I ran furiously towards the huge flying dragon and tried to slash him down with a quick attack, he shot fire from his mouth at me, and forced me to back off.
“I have finally found you beast; I'm not leaving before I take your head. you are going to pay for what you did...”
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Chapter 1: palindrome
Panic and fear were all I was feeling, what a terrible way to start the day.
“I finally woke up from this nightmare .”
“Estora! Estora! Come here, breakfast is ready!”
“Okay mom I’m coming!”
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Hopefully she made us good food today, I’m starving, I need to eat well today so I can get ready for fighting this evening.
I have to get better at using my sword to be able to defeat my dad in a duel one day. Even after fighting my friends every day in the village; I’m still not close to my dad’s fighting skills.
Even though my dad Nashami was the strongest soldier in our region Anni back in the day, but he’s just a normal merchant now, and he hasn’t fought anyone in years, he must have gotten weaker after all this time. I will try to challenge him again tomorrow, maybe this time I will win.
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“Are you going to train with your friends again today, sweetie?”
“Mom I told you don’t call me that, I’m not a kid anymore! I’m 14 years old now, and to prove to you that I am grown, tomorrow I will beat dad in a fighting duel.”
“Haha, do you still think you can beat me; you still need 100 more years of training to reach my level, and I’m sorry but I can’t fight you tomorrow , I have to go to work, I will be gone for a week,”
“Dad, you always say that. You know I have been training so hard to beat you, and now you don’t want to fight me or practice with me , why do you not care about me?”
“Estora listen to me, Tara and I love you so much you are our only child and we care about you. I am just busy with work. I just want you to be happy and live a good life, and I also have to keep working to make sure that your mom Tara does not feel like— I just don’t want her to feel like she’s missing any of her needs.”
“If you want me to be happy then you should accept my challenge”
“Okay fine, I will accept your challenge, but I have one condition: you must promise me that you won't lose a single fight this week, no matter who your opponent is, and then after I come back, we can fight.”
“I promise you I won't lose. You better not be late next week.
It’s time to start today’s fights. Let me get my wooden sword from my room and head to our fighting area.”
“Okay see you later son.”
“Bye Estora take care.”
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I arrived at our usual fighting place and three kids were already waiting there to fight me and they all looked highly dangerous, two of them I already know; they are from this village: The second strongest kid in the village Kishi, and the third strongest Noilas. The third guy was someone I have never seen before. He seemed very strong and tough, and he was surprisingly taller than me. I was nervous but still ready to fight them.
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Kishi glared at me and shouted.
“Strongest in the East village Estora! You won last time but today we came to challenge you again. I can’t stand your fancy gray hair any longer, so this time I brought my friend from the West village to fight you.
He's expected to be the most powerful warrior in all of Anni when he grows up. The strongest kid in the West Village, Vallas the Silent!”
“Stop your stupid jokes, the most powerful warrior in Anni is my dad, and after I beat him, it will be me who will earn the title of the most powerful warrior. And where are Vail and Mukan? We were supposed to fight today.”
“Why do you care about these weaklings, we already beat them up on our way here.”
“How dare you harm my friends !; I will make you pay for that !”
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I will crush all of them now, and prove to everyone who’s the strongest here, and go check on my friends. But this guy Vallas is really weird, he hasn't said a single word yet, is he scared? Of course he is, he probably knows I'm stronger than him, but this awkward silence still worries me.
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“Why don’t you say anything mister strongest in the west village, Vallas ?”
Noilas laughed and full of laughter he pointed at Vallas.
“He will not respond to you thick-head; he’s not saying anything because he is unable to talk.”
“Heh, that means he’s a coward who’s just scared to talk, and you think he can defeat me?”
“Get your sword ready and start fighting him and let's see who’s going to win.”
Vallas stepped forward and raised his sword and got ready to start the fight with me.
Before he gets the chance to do anything I started the fight with a fast swing to his head to test his skills.
I figured that he must be underestimating me because of his big size and that I would get an easy hit.
But he blocked the attack effortlessly and attacked my chest with a heavy sword swing, but I evaded just in time and kicked his knee with all my power in order to make him lose his balance and knock him down.
I was certain that I caught him off guard and got a clean hit on his knee but for some reason he seems unaffected by the kick, how tough can this guy be?
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After some time of clashing with him he still hasn't shown a single weakness, and unlike me he’s still full of energy.
He has the upper hand in the fight, I guess I have to use all of my strength left to defeat him.
“Haha, is this the best you can do Estora? Vallas you should get serious and finish him already, it’s getting late.”
What a farce, all that power and he wasn't even serious. I need to be careful; his attacks are no joke. One wrong move and I can end up with a broken bone.
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The fight continued, and I knew using brute strength isn’t going to work against him; I have to use speed and technique to beat him, so I went for multiple quick attacks but they didn’t have much effect on him. he swung his sword and struck my ribs with a blow that left me unable to breathe.
Before I even had a moment to catch my breath, he charged at me with his shoulder aggressively and knocked me down.
I can feel my consciousness slowly fading away, I can no longer keep standing on my feet, even my best moves are not working against him; is this how all the people I defeated felt, I guess I can't win this time I have to give up.
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At that moment Noilas and Kishi looked down at me and laughed.
“My dad is the strongest in Anni, I will be the best warrior. Estora you're nothing but a joke.”
Hearing that made me realize how arrogant I am, and how much more I still haven't learned.
But that also reminded me of the promise I made with my dad, and I knew I mustn’t lose here so I can keep my word. and I also couldn’t bear listening to them mocking my dad.
Even though my strength wouldn’t be enough to defeat Vallas, I stood tall hopelessly and raised my sword one last time, and went for one last attack using my full power aiming at Vallas's chest.
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