Rising of the Weakest Mage

Vol 10/Ch 96 - Allen vs The Thorned Rose

"One day Rose, I will defeat you in a duel!," Allen shouted at a young Rose, with a very determined look on his face.

"It's a promise!," Rose pointed at Allen, as the carriage she was in was about to leave. "I'll see you again one day!"

"I'll see you soon!," Allen yelled after her, as her carriage began to move, with one last wave from William, who was taking her home.

Why am I remembering all of this now?, Allen asked himself in his thoughts, as the duel between him and Rose was seconds away from happening.

His memories from the days of his training with William Windblade, his former mentor, flooded back at the most important times for him. But this time, memories specific of the time he trained alongside Rose, for a few years.

No matter how many times Allen faced her in a practice duel, Rose was always one step ahead of him, more talented than him. No matter how much hard work he put in to better himself, or any attempt to cast a spell, Rose was always better.

But rather than being envious of her, he had mostly respect for her. He knew Rose was putting in the same amount of effort as he was. But regardless, there was a small part of him that wanted to defeat her, at least once. The similar desire where he wanted to beat William once, too.

But all of his memories, thoughts, and desires came down to this current single and crucial point. Defeating Rose here for the first time meant he could continue down the path of being a mage, and becoming a magical knight. But losing meant giving it up altogether - all that hard work for nothing. It was a high stakes gamble, but at the same time he wanted this duel more than anything. To finally face Rose in a proper, formal duel. With all of the tension aside, this was his chance to use everything he's learned and worked so hard for, and prove to be Rose's equal.

"And let the duel commence!," the duel referee shouted, announcing the beginning of their long, awaited duel.

With only a mere second of both of them staring at each other, they wasted no other time or movements to get the duel started. They both charged at each other, their vision focusing only solely on the other, as their swords clashed, and they began to follow with a series of strikes and blocks.

"And the duel between the Weakest Mage and the Blue Rose has already started very quickly, with no room for a breath!," Misa raised her voice, matching the arena's excitement.

She must be thinking the same thing as me, Allen thought, as both of them continued with strikes, blocks and dodges, without the use of mana or magic. We're first both testing each other out.

With each of them testing each other out in their skills of swordsmanship, they both understood the other - they both wanted an idea of how to end the duel as quickly and efficiently as possible.

While both of them surely wanted this duel to begin with, they also both knew the duel could go on forever unless something major was done. Therefore they both tested the other, to gauge their current skills and find any openings.

I will claim victory, I have to, Allen reminded himself as dodged another strike from Rose. She must be thinking the same thing. Regardless, I must use what I've learned, and defeat her here today!

As he went for another strike at Rose, he noticed the calm and collected look on her face, as her mind took in every single important detail about Allen's fighting style in order to counter it. It immediately reminded him of the times they trained together, back before the tournament started and William was removed from his position.

"You can't do it like that!," Allen heard Rose's voice as he recalled another memory, the days when Rose trained him to prepare for his duel against Nathaniel Rivertide. "Our styles of swordsmanship may be different, but you're still lacking efficiency!"