Chapter 7: A Coremondian Duel; Prove Thy Mettle!

Naerithian Resistance Arc

Disclaimer: I don't own Fire Emblem, this is just a Fanfiction.

Featured Music: "Behind the Clouds" – Black Lagoon OST. Chapter Briefing.

"Emergence of Talents" – Naruto Part II OST. Scene 2 (First Half).

"Crossing Rage" – YS VII OST Scene 2 (Second Half).

"Dizzy Maniac" – Black Lagoon (Roberta's Blood Trail) OST. Scene 3.

While crossing through the green plains of Coremond in an effort to reach the top cities of Sohantha and the high mountains of Etherthien for military assistance, Selthris and his company are faced with confrontational faces in the Coremondian campsite. Bernhard Stormwill, seemingly a former companion of veteran commander Ulric's, is taken with the idea of the Paladin's request for a duel and all in order to gain his lord an audience with the leaders he had once deserted. The two clashed daringly, exchanging old histories and stories as they did with a single ultimatum; if Ulric won they were to pass through unharmed and if Bernhard won the Aselian force were to leave. Unfortunately, for them both however, the two well known Coremondian warriors managed to draw during their duel.

Drawn to the eye-catching scene, the Coremondian elder ordered the two be taken into her camp and cared for temporarily and as a result of their connection to Ulric, the Aselian force are given temporary shelter. Selthris uses his name as the next in line to the Aselian throne to gain an audience with the Coremond elder to gain information and perhaps more.

Scene 1

"So, you are the leader then, are you?" The woman spoke as Selthris bowed to one knee respectfully, his head lowered and his hand resting on his blue armoured chest. He raised his head and nodded wordlessly. The woman seemed to recognise him; she narrowed her eyes ever so slightly and smiled lightly. "You bear his resemblance." She chuckled lightly in her seat, eliciting a curious tilt of the boy's head. "Your father, Sathryon Vikeruce?" She spoke, this time with a light smirk as if amused by his surprise.

"Y-Yes," he began with an unsure blink. "What is your name milady?" He asked respectfully. "How did my father know you?"

"He taught you manners I see," the woman grinned as she raised herself from her chair. "My name is Salnarra," the older woman claimed bowing also, perhaps as a sign of respect to his father and himself. "Daughter of the last elder," she continued. "I met your father during the last war; your nation's struggle against Naerith I believe." She explained briefly, this time with a frown as she placed her hand upon her hip. Selthris took it as an invitation to stand and frowned back as he opened his mouth to respond.

"Yes, I remember being taught about it; Aselia and Naerith do not have the best relationship." The young Lord chuckled uncomfortably, rubbing the back of his silvery head as his eyes wandered from the topic.

Salnarra folded her arms with a light grin. "I'm aware," she replied amusedly. "How is the old goat anyway? I miss him."

"He- Ah…," Selthris began in response, hesitating as his eyes wandered once more. It drew a curious frown and raise of her brown eyebrow as she listened and patiently awaited his answer. "My father was killed on the field of battle."

"He was what?" Salnarra requested, shocked as she leant forward and down toward him. "Who would have-?"

"A masked man of incredible power," the silver haired youth explained briefly, his eyes lowered. He raised them to face hers as he continued. "Sure as I stand here tonight."

"Masked man…?" The Coremondian elder murmured, folding her arms again and turning her eyes downward presumably in thought. "Did you know who it was? Any discernible clothing?"

"No," Selthris responded as his glassy eyes lowered listlessly in remembrance. "All I could tell were his colours; Naerith colours."

"Well it makes sense," the woman claimed as she tilted her head once in thought. "He had no shortage of enemies in Naerith and they've always despised Aselia," she spoke before wincing lightly and smiling back down at him. "Sorry," she apologised with a light chuckle, drawing a similar smile from the boy who merely shook it off with a shake of his head. "Still though. For the man I knew to be slain like that…," she began again, biting her lip and narrowing her eyes. "What news."

"It is what has brought our force this far out," Selthris replied lightly and with a frown to match. The woman raised her head and eyebrow curiously once more, allowing him to continue. "We had been previously stationed in Highwood west of here, but they were attacked so… we came out of hiding to help them."

"And as a result now they're out for your blood," Salnarra shot back with a light grin. "Not that they weren't already."

"Y-Yes," Selthris chuckled nervously, rubbing the back of his head in a show of old habit. "They have already managed to overwhelm and subjugate what remains of my homeland and I…," the boy trailed off as he lowered his head and shut his eyes, shaking his head. "Without my father I… I don't know what to do." He uttered, cringing as pathetically as he felt. The watching Salnarra drew forth a sad frown upon her expression as she watched before opening her mouth to respond.

"I know," she simply answered, drawing a surprised frown from the boy. "I'm sorry for potentially opening up any wounds," the woman apologised lightly. "So, this is your course of action then?" She asked, her tone shifting from soft to firm as she narrowed her eyes. The young Lord raised a silver eyebrow as he listened. "To traipse through our lands so carelessly?"

