Chapter 93: Beating an Arrogant Dragonian into Becoming My Subordinate.

The next day arrived and passed without much thought, as it always did whenever I had too many damned things to do.

My schedule was completely packed despite it being the weekend, all because I had two important appointments today.

The first was naturally my duel against Ivan at five in the evening, while the second was my meeting with Seles.

The meeting had only one purpose and that was to earn Seles’s trust, ultimately allowing me to fulfill the condition required to copy her Talent in a week’s time when the dungeon exploration was scheduled to take place.

I glanced at the time.

It was already half past four.

Looking down at myself, I gave my appearance a quick look once again. I was dressed casually even though I was heading for a duel because I didn’t really want to waste time changing again before my meeting with Seles afterwards.

Not that it would take much time to deal with Ivan.

As I stepped out of my bedroom, Asher was already waiting for me in the hallway. I had been the one to call him here beforehand.

"Are you ready, oh great sir?"

He said in his usual manner of speaking as I raised an eyebrow at him.

"You know, I still can’t get used to how your demeanour has changed completely while your way of speaking remains exactly the same as it was in your previous life."

"This great personality is grateful for the praise, oh great sir." He chuckled. "You see, when the two parts of my soul merged, both retained the strongest qualities of their respective counterparts. And speech happened to be one of my greatest strengths as a storyteller in my previous life."

"Though I can switch to a normal way of speaking as well, somehow it just doesn’t feel like me anymore."

"Well, whatever you say."

Although I hadn’t asked for such a detailed explanation, I listened to the whole thing before letting out a smile.

"You do know what you have to do today, right?"

"Yes, oh great sir. But are you sure those people will act?"

"Don’t worry, they have to... and even if they don’t, we don’t have anything to lose anyway."

He nodded as we walked towards the door together, but just before leaving, I remembered something.

"Oh, and please don’t go around calling me ’great sir’ in front of everyone. You know how difficult it was to explain to Liana why you were talking like that. Just call me Zenith... or even Zen is fine."

"Alright, oh great sir."

He nodded.

I sighed and the two of us left my apartment, heading towards the destined place of battle.

Asher quietly vanished midway as we approached, taking up his position while I walked towards the centre of the garden where the duel was supposed to take place.

Ivan was already there, with his four subordinates standing proudly behind him.

"You are late."

"Yeah."

I didn’t bother saying anything more and simply stated the rules.

"The rules are simple. The one who falls to the ground first loses. Do you accept?"

"Yes."

"Then let’s take the oath."

"I, Zenith Von Ruinbringer, swear upon my soul that if I am the first to fall to the ground, I shall be the one who loses. And regardless of the outcome of this match, I shall bear no grudges and swear to sign the subordinate contract with the winner should I lose."

"I, Ivan of the Red Mountains, swear upon my soul that if I am the first to fall to the ground, I shall be the one who loses. And regardless of the outcome of this match, I shall bear no grudges and swear to sign the subordinate contract with the winner should I lose."

The moment we both finished the oath, the mana within us erupted outward before forming a thin thread between us, only to vanish a moment later.

The Academy actually allowed unofficial duels with stakes attached.

According to them, it helped students grow faster by letting them battle to their hearts’ content, so long as the oath was fair and the duel itself was conducted fairly.

Ivan looked at me confidently.

"Then let us begin."

The moment he finished speaking, he lunged at me like a bullet, appearing behind me in an instant. His leg whipped towards my head mercilessly as if he was trying to kill me rather than merely defeat me.

I simply ducked, letting his kick fly past my head before straightening back up.

Ivan looked surprised but he adjusted immediately.

Two crimson wings erupted from his back as his speed increased beyond what I could even perceive with my current senses.

And yet again, with the smallest of movements, I dodged the attack aimed at my ribs.

Ivan was undoubtedly far stronger and faster than me physically but he lacked one essential thing needed to make full use of that advantage.

Proper technique.

Most young Draconians, for all their gifted physiques, were too dumb to think in terms of technique. They loved relying purely on instinct, which was far too easy to exploit with proper training.

"How are you dodging everything?"

Ivan roared, his body becoming little more than a blur as he moved all around me, preparing to launch an even dangerous attack.

I simply raised my fist before driving it downward.

Right on cue, Ivan appeared there, ready to strike my ribs, only to be met by my fist hurtling straight towards his head.

"How did you kno—"

The words died in his throat and before his attack could reach me, my fist crashed squarely into his skull as I reinforced my arm with every bit of strength and forward momentum I could muster using my Vector affinity.

A small shockwave erupted before Ivan’s body slammed into the ground with a deafening thud.

My hand was bloodied, not by Ivan’s blood but by my own because I had overused the vectors slightly while striking the absurdly thick skull of that dumb Draconian.

Still, I didn’t bother celebrating just yet because, the moment Ivan went down, his four so-called subordinates lunged at me from all directions, taking advantage of the brief opening my weakness had created.

Especially the two giants, who were already only inches away from reaching me.

But before they could even touch me, a black blur shot past me and struck both of them at once, sending them flying as though they weighed no more than feathers.

It was Asher.

In his hand, he held the crystal, the recording artifact I had asked him to carry.

"Did you record everything?"

He turned around and gave me a wide smile.

"Absolutely, oh great sir. I recorded every last bit of it, though I still cannot understand how you intend to use it."

I returned the smile.

"Don’t worry... there is always a use for everything."

He simply shrugged, as though he couldn’t understand my intentions but I didn’t bother explaining them to him either.

Meanwhile, Ivan’s other two subordinates looked at me and Asher, then at the two unconscious giants, and finally at Ivan before turning around and running away without a second thought.

Such loyal subordinates.

"I haven’t lost—urgh."

I looked down at Ivan, who was still clutching onto my pant leg from the ground, coughing up blood with bloodshot eyes.

I ignored him completely and looked at Asher instead.

"In any case, take this guy to a healer. He will be joining us soon enough, after all. I will meet you after I am done with the meeting I have."