Chapter 52 – First Steps into the Circle
Part 1: The Duel of Smoke and Blood
Bloodmoon Academy did not have bells.
It had pulses.
Each time the Heartspire—the massive obsidian tower at the center of campus—shifted its magic cycle, a wave of mana rolled outward like a heartbeat through the veins of the city.
That was how classes began.
That was how students knew it was time to sharpen their minds—or their blades.
Ariz walked the curved blackstone path toward the sparring arena.
A massive, open-aired platform shaped like a ring cut into the side of the mountain, it looked out over the abyss—no walls, no fences, just a fall deep enough to forget gravity existed.
Dozens of students trained already. Some dueled with magic. Others crossed swords forged in silence.
Every style. Every race.
No arrogance.
Only focus.
As he approached, a few heads turned.
He still wore his new coat—fur-trimmed, silver-threaded, lined with shadow. His eyes glowed faintly violet even in the dark. His face unreadable.
He looked like someone who didn't come here to be impressive.
He came here to refine the reason people feared him.
A figure stepped forward from the ring.
Tall. Poised.White hair to his shoulders.Eyes like polished garnet.Skin pale with an old elegance.
He wore a black dueling coat over red-lined armor—tailored perfectly for movement. A silver crest on his shoulder marked him as a Vael-blood, one of the ancient vampire families from the eastern Blood Isles.
"Umbrakin," the young man said. His voice was clear. Cold, but not unkind.
"I'm Luceris. Topblade of the Crescent Ring."
Ariz said nothing.
Luceris smiled slightly.
"I'm not here to start a rivalry. I only ask you something simple."
He extended a hand—gloved, ceremonial.
"Will you duel me, Ariz al Sulieman?"
The courtyard went quiet—not tense, not hostile.
Just watching.
Here, power was not something whispered about behind backs.
It was tested.
Ariz looked at the hand for a second, then nodded once.
"I'll spar."
Luceris stepped back, unfastening the upper part of his coat and letting it fall behind him like wings.
"First blood," he said. "No kill strikes. No spells that dismember."
A beat.
"Unless we agree otherwise."
Ariz's eyes pulsed once. Not glowing. Just alive.
He unfastened his coat, letting it hang from one shoulder, and stepped into the ring.
No tension in his shoulders.
No rage in his posture.
Just stillness—like he'd already fought this battle in his head twice.
The instructor overseeing the ring raised one clawed finger.
"Begin."
Luceris blurred.
Vampiric speed—clean, practiced, honed. His blade flashed out from behind his coat, aiming directly for Ariz's shoulder—not to cut, but to push.
Test the reaction.
He didn't find it.
Because Ariz wasn't there anymore.
The Umbrakin had stepped past the strike without retreating. Just flowed—his boots leaving no echo, cloak trailing like smoke.
One hand extended.
Two shadow blades spiraled into existence, floating around his body like orbiting wolves.
Luceris grinned.
"Good."
He came in low now, faster, blade swinging in a curved arc meant to knock Ariz off balance and follow up with a feint. It should've worked.
But Ariz didn't block.
He let the blade pass an inch from his ribs—and countered with a rising slash that stopped a hair from Luceris' neck.
Frozen.
Violet magic shimmered faintly at the edge of the summoned blade.
Luceris didn't move.
Then slowly stepped back.
He raised both hands.
Grinning.
"Well fought."
[System Notification: Friendly Duel – Concluded]
Result: Draw (First Strike Denied / Counterland Achieved)
Status: Spar Acknowledged – Respect Earned
"Here, power doesn't isolate.It gathers those who understand it."
Luceris extended a hand again—this time not as challenge, but as peer.
Ariz took it.
And every watching student knew two things:
The Umbrakin wasn't a rumor.
And he didn't need enemies.
Because he was already becoming a presence they'd have to orbit.