"I assure you, we meant no-"

"That's not what I refer to, young Lord," the woman interrupted firmly. Selthris blinked but remained quiet and listened. "Your military force, Lord Selthris," the elder referenced, her arms folded. "You cannot hope to defeat Naerith's military as you are; they are well prepared and well-armed."

"This… is true," Selthris agreed, lowering his head in temporary defeat. "But…"

"Yes?"

"I won't abandon my people," the boy spoke firmly for the first time; his eyes narrowed as they snapped back up to glare at her. "And that man."

"Man?" She asked, raising an eyebrow.

"The masked man, my father's killer."

"You want revenge, is that it?" Salnarra shot back quickly, tilting her head curiously at him. The boy glared back at her, his anger focused at the man he spoke of. "It is…," she murmured, biting the inside of her lip as she watched him carefully. "I see him in you; his brazenness," she continued, a small smile adorned on her face as she spoke. Selthris lost his hard frown, blushing lightly in response as he lowered his eyes from hers. "Are you serious about this?" The woman requested, raising a curious eyebrow upward. Selthris looked back up, his hard frown returned to his expression. "Because if you do this… you may lose sight of who you are."

Selthris blinked in surprised. "W-What do you mean?"

"I've… seen how this acts before," the elder claimed as she turned her head away, eyes glassy as if in remembrance. "It's like a poison; it takes the worst aspects of a person and magnifies them a thousand-fold. Whatever words they are given to the contrary usually fall upon deaf ears," she explained briefly before turning back to face the youth with a soft but firm expression. She raised an eyebrow. "If you do this, you'll be dragging every one of those soldiers you command into it. Are they prepared for this?"

"I won't involve them," Selthris shot back almost immediately, his own frown soft but unrelenting. "This is my matter; a family matter, mine alone."

"You say this but how long will it be until they make it their business, hm?" Salnarra fired back in response, narrowing her eyes thoughtfully. "They are more than just your soldiers; they are your friends," she explained briefly however, received a curt turn of the boy's head. She raised a curious eyebrow at his indignant frown. "They're… not?"

"No," he replied quickly enough, his eyes snapping back to glare at her. "If I wasn't the next in line they wouldn't bother to have the time of day for me."

"That's a rather cynical view on them," Salnarra chuckled amusedly, further curious. "What if you're wrong and they'd follow you regardless?"

"Then Narga have pity on them," Selthris murmured, lowering his eyes presumably in thought. "I only have one true friend," he continued lowly, eliciting another raised eyebrow from the woman. "Leo."

"Leo?" She parroted, blinking. "You mean that striking young man, the charismatic one?"

Selthris nodded wordlessly, his eyes on the ground.

She stared at him, unsure. "Why?" She only asked.

"I don't know why," he replied in a low murmur. "But he was there when no one else would be," he explained briefly, turning his eyes around to the open exit of the tent. Leo stood, transfixing a number of the Coremond camp members and one or two of their own members in a conversation, a grin on his face. "Wouldn't matter if I was rich or poor; he'd still be there for me."

Salnarra stayed quiet for a second or two before folding her arms and smirking lightly. "Well that's nice; you're far more reserved than your father ever was…," she continued with a light frown before morphing it into a smile. "But then who said we need to be a carbon copy of them, hm?"

Selthris smiled for the first time in a while as he turned back to face her.

"So, your current course of action is to travel past these plains and then into the Sohanthian empire, am I correct?"

Selthris nodded, his business-like frown returning to him. "Yes."

"To do… what exactly?" She questioned, raising a curious eyebrow as she did so.

"To petition the empire for assistance," the boy claimed. "They aren't involved in this yet and… perhaps they can help."

"They've generally always remained neutral, Lord Selthris," Salnarra shot back, folding her arms as she tilted her head at him expectantly. "Surely you have a backup plan?"

"Yes…," he began, lowering his eyes, perhaps unsure as to whether to continue. He re-raised his eyes and frowned hard as he did however. "If this fails then I will continue on to Etherthien."

"The mountains of Etherthien," Salnarra whispered, her eyes narrowing lightly. "That's quite a challenge."

Selthris remained wordless as he frowned back.

"Are you sure that is the best course of action for your military force? I mean what if-"

"Many things could happen in the interim Lady Salnarra," Selthris interrupted, perhaps impatient. She was taken aback, perhaps surprised by his sudden boldness. "But it is all we have left. Do you understand?" He added, a hard frown and glare to his face and his eyes respectively. She stared back, arms folded.

"Yes, I suppose I do," she sighed lightly, frowning as she did so. "You've been given a bum hand son," she chuckled humourlessly, turning a corner of her lips up as she smiled wanly down at him. "You're handling it well at least."

"I have to," the young Lord replied lowly as he descended his head downward, presumably in thought. "I'm not going to let Naerith do what they please."

"You're definitely his son all right," Salnarra chuckled, this time in genuine humour as she watched the curious boy. "Can't stand the thought of them running riot down there in Aselia huh?"

"No." He replied through grit teeth.

