About twelve minutes later, nearly fifty students had gathered in the Dueling Hall.
This was a space at the center of the Middle Court.
It stood among other public facilities, like the cafeteria, lounge, general library, among other things. This Dueling Hall was also right next to the Practice Hall, which had a similar but slightly different purpose.
The latter contained private spaces for individual students to summon and test out their Historical Projections.
As for the former, it involved multiple students—usually groups.
These groups could either jointly summon a single Historical Projection, or separately summon Historical Projections as a way to compete. They could also have their Historical Projections battle each other.
Battles among Historical Projection was the most popular use of this hall, which was why its name was changed to Dueling Hall.
At the moment, Lazarus and Zurbluris occupied the stage area within the main hall, while the rest of the students stood as spectators. There were indeed chairs present, but no one dared to sit in such a tense space.
They were all staring at the event that was about to take place.
The truth was, even though the number of students were only a little over thirty earlier, more students had joined after this duel was announced. In fact, there were students still trickling into the hall while others had just gotten the news and were rushing to this place from their respective dormitories.
Seeing a Historical Projection duel so early on was rare, to begin with. After all, most of these students couldn’t even summon a single Historical Projection.
This didn’t have anything to do with Integration or their level of talent.
It was all about Knowledge.
To summon a Historical Projection, one had to possess the corresponding knowledge.
This included a clear understanding of the Historical Projection’s identity, their honorific names, as well as a chant to invoke their presence.
Certain Historical Projections were picky and required other elements, but this was the most basic requirement that had to be met. If a Historian didn’t have the knowledge of any Historical Projection, then they would never be able to summon one no matter how high their Integration was.
However, such a thing had never been seen.
For a Historian to possess a high Integration, especially above the Sub-Integration level, they needed to have tempered their Anchor and taken information from the Celestial Library.
In essence, all Historians beyond Squire status had to have summoned at least one or multiple Historical Projections—usually of the corresponding rank. Without such an ability, Integration would remain stagnant and there would be no growth.
Right now, two Squires were facing off.
On the right hand side was Zurbluris, with a Sub-Integration of 8 Percent.
Standing as his challenger was Lazarus, who stood at the left. His Sub-Integration was also nothing to scoff at; it was 5 Percent.
With both parties determined to give it their all, everyone was naturally excited.
That said...
"It’s clear that Lazarus is going to lose, right?"
"Obviously! Even though he has been full of surprises so far, there’s no way he can match someone from the Zurbluris Family."
"Talent-wise, they might seem close, but they’re worlds apart."
"Zurbluris comes from a Literary Historian Household. He holds the advantage when it comes to the corresponding Knowledge required to win."
"Still, it should be exciting to see what card Lazarus has up his sleeve."
Lazarus felt a little awkward while listening to everyone’s side comments and cheers. It seemed a little childish for him to engage in something like this, especially given his age.
Even now, as he stared at Zurbluris, he didn’t feel any urge to fight.
There was no tension in his heart as well.
’Should I go to the Secluded Domain to summon a powerful Historical Projection that can one-shot anything he throws at me?’ Lazarus almost laughed at the thought, realizing just how petty he would have to be if he resorted to that.
’There’s no need for that.’
Since they were Squires, they would naturally do battle with Rank 1 Historical Projection.
Also were known as Echoes.
Echoes had the lowest qualification.
Someone or something that once existed in history could technically qualify as an echo, thus the barrier of entry was abysmal.
However, it was because of this that these Historical Projections usually possessed ordinary capabilities. Only the best of them would wield impressive capabilities, and they were largely limited to passive traits.
’Still, an Echo is more powerful than the average person or object. Thus, there exists a large gap between a Squire who can summon an Echo and those who can’t.’
Such was the power of a Historian.
’Right now, I’m sure Zurbluris is racking his brain to think of the best Historical Projection he can summon to achieve utmost victory. After all, most Echoes aren’t that far apart in strength, and their use largely depends on the skills of the Historian who summons them.’
Thus, if Zurbluris wanted to achieve flawless victory, he needed to summon an exceptional Echo.
’No matter how talented he is, he should only know three to five of those.’
As for Lazarus, he had an abundant amount.
After all, it didn’t matter how much corresponding knowledge he had of Echoes, he wouldn’t get assimilated into the Celestial Library.
Only those existences of a higher rank posed sufficient threat to him.
’So which one should I go for?’
"Are you ready?" Right as Lazarus was thinking about this, Zurbluris blurted out the question.
"Sure. Whenever you are."
His casual response caused Zurbluris’ lips to twitch.
However, this young man wasn’t simply a barking dog. As someone from an exceptional family, he wouldn’t easily lose his cool and display an embarrassing sight.
After regaining his composure, Zurbluris sighed and nodded.
"Then we can begin. We can only summon one Historical Projection each, and we will do so at the same time. The loser is decided by whoever loses their Historical Projection first. If a Historical Projection reaches the other person first, that also counts as victory. If both Historical Projections are incapacitated, victory will be determined by whoever reaches the other side first." He paused for a moment before sighing. "I believe that is fair."
"Sure."
Lazarus had no problem with this arrangement.
’He must think that he’s being generous by restricting the summon to only one. After all, I’m not from a powerful family, so I normally shouldn’t have access to as many Echoes. What he doesn’t know is that this gives him a greater advantage.’
A broad smile formed on Lazarus’ face as he watched Zurbluris take out a card from his pockets.
Naturally, this card contained corresponding knowledge required for the summon.
Lazarus didn’t need such a thing—not for summoning an Echo.
’Since summoning is tasking on the mind and requires heavy visual, many Historians will often use aids to assist in summoning. Whether it be cards, grimoires, or other items that can assist in the success of the Historical Projection summoning.’
This usually happened when calling forth a Historical Projection of the same rank or one rank higher.
As for lower-ranked Historical Projections, it was unnecessary.
’Since we’re both Squires who haven’t even begun our education in the Academy, it’s only natural that we would use these aids...’ Lazarus brought out a blank card and acted like he was reading its content despite thinking to himself.
Then—
"Let us start."
—The battle officially began.