I am Just an Average Tamer

From the mouth of the cave, a figure slowly emerged—lean, quiet, calculating. A boy, maybe seventeen or eighteen, blonde hair swayed with the light breeze.

His eyes were mismatched—one silver, one black—and he held a short crescent blade in one hand.

"You're good," the boy said smoothly, stepping over a rune with precision. "But not perfect."

Kai didn't move. "Who are you?"

"I could ask you the same," the stranger said, then looked around. "Not many tamers I've seen using assassin-style traps. You hiding something?"

"No," Kai said flatly. "Just don't like being watched."

"Too bad."

Then the boy moved.

Fast.

Kai barely shifted to the side as a throwing knife whizzed past him, embedding itself where his head had been.

Vael shrieked—a sonic burst—but the boy rolled, throwing up a shimmering light barrier mid-air and bouncing the wave off its surface.

He landed on his feet, sliding slightly, then lunged.

Kai's dagger flicked into his hand, parrying the blade swipe.

Cling!

Their weapons met in a clash of sparks, but Kai wasn't aiming for a kill—he was testing.

And so was the stranger.

They circled briefly before the boy twisted low and swept at Kai's legs.

Kai jumped.

But it wasn't the blade that caught him—it was the kick to his ribs mid-air that sent him skidding back.

Vael launched a counter-blast.

[Echoing Ball!]

A sphere of compressed sonic energy—but the boy jumped to the wall, pushing off of it with uncanny balance, flipping above the blast radius and landing light-footed.

Kai narrowed his eyes.

"Smart," he muttered, "You didn't disable the trap. You walked around it."

The boy grinned. "Took me three seconds to spot it. Your trigger points were predictable—too linear."

Kai slid his dagger into reverse grip. "So you gonna take the token? You know it's fake."

"I know, but" the boy said, raising his crescent blade again. "You look like a decent challenge."

"Then don't hold back."

Kai moved first this time.

He dashed low, sliding under the boy's swing and flicking his wrist—two wires shot out, aimed at the ankles.

The boy jumped, twisting, and hurled a smoke orb to the ground—blinding for a second. When the mist cleared, he was gone.

Or so it seemed.

A whisper behind Kai made him spin—and duck. The crescent blade passed just inches from his face.

He countered with a sidekick, hitting the boy's side, but he absorbed it with a barrier mid-impact and retaliated with an elbow.

Kai caught it, twisted the arm, and they grappled briefly before separating again.

Vael hissed, ready to launch again, but Kai raised a hand. "Stay."

The boy blinked. "You don't want help?"

"I'm curious what you can do."

The boy smirked, adjusting his blade. "Same."

Their standoff resumed.

In the arena, the crowd leaned forward in their seats as the large hovering screen flickered to focus on the standoff inside the dark cave.

The magic artifact's lens adjusted to the low light, enhancing visibility for the audience.

"Now this is what I wanted to see," said an elderly professor with sharp eyes and a neatly trimmed beard—Professor Halvar, head of tactical combat studies.

"Both are using their terrain, misdirection, and close-quarters control. That blonde boy with the crescent blade… he's nimble."

"Yeah, not bad," murmured Professor Maelora, her silver hair glinting.

Inside the cave.

Kai's boots scraped against gravel as he side-stepped, his dagger gleaming in the faint light from a glowing moss patch above.

His opponent's crescent blade hovered in a defensive arc, a feint in his left hand—not a weapon, but a glowing crystal-like sphere. Blue energy pulsed through it.

"You can caste spells too, huh," Kai muttered.

"Gotta keep you guessing." The boy smirked—and then suddenly slammed the crystal into the ground.

Whum!

A concussive wave rippled out, trying to throw Kai off-balance.

But he spun with the force, dancing on the edge of its radius like a leaf in the wind, and launched two needles—one toward the boy's shoulder, the other toward the spell crystal.

Ping! Ping!

One was deflected by the boy's blade, the other shattered the crystal.

"You broke my toy." The boy looked almost amused, but his eyes darkened. "Alright then."

He surged forward, feinting high with the crescent blade and sweeping low with a conjured wind arc—fast enough to slice stone.

Whoosh!

Kai bent backward, letting the edge pass over his chest by mere inches, and with a flick of his foot, kicked up dust into the boy's face.

The blonde cursed, coughing—just as Kai lunged forward.