"Just be careful," she spoke, this time with a frown. He raised his curious eyes back upward, allowing her to continue. "With this quest of revenge of yours I mean," she added, frowning as she did so. "The more you focus on it, the less rational you become. The more emotionally invested you are, the less objective you can be." She explained.

"I'll be fine," he warded her warning off with a simple shake of his head. "I was taught to balance well, and I can do that just fine."

Salnarra nodded her head wordlessly in response as she watched him curiously. "Okay, come on then."

"Huh?" The boy blinked, surprised as she turned toward the exit of her tent. She turned back to face him with a light grin.

"We're going to help you out, aren't we?" The Coremondian elder chanced a grin at him as she lowered her stance to exit, nodding her head toward the outside. "Come on."

Selthris blinked once more inquisitively before narrowing his eyes and following her.

"Hey!" Leo's ever exuberant call came from the small group; he turned to face the approaching two with a grin, his arm raised upward in greeting. "You guys talk it all out?"

"Indeed," Salnarra smirked back in response, turning her eyes to face the frowning Selthris. He forced a smile back in response before nodding over toward his Mercenary friend. "We had just reached an agreement actually."

"Oh yeah?" Leo chanced with one of his usual grins. "What's the word?"

"Following a duel with our best warrior, I will hand your military force some fighting strength and provisions for the long road ahead," she explained quickly. Leo's eyes widened in surprise and even Selthris double took, shocked. She turned to face him and raised an eyebrow at him. "And it has to be you that fights I'm afraid, Lord Selthris."

"W-Wha- B-But this isn't-"

"You agreed to this Sel?" Leo asked, incredulously surprised at the woman's words, turning to face him curiously.

"N-No I-"

"In the duellist's circle in the middle of camp!" Salnarra proclaimed loudly, quickly and easily drawing the attention of the walking Coremondians. "Gather 'round everyone!" The elder called; as expected, a mix of Selthris' group and the Coremondians all approached the area.

"What's going on?" Kay questioned loudly as she walked over to the fast-growing gaggle of people, scanning her eyes around the area as if for the answer. "We finally get our orders?"

"Lord Selthris of the Kingdom of Aselia has agreed with I, your elder and leader, to fight for his honour in the Coremondian duelling ring!" Salnarra proclaimed loudly; almost immediately the men, women and even the listening boys and girls all gave vent to a loud rumble of cheering. Selthris' terrified expression snapped from the bellowing crowd and back to the Coremondian elder. Salnarra shot him a toothy smirk before quickly turning her usual smile on the listening populace. "Should he lose this encounter, it needn't be said that his force will simply be leaving the camp!"

The listening crowd all cheered their agreement and Selthris narrowed his eyes at the woman.

"What is she doing?" He thought to himself as he watched her, unsure.

"But should he prevail…," she began again, this time with a growing smirk. "And we shall lend them aid!"

Again, another bellowing cheer from the honourable Coremondians.

"Sel, you're not really goin' through with this are you?" Leo whispered, lowering his head to evade the rest of the listeners.

Selthris' quaking silver eyes darted between every member of the Coremondian crowd, as if looking for his opponent. "I-I-"

"Gorlin!" Salnarra called, her voice echoing across the plains of Coremond.

STOMP

STOMP

STOMP

Almost immediately and seemingly coming from no-where a huge, hulking brute of a man accompanied the emphatic steps he came with; the man wore Coremondian colours, just like his comrades. He turned his eyes downward to the wide-eyed, terror faced Selthris and glared down at him before slowly leaning down to face him.

"You're it?" He simply whispered as he looked the terrified young Lord up and down. "Tch!" He spat as he snapped his head back upward before stomping off, presumably toward the battlefield.

"Sel you fight that thing and you ain't comin' out of it!" Leo hissed under his breath next to the terrified boy; Selthris turned to face him, eyes still widened. He merely stared back at his close companion, perhaps unable to make a response. His silvery eyes darted back to face the low smirk that Salnarra carried as she stared back at him.

"I agree with Leo," George offered as he lowered to the left to join in the conversation, his own eyes staring at the huge Gorlin warming up in the arena. "You are my lord, but I don't think even Lord Sathryon could stand against that brute."

"Yeah, right(!)" Kay laughed loudly next to the small group, before grinning in Gorlin's direction. "Lord Sathryon'd eat that guy for breakfast." Kay grinned confidently.

"This is hardly helpful Kay!" George hissed angrily in her own direction, clenching his two fists as he did so. "Lord Selthris is clearly not ready for-"

"He's the boss' son! He can do this!" Kay interrupted with one of her usual grins, even pumping a confident fist in the air to emphasise her words.

Selthris gulped down a load of saliva as he watched the hulking giant prepare, their words lost to him.

What was Salnarra's game? They hadn't discussed this, not that he remembered.

Was she testing him somehow…?

Selthris took a few seconds to steady his beating heart and breathed in deeply before letting go, just as his father had taught him.

"Selthris, try to remember some of the basics of close quarters combat."

