I became a legion lich

262 Black feather clan

Both youths faced each other in close quarters combat, using quick spells just to cover a gap in their defense or try to break the other’s posture and finish the fight, but neither of them had broken the stalemate.

Despite knowing how to use advanced spells and spells, the two preferred to only use simple spells and focus on the melee combat they specialized in. They knew that if they tried to focus on casting a complex spell, the other would exploit the moment of concentration to attack and end the fight in an instant.

The beastmen on the right wore short single-edged swords similar to Japanese wakizashis and wore only a conjuration ring on one finger of the left hand and cotton pants, tradition requiring all warriors to use only their weapons and the minimum of protective equipment.

He was approximately 1.84 meters tall with white skin, black hair and eyes characteristic of black hawk beastmen and appeared to be in his late teens despite being 25 years old.

The beastmen on the left, on the other hand, stood out not only from their opponent, but also from all surrounding fighters. Despite being a member of the Black Feather Clan, it had gray hair, eyes, and feathers, setting it apart from all other Black Hawks.

Standing 1,90 meters, he was easily the largest of the fighters and wielded a tachi with both hands, making use of his large build and physical strength to fight. Unlike his opponent, he had the mana body trait and could cast magic without relying on items.

Despite his trait propelling him beyond his peers, he was struggling to keep up with his opponent. He was only in the third layer, although he was about to break through to the fourth, his core required much more energy than usual and slowed down his progress compared to the others.

The young man’s name was Ash Blackfeathers, the only son of the master of the Black Feathers Clan. His obvious name was both a pun on his unique colors and a reminder of how different he was from the rest of the clan.

Most of the audience’s eyes were focused on the fight between the two and the influential members discussed how the fight would play out. More precisely, how long would Ash be able to last in battle.

.....

Although Ash was the clan master’s son, he was an outcast to the entire clan because of the color of his feathers. Among the beastmen clans, babies were sometimes born with genetic defects that would not inherit the clan’s abilities, or would have defective abilities.

Normally, clans would kill these babies while they were young to weed out the bad apples, but Ash was spared. Babies born with a mana body would become extremely powerful warriors or mages, so the clan raised them with great care.

Most would also be geniuses provided they were properly nurtured, many of the magical discoveries being made by such geniuses. The clan had been torn between sparing him and eliminating him, but they chose to spare him out of respect for the clan master, on the condition that Ash never had children and couldn’t take over the clan when he grew up.

Ash’s mother had died during his birth, leaving his father the only member of his family and one of the few people who cared for him.

As the clan master refused to remarry and the position of clan master could not be passed on to Ash, it was decided that the next most influential family in the clan would assume the position, although they would only have power the moment the current master abdicated of your position.

Even though he was spared, Ash’s childhood was surrounded by loneliness. Even before forming its core, Ash was forced to train in order to prove to the clan that he was worthy of life.

But it was after surviving the core formation and starting to manifest its flames that the real hell broke out. Ash was unable to control his flames and they indiscriminately burned the energy of anything they touched, even the spells themselves.

The black hawks took great pride in their energy-burning flames, and knowing that Ash was incapable of using them was enough to make him a source of distaste for the entire clan.

Isolation changed to contempt and they even considered going back on their word and eliminating him, forcing Ash to train ten times harder to prove he was still useful alive.

Ash hated his situation and the clan for forcing him to live that way, but there was nothing he could do to reverse his situation. The most he could do was train because his life depended on it and hope for a better future.

“What are the chances of the tarnished winning the fight? To have someone like him win the competitions would be a disgrace to the entire clan.” One of the beastmen in the audience asked aloud, calling Ash by the nickname the entire clan addressed him.

“It’s almost nil. He can’t use the devouring flames, our greatest weapon, so it’s impossible for him to win. Even though he endlessly casts spells with his body, Loke just needs to burn his spells and keep putting pressure on. This fight is already won.” The head of the army’s magic unit spoke loudly in mockery, sneering at Ash.

“I bet three bars of white platinum on Loke. This tarnished one is barely able to fight back, even though he’s blessed with mana body.” He continued talking and people in the audience started to join in the betting.

“I bet one earthen tungsten spear that the tarnished can’t handle lasts another 5 minutes. If it wasn’t for the mana body, he wouldn’t even have set foot in this arena.” The leader of the assault unit deliberately spoke loudly, making most of the audience members laugh.

Earth tungsten was the second strongest metal, second only to adamant. The metal had a high affinity for the earth element and did not have the same weakness to magic, so it was highly prized.

“Hey, it’s no fun if nobody bets on the tarnished.” One of the retired warriors who had been watching just for fun spoke up, but didn’t step forward to support Ash. Nobody would be a fool to bet on a losing horse, the game would just end up as a joke between them.

“I cover the bet.” The clan master approached them silently while hiding his presence and spoke, startling all the beastmen around.

The master was a 2,00 meters brute with thick eyebrows, a broad jaw, but what stood out most were the huge black wings on his back, which were almost twice the diameter of the other beastmen.

He glared coldly at the surrounding beastmen, causing most to lower their eyes from staring at him.

Despite the contempt they felt for Ash and how much they considered him a failure, they wouldn’t dare do that in front of the clan master. Not only was he the leader of them all, he was also the most powerful warrior in the clan.

“My lord, what are you doing here? I thought you would be busy preparing for the next attempted invasion of the Tivan kingdom.” the head of the mage unit asked confused by the sudden appearance of the clan master, who shouldn’t be present at this event.

The kingdoms Tivan and Brumia had been at war for a long time, but despite that, it was mostly Tivan trying to invade them while Brumia defended itself. Alone, the kingdom of Tivan was unable to even dream of matching Brumia and its mighty beastmen, but it was a different story when the order and the church became involved.

The order and the church always supported the Tivan kingdom in battle, turning the battles in Tivan’s favor and forcing all clans to band together to stop the invasions.

The clan master should have been busy preparing to support the sky wing clan in battle, so it was odd that he was here to witness the battles between the rookies, even if it was his son who was fighting.

“More than half of the clan’s important figures are present here, so I thought it wouldn’t be a problem to postpone the preparations for a day and watch my son’s battle. Humans are strangely quiet anyway, so there’s no reason to rush. ” The clan head spoke, unaware that the humans were too busy dealing with the evolved demihumans to continue the war.

Many soldiers and mages were sent to support Belaster and Mirkor, so the kingdom of Tivan was taking a more defensive stance.

“What were you saying about betting on my son’s defeat?” The clan head continued, not letting the audience members change the subject after hearing them insult his son.

He couldn’t openly punish them for insulting Ash, as the clan was already being merciful as per their traditions, but nothing stopped him from fighting back at his own game.

“My lord, we were just discussing the contestants’ chances-” The head of the army’s magic unit tried to explain, but the clan master didn’t let him get away.

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