Now that the duel was set in place, the two families — the Duke's and the Count's — made their way to the courtyard. The Count had initially suggested heading to the training grounds, but the Duke insisted on holding the duel in the open courtyard so that everyone in the duchy could witness the future of their families.
The Count did not argue against it, because he himself was far too confident in his daughter's abilities. In his mind, there was no way that the exiled son of the duchy could have truly changed to the point of reaching Arch Mage level in such a short time.
When the Count had first heard the news of Kraven's breakthrough, he had laughed himself to sleep. He was convinced that the Duke must have used some rare artifact to fabricate or exaggerate his son's newfound power.