His father's voice echoed across the walls of his mind as he snapped open his silvery eyes and stalked toward the duellist's ring offered to him, forcing an aura of confidence. He forced all other sounds from his ears, including those of his companions.

Leo's in particular.

The young Lord stood on the opposite end of the duellist's ring, hard eyes glaring forward in some attempt to seem confident; Gorlin merely raised a curious eyebrow upward as he watched, placing a hand on his hip.

"All the way from the Kingdom of Aselia and the son of the greatly debated topic, the greatest warrior in the world, Selthris Vikeruce!" Salnarra's loud voice announced, eliciting an excited audible cheer from the listening audience.

Selthris stared hard at the smirking Gorlin, as if waiting for him to rush at him at the first sign of combat.

"And the warrior you all know and love!" The Coremondian elder's voice continued loudly; the audience cheered even louder. "Gorlin of Coremond; 'The Rock of the Plains!'"

Selthris drowned out the sound of the screaming audience and focused on the many pieces of advice his father had given him over the years; in particular, about strength.

"Remember Selthris, you won't come out of any fight alive if all you go in with are hopes. If someone is stronger than you are, gain information."

That was off the table already; he was thrust in this confrontation very suddenly.

"If that's not possible then try to learn your opponent's habits; watch them, be patient."

I can do that, he thought. Being patient was one of his few strengths.

"If someone is stronger than you are… try to use that strength against them. Especially if they're not very intelligent."

His eyes watched the grinning man, cracking his knuckles overhead hungrily.

He didn't seem stupid… but Selthris was always one to be proven wrong.

"Remember son; there is always an answer. You just have to find it."

"Yes, father," Selthris murmured, more to himself than anything else. The watching Gorlin raised a hesitant eyebrow, perhaps intrigued. "I won't fail," he spoke through grit teeth, breathing heavily as he glared back at the curious Coremondian. "Not again."

"Fighters, ready!" Salnarra's loud voice came from behind the boy, tensing up his already tense shoulders. Selthris and Gorlin glared at one another, scowling and grinning respectively. "Engage!"

2

Gorlin brought the fight to Selthris with an immediate charge; the ground shook terribly under his imposing weight and Selthris grunted lightly as he rolled to the right in an effort to evade. Just as Selthris had predicted, the charging Gorlin found it difficult to change his trajectory at all and Selthris used it to his advantage; the young Lord narrowed his silver eyes at the man hard as he channelled his Aegir to the iron sword he always carried. His Aegir quickly switched to his affinity, lightning and the silvery haired youth immediately gave chase to the turning Gorlin, watching him expectantly and ready to block.

Have to finish this quick, he thought panicking as he rushed the large man, the lightning on his iron sword chirping away loudly and lighting up the area he ran on beautifully. Though the watching audience's roars and calls were loud, Selthris drowned them out with his raising adrenaline, his focus on the man ahead of him.

Finally, the young Lord leapt at the narrow eyed Gorlin before coming down on him hard with the lightning infused sword, a fairly direct attack; Gorlin easily saw it coming and laughed as he descended down to meet him.

"Is that it?!" The large man guffawed.

Almost as if in answer to his words however, the quick youth suddenly disappeared from common view alerting the wide-eyed Gorlin and the gasping audience.

"Wha-?!" The hulking man gasped, his eyes darting around for the missing Lord. His eyes widened once more however, and he let out another surprised gasp before snapping his body around to raise his armoured arms to block the air attacking youth. This time it was Selthris' turn to widen his eyes and gasp as his attack was blocked, chirps and flashes of the lightning bouncing off harmlessly.

"No!"

"Oh yes!" Gorlin laughed along with the watching and cheering audience; he let out an effort filled yell as he broke the gasping boy's aerial strike, the lightning quickly dissipating as Selthris stumbled backward, still aerial with the use of his Aegir. Gorlin's laugh prevailed as he used his large left arm to grab the boy by the scruff of his silver tabard and turned his body around to descend downward; a clear and simple smash. Selthris gripped the man's incredibly strengthened grip and widened his eyes as he watched the ground approach at a terrifying rate, grit teeth and all. Finally, and all at once Gorlin let out an effort filled roar as he smashed the boy into the ground brutally, kicking up rocks, dirt and smoke; the watching audience let forth a deafening cheer to accompany the second roar that Gorlin let loose, a warrior's cry.

"You have to stop this!" Leo called over as he rushed toward the folded armed watching Salnarra; she turned her head around to face the young man, raising a curious eyebrow upward. "He's clearly outmatched!"

"Oh, he'll be fine," Salnarra replied as she regained her low smirk, perhaps amused by the Mercenary's worry. She returned her attention to the confrontation as she continued. "Trust me." She simply claimed, making the youth growl in response. Leo turned to watch the fight with her, a contrasting worried expression on his face.

Finally, the smoke began to clear and the fallen form of the badly bruised, bloody and battered Selthris lay on the ground, clearly finished. Gorlin let out a guffawing, derisive laugh as he watched the result of his previous attack.

