Chapter 7: The Unannounced Duel

The underground vaults beneath the armory were freezing, the air heavy with the sharp smells of grease, rust, and damp iron.Torchlight flickered across rows of wooden weapon crates.Instead of the standard training equipment, the Nameless recruits had been ordered to load heavy iron transport crates—suspiciously unmarked and bearing none of the Kharvayn crest—onto wooden carts.The Grand Heir stood on the elevated wooden walkway, overseeing the operation with four armored personal guards at his side. Beyran paced beside him like an anxious hound, his fingers constantly fidgeting with the brass ring on his hand.“Move faster, you worthless filth!” Beyran snarled, kicking at a young recruit who staggered beneath the weight of an iron-banded crate.“The caravan leaves at dusk!”Tair gripped the handle of a heavy wooden crate with his left hand, dragging his right foot across the gravel floor. His throat burned with every breath, his constricted airway whistling like a cracked pipe.66 Hours, 10 Minutes.He set the crate beside the cart and swept his cold eyes across the operation.The iron crates did not contain scrap metal or raw ore.Through the narrow seams, Tair caught the distinct blue sheen of Resonance Steel—a high-grade alloy specifically used to forge armor-piercing spears for the Iron Vanguard.Under the guise of “equipment rotation,” the Grand Heir was systematically stripping the outpost of its reserves, leaving the lower-ranked recruits with nothing but blunt wooden swords when the assault came.“You. Lame.”A sharp voice echoed through the cavernous vault.It was Karyen, Beyran’s chief sycophant and the highest-ranking fighter among the Nameless recruits. Karyen was seventeen, broad-shouldered, and possessed a minor Earth Affinity that allowed him to harden his joints with compacted earth.Under the normal hierarchy, Karyen was expected to become a full guard captain by spring.Karyen approached and tossed a heavy wooden training staff at Tair’s feet. The staff struck the dust with a dull thud.“Beyran says you’ve been slacking,” Karyen mocked, stepping into Tair’s personal space. His breath reeked of cheap wine. “Slinking around the upper walls and giving people strange looks. How about you pick up that staff and show us that ‘secret technique’ you used on old Orren this morning?”Several recruits around them stopped loading crates to watch.The tension in the vault spiked instantly.Beyran watched from the walkway above. His face was pale, his knuckles white as he gripped the railing. He wanted Karyen to break Tair’s remaining healthy leg—to silence him before the threat represented by the mute cripple spiraled out of control.Tair did not reach for the staff.He remained motionless, his weight resting on his healthy left leg. His posture was hunched, his useless right arm hanging limp against his side.He studied Karyen’s stance.Earth Affinity. Heavy foundational gravity. Far too dependent on his right shoulder when initiating a charge.“…No…” Tair rasped, his dry, pathetic whisper drawing laughter from Karyen’s followers. “…I should train…”“I’m not asking, cripple!” Karyen snapped.The story has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.His Earth Affinity surged. A faint brown luminescence appeared in his eyes as thin, rocky scales hardened along his right forearm.He reached out with his heavy, dust-covered hand to seize Tair by the throat.Tair did not flinch.He did not draw a weapon.He did not even raise a defensive guard.Temporal Analysis—Activate.BZZZZT.The enormous vault slowed to an absolute crawl.The flickering torchlight became solid tongues of yellow crystal. Dust particles hung motionless in the air. Karyen’s reaching hand advanced at microscopic speed, his broad chest shifting forward as his weight transferred eighty percent onto his front right heel.Because of his Earth Affinity, Karyen’s body was dense, but his center of mass was rigid. To launch a heavy grapple, he had to lock his right ankle into the ground to anchor his strength.Tair did not need the strength to break a stone.He only needed to move the ground beneath it.In slow motion, Tair did not strike Karyen’s chest or arm.With a precise, minimal pivot of his left heel, he extended the tip of his boot three centimeters to the left—placing it directly behind Karyen’s locked right heel.Then he released his vision.Disable.Time snapped back to full speed.Karyen’s momentum drove his heavy body forward with explosive force—directly into the invisible axis Tair had created.TRIP.Without landing a single blow, Karyen’s Earth-enhanced mass turned against itself. His locked ankle caught against Tair’s boot, instantly destroying his balance.As gravity seized control, Karyen’s eyes widened with sudden, helpless terror.CRASH—CRACK!Karyen flew forward, his face slamming directly into a row of iron supply crates. The heavy metal crates toppled over, crushing his arm and sending a cloud of rust and dust exploding into the air.Karyen groaned in agony as the earth armor around his arm shattered against the iron like dried clay.Silence descended upon the vault.The recruits froze, mouths hanging open.No one had seen Tair swing a sword.No one had seen him channel the Essence.From their perspective, Karyen had simply attacked a cripple, stumbled over his own feet like a drunk, and destroyed himself against the iron crates.Tair remained exactly where he was, his body resting on his left leg, his expression completely blank.He did not laugh.He did not boast.He merely raised his head toward the wooden walkway.Above, Beyran stumbled backward and fell against the railing, all color draining from his face.Beyran had not seen an accident.He had seen a monster capable of twisting space without moving a muscle.Tair slowly opened his mouth, fixing his hollow, dark eyes on Beyran.He made no sound.But his lips clearly shaped a single silent word:“Next.”High above, the Grand Heir’s eyes narrowed into two dangerous slits as he watched the Nameless cripple standing amid the wreckage of the iron crates.The older man touched the hilt of the concealed blade at his side.A cold, murderous pressure blossomed through the vault.Tair felt it.Yet his pulse did not quicken.66 Hours, Tair thought as he turned away to retrieve his shovel.Keep watching, Grand Heir.The show hasn’t even begun.