Dyren glared through his sword to meet his opponent - Dan Danferos, holding it with his right hand, locked his left hand to his back. "I should not enforce my full strength on a mortal human. It would be really bad if I end up hurting him."

Dan Danferos however, had a more divine stance. His sword was held firmly by both of his hands in front of his waist. His blade tip pointed to Dyren's Goldeneye through the sword.

"What would be his element? Water or Air? I cannot infer from just his stance. I am having real trouble if it is air. It has a heavy advantage over mine."

"I will let you have the first hit, my friend!" Dyren announced.

"Very well then," Dan expressed a gladden face.

Dyren tightened his grip and narrowed down his eyes to parry the attack. After all, he just wanted to measure his strength to make further calculations on how to disarm him. 

Dan moved swiftly towards Dyren, closing in a disastrous amount of distance to strike him head-on. Dyren's mouth gaped in shock, then crunched into struggle trying to deflect his attack. "Not good! His element is earth! Damn it!" 

Dyren was pushed back several steps, hardly maintaining his balance. His instinct told him to hold his wrist tight with his free hand immediately, to aid the agonizing pain caused by absorbing all the shock directly. He held down his sword for a while, signaling a request for a break. Dan heeded but mocked Dyren with his 'Don't underestimate me, you idiot,' through his eyes.

"Tremendous strength right there. I took you for an air element swordsman." Dyren's struggle was evident through his now hoarse voice. 

"Though I am inspired by the elements of earth, I also took time to understand few aspects of air from my sister. Earth's sheer strength, combined with Air's evasion; I learned that it is the most powerful combination a non-magic wielder could come up with." Dan claimed. "It is also a trick to lure in the opponent believing that I am completely influenced by the techniques of Air, but they will never see my blows coming." He grinned

"Tch! He got me good!"

"I see. Excellent opponent I got here, Haven't I?" Dyren reestablished his stance, his true one, now wary of his foe. He shall not underestimate him again. He observed his veins still screaming with the impact he had obtained from his blow. He would only expect the tide to worsen in his favor if he does not end this battle quickly.

Not that he is a Kaisen, and his stamina management levels are higher than a normal human being; but Dan's attacks would be monstrous. It could tire him out easily overtime if he extends the battle longer than required. 

End it quickly, was his conclusion.

"Aye, Dan Danferos. I am on." Dyren pointed his sword at Dan's chest, placing the handle closer to his head. In that way, he would have more momentum to parry his attacks. 

"Finally," Dan murmured, then charged at him furiously, to land the second clash if not a direct hit. The impact, Dyren felt was more this time. But he had managed to stop his advancement and push him back after locking into a sparkling sharpening of their blades.

Dyren sighed, smoking out cold air, in this freezing temperature, clearly a successful attempt to hide his need for breath. "Who the hell is this guy? How does he as a human possess this amount of strength? Surely a grown-up would have more strength than that, but for this age? There is something else to do with this. He is not using magic either. Even he is getting exhausted a little bit dealing that two blows to me.

Good thing for me. His stamina is low. This is when I should attack!"

Dyren did not have much distance to close in, since Dan did not have time to withdraw to a safe distance to reinforce his attack. Perfect opportunity for a counter. He gave his first strike to Dan, who handled it quite well. Then the second strike followed quickly, not giving him time to recover. His firm grip was starting to crack. Dyren saw victory and continued his follow-up attacks until either Dan yielded after being overwhelmed, or his sword was knocked out.

The latter was more probable. He did not seem like a person to just yield.

To Dyren's surprise, Dan stopped his attempt to deflect his attacks after he realized what Dyren was up to. Then like an annoying boulder, he stood his ground against Dyren's sword, with his crunched face, desperately trying to turn the tide around. Gradually, he managed to wrestle with Dyren's sword, until he found an opening to shove Dyren away. 

"What!?"

Dan started to be careful about closing in his distance to Dyren. He realized if he was a Boulder, Dyren was a mountain. "Of course, they are not calling you a master for nothing. The greatest Earth Sword I had seen in a while," he remarked. 

"Ah yes. I would like to thank you for that comment. It is an honor to impress a swordsman like you." 

"That is another thing. Should I be happy that I had lasted this long with a true master, or disappointed that you are only a few attacks away from your defeat, and I am starting to reach my limits?"

"True. He is not just the Brawns. He has got the wits too."

"How exactly can you infer that I am vulnerable?" Dyren inquired.

"You did not gasp for air even when you had sprinted across an entire district. Look at you now. You are so desperate to end the duel quickly so that you do not wear out huh? Only if I permit you, Dyren Justenforth!"

"Aye. Now that both of us are helpless, should we consider this a draw?"

