First Battle

From a distance, Mu En could see the lights of Lorland. The village square was bustling with people, and a large bonfire sent thick smoke drifting towards the sky.

Mu En also noticed many Dragons, roughly over a dozen.

Lorland Village was secluded and not very commercial, unlike Hogsmeade. It typically sustained itself by providing unique magical items to other wizarding shops and by cooperating with the Dragon farms.

At the same time, many non-spellcasters in the village chose to receive their education in distant ordinary towns and then settle in the Muggle world.

Of course, most of the people of Lorland still chose the wizarding way of life, even if they weren't all spellcasters.

"We also have an agreement with the Norwegian Ministry of Magic to be responsible for the wizarding security in this area," Evan explained.

"You know, the world is vast, and wizards are few. Especially in sparsely populated and remote places like Norway, it's easier for dark wizards to breed.

We don't want our homeland to become a lawless place like Romania."

The Romanian forests were notorious in the magical world, with large gatherings of bloodlines and werewolves causing trouble.

Upon landing in the village, a crowd quickly gathered. Mu En noticed another group of Viking warriors, who were much younger and were clearly the youth returning home for Christmas.

After Evan's troops pursued the intruders out of the village, these young warriors were responsible for maintaining the village's security.

Afterward, Evan introduced Mu En to the villagers, followed by a wave of overwhelming gratitude.

Once everything was settled, Mu En remembered Harry and Kri.

"Where are those two kids?" Mu En looked into the crowd and quickly found them.

At that moment, Kri was doing warm-up exercises by the bonfire, and he curiously asked Harry, "Have you ever dueled?"

Harry shook his head. "I've only read about it. You need a dueling assistant, right?"

"That's the way of wizards who think they're superior," Kri shook his head, stretching. "Vikings just need to fight."

"I'm looking forward to it," Harry nodded.

Evan also noticed the two boys spoiling for a fight and immediately stepped forward, coming to the bonfire. The others also learned that Kri had challenged this young wizard, and all eyes focused on the two of them.

"Go, wizard kid, teach Kri a lesson!"

"Kri, don't disgrace the Vikings, last a bit longer."

Cheers and shouts of encouragement were endless. Of course, most were for Harry, as he was the one being challenged and was a guest.

"Kri Evenson! Do you confirm that you wish to challenge..."

"Pete Jones," Harry interjected.

"Do you challenge Pete Jones to a duel?" Evan looked at Kri sternly. "Whether it results in injury or death, after the duel, there can be no resentment or jealousy."

Kri twirled his hand axe: "Hurry up, Dad, I can't wait."

Evan smiled, picked up a burning torch from the bonfire, and circled it around Kri and Harry before standing between them.

The surrounding Viking warriors formed a circle, shouting battle songs that Mu En couldn't quite understand. The atmosphere was grand, making Harry feel his blood boil.

"When the torch falls, the duel begins!" Evan stood at the edge of the crowd, raising the torch.

After confirming that both were ready, he tossed the torch high into the air between them.

Harry was very nervous; this was his first real fight.

But he wasn't afraid.

As the torch, trailing flames, streaked through the air, it then— Clang!

"Leg Immobilization Charm—" Harry immediately cast the spell, and a white light shot towards Kri at high speed.

Just as it was about to hit, Kri's Dragon moved sideways to block the spell. Dragon scales had extremely high magic resistance, and Harry's spell had no effect on it at all.

At the same time, the Dragon's tail swept around, placing Kri onto the Dragon saddle on its back.

Seeing his attack fail, Harry, from behind, shot towards Kri. Harry grabbed the broomstick handle, not even bothering to mount it, and charged directly at Kri.

Mu En was a bit surprised. Had this kid's flying proficiency reached such a level?!

Unfortunately, Kri and his Dragon were clearly more experienced. While quickly flying up to evade Harry's attack, the Dragon's tail swept powerfully. Harry dodged quickly, but his arm was still hit hard, staggering him.

Then, Harry quickly ascended into the sky.

"Isn't this a bit unfair?!" Evan seemed worried and quickly added, "I don't mean anything by it, but Kri and Bart have been together since birth, and Bart isn't like a Flying Broomstick."

Mu En shook his head dismissively. "It's quite fair. Of course... provided he has truly learned something."

"He should only be in his first year," Evan worried. "How much magic can a first-year learn?"

"No, he hasn't even enrolled yet," Mu En said. "More important than so-called magic is combat thinking.

Because of the nature of wizards casting spells from a distance, many mistakenly equate wizards with archers. But in reality, the true strength of wizard combat is its unpredictability.

As long as he has flexible combat thinking, he has a chance to win."

"Is that so?!" Evan's face showed a thoughtful expression. For these people, they might