SHADOW AND LIGHT (CHIAROSCURO)

MY SECOND BATTLE

The next day came and I was ready to battle, it had been a few years since my first real battle.

It was early dawn and a new day of reckoning. I had found myself standing by the doors in front of my manor house, looking at all the views surrounding it, I took my time to view it in its beauty.

My manor was comprised of tracts of agricultural land, a garden, a pond, a mansion right in the middle and a small path leading to a remote village in which the servants of the estate resided.

It was also beautifully surrounded by an orchard of maple trees. But what caught my eye the most were the people working in the estate.

"There are about 15 to 30 people, each of a different family doing their best to maintain the beauty and functionality of the estate, my estate," I thought as I strolled along the path to the gates.

Paige was indisposed at the moment so he couldn't escort me to battle but Penelope was by my side, eager to accompany me to the gates of the estate at the very least.

I saw several workers tending to the gardens, raking the leaves even handling the laundry. I thought to myself, "Above all these persons that gave their sweat and blood to work here... Was I, the lord of the manor, the monarch of the estate which means that I am responsible for the well-being of such hard workers."

"This is absolute symbiosis..." I thought as I marvelled at the huge manor, a symbol of my control over this state.

I saw how real the people worked for my comfort, make no mistake, they did carry that expression that made me weary, the expression of greed.

However, these expressions were honest and true, unwavering in their consistency. They were greedy, desperate even but it was solely for their collective survival.

Before I proceeded to head out into town onto my black stallion, Moonlight, I looked towards Penelope and the lord chamberlain who was already waiting by the gates for me and stated, "I am the lord of this manor, the lord of this land, and the lord of this estate. I shall not fail to exude my authority."

Penelope gracefully curtsied and the lord chamberlain bowed after I made that statement.

I mounted Moonlight, and said, "Hiyaa! Let's go, Moonlight!" With that, I rode my black stallion towards town, to battle the golden knight.

Meanwhile, right at the centre of the town square, surrounded by a ring of the residents of Sterilia, was my opponent in his golden armour and on a white steed, Sir Cassian. He had with him a huge golden lance on his right arm.

"It has been two hours now! Has your lord forsaken the land on which he was appointed!?" Sir Cassian said, mockingly.

Sir Dustin, on a wooden platform at the other side of the ring, warned him whilst taunting him with a mispronounced name, "You watch your mouth, Sir Caspian!"

Sir Cassian wasn't pleased, "You dare!? Do not fashion my name as you please, I am Sir Cassian! CAS.SIAN! Captain of the golden knights of Gladia! You dare to make a mistake of such again, and I shall smite thee."

"Hah! I'd like to see you try!" Sir Dustin laughed.

"Why you heathen! You will show me due respect! Hiyaa!" Sir Cassian, in a fit of rage, rode his stallion, galloping towards Sir Dustin.

The people in front of Sir Dustin dispersed and took cover to avoid being trampled by the golden knight's white stallion. Sir Dustin did not waver and he stood his ground with a menacing glare in his eyes.

With the golden lance in his hand stretched forward, aiming at the silver knight, Sir Dustin rushed to attack without hesitation. But just before he could strike Sir Dustin...

I appeared, "That will be enough!"

I sat majestically on my Moonlight, I had nothing more than my tunic, vest, leggings and trousers on. I wore no armour. I did however have my sword still in its sheath.

"What is this chaos!? Have you no honour, Sir Caspian!? Is this how a golden knight of Gladia behaves, attacking the innocent and creating panic in his people!?" I yelled, slowly descending from my black steed.

In an annoyed tone, Sir Cassian mumbled, "It's Cassian..."

"What?" I asked as I didn't quite hear him.

"It's Cassian! Cassian! You incompetent prince!" he roared galloping towards me in a rage-filled manner. He pointed his golden lance toward me in an attempt to kill me.

"I think I broke him, haha..." I chuckled in my thoughts, leaving a smirk on my face for him to see. That made him even angrier.

Still, on his white stallion, he had found himself in my radius, and took a swing of his lance to pierce me, but missed. He grunted and tried again only to miss again. I kept avoiding all his attacks, weaving and dodging with my hand on the helm of my sword that was still at this time sheathed.

"I see that Sir Cassian prefers to ride when he battles..." I stated while dodging all seven consecutive attacks.

"Stay still you worm!" Sir Cassian growled. He was using aura to enhance his physical abilities but what he didn't know was so was I.

To a normal aura bender, the best one can do is increase the amount of aura they can form, but all they can do is use it to shield and enhance their entire body all at once. But for an aura lord, they're able to manifest that aura into items they wield, making the items extremely dangerous as well as enhancing their entire body at once.

But I was different. I was using aura on individual parts of my body.

When I was just 8 years old I tried to join the knights' training but was refused due to my weak physique. So I began to train myself in the way of aura. I read, studied and trained painstakingly every night except on full moon nights when I always fell ill.

With time, I figured out a way to use the little aura that my body could produce efficiently, by concentrating small amounts of aura onto certain parts of my body.

By focusing aura in my eyes alone, I was able to fix my bad sight, see long distances and see fast movements in slow motion for as long as I could use aura which wasn't all that long considering the amount.

Thus, improving the strength and speed of that part specifically, and if necessary, being able to break the limit of that part of my body's capabilities. In this case, I was strengthening my legs and upper body synchronously, thus enabling me to be quick and agile at the same time. The fighting skills, I learned from my sensei.

"I sense aura but extremely weak amounts of it... This doesn't make any sense. Even if he was using aura, I'm using aura as well! And I'm an aura lord! So why can't I beat him when I have so much aura!" Sir Cassian thought, frightened of the fact that I could be the fourth aura lord.