"Truly, is this all I get from the son of Dracolius' greatest warrior?" The hulking brute chuckled as he shook his head down at the lying boy. "What a joke." The man added in a low hiss before raising his arm skyward as he would a great hammer. He lay forth to a simple grinning grunt as he plummeted his arm in an attempt to end the confrontation however, as his fist connected with the form of the fallen boy it simply passed through, as it would a spectre. He blinked down at the sight, unsure of what to make of it. "What the-?" He murmured before the youth's form suddenly flashed and became transparent. Gorlin's eyes widened in recognition and he gasped, but it was far too late.

An after-image.

He turned in some attempt even to block an incoming attack, but the man just simply wasn't ready; the bloody faced Selthris scowled as he bulleted across his opponent's feet with a long and quick sweep. Gorlin gasped as he was swiftly knocked from his footing, dropping to the ground; time seemed to slow down as Selthris promptly followed up his sweep with a back-flipping kick, sending the grunting man skyward. Gorlin gasped as he was sent into the air, spinning harmlessly, his eyes darting around for his missing opponent. He never managed to get a decent look of him however; the super-fast Selthris used his seemingly superior speed to overtake the large man in speeding by his position and slashing him with each pass he made. Gorlin let out a pained yell as he did so; the ache wasn't too bad on its own but as Selthris continued to assault the easy target with numerous swipes and slashes the pain with each of the individual wounds grew and with it, anger. Gorlin's gradual low yell of anger began early as he was endlessly assaulted with a barrage of quick swipes before, finally, Selthris stopped in mid-air, lifted by his Aegir. His iron sword was covered with lightning once more and his silver eyes widened as he exchanged his battered and bloody scowl with the wide-eyed glower that Gorlin wore.

Selthris spun his lightning infused iron sword around his right hand once before letting loose a battle cry to go along with his opponent's gradual yell of anger and pain; the swift-footed Lord charged at his opponent presumably with everything else he had in store. His battle cry reverberated across the invisible walls of the duellist's ring as he made contact with the similarly bellowing Gorlin; Selthris spun his body and his sword in a maddened final attack, catching the grunting and wide-eyed Gorlin in a whirlwind of lightning and offence. Time seemed to slow down for the pair as Selthris finally finished his attack, still gripping his sword as he did so; Gorlin finally showed his state to the audience. He let loose a cough of blood, his body cut to ribbons as he dropped wordlessly to the ground the watching audience deathly silent. He crashed to the ground with a deafening echo, spitting up rocks, dirt and smoke as once before however this time on an unfamiliar perspective. Selthris flipped forward once as he landed, gasping endlessly in the effort he exuded to seemingly finish off the large man, knelt down on one knee as he did so. The spiky, silver haired sword fighter turned his sweat faced head around to watch his results of his counter-offence, hoping with every ounce of his being that his opponent was finished off.

The area seemed to fall deathly silent as Selthris gasped from his previous effort, watching and waiting. The tension rose to a palpable height before, finally, like a boiling knife through frozen butter the fallen Gorlin growled loudly as he raised himself upward. Selthris' silver eyes widened, and he gasped, his breath caught in his throat as the watching Coremondian audience yelled their approval for the duel thus far. Gorlin growled once more as he cricked his neck from side to side and ran his arms around his shoulders, as if in some pre-workout exercise. He turned his electrocuted, bloody and cut face to confront his shock-expressed opponent and merely grinned in spite of the presumable pain he endured.

"Not bad," he began as he turned the rest of his body to face the kneeling boy. "You're a little better 'n I thought kid," the Coremondian warrior rumbled as he began advancing on the youth with a hungry grin adorned on his expression. Selthris' eyes twitched from a mixture of the pain and growing terror as he watched, unsure what to do. Gorlin cracked his knuckles as he advanced, smirking. "Thought I'd get some mirror to how the legend really fights… but you ain't nearly as strong as he is," the large man chuckled dangerously before he suddenly ended his chuckle with a low and abrupt slam of the ground; the strike was hard enough to forcefully pull the rock from the ground that Selthris knelt on upward, sending the gasping and seemingly tired boy skyward. "Easy prey!" The hulking warrior laughed victoriously; he didn't even look when he grappled what he thought was the boy's left foot and plunged him down to the ground previously behind his person. The watching Coremondian audience yelled on their approval for their home warrior, cheering loudly as he laughed eyes widened to his seeming prize.

Once again, the ground smashed with a cacophony to match the previous one, drawing an excited roar from the watching crowd. Gorlin turned his grin on the crowd once more and let loose a long roar of pride, beating his chest as he did so; seemingly a Coremondian practice. Just as before, the ground was shook terribly and rocks, dirt and smoke pervaded the ring as the warrior battle cried victoriously. Finally, however as the smoke dissipated, Gorlin was allowed a quick glance down; he double took. His eyes widened when he didn't see the fallen Selthris, battered and bloodied as he had expected. Instead, in his place, was the very hunk of rock that he had previously used to toss the previously defenceless boy upward.