But the boy spun mid-cough and countered with a rising elbow—Kai ducked under it, grabbed his wrist, and flipped him clean over the shoulder.

Thud!

The boy hit the ground, but twisted his fall into a roll, sprang back, and slashed forward—this time nicking Kai's side.

A shallow cut, but it bled.

"Argh."

...

"He got him!" shouted one of the boys in the outer stands. "That blonde guy actually cut him!"

Professor Halvar chuckled, stroking his beard.

Another professor, with sun-brown skin and a long blue robe, said. "That black haired boy reads movement like a predator stalking prey. He's not dodging randomly—he's testing him."

"Still," Maelora said, "That other boy… not bad. He's not afraid of him. He's trying to dominate the rhythm."

Kai wiped the blood with his thumb and smirked.

"Wasn't bad."

"You're not mad?"

"I like when prey bites back."

The boy exhaled and raised his hand. A pulse of energy gathered, this time a series of magic runes floated mid-air, clicking into place.

"A chaining spell?" Kai narrowed his eyes.

Five glowing anchors appeared—one at each exit, and three above. The cave shimmered with pale blue barriers.

"You're locking us in?"

"No escape. One of us leaves."

Kai flicked his wrist—wires danced around his fingertips like ribbons, then darted forward, wrapping around a stalagmite and pulling it loose.

It collapsed onto the barrier, sparking violently.

"Just making sure," Kai said, "You're serious."

The boy dropped into a stance, blade low. "Always am."

They charged at the same time.

What followed was a brutal exchange.

Clang! Clang!

Blades rang, sparks flew, and the cave echoed with sharp grunts and thuds.

Kai used his environment like it was an extension of his limbs—kicking off walls, dragging his dagger against rocks to deflect blows, using shadows to flicker in and out of visibility.

The boy responded with blinding speed and adaptive magic.

He'd throw up wind shields to absorb blows, conjure flashbang sparks to disorient, and slash from behind them. His crescent blade moved like a ribbon of steel, graceful and deadly.

At one point, he parried Kai's stab and kicked him into the wall—only for Kai to rebound, vault off the opposite rock, and slam his boot into the boy's chest.

Crack!

The boy hit the ground, groaning, but rolled, bringing up a fist and firing a burst of fire-magic mid-spin.

Kai ducked it—barely—and skidded to a halt.

"You've got good instincts," he said.

"And you're a freak," the boy coughed, grinning despite the bruise forming on his jaw.

"Thanks."

Kai vanished.

The boy gasped, spinning, blade ready—but too late.

Thunk!

Kai was behind him, dagger to his neck, breath calm.

The boy froze.

"Dead," Kai said simply.

Crowd roared.

"W-Whoa…"

"Did you see that?! He just blinked—no—he vanished!"

"What kind of movement skill is that?!"

"Holy crap, he didn't even call a beast!"

Professor Halvar smirked. "That's the scary part. He hasn't needed them yet."

Maelora crossed her arms, narrowing her eyes. "If he bonds with stronger creatures... we might have a monster on our hands."

Kai removed the dagger, stepping back.

The boy exhaled in defeat, rubbing his neck.

"Alright… I give up. You win."

Kai held out a hand and helped him up. "What's your name?"

"Corrin."

"Kai."

Corrin chuckled. "You're good. Really good."

Kai didn't respond. He just turned, flicked a pebble onto one of the spell anchors—and as it shattered, the barrier faded.

Vael fluttered in silently and landed on Kai's shoulder, chirping once.

"You watched the whole thing?" Kai murmured.

The bird blinked slowly.

Corrin tilted his head. "...That your scout?"

"Something like that."

Then, together, the two boys walked toward the deeper part of the cave, where another path opened.

But Kai's mind was already shifting gears.

The miasma outside was thickening. And many powerful competitors still roamed.

He'd fought off ambushes, tricked traps, and dueled talented enemies.

But the trial wasn't over yet.

[Why didn't you used your full power?]

'He seemed like a fun guy, so I didn't want him to get eliminated.'

[Huh, seriously?]

Kai didn't respond, just glanced over his shoulder and saw Corrin trailing behind him, hands behind his head, eyes glancing around, whistling.

'And he didn't used his full powers too.'

'And I don't know why, but I had the feeling, that he did.'

He turned his gaze forward.

'Then I would have been dead.'

----

End of the chapter.

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