Abe the Wizard

Abel said as he gently placed the chain on the fairy girl’s hands, “Stand aside. I’ll try not to drag you into this.”

The fairy girl could sense Abel’s good intentions, but she couldn’t understand what he meant. As more relaxed as she seemed to be, she wasn’t moving at all.

Abel sighed as he saw this. He tapped the fairy girl on her back, then led her to the auction stand. While doing so, he kicked the bodyguard down from the auction stage.

Such disrespectful move angered the elite knight. He charged towards Abel and began grabbing him by the front chest. He was fast, but Abel was able to respond on reflex. Abel grabbed the hand that was reaching towards him with his left, pulled it towards his behind, and the elite knight flew out by his own force.

The elite knight slid on the floor for about four meters. It didn’t hurt him, though, as Abel was just returning the force that was directed towards him. As it turned out, the short, young boy was not an ordinary fighter. He was much more experienced than his age showed.

The elite knight quickly calmed himself down. Abel was no longer someone to be looked down upon. Rather, he was a real opponent to be recognized.

The elite knight carefully took a step forward. As his front foot closed in, his back leg quickly followed. Such footwork was typically used by knights to send their enemies back. Since the auction stage was behind Abel, if he had no choice but to step back, he would’ve had to take the elite knight’s full blow upfront.

Abel was not that predictable. The experience he’s gained from his past life has made him see through a weakness in the elite knight’s movements. While the footwork was meant for an armed assault, using it for closed ranged combat would leave no chance for defense.

Just when the elite knight was about to slash at Abel diagonally, Abel bent his knees and drew his distance forward. He didn’t use this chance to go for a countermove. Instead, he faked a hit and spun his body one more time. Next thing the elite knight knew, his enemy was right behind him.

All the guests were attending the auction were just about to come to their senses. They had been too frightful to do anything, and since the intruder was not looking to harm them (he just wanted to take to a fairy), they decided to stay and enjoy watching the fight. Sadly for them, everything seemed to happen so quickly.

Without catching everything that happened, the intruder slid out of the fight. The second round was barely about to start, but the stranger (Abel) was already preparing for an attack behind the elite knight.

The move Abel was using was called the bridging german suplex, a killer move that was used in professional wrestling. After he grabbed the elite knight by his back, he straightened his legs and arched his whole body backward. The elite knight wasn’t sure what’s happening, but he screamed as loudly as he could when he was lifted in the air and clamped right down to the ground.

Thud

As the elite knight’s head made contact with the ground, his mind was just a tad away from completely fading out. He was a very strong man, however, and was able to stand up again after shaking his head a few times.

Instead of continuing with his attack, Abel decided to let the elite knight recover for a bit. Such a sturdy opponent was rather hard to find, and he was really keen on reviving his memories as a martial arts trainer in the gym.

“I want you dead!” the elite knight roared and pulled away his cape. As fancy as his attire revealed to be, his stature was too muscular to be hidden underneath it.

From what it looked like, he was in his middle age. His face seemed kind of misshapen. Perhaps it was the anger that he was showing. Or, actually, it could be that suplex he had just received. Anyways, that didn’t stop him from being recognized by the crowd.

“It’s the Elite Knight of Rodney!”

“My spirits, how could it be him?”

“I can’t believe he’s that kind of person!”

The Elite Knight of Rodney was an elite knight who served under the lord of Harvest City. He was a direct subordinate of Viscount Dickens, and because he had no title nor land under his name, he had to pledge himself to other big families once his masters could no longer provide for him and his training.

Seeing that the others could tell who he was, the Elite Knight of Rodney didn’t care to hide any longer. “I, the Elite Knight of Rodney,” he exclaimed, “I declare a duel with you! Please, reveal your true identity and face me to a fair fight!”

Abel froze for a bit as he looked at the Elite Knight of Rodney like some sort of idiot. No one came here to let others know who they were. Just because Rodney showed his identity, it didn’t mean that he could drag someone along to make the same kind of mistake.

For noblemen and knights alike, request for duels was a common way to resolve any sort of conflict. There were conditions applied to this rule, however. Duels could only be requested to someone of the same rank, or from a higher-ranked noble to someone of a lower rank.

After a duel was requested, the person who was challenged would be given time to make preparations. During this time, a third party would be found to oversee the duel in a fair and impartial manner. Without these requirements, the fight would lose its grace, and the winner’s victory would hold little to no credibility to it.

As justified as that seemed, the Elite Knight of Rodney was being kind of dirty to have asked Abel to reveal his true identity. Even if he had lost to duel right here, he could easily have his revenge after he knew what Abel looked like.

Abel said clearly and loudly, “You have no right to declare a duel with me! What you are doing right now is a direct violation to the Decree of Knights!”

All the noblemen who were present understood immediately. Not only was the mysterious man (Abel) a knight, he was also in a higher rank than the Elite Knight of Rodney. Not only did the Elite Knight of Rodney have no right to fight him, but he would also be charged with violating the Decree of the Knights.

If Abel showed his true identity right here, Rodney would’ve had no way to prove his innocence. Worst case scenario, he might even be investigated by the noble arbitral tribunal.

The Elite Knight of Rodney knew that, of course. While Abel didn’t show his face, he had already declared his superiority as a high-ranking knight. The smart thing to do here would be to ask for reconciliation. The situation they were in was not that serious, to begin with, after all.

But they were in a black market, and Rodney just couldn’t believe that a high-ranked nobleman (who’s higher-ranked than him) would come here at all. He was already in a very upset back then, and now Abel was accusing him of a crime he might just get out of.

“HOW DARE YOU DISGRACE ME?” Rodney screamed, “SHOW ME YOUR FACE NOW, OR I”LL SMACK YOU DOWN RIGHT HERE!”

After saying that, the Elite Knight of Rodney covered his entire body with his white combat qi. Everyone watching was already running away by now. Unbelievable. Just unbelievable. How dare the Elite Knight of Rodney release his combat qi right here?

Rodney was taking a gamble with this bold move. He didn’t think any “good citizen” would go tell on him for releasing his combat qi. Besides, as long as Abel was not a nobleman, it wouldn’t matter if he melted his limbs off with his combat qi.

Is he out of his mind? Abel thought to himself. When he just became a beginner knight, the first thing Lord Marshall told him was to not show his combat qi in the city or in front of any nobleman. Without respecting this rule, a knight would no longer be considered civil by his community.

From Rodney’s perspective, he was really starting to get scared. Instead of running away like the others, Abel was just starting there and observing his next move. Such composure and mentality could only belong to a true upperclassman.

“Fine, if that’s how it is,” he thought. It was too late to stop here, anyway, so he quickly reached for Abel’s hoodie with his qi-covered hand.

Abel’s eyes turned cold as he saw the hand coming at him. He still hadn’t revealed his combat qi up to this point, and Rodney’s qi could’ve easily killed any ordinary person who didn’t have his own qi. Combat qi was an extremely erosive and dangerous substance, and direct contact with it could’ve killed most people on the spot.

So that’s what it was. Rodney wasn’t looking to see how skilled Abel was at fighting. Even if Abel was to best martial arts fighter in the world, if he didn’t have his own qi core to cover himself in combat qi, Rodney could’ve just neutralized him by touch.