"Not again?!" Gorlin roared, part anger and part fear torn as his eyes darted to his undefended rear; the hard-faced scowling Selthris met with him once again and leapt at him with a sudden barrage of slashes and cuts, his iron sword chirping with electricity once more. Gorlin let loose a small series of grunts of pain he did his best to block the attacks; the lightning Aegir seemed to help in bypassing through the man's defence. "What is this, the chip damage technique?!" Gorlin roared in the scowling spinning boy's face; Selthris didn't bother responding, he merely continued in his seemingly endless barrage of counter-attacks.

Gorlin had finally had enough.

The large warrior let forth to a guttural roar as he channelled his Aegir to his arms and legs and spread them apart in a show of defensive prowess. Selthris gasped as his next strike fell upon what felt like hard rock; he cursed as he realised the man used his Aegir defensively and properly, easily checking and countering his own technique. Gorlin's bloodied and burnt grin returned to his expression as he snapped his head downward to confront the silver haired boy.

"So, you want swords, do you?" He exclaimed, his deep voice bouncing off the camp walls, eliciting a surprised raised eyebrow from his watching and listening opponent. Gorlin swerved his head around to grin at his elder. "Elder!"

The watching Salnarra put on her own seemingly amused smirk as she tossed a little more than a handful of sheathed seeming swords. The watching audience let out a shocked gasp as they watched, and Kay's eyes widened similarly as she also witnessed the action.

"Is that even allowed?" She requested, tilting her head curiously.

"Considering he was fighting bare handed beforehand, yeah," Leo began worriedly as he turned his brown eyes over to the blinking blonde Social Knight on his left. His eyes however quickly hovered back to glare suspiciously at the similarly smirking Salnarra. "I'd say it is." He finished roughly.

"It's amazing Lord Selthris has truly persevered this far but…" George stated, his words lowering to a concerned murmur as he ended his sentence.

"Think he's gonna finally buy it, huh?" Sabine offered suddenly, one of his arms resting on his hips as he hovered his own eyes over to the dark-blonde haired Social Knight.

"Hardly," Gerard snorted on the side, glaring annoyedly at the Archer as he folded his arms. "Lord Selthris may not be his father but he's got his gumption." The Armour Knight continued confidently as he returned his attention to the fight.

"Sabine's right," Edgar curtly spoke however, drawing most of the small group's attention; the Axe Fighter watched the fight with low lidden eyes, perhaps almost sadly. "The kid just ain't got the mental or physical strength to survive out there," he continued, pulling some worried silent looks from the listening crowd. "Doesn't matter whose son he is." The seemingly wise young man claimed.

"My thoughts exactly," Leo agreed lowly, a sad yet hard frown etched on his own expression. "I don't see him getting out of this alive."

"You all hold far too much concern," Salnarra chuckled amusedly as she turned to face the small group. Her arms folded she shrugged them at them. "This is just a friendly sparring match; nothing more."

"Look at him!" Leo suddenly yelled angrily, quickly drawing the silence of even the watching Coremondian crowd; their attention garnered, they listened. "He can barely stand!"

As they turned to confirm the youth's words, sure enough, the scowling faced, battered, bloody and bruised Selthris was a picture of many things; fear, loss of hope, even anger.

And of course, pain.

The silvery haired Lord's left footing shook terribly as he attempted to stay upward, seemingly even a task in and of itself.

"This isn't friendly!" Leo continued angrily, turning his glare on the frowning Salnarra. "This is for real; he's gonna die if this keeps up!"

The Coremondian elder watched the concerned Mercenary for a second or two before, finally, turning to face the battlefield. "Lord Selthris!" She suddenly called, drawing the gasping young man's attention upward; he shakily rose his head upward and around to face hers. "Do you wish to forfeit?" She called over loudly enough; both crowds watching silently. A few seconds seemed to pass uneventfully as Selthris merely blinked over at her, unsure of her intentions before, finally he turned back to face the grinning Gorlin unsheathing his seven blades.

"N-No."

Leo's brown eyes widened in pure shock as his words barely reached them.

"I-I'm… I'm doing this…," the young Lord growled lowly, his voice gurgling with blood; the boy turned and spat out the red liquid, staining the ground with a deep crimson. His silvery eyes glared back at the smirking Gorlin. "For me." He finished with a hard narrow of his eyes.

The watching crowds remained silent, almost as if unable to believe the small youth's words before suddenly bursting into cheering roars of agreement for the boy. Salnarra regained her seemingly amused smirk and went into her clothing, presumably for something. "Then here!" She called out, flicking him something. Selthris' low lidden eyes widened as he caught it shining in the sunlight before using his free left hand to grasp the unknown item.

A small bean.

"What the…?" Selthris murmured as he blinked down unknowingly at it.

"Eat it!" Salnarra advised loudly, eliciting a yell of approval from the listening Coremondian crowd.

"What is-?" Leo began unsurely, his eyes double taking from the situation on the battlefield to the watching and smirking Salnarra. She turned her eyes downward to face him.

"Watch and you shall see."

Even as he did as he was instructed it worked surprisingly fast; Selthris gasped as he found most of his wounds healing and his energy swiftly returning to him, the only proof of his previous wounds being his ripped clothing.

