual short swords, and Björn had two large teardrop kite shields, yet they are looking at entirely different weapons.” Chewing on the nail of his left thumb, Professor Dennis summarized the fight he had witnessed.

“That was before they reached Tier-2; it isn’t uncommon for people to completely switch up their fighting style upon reaching the peak of lower Tiers.

“You have 30 seconds.” Interrupting their conversation, Instructor Alistar continued keeping time.

[How flashy are we looking to be, Cyn? Like gun battle in the middle of downtown flashy, or Anakin vs. Obiwan flashy?] Brance asked as he stepped up to a rack filled with several different greatswords.

[Anakin and Obiwan is fine. We have to have an appropriate level of combat awareness, so once our weapons break, we go into dog fight mode, don’t forget to mix in some Affinities; we have trained with each other enough that even if we go all out, it shouldn’t be able to kill each other. The worst case is we slice off a limb that can easily be reattached, plus you have your newly improved healing skill.] Briskly walking away from the hatchets, Cynrik moved swiftly to the staff weapons and grinned widely.

[Hehehehehe, found what im using.] Extending his hand, Cynrik launched a strand of Dark Mana like a tentacle and pulled his weapon to his hand like he was using the force on a lightsaber.

[Really digging deep with that one Cyn, don’t you think everyone sees you as edgy enough as is?] Shaking his head and using Wind Mana to grab his weapon of choice, Brance turned and looked at Cynrik, who was smiling creepily and stroking the edge of his weapon.

[Piss off, what do you know, this thing is beautiful, hehe.]

“TIME! Take your places.” Raising his hand in the air, Instructor Alistar ordered Cynrik and Brance to leave the racks with their weapon choices and head to the large white circle painted on the ground in the approximate center of the 500-meter Arena field.

In unison, both brothers channeled Wind Mana into their legs, stomped the ground, and flashed to their starting points, drawing a chorus of applause from the students.

However, when the class saw what weapons the brothers had chosen, the majority groaned at losing their bets, while a small minority, including Gabby, cheered loudly.

“IN THE RED CORNER, COMBATANT IVAR RAGNARSSON, WEAPON, WAR SCYTHE.”

While the Instructor introduced him, Cynrik, who stood with his weapon’s butt on the ground, flicked out his left leg and knocked into the staff before expertly spinning it like he’d been using it for years and slamming the dull curved head into the ground and striking a pose.

[[FUCK, THAT’S SOOOO HOT, CYN! YOU LOOK LIKE A REAPER!]] Thoroughly impressed by his actions, Selene shouted into the mind link, making Cynrik grin cockily.

[[Get a fucking room, you two.]] Brance spat on the ground in distaste at Selene’s praise and waited for his introduction.

[[Would if we could.]] Was the cringeworthy reply Brance received from the two Dark Affinity users in sync.

“IN THE BLUE CORNER, COMBATANT BJÖRN RAGNARSSON, WEAPON, SINGLE EDGE GREATSWORD.”

Unlike Cynrik, who did a flashy flourish with his scythe, Brance went for the classic off-the-shoulder stab into the ground with his greatsword—standing behind it with both hands grasping the hilt.

Another round of applause echoed through the open training arena, but it was drowned out by Gabby, who screamed loudly, making everyone turn and look at her.

“KICK IS ASS, BJÖRN!!! Eeep, sorry.” Noticing everyone was looking at her, Gabby squeaked and looked down at her feet, drawing a chuckle from the crowd.

“I want a clean battle; listen to my orders and protect yourself at all times. The rules for this fight are as follows; you may use Affinities but try not to blow up the field. The battle will cease if you are rendered unconscious, unable to continue, or I step in.” Standing in between Cynrik and Brance, the Instructor listed out everything necessary to keep the battle safe.

“If at any time you lose a limb, the fight will be paused for 10 minutes, and a medic will be sent in to reattach the limb before the battle will be restarted. If you understand these rules, give me your acknowledgment at this time.

“Good to go, Instructor.” Removing his greatsword from the ground, Brance confirmed and took a fighting stance with the sword resting over his shoulder and both hands firmly grasping the hilt.

“Let’s do this shit!” Lifting his scythe off the ground, Cynrik twirled it and held the weapon behind his back with the butt end in the air and the blade resting behind his feet.

Ignoring Cynrik’s insolent remark, Instructor Alistar stepped back and held both hands parallel to the ground; turning his head to Brance, he gave his final remarks.

“Fighter, are you ready?”

Brance nodded and deepened his stance slightly.

Next, Instructor Alistar repeated the process with Cynrik.

“Fighter, are you ready?”

“Teehe, Haha.” Cynrik stood in the same position he had been for a few seconds and smirked at the Instructor, who took it as a confirmation.

“FIGHT!”

[[TOBS PLAY BATTLE OF HEROS]] Smiling adventurously, Brance picked the background music for the fight before Cynrik had the opportunity; his choice-making Cynrik smile and circle the field slowly in time with the music.

-Now playing “Battle of Heroes Film mix” Arranged by XenoMorphic, original music By John Williams. –

As the song began playing, they both remembered all the times they had fought with toy swords or lightsabers as kids while listening to this very song and moving in time with the music; it was almost as if they had gone back in time.

Gabby and Selene held hands and nervously watched the fight to the side. They were on the edge of their seats, unlike Cynrik and Brance, who were apparently having fun while reacting to the most famous movie fight of all time. Even Benny was tapping his foot erratically, as he had no idea who would win and was left out of the loop that the fight wasn’t exactly real.

Although Selene could hear the music and the brother’s remarks, it didn’t ease her anxiety at all; in fact, it was the opposite, as having a soundtrack to their fight, especially the current song, made the whole fight more intense

[[I have brought skill points, knowledge, order, and sour balls to my new Faction.]] Cynrik started the abridged monologue as his eyes never left Brance for a second.

[[Your new Faction?]] Inhaling slowly, Brance said his lines to add cadence to the speech that only himself, Cynrik, and Selene could hear.

[[Don’t make me kill you, Brance.]] Cynrik twirled his scythe skillfully and inched closer to his brother, baiting him into attacking.

[[Cynrik, my allegiance is to our family, to MyrkLys, TO THE LIGHT!]]

[[If you’re not with me…then you’re my enemy, Brancie.]] Knowing his brother was about to push in for an attack, Cynrik decided he would counter instead of matching the coming words of the monologue and how the movie played out.

[[Only a Dark User deals in absolutes, Cyn…I will do what I must.]]

[[You will try. brrrruunnggzzzzz]] Channeling his Dark Mana into the blade for effect, Cynrik’s scythe hummed deeply as he made the sound of a lightsaber igniting.

Across from him, Brance did something similar but used Light Mana and made the same sound as his brother. The music changed as the horn line began playing the instant they did.

Brance kicked off the ground and slashed his heavy greatsword down on Cynrik, who sidestepped just in the nick of time, avoiding the hit and spinning his scythe before landing a shot on Brance’s ribs with the staff portion of the weapon.

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