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Needless to say, none of those on the scene looked at Hal with the same eyes anymore while Runemaster Fenrir racked his brain to know exactly how Hal had done all this.

This was not only an abundant use of Astral energy, it was also abundant use of multitasking.

Hal needed to at the very least remain in control of those constructs so that they did not fizzle out or falter.

This was incredible.

There was no other word for it.

Well, there was another word for it and that word was impossible.

There was no way Hal could have done it. Surely he must have been using some means of cheating but the older man could not just put a finger on it.

Eventually, after about ten minutes, Hal slowly let the constructs fade while he deactivated the Rune circles to the applause of all those present.

Even Lucile could not completely remain uninterested.

This young man might just have a lot more than meets the eye.

Not to mention that he had quite nicely used the Sheik\'s love for talent and eccentricities to his favor.

"That was marvelous. Simply marvelous. And ingenious as well. I have never seen such before. Of course, you are invited to the Auction. In fact, why stop there. I want you to be a guest in my home." The Sheik said and his advisor Gavin nodded in agreement.

The show was nothing short of impressive.

Then the Sheik turned to Master Fenrir who had been staring at Hal with a very annoyed expression, 

"Master Fenrir, will you please grace us with a performance" he said.

It was clear that the Sheik could not care less about how the Runemaster was feeling at that moment.

Since Fenrir had promised entertainment then he needed to deliver.

"I... Of course my lord" he said.

Fenrir frowned and walked forward to stretch his hand and project when he paused and looked back at Hal who had stepped back to give him room.

"You know what? I don\'t want to" he said suddenly.

The Sheik looked mighty displeased and frowned, 

"You said what?" He asked in a menacing voice.

Fenrir waved his hand to placate the Sheik, 

"I meant I don\'t want to do it this way. I wish to entertain you my lord but I feel it would only be pathetic to try and follow what... Runemaster Hal has done so splendidly so why don\'t I do things a little differently?" He asked.

The Sheik relaxed although he was still frowning, 

"What do you propose?" 

Fenrir turned towards Hal, 

"In an attempt to entertain you, my lord, I challenge Runemaster Hal to Rune Duel, where we can decide who the better Runemaster is.

I believe he will not turn me down before you." Fenrir said with a smirk.

The Sheik addressed Hal, 

"What say you, Master Hal?" He asked.

Hal shrugged and smiled lightly, 

"I don\'t see why not"

The Sheik grinned, 

"Wonderful, then we will adjourn to my arena where you can battle to your heart\'s content."

...

A Rune Duel was quite as it sounded. It occurs between two Runemasters and the use of Cosmic or any other energy apart from Astral energy is prohibited.

Rune Duels regularly don\'t go on for too long since there was a limit to how long normal Runemasters could keep harnessing Astral energy through their bodies and as such there was a need to plan ahead and end it all in one fell swoop.

When they arrived at the Arena and Master Fenrir began to stroll about the combat grounds casually, Hal knew he was laying down the foundations for his attack... and while it\'s well within the rules of a Rune Duel, there was a need to subtle and hide the locations of those traps from your opponent.

Fenrir\'s mindset was easy to understand. He must have thought Hal had gone all out in entertaining the Sheik and his guests and as such could no longer attempt many projections.

And to be fair, he was actually quite right and Hal had indeed used up all the Astral energy he had stored in his body but he could still harness Astral energy like other Runemasters; which was to sense it with his Astral sense and let it pass through his body for infusion or projection.

Even then, he did not have enough to lay down imprecise traps like the ones Fenrir was laying down.

He needed for his attacks to be with absolute precision which was going to be hard since Fenrir was going to be focussing on herding him to his laid down traps.

Traps that Hal could not sense even if he wished to as they had not been placed by him.

Of course, he could still sense in a general sense that there was Astral energy in action in the Arena but considering this was a Rune Duel, that information was useless and he might as well have not known anything.

Fenrir saw Hal standing in place and staring at the ground with furrowed brows and sneered, 

"It\'s nothing personal, young man. I just really need the Sheik\'s approval." He said and took on a battle stance with his hands stretched and ready to cast runes.

"Why?" Hal asked.

"Why what?" 

"Why do you need his approval?" Hal clarified.

Fenrir sighed, 

"Being a Rank 4 Runemaster is not exactly lucrative since there are so many of us. The most important job I\'m likely to get is handling Teleportation circles if I don\'t rank up.

But I don\'t want to Rank up and I don\'t want the pressure of needing to Rank up.

I also don\'t have passion for all that \'Become the strongest crap\'. However the Sheik is on the lookout for a runemaster to keep by his side and if I prove myself, that could very well be me.

It\'s stable and I can do it until the day I die."

Hal\'s eyes widened slightly,

\'My goodness, this guy would be perfect for a white-collar job on earth. I mean, he does not have any ambition and is only looking for stability.

He\'s a boring and lazy fellow just begging for the corporate fat cat life which, to be honest, would still require a bit of ambition but he can handle that much.

Too bad he was born in the wrong world.\' Hal thought.

\'What are you going to do?\' Grimoire said.

\'Well... There was never a certainty that I would win the Duel especially after the amount of Astral energy I already used for my astral constructs.\' Hal said in a suggestively lazy voice.

\'So... You want to throw the fight?\' Grimoire asked.

\'Why not? Besides if I don\'t have the Sheik\'s approval already after that show I just put on, then winning this stupid duel is not going to do it.\' He said.

Grimoire paused,

\'You know what? You\'ve still got some goodness in you.\' It noted.

Hal rolled his eyes mentally, 

\'Yeah, I need to drown it out with some Evil deeds later. How does swooping in and wooing the lady the Sheik has his eyes on sound?\' 

\'It sounds just like something you would enjoy\'

\'Immensely so\' Hal said with a vigorous mental nod as he now focused his attention on Fenrir.

The Arena had seating for spectators and under the honor tent sat the Sheik, his advisor, and his guests who looked down into the combat grounds with expectations.

The Sheik raised his hand with a smile, 

"Begin" he said and Hal felt a bit like a gladiator.

Fenrir immediately projected Runes (Fist) which predictably morphed into green fists that slammed towards Hal who projected a Rune of his own (shield) which merely expanded to receive and block the runes.

The Fists did not dissipate but continued to bear down on the Rune shield and by consequence pushed Hal back before he sidestepped suddenly and the first went over to slam into the wall that surrounded the combat grounds.

*Bang*

Hal did not look back to see the impact or the damage as after he sidestepped he was already swinging his arm and tossing the Rune shield which doubled as an attacking tool, at Fenrir.

Even if he was going to throw the fight, he was still going to make it believable.

This was his first Rune Duel after all and it might very well not be his last. 

He needed to get a feel of it.