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"Cough!"

Ezra had coughed up blood and fell to his knees after he had released the attack.

His body too was in utter agony.

[You have gained an understanding of a movement of the Cataclysmic Spear[5 Star], Cataclysmic Rend]

[You have failed to accurately copy your opponent.]

As Ezra stood, the pores on his face were bleeding as he read the message.

'...I failed to copy it...'

His understanding of the movement was flawed, and hence he had copied a lower-grade movement.

But this message alone shocked him even more.

A failed copying of the technique resulted in a FIVE-STAR TECHNIQUE?!

His mind was in chaos.

Was Alan Peccator in possession of a six-star technique?!

It had to be so.

"Healer, Where are the goddamn Healers?!".

As he was lost in his thoughts, the voice of the guild master of Twilight entered his ears.

He was near his fallen guild member, and his daughter could be seen sending to the destroyed body of Alan, trying to make him drink a potion.

And when that didn't work, she applied the potion on his wounds, which were honestly all over his body.

And afterward, Twilight guild members took the injured Alan away whilst some of their members tried to heal him with skills.

"Cough!Cough!"

Ezra coughed up blood again and used his spear to support himself.

Whatever that movement was, it devastated his body.

Not to the level of Alan Peccator, but definitely, it was severe.

"Sir, Drink this!"

The agents of Behemoth came to him and gave him a potion which he immediately drank.

His breathing stabilized afterward and he checked the condition of his body.

'...I've exerted myself fat too much.'

His body was screaming for rest, yet he still didn't fall.

The winner of the duel couldn't fall so easily after the fight.

It would leave a bad image.

His body might be aching, but he waited until the bastard that was his grandfather announced the winner.

And thankfully for him...the announcement came soon.

"Ezra Fornum is declared the winner of this Duel!"

****

A truly shocking duel that had defied all expectations.

Everyone had expected the very first spatial Awakened to be humiliated.

That very awakened had made Ezra cough blood and provided a spectacular fight.

Every member of the Audience was stunned.

Whether it be the new generation or the old...neither expected this outcome at all.

Alan Peccator severely wounded Ezra and was, even so, close to winning it.

Although he had lost, he definitely hadn't lost without a fight.

Not at all.

He fought very well, especially for his age.

Elijah, Henry, Serena, Sabrina, and Elaine all remained quiet.

Elijah was quietly assessing the fight that had just occurred.

Henry was processing the result.

Whilst the others were busy trying to hold back their vomit after seeing the state of the two combatants.

"...how can one still stand after that?"

Serena finally broke the silence after a while, but nobody answered her.

They all remained quiet.

Elaine had gone away to the bathroom, whilst Sabrina and Henry were quietly staring at Elijah, whose eyes were now glowing with a lot more intensity.

Unknown to them...he was currently reviewing the entire fight that had happened...and something else was also happening inside him.

His body had been acting...weird the moment he had heard that roar.

The bloodline of drakes within him was hiding, and his own body was shivering as if it was afraid.

Yet despite all this, he was still standing strong, quietly assessing the fight that had happened.

****

[Alan Peccator PoV]

I woke up, lying in a hospital bed with tubes carrying blue liquid inserted into my body.

I couldn't move my head nearly well, and my body still ached a little.

...

...

...so I lost huh?

Shit.

Shit shit shit shit shit.

...unknowingly...tears had started to come out of my eyes.

These tears weren't because of the fact that I had lost, but more rather because I had failed to complete the quest...and get the cure needed for Samantha's curse.

Her condition...was slowly worsening and I failed to procure the cure the I was given a chance...

...im a shitty brother.

I'm such a shitty brother...

Shit...the tears are coming out even more.

I'm sorry Sam... you'll have to suffer more because of my weakness.

"There's no need to be that dramatic."

And then suddenly, I was startled by a voice that I was all too familiar with.

I didn't even know someone was in this room with me...but when taking into account who it was, it wasn't all that surprising.

"Why are you crying? You just lost a duel, it's nothing major."

Arken Miller, the Sword Saint, and my teacher said as he was sitting on a chair beside the bed, cleaning a gigantic grey sword.

"You fought well, you even surprised me for a moment there."

He said, and I remained silent whilst Arken cleaned his sword.

"Who knew your control of mana was that strong?

I and even Oliver we're left baffled."

But eventually, I opened my mouth

"... I still lost."

I said to him, clearly still bitter about the fact that I couldn't get the Elven Tear.

"And so what?"

But then, his reply shook me.

"So what if you lost?"

"..."

I remained quiet, waiting for him to continue.

"It doesn't matter if you lose, what matters is if you learn from it.

There is no being in the entire universe who hasn't lost once in their life."

He said, and his words felt strangely comforting.

"And If you learn from that loss, then it doesn't count as a loss, but a victory in its own right."

I wonder why I'm so fragile, feeling happy by these words.

The giant sword disappeared into thin air,

Master is seemingly done cleaning it.

"Once you recover, I'm going to increase the intensity of training by a lot."

He got up and said as he moved for the exit.

"You are currently in Shield, the moment you're okay, come to the training room.

I'll train you till death."

He made his way to the exit as I closed my eyes.

Yet my ears were still wide open.

And they heard Masters next words.

"Always remember this Alan.

Simply Copying a Technique, will never be equal to 'Mastering' a technique."

And then he left.