"What's-?!" The Lord began, shocked as he turned his eyes around himself in search for the effect bestowed upon him.

The watching Gorlin merely grinned as he watched the youth marvel at his changing position, placing the unsheathed swords within separate places of his body, seemingly for use. The shining of the blades caught the gasping Selthris' attention and he snapped his eyes upward to watch.

Gorlin stood in a strange stance; the seven small swords he wore around his body were supported by his one footed stance; one in his mouth held by the hilt, one hanging in the alcove on his similarly hanging upward left arm, one over his right shoulder, one between his arm and left wrist, one under his left armpit, one held in his waist and, finally, one hanging under his right, raised leg.

Selthris marvelled at the man's form, his silvery eyes darting between each blade, never having seen this before.

"Coremond's seven sword technique." Gorlin merely spoke, his words somewhat muffled from the hilt of one of his swords. He grinned as ever at his marvelling opponent before leaning downward, presumably to continue.

Selthris' eyes glared forward.

Although as large as he was, Gorlin was clearly holding back; the hulking warrior easily leapt high into the air, his seven small swords singing in the sunlight as he did so. He spun just as Selthris previously did before, finally, plummeting downward in an attack meant for the watching Aselian lord. The initial strike they made seemed to slow down time for the pair; Selthris raised his iron sword diagonally upward to block the incoming attack, glaring back at the grinning expression on the large man's face. The Coremondian warrior used the force from his weapons to push from the boy, flipping backward in recovery. Even as he landed however, the grinning Gorlin spun his body around using one of his lower swords in an attempt to catch the super-fast Selthris off guard; the young Lord saw the attack coming and short-hopped diagonally upward as he blocked the low attack, similarly diagonally. As Selthris spun around in recovery, Gorlin pressed the attack with a quick-spinning barrage of horizontal slashes; Selthris shot his sword across the air to defend the strikes, the blades singing against one another noisily.

Gorlin chuckled lowly as he side-flipped over the gasping silvery-haired Lord; the youth traced him and blocked the overhead slice he received from his opponent. As the large man landed he spun around once more in a singing shower of steel, forcing the loudly cursing Selthris backward in recovery; the deft youth back-flipped using his free left hand and blocked the sudden strikes with his right, eyes watching his opponent with a careful glare. Seemingly on a permanent offensive, Gorlin laughed as he twisted his body 'round once again in a charge, his small swords clashing with the gasping Selthris' defensive one; the boy growled as he twirled around backward to evade some of the slashes while blocking the others. Finally, Selthris' silver eyes widened as he saw an opportunity open up in his large opponent's recovering spin; the young Lord leapt forward with a hard scowl, ready to counterattack. Gorlin let out yet another enduring chuckle as he watched the boy jump for him before laughing even louder as he used one of his many swords to block the oncoming thrust. He grinned further as he used the boy's light weight to kangaroo kick the youth backward into the air. He, of course, gave chase.

Selthris gasped as he used his Aegir to steady himself in the air, turning to face his pursuing opponent; Gorlin grinned endlessly as he twirled magnificently as he approached, forcing the growling Selthris to twist his body around similarly in a contrasting defensive manoeuvre. In one of Gorlin's many pursuing strikes, he used his last to push the gasping young boy forward, sending him plummeting downward. Even as he landed with a soft thud, Gorlin seemingly gave no quarter to the silvery haired youth; he tossed three of the swords hanging from his limbs, one after the other in pursuit of the youth. Selthris gasped once more as he sidestepped to his right and even quick-rolled to evade the incoming blades; Gorlin used his athletics to roll afterward to recover his swords and chuckled once more as he did so. Selthris growled as he used this precious opportunity to lunge at the man with a wide horizontal swipe; Gorlin merely laughed as he side-flipped in evasion, drawing a hard growl and grunt from the boy.

"Tch!" Selthris grunted, his eyes quickly following the large man. Gorlin came back down on him with a hard downward slash of his swords; as before, Selthris managed to block them and the two were engaged in yet another round of twirls and noisy clangs. Once again Gorlin laid the offence forth with a leaping twirl of his body, slashing the gasping Selthris' own lightning quick adapting backward leaps; he short-hopped backward as he blocked at least five slashes from his opponent before replying back with a super-fast round of slices. Needless to say, Gorlin easily countered them all with expert spins and twists of his body to both defend and attack in response and the man laughed as he did so. Selthris' eyes widened as he realised fatigue was quickly setting in and he was beginning to fall behind the large man's offence; even as he short-hopped once again in an attempt to evade, block and attack he found at least one of the many slices Gorlin delivered get through. His already ripped trousers were ripped lightly once again as one of Gorlin's low swords got through to his leg, visibly drawing blood. Selthris' eyes widened but the adrenaline the fight offered kept his mind focused on the confrontation; Gorlin pressed on his luck and grinned as he spun continually, drawing the sword hanging on his arm across the wide-eyed Lord's face. Selthris scowled as he felt the steel easily open his cheek in a minor wound, as before with his leg, blood visibly jumping from it.

