BOOK1:THE BEGINNING:CHAPTER XLI

The victim Bella and the advocate saw, was someone familiar lying on the ground wearing some sort of a body armor fashioned to be a look alike of a real werewolf and part of it seemed bent over as a result of the impact inflicted on it from what actually hauled the victim away from the fighting arena. The duo could still very much hear clashes of swords between three swords combatants inside the hall followed by the never ending groaning of pain that followed each time they hear the combatants yelling in fit of summoning enough power to subdue their opponents but Bella ran to meet the victim who turned out to be Anusara, her fellow comrade gasping her left lower rib where she had suffered a fatal blow from their teacher who seemed less concerned about her safety and more committed to his battle with two other acolytes about her age.
"Ow!" ,
Anusara let out a groan as she tried moving her weight from the grass fill Bella came to her rescue leaving Melizzar behind to peer at the contest which seemed more enthralling than uever.
"Here, Take my hand",
Bella offered but Anusara hesitated once another pain came resounding in her head the moment she raised left hand to get a hold of Bella. Even the hefty body armor was preventing her hand moving any forward away from her torso.
"I can't ....seemed to reach it",
"Yes, you can. You just have to try harder",
Bella replied stretching forth her hands to lift the girl up from the ground and moved closer enough to get a hold of her hand.
"Pull me up",
"Alright",
Bella tugged hard on her grasp and helped in lifting Anusara from the where she lay trying to overcome the heavy armor suppressing her weight on the ground. With more added strength , Bella was able to get the victim up on her feet back again on the ground and helped her in taking some part of the armor that had gotten severely damaged, off from her body.
"I'm really grateful for your help"
"Don't mentioned it, Anusara",
"Master Maeus did deliver a critical blow to me",
"Then why didn't you dodge his attack?",
"He was so invinciby fast that I couldn't have the time to react to save myself from his kick",
"Then next time pay attention to his weaknesses before attacking him",
Melizzar advised without even taking a look at Bella and the victim who sustained superficial wounds thanks to the armor she wore. Curiously, Bella and Anusara head back to meet Melizzar who was watching the fight from where he stood at the doorpost, staring with interest at the duel as a spectator to the fight just like the rest of the other trainees sitting on the marble floorboard around a cicular platform in circles.
Maeus advanced forward for the fifth time to launch another attack against his adversaries after knocking one of the underdog out of the little ring with a whirlwind that issued out of his sword, a combating skilled sword technique that awed his audience when it was conjured against Anusara. Now he was up against two opponents which everyone clearly knows that they weren't his match when the fight started with Three acolytes doggedly against him alone and he was still on top like he was when the trios first attack. With profound ferocity, he charged at his opponents with his sword drawn out to slash the two boys left standing to battle him in their armored costumes like what their fallen comrade wore before she was struck down.
One of the boys narrowly evaded a third of his strike when he came closer to them and tactically drew further away from the his master to safety while the other pretended to attack him with his weapon but Maeus saw him coming and quickly removed himself from a vulnerable spot only to appear behind the young boy before hauling him down to the ground at the other side of the ring with a terrible kick to the chest.
His speed was so fast that he caught the underdog in a perfect vulnerable spot to end the fight but he was unwilling to end it just yet.
"Is that best you can do?",
He questioned trying to catch his breath and positioned himself for another round of fighting. Maeus waited patiently for his opponent's partner to pull him up from the ground and tightened the grip on his rapier.
The spectators including Melizzar soon noticed mild drops of blood dropping from his hand as he firmly grasped the handle of his blade but they remained quiet eager to see how the fight will end. He extended his left foot away from his body in a sort of way that enlarged the size of his loose fitting saggy pants while his saggy sleeves droop down caressing on his thighs from his two extended arms.
"I didn't expect all three of you to be so weak. It would be a shame if the elders see you right now, the enemy out there won't show mercy once he finds your weakness. Now get your act together and attack me",
He said relaxing his breath and stretched forth his sword aiming it at the two boys. The boys pretending to be nervous and slowly got themselves to face him in a way of stalling the fight.
"What do we do, Collins?",
"We have to tire him out",
Collin's partner whispered while he held his sword poised at their Master likewise his comrade.
"That's what you told us a while back and Anusara got knocked down",
"I can't think of a possible way to find his weakness",
"Well...stalling won't work. It's only a matter of time before he finishes us",
"He looks to be getting tired fighting with us",
"But it looks like he still has a lot of energy left",
"What if we attack from a different angle?",
"We already tried that and he blocked our attack",
"Then we'll use the Shadow technique to make it work",
"The Shadow technique? But that's—",
"Quit blabbing amongst yourself and come fight me",
Master Maeus barked with an even more ferocity that sent chills of fear into the spine of the two underdogs but they were undeterred by his show of superiority and kept to their stance.
"Make your move or else things will get ugly for you two. I won't go easy on you so, you better think of a way to bring me down",
He said once again driving fear into them but they remained resolute and shifted away from each other aiming for another attack. Everyone watching the duel taking place, knew at that moment that the boys were up to something different from their first attacks and Master Maeus understood that as well. A comprehensive smile gleamed on his lips when he noticed the sudden change in his opponent's style of attack and clasped his rapier more tightly, awaiting their next assault.
Collins winked at his comrade who understood his gesture and started the attack first before the master could read his movements. Swinging his sword recklessly, He ran twice faster than his earlier attack speed towards the master ahead of his comrade who followed from the rear. Collins sword clashed severely with that of the Master who skillfully blocked every stroke of sword swung at him as well as that of his partner. Before Master Maeus could push back the two undaunted fellows, Collins took a surprising leap in mid air and conjured three similar clones of himself , a skill which awed his spectators especially Melizzar and the two acolytes standing beside him while his partner distracted the master with fragile strikes of his sword but Master Maeus was quick to read their trick and narrowly eluded the edges of three swords from the clones.
"Collins, now!",
Collins's partner yelled at him after succeeding in blocking Master Maeus third attempt to strike Collins down. The master foresaw their intent and took a long dive towards the other side of the arena to evade a fourth blow from the undergo which nearly touched his face. Collin's clones chased after him and encircled him in all directions while the two other acolytes followed to ensare him but he was ready for them. The ensnared victim knew that the odds were suddenly in the favor of his opponents and prepared himself for the worst.
"Quite brilliant using the shadow technique but it is of no better use against any top level advocate like me. In every sword art, there are bound to be weaknesses and a counter art that opposed to the others",
He said not too afraid of being surrounded by his adversaries.
To the surprise of everyone except Melizzar, lightning began gathering around Maeus's sword in the form of thick thunderbolts and his opponent's quickly smelt danger heading their way the moment his lightning gathered momentum right in front of their very eyes.