"I could never put anyone as my equal at all. And now, I am tired of seeing anyone being called a genius, when in truth, they are not."
His voice grew cold and louder with his arrogance.
"I can't believe people now call anyone a genius. I am tired of holding back now. The gap between us will continue to grow, but that statement wasn't for me, my dear sister; it was for you. Not just you, nobody can surpass me."
His words stunned all 4 inside the great hall. That was quite a bold statement that came out of his mouth. It will be an utter humiliation if he can't back his words.
But this is the way he wishes to go by now, not a trash, not a weak guy either, he will stomp his feet on every genius and become the greatest.
Lose? If he, as the author, the one who created everything in this place, loses, then what's the point in him being the author?
'I will make them all feel that I only acted like a jerk, because no one has the right to stand beside me. If I can beat my genius sister, then it will be easier to spread the tale of the genius who stayed hidden till now.'
"What do you mean by that, Noah? We all know what strength you have. It's good that we are the only people here, if this had happened outside-"
Drever, now enraged by his words, decided to reprimand Noah, and yet, he couldn't finish his words before Noah spoke again.
"There, there, father. I can understand how you will feel, seeing the genius daughter you nurtured lose to your so-called pathetic son. But that's just life isn't it? There will always be a bigger fish in the sea. I mean, you understand that more than me, right?"
He let out a small laugh at the end, clearly intending to mock him. Even when Drever considers strength supreme, he is still not the strongest in the empire; in fact, he harbours an inferiority complex because he can never win against that person.
His daughter, whom he thinks is a genius, is his only way to redeem himself, to nurture her and turn her into the strongest knight of the empire.
"Sigh~ a lot of time has been wasted already, and I do not wish to waste it more talking with you." He focused his attention on Noelle once again and asked, "Then, shall we start now, sister? Don't worry, if I lose, I will never cause trouble again, for everyone, I mean. Or you can back away right now and let me take that throne for myself."
Noelle did not say a word, she couldn't figure out what was going on with her brother at all.
'Why have you become like this? You used to be so sweet and gentle to me. What even changed you? I always believed that someday you would change, but maybe I was wrong there.'
After a brief moment, her lips parted and a sweet and melodious voice escaped her mouth and she asked,
"You promise? That you will stop it all if you lose."
"I do," Noah replied with a smirk, he had no intention of losing to her, at least not here.
Noelle, closed her eyes for a second before saying, "Alright. I accept your duel, brother."
"If that is what you both wish, then that's settled. Go to the arena to duel." Eleanor spoke with a worried look on her face.
She couldn't do anything here, if this is what both of her children want, then it's fine.
'No matter if you win or lose, mother will do anything in her power to help you. If not from the Duke household, then from my family too.'
With that, all of them went to the arena. They can't have a fight inside the great hall, right? Even if it was sturdy and could handle the battle of two beginners, the thing here wasn't about just a duel.
It was the duel to decide the heir of the dukedom, so of course, people need to see for themselves who their next ruler is going to be and what they can do.
Duke walked first, and the duchess, Noelle and Noah followed after them.
A knight soldier was ordered to have the arena cleared, to begin the duel.
As he walked towards the arena, Noah glanced at his sister once.
'She has a serene aura around her, but I can't be reckless here. She is strong, I know it. But I can't let her win as well, and I need to do it such that nobody can tell my realm from it. I do not wish to reveal my realm to anyone, so I can always pretend I am superior to them, always be the strongest. For that, I need to beat her effortlessly.'
He was at the peak tier for the channelling stage, and Noelle was at the low tier, gathering stage. The difference wasn't that big, but she has honed her skills for years while he hasn't.
So the thing he can do right now is,
'Make my own skill. That might be the only way for me to win here.'
Every skill or spell that has been created in this world has been done by using the mana wisely; in simple terms, they all came from the imagination of the user.
If you can focus properly on what you wish to make from mana and your focus is clear and solid, then you can make spells and skills of your own.
In this situation, he has the advantage of all elemental affinities.
He can make any spell or skill he wants from them, but he needs to make his mind clear here. But even that isn't an issue right now.
'If I can focus properly, then I can win here. So my aspect 'Purest Mana' is gonna be the goat here.'
They soon reached the arena, and both Noah and Noelle stood beside each other on the huge stage. The Duke and duchess, took their seat at the highest point and the Duke announced,
"This duel that is about to happen today, is to decide who will be the next to sit on the throne of the Duke and manage this region. The winner here will be the next heir, and that will be final. And now...
Start the duel."