Selthris gasped as he side-stepped to his left in some effort to avoid the rest of Gorlin's seemingly endless offence; time slowed down once more for the youth as he watched the grinning Gorlin handstand on one of his free hands, numerous of his seven swords leaping free and wild from his body. Selthris' eyes darted desperately around in watch of the free blades, but this was his mistake; he only noticed it when he heard the laughing Gorlin plunge downward, seemingly having leapt earlier when he took his attention from him. The Aselian blueblood grunted as he used his sword in some attempt to block the incoming overhead; Gorlin caught one of the swirling blades in the air and twirled it rapidly before coming down on the gasping boy hard. Selthris was forced staggering one step backward from the sheer intensity of his opponent's plummeting overhead, offering him yet more time to pursue; the Coremondian swordsman chuckled lowly as he swept the gasping boy roughly, sending him spinning upward, defenceless. Selthris stared back at his smirking opponent, eyes widened in incoming fear as opposed to the man's grin.

"No!" Leo's loud yell came from the watching group but Selthris barely heard it; his attention watching his opponent's next action.

"I can see it but…," Selthris began in his mind wordlessly as his worried frown twitched in growing concern. "I can't do a thing!"

As if reading his thoughts, Gorlin smirked once more as he twirled two of his blades 'round his hands and drew them roughly across the boy's undefended body, sending him yelling and spinning madly across the duellist's ring, blood from his new open wound, as well as his sword, following him. It clattered noisily across the ground as it spun around next to the fallen boy. The watching Coremondian crowd were drawn in silent awe as they watched the warriors seemingly finish the first act; Selthris grunted once as he shakily rose himself to all fours, sweating as he used his free right hands to grasp his pained wound across his chest. His eyes scrunched shut as he coughed out blood roughly from his throat, staining the ground with yet more crimson. The action seemed to trigger the previously silent audience into screaming their approval for the duel they witnessed.

3

"Impressive!" Gorlin's loud praise came from the front; Selthris grunted as he raised his head upward to face the man shakily. The approaching hulking Coremondian merely grinned over at the fallen Aselian boy. "You're his son all right," the man confirmed with a chuckling grin. "No one else has even matched that speed let alone survived what I offered here today."

Selthris growled lowly as he attempted to steady his static breathing, his right hand still shaking on his bleeding chest.

A corner of Gorlin's lip upturned, seemingly in amusement. "But you still young ain'tcha?" He accused with another chuckle, eliciting a hard-eyed narrow of the boy's silver eyes. "I can see it in your style," he continued as he watched the boy carefully, drawing a curiously raised eyebrow from him in response. "You're hesitant, unformed. Naïve," he analysed deftly as he narrowed his own eyes forward. Though breathing erratically from his earlier wound and still lightly shaking, Selthris simply glared back at the man before turning his head and spitting out blood once more, his eyes never leaving his opponent's. "You lost him recently, didn't you?" Gorlin finished lowly and this time with a frown adorned, speaking his words less of a question than an actual factual statement. Selthris' scowl grew worse as he listened and even twitched in response to the man's words. Gorlin sighed lowly as he shut his eyes and turned his body around, dropping the swords on his person with a noisy clang to the ground. "I know what it's like to lose one's parents," he spoke once more as he lowered his eyes to the ground, perhaps in remembrance. "There's no point in continuing this; stay down son." Gorlin merely finished, throwing his words over his shoulder roughly.

Selthris growled and managed to steady his breathing as he raised himself upward shakily, using his iron sword to steady his body. Gorlin stopped walking almost immediately as he heard the loud and veritable clang of steel that the blade offered. Though wordless, Selthris merely growled amidst the hard breaths he took, his free right hand grasping at his pained chest glaring at the hulking man ahead of him with a clear anger to his tone. Gorlin turned his head and his body around deliberately slowly to face the fierce anger that his young opponent so obviously employed. A couple of uneventful seconds passed between them as the two watched one another, one glaring angrily and the other almost pitiful. The watching crowd remained silent as they witnessed and listened.

"You lookin' at me boy?" Gorlin called over loudly enough to sound firm as he narrowed his eyes lightly. Selthris merely remained wordless and continued to glare at his former opponent heatedly. "Killing me won't bring him back," the large Coremondian claimed roughly as he frowned solidly back in response. "Trust me when I say there ain't no comin' back once you go down this road son," he continued firmly, his large body leant to the side as he spoke, his words seemingly filled with previous wisdom. "That anger…," Gorlin murmured at first as he narrowed his eyes forward in recognition; watching the hateful glower in the boy's eyes. "Put it aside," his voice intoned. "It ain't worth it. Believe me." He finally finished as he frowned firmly back at the boy.

Perhaps finally giving in to the grievous wound inflicted on him earlier, Selthris let out a final gurgling cough of blood before slumping forward in defeat, dropping to the ground with a final pained grunt. His iron sword dropped from his left hand, clattering noisily to the ground next to him.

He barely heard the clamour of the watching, worried audience when he did.