The Future Duke of the North

"Your accent is more from the western province. Do you hail from there?" Erlandr asked.

"I grew up in the capital. While my parents were originally from the south, the inn they worked for and I grew up in, had a lot of merchants from the west." This was part of the backstory that Vesta helped refine. She even told him a few pronunciations that he needed to change if he wanted to claim parents from the south.

"Can I ask what guild you're from?" He asked.

"I'm not from a guild. I'm actually a freelancer." I replied.

"Really. With your skills that must be by choice, or have you offended all of them?" The young lord had a hint of glee in his eye.

"It's by choice. I like to have my freedom. I do have friendly relations with the Rainbow Blades and the Silver Tongues." I said.

"Those are some powerful friends. The Rainbow Blades took second during the last festival and the Silver Tongues took fifth. It'll be interesting how things play out this time. Who do you think will be the top guilds this year?" Erlandr asked.

"I can't say for certain. I came to the north in the early spring and haven't interacted with many of them." I said.

"Understandable. Obviously the Guardians of Ice will take the number one spot. The Rainbow Blades will most likely take number two but Lightning's Embrace and Wolf's Fangs will give them a run for their number. Hela's Vanguard and the Silver Tongues will most likely round out the A ranked guilds. B ranked will be much more of a competition. How was the guild competition in the west?" He said.

"I don't really know, I'm from the capital and I didn't really follow guild rankings." I replied.

Each province had different ways to determine guild rankings. In the north major competitive festivals like this would be the determining factor. The top six guilds would be classified as A ranked. The Duchess would decide where the cut off for B ranked would be and the rest would be C ranked with the new untested guild being D ranked.

Only the royal family could classify a guild as S ranked and there were currently only two; one in the capital and one in the eastern province.

"That's right, I'm sorry. You just remind me of a… friend I have from the west. If I didn't know any better I'd say you were siblings." He said.

There was no doubt he had interacted with my half brother Eadri, but we didn't look or act all that similar since he took after our father and I took after my true mother.

"It has been a pleasure making your acquaintance but I am a bit tired after the day's events." Normally I wouldn't speak so informally to him but he didn't introduce himself with his title. Usually that meant that he didn't want to stand on formality during this conversation.

"Ahh, I was hoping to have a quick match with you. It's always a pleasure to fight against young talents from the Union." He looked disappointed.

"My Lord, your mother specifically instructed that you weren't allowed to participate in the festival." His guard said. While he wasn't wearing the black armor he did when I first met him, he still had an intimidating aura.

"Randulfr this wouldn't be a part of the festival, just a friendly match to help me improve my skills." Erlandr said.

"As the young adventurer just said, he's been competing all day and likely won't be able to keep up with you." Randulfr said.

"If that's the case I have some potions to help invigorate you and I just won't use my Lineages." He replied to me not his guard.

"A few blows shouldn't be too much of a hassle." I replied with a fake smile. Both Randulfr and I realized that there was no talking him out of it.

"Fantastic. We can wait for this match to end." He said as he handed over a green potion to me.

It didn't take long for the two combatants in the ring to finish with an older man with two hand axes winning. The senior representative was a little shocked when he was told we'd be going next but was smart enough not to object. The witch on the sideline was also nervous as she looked between us. It was hard to tell who she was worried for more, the future Duke or someone that just received a witch's name.

"I tend to lead with my left and am a little forceful on the down swing." Erlandr said.

"You don't need to pity me." I instantly responded. He had been friendly but I still didn't like being looked down upon.

"It's not pity. I just saw you fight and so have an unfair advantage." He replied with seriousness.

His sincerity took me back. The Osgar fighting style relied on a bit of deception by making your opponent believe you had a weakness that you didn't. What this young Lord was doing went against what my father had taught me about fighting.

I gave him a respectful nod that he returned before pulling an axe out of his Storage Ring. His bearing changed at that moment, he became much more serious. When the signal was given he launched towards me leading with his left.

The force of his swing reverberated through my arm as I didn't use my Osgar aura to its full extent. I didn't want to expose that in front of the present crowd, so I used just enough to keep it from showing its red outline that formed at this stage.

I stuck to my defensive stance as he came at me with relentless swings. While he had an impressive aggressive stance, it wasn't enough to break through. After seeing that he wasn't making any headway, he altered tactics to a more controlled fighting style.

"I see, this is your normal style. Your last opponent was expecting you to be defensive, so you became aggressive off the bat. Now that I assumed you'd be aggressive, you became defensive. Randulfr has been trying to get me to understand this for a while now." He had backed a few steps away as he spoke.

"See, this duel is already paying off." He turned to say to Randulfr.

I used this opportunity to switch to my aggressive stance and went on the offensive. He used his right gauntlet to block as a blue energy shield extended out with each of my attacks. It reminded me of all the magic items I had used in training growing up.

"I've also been trying to teach you not to lower your guard." Randulfr said as I pressed my attacks.

I only threw him off for a few strikes before he smiled and was able to take the initiative back. Back on the defensive I let him push me back a while before switching to my counter stance. His axe came at my side quicker than I expected and a light red shimmer covered the area out of instinct.

As his strike stopped of its own accord an inch away from my side, my blade had found its way to his neck. We both froze. His axe by my side in a killing strike and my blade at his neck in a killing move.

"You're as good as I thought. Next time, we'll have to spar when you're fully rested. I can show you my Lineage." Erlandr said.

"I look forward to it." I replied. And the truth was I was looking forward to it, even if it risked exposing who I was. I hadn't had this much fun sparring in a while.

Around us a slow cheer began. When I looked over to who started the cheering I saw Lariss, Thelora, and Adalgard. It was at this point we lowered our weapons.

"Thank you for the match." Erlandr said with a bow.

"Thank you as well." I replied, making sure to bow lower than him.

As we exited the ring the witch had a moment of pause to decide who to help first but in the end placed her hands on Erlandr's shoulders then did the same to mine. I watched with my spiritual senses as the healing energy swept through his body.

"My Lord, had I known you wanted to spar a little I would have gladly offered." Lord Barthurr Ordir said with a respectful bow and a side glare at me.

By the Spirits I hated watching people suck up to my half brother growing up. But it did give me the chance to give a respectful bow and leave the situation.

"You were amazing Wilmaer. Even though you held back you were still able to keep up with a future Duke." Lariss said.

"He wasn't exactly going all out on me either." I said.

"Not bad. We might actually have a good chance of receiving a blessing this year." Adalgard said.

Thelora hooked her arm around me. "Come on, you must be tired. I might even let you rest your head in my lap."

Lariss soon grabbed my other arm. "He's probably hungry. Let's go to that food stall we stopped at on the third day. They had a wonderful goat stew."

As the two pulled me along, Adalgard let out a hearty laugh.

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It took awhile for Lord Erlandr to get away from Lord Barthurr. The young man had been trying to get into his good graces for years and the former only allowed it to continue since the latter was the son of a Margrave.

"I like him. Put him on the list for mother." Erlandr said.

"Of course." Outwardly Randulfr had an emotionless expression but inwardly frowded. He knew the Duchess had her eyes on that young adventurer and didn't want to interfere with him at this point.

"His fighting style was familiar but it was actually his face that is really bothering me. Where do I recognize him from?" Erlandr said.

Randulfr had his suspicions when he saw the young man in the abandoned shop a few weeks ago but confirmed it when he saw the faint red aura protecting the adventurer's side. This was another reason he knew his mistress wasn't going to be too happy that her son had taken an interest in this person.