Age of Heroes (Age of Heroes Chronicles)

She had employed a high-level technique, but her opponent had retained his composure and had managed to avoid it.

She tried charging him again, but he was too fast. Whom did he learn from? Arturo had told her that there were no martial arts experts in Acro.

She had also noticed while exchanging blows with the young man that he had not channeled his internal energy in his attacks.

Was he looking down at her? She stared at him, puzzled.

"You are fast," she said.

"Thank you, my lady, but so are you. Pity that such a young woman like you has learned such a vicious technique."

Rhyssa blushed. "I didn't… I mean it's not that vicious," she stumbled and then her temper took over. "So, what!" she yelled, "why are you holding back!?"

"You noticed?" he answered, quite surprised.

How many times will you insult me young man? Rhyssa thought. "Yes! Why didn't you use your internal energy?" she asked, frustrated, her nostrils flaring.

"Are you looking down on me because I am a woman?" she added, glaring at him, but he did not answer.

She attacked him again with such force, it seemed that she was intent on killing him. He used his power to counter her agility.

Finally, she saw an opening and struck him twice, confident that he would stumble and fall, but instead, she was thrown back from the sheer force of his internal energy.

Fear gripped her heart as she realized that the young man was an expert in internal energy.

"What was that!? How can you have so much internal energy?" she said baffled while the crowd cheered.

Her teacher had advised her to pick her enemies carefully, as one would do when picking friends. Did I pick the wrong enemy?

But how could that be? she wondered. Her opponent was clearly younger than her, but how could he have that much internal energy at his age?

"I train my lad—"

Rhyssa did not let him finish his sentence and lunged at him with Piercing Spear, her teacher's most famous technique that could leave a hole in a man's body.

The boy fell off stage and was dazed.

Yet, he was not injured despite receiving a severe blow.

There was no doubt in her mind that her opponent was a prodigy.

How else could one explain his internal energy?

Suddenly, the crowd let out a cry of surprise as the boy regained his senses and got back up, keeping his distance from Rhyssa. The boy is a monster, she thought.

"Are you… fine?" she asked.

This was impossible.

Her teacher's words rang in her head: The world is vast and there are many people out there who have great martial arts skills.

She had never understood this truth until this very moment. He is younger than me, but…

"You are the Eastern Devil's disciple?" he asked her, interrupting her thoughts. The crowd fell silent and some spectators backed away.

"How… do you know?" she stammered.

"Piercing Spear is one of his trademark techniques. No wonder your attacks are vicious and cruel; you are one of his disciples."

"Yes! I'm his disciple!" she yelled. "Do you fear me?" She was trying to get out of this fight and hoped that the boy would back away now that he knew who her teacher was.

She was aware that she could not defeat him.

The young man smirked. "No, but it just got more interesting."

He then proceeded to point out the flaws of her technique. She was shocked to see how well he knew the Eastern Devil's style of fighting.

"Who are you?" she asked.

Someone from the crowd yelled.

"It's a bad day for you, my dear! That boy is Regent of the Duchy of Arrandy, son of House Vermont, ruler of this city. His name is Arial the Dragon!" The crowd gasped.

The son of the lord? The ruler of this city? This means that he is high nobility, Rhyssa thought. How could a son of a noble know so much about martial arts?

Most of the nobles in Renasia did not learn any martial arts skills since it had become a quiet and peaceful kingdom. No great wars had been fought in the last one hundred years.

"An equal match. A handsome young lord and a beautiful feisty girl. A match made in Heaven," people whispered in the crowd.

Rhyssa looked at the boy and blushed. Her opponent was handsome after all.

"A lord?" Arturo asked.

"Why does it matter?" the boy responded.

"Yes, why does it matter? You are certainly a member of the martial arts community. There is no doubt considering your technique," Rhyssa interjected.

The fight resumed while the spectators moved back a little. Their fight was like a dance of the Sun King and the Water Princess.

"Hurry up!" cried a voice from the crowd.

"Defeat her Lord Arial, marry her and have many children!" The audience burst into laughter. Rhyssa and her opponent looked at each other and blushed.

"What are you looking at?" she said, yelling at him in order to hide her embarrassment.

"Nothing!" he answered. "Are you ready?"

"Ready for what?" she asked.

"Ready to be defeated," he answered and quickly lunged at her with lightning speed, aiming for her shoulder.

She was surprised as he used his palm attack.

She ducked, escaping the blow, but the nearby wooden pillar exploded next to her from the force of the internal energy.

Rhyssa could not believe her eyes. If it had struck her, she surely would have died. He must have learned from a powerful teacher, she thought.

"You are an expert! Who taught you how to fight? The Northern Badger? The Western Serpent?" she asked, completely flustered.

"I taught myself," he answered.

"Pah!" She spat at the ground. "Lies! That is impossible! You fight in the Northern style. You were taught by the Northern Badger. Correct?"

"Like I said," he reiterated, "I did not learn from anyone."

His denial made Rhyssa even angrier. So, I am not even worthy of being told his venerable teacher's name?

She attacked him again, more ferociously than before. Suddenly, the air changed. The people around the stage began to fall to their knees, their hands trembling.

"Get away!" the boy yelled.

This is his doing, Rhyssa mused.

She had never seen anyone besides her teacher with such a high level of internal energy capable of putting pressure on surrounding people.

Suddenly, Arturo jumped on the stage and lunged at the boy, quickly throwing a fist at him.

The young man used a palm technique, hitting the knight in his ribcage and throwing him off the stage.

He landed far over the crowd and lay unconscious on the ground. Rhyssa heard his bones crack. "Arturo!" she yelled as some spectators ran away to call the guards.

She had to get away from this maelstrom and the only way to do so was to resume the battle.

She employed a palm attack, jumping in midair and directing the full brunt of her internal energy at her opponent, but he stopped her with one hand by channeling his own internal energy and threw her off the stage.

"Uhuk, uhuk," Rhyssa looked at her hand. Blood? Blood! She saw her opponent jump off the stage and panic set in.

Oh my God! He is going to kill me!

For the first time on this journey, she felt fear.

As a last resort, she threw a dagger laced with Devil Rot at him, but he deflected it and the dagger hit a tree instead.

"Poison!" he hissed. "Hah! the Eastern Devil would be ashamed to call you his disciple! Using poison? That is a Western Serpent technique. The Eastern Devil might not be the most honorable of martial arts masters, but at least he does not use poison on his opponents!"

"Well, I'm not him, am I?" Rhyssa had lost the will to argue.

He raised his left palm and concentrating his energy, sent a powerful blow in her direction.

She tried to block it, but her attempt was futile. "This level is like that of the Grand Teacher," she whispered in disbelief.

"Fun time is over," he said smiling.

This time, it was do or die for Rhyssa.

In a last-ditch effort, she grabbed her spear and charged the boy, but he attacked her relentlessly using his energy once again.

The last thing she heard was bones cracking.

Thankfully, she had worn armor under her clothes or else she would have surely died. Her eyes closed and she felt the cold, harsh wind come over her body.

She also felt water gently roll down her cheeks and sensed that she was being carried off.

There were legions of exceptional men on the Continent, but this young noble boy's fighting skills were highly advanced with sophisticated variations.

Too confident, too reckless and too headstrong. I need to be wiser and stronger and learn from my errors, and with that last thought, Rhyssa lost consciousness.

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This si the end of the chapter. Next chapter wil be the return of a few chracter to Acro. Anyway, hope you like teh chapter and if you do please vote and leave some comments below. Anyway see you all tomorrow.