"Would you agree even if I go with it?" They stared at each other seemingly sternly. "You did not search for me over a month just to settle with a draw, Dyren. You do need, An outcome!"

"Very true my friend. Indeed, I wish for an outcome; even if it does not end in my favor." Dyren beamed a smile to Dan, telling him to keep going.

"If that's what you want, I will gladly go with it!" Dan charged at Dyren with full force. Dyren braced for the best impact to come, only to find out that his intention was something else. Dan slid lower and swept off Dyren's balance, toppling the mountain over.

"What the-"

Dyren was down. Dan had the perfect opportunity to force him to yield, and therefore disarm him. He turned to Dyren, to quickly point his sword right at his neck. No. An easier alternative was a wide swing right at Dyren's prone hand to knock his sword off. In that way, he would seal off the probability of winning in his favor. Forcing him to yield might not work. He would retaliate.

Very particular about Dyren, he realized it's costly to take chances with him. That was the moment for the wide swing. The battle was over. He had defeated a master of Immortian swords dancing.

Or so he thought. 

Dyren turned around and grabbed his wrist, holding the sword. Dan's eyes screamed 'What!' in absolute surprise, then Dyren slammed him down to the ground. It had hurt his arm quite badly. Dyren was unable to use the opportunity to knock off his sword. He had to recover first by getting away from Dan's range while he was still immobilized. 

He rose up and swiftly got away from his range, taking his time for a good long breath. "Damn it that was close!" 

Dan did not talk. He did stand up slowly, and mumbled to Dyren, "How did you know to do that?"

"Huh? What kind of question is that? A Master shall know these things-"

"No. How exactly did you know to counter a wide swing while the opponent is wary of the knowledge that you are capable of precisely catch hold of his wrist while you are down?"

"What?"

"His seemingly innocent reply does not make sense! Dyren Justenforth! You are so similar to a person I wanted to meet for so long. But why? That brush. It certainly did something to him, yet he had hidden it from me. Something is so familiar...

Who was your master Dyren? That is not a move everyone knows- wait. I remember!"

"Today I will teach you my own technique which I had discovered by myself. Only three people on this domain shall know it - You, me, and the Prince of Immortalia who happens to be my apprentice" Master Zunzen narrowed down his eyes on his seven-year-old son. "The technique to counter an opponent while he wide swings at you while you are on your knees," Dan remembered a conversation from eight years ago. That's it.

Dyren Justenforth was the Prince!

The winds dropped silent, as Dan locked his deadly gaze over Dyren's seemingly annoying stance.

Dan's eyes turned silvery white. The immense hatred and anger he possessed were evident with his barbaric charge towards Dyren. It seemed that he as finally found his life's greatest enemy, and he was right in front of him. Everything to his eye was blurred but Dyren.

He could only see Dyren; His annoying stance; and his annoying smile on his face; it all matched the description he was making about the prince of Immortalia for the past ten years since his father's death.

The prince was his sole enemy.

Dan performed a charged wide swing over Dyren's defense in an attempt to shatter it open, for a final decisive attack that will weaken him forever for the rest of the battle. Then Dyren was no more than a drunkard, let alone a master of sword dancing.

He landed the hit, to which Dyren was forced to kneel to his knee to pass the impact to the ground. The floor beneath him cracked and the ring seemed to shake down the cliff for a moment. Dan quickly withdrew to a safe distance after confirming his suspicion. This should have alerted any people nearby.

Dyren barely got back on his feet groaning in pain. Surely he had fractured his knee. Even a Kaisen could not handle a direct impact from intensity magic.

"So he is a damn Kaisen! No human would pass down an impact charged by Imor Inhilare intensity magic without breaking a bone or two and passing out right away. Heh, How interesting."

"Of course you are a damn intensity wielder. Crap!" Dyren collapsed to the ground unable to handle his injuries, then tried to stand back desperately.

Dan did not seem to back down now that Dyren is at his weakest. "Do you know, Dyren Justenforth Kaisen? My father considered you a better asset to train than me, even when I possessed a greater potential." Dyren's cough interrupted him. "If not for you, My father would have trained me to a master, just like you. So I expect you to show some real stuff in here to justify his decision." Dan pointed his sword at Dyren's throat, who was rather standing weakly, susceptible even to the wind.

"I doubt I even knew your father. Who are you even talking about!?"

"You will see," Dan grimaced at Dyren, charging his sword with silvery-white Imor Inhilare magic, to unleash on Dyren, as the world faded out of consciousness for him.

Reestablishing his stance, Dyren roared surpassing his weakness. "Aye, then. Bring it on!" 

(UNEDITED)

Word Count: 2000