The Moonlight Swordsman

The elite gathering came to a conclusion.

At the magic institute...

The looming battle between Seraphine and Titan grew on the horizon.

Titan's movements caused the mana surrounding him to thicken. With his longsword tightly gripped with both hands, he charged toward Seraphine at breakneck speed. His sword was held high, and he swung it down with all his might at Seraphine.

In a split second, a thick layer of mana enveloped the entire spear as Seraphine swiftly blocked Titan's sword with just one hand. Sparks flew as the weapons clashed, and the force of the impact cracked the ground beneath them.

Seraphine slammed the bottom of the spear with her palm, spinning it and striking Titan in the face with the blunt end.

With a firm grip on the spear in her left hand, Seraphine manipulated mana to enhance her strength and swiftly plunged the spear into Titan's stomach. His body was launched like a cannonball, tumbling across the ground for what seemed like an eternity before coming to a complete stop.

When he raised his head, he was met with the sight of a shining spear blade bare inches from his face. Seraphine towered over him; her face expressionless.

"Seraphine wins." The professor said.

The crowd's whispers and gasps echoed across the area, with some cursing Titan for his humiliating defeat at Seraphine's hands.

Seraphine retreated gracefully to stand beside Aizel and Hazel, her movements quiet and composed.

"Wow, Seraphine, you were so good. I totally fell in love with you." Hazel spoke excitedly.

"Now, who would like to try to go against Aizel?" The professor suddenly interrupted.

"Professor I think Soren should fight. He is the strongest among everyone. Aizel can put up a good fight against him." One of the red-haired girls suggested.

"Soren?"

A guy emerged from the crowd. The air hummed with thick mana that surrounded him. Aizel had a feeling this was no ordinary noble.

With a chiseled body and a flawlessly symmetrical face, he had lustrous light-green hair falling down to his shoulders. His physique was exquisite, and he was almost the same height as Aizel.

Aizel took a step forward and stood before this man, staring him down.

"Aizel,"

"Soren Balthazar."

"Remember the rules, both of you." The professor reminded.

"I don't play by the rules, lady; I make my own," Soren replied in a deep voice.

"There he goes again," the professor facepalmed.

"Hehe, this is going to be a good show," Lysandra glanced at Seraphine, who was still expressionless.

"You, Aizel, what weapon do you use?" Soren asked.

Aizel's hand moved towards his waist, and he summoned a sword. He grasped the hilt of his double-edged spirit sword, Sekki. The metallic ring echoed in the air as he drew the blade out of its sheath.

"Oh, a sword. You know all the swords were made for me to grace them with my presence."

"What the fuck is he even talking about?" Aizel thought.

Soren summoned his own weapon. His blade was double-edged as well, but the sharpness around it seemed to grow with each passing moment.

"They say the most powerful weapon is the one you don't see coming. Well, I am that weapon."

As the sharpness of Soren's blade increased, the ground around him began to fracture and crumble.

Aizel's perception of time slowed down, and he saw Soren's sword inching closer and closer to decapitate him before he could even react.

His body clenched up with lightning speed, and his spirit weapon, Sekki, collided with a metallic ring against Soren's sword. The power of their collision sent shockwaves through the air, shaking and cracking the ground underneath them.

"So, you have a lightning core."

"If you are going for the kill, I wouldn't mind not going easy on you," Aizel said. Electricity raced through Aizel's body, and his sword gleamed with the same sharpness as Soren's.

"As expected of a War Goddess student. He is strong and hot." The red-haired girl commented.

"Wow, Aizel is so cool," Hazel said.

"It will not be that easy to beat Soren; he is too green for that," Lysandra said. "What do you think, Seraphine?"

"Draw," Seraphine replied, which made everyone turn their heads toward her.

Their swords clashed with a deafening ring as they moved at lightning speed, leaving behind a trail of blurry images that appeared and vanished in an instant.

"Fuck, this guy is a monster." Aizel thought while parrying attacks after attacks from Soren.

As Aizel prepared to block yet another strike, Soren summoned a short sword in his left hand and aimed a swift slash at him.

Aizel took quick steps back, nearly escaping a fatal strike to the abdomen from Soren's short sword. But Soren wasn't about to give up so easily. He charged forward and unleashed a barrage of attacks with both weapons.

Aizel's arms strained as he attempted to deflect Soren's dual sword blows. Each strike felt like a hammer slamming into his blade, and the shock echoed throughout his body.

Despite his best attempts, little cuts began to emerge on Aizel's skin, evidence of the onslaught. He clenched his teeth and sank his feet into the ground, attempting to hold his position against Soren's unrelenting onslaught, but it began to push him back.

Then, with a burst of energy, Aizel managed to use his backward momentum to execute a spinning backheel kick with his right foot, catching Soren off guard and striking him hard in the chin.

Aizel swung his sword down, but Soren managed to do a backflip and stood up quickly, blocking Aizel's slash by placing his swords in a cross-shaped position.

He put more force into his sword, trying to break through Soren's defenses, but the latter stood firm, immovable, unyielding to the pressure.

Aizel made an unexpected move that stunned everyone, especially Seraphine.

With speed, he pushed the hilt of his sword, causing it to spin between the crossed blades and dig deep into Soren's shoulder.  With a firm grip, Aizel tried to slice it off, but a sudden kick sent him flying backward.

Blood trickled down Soren's shoulder as he kept his gaze fixed on Aizel, his expression unreadable. "Good," he said, "You are qualified to become my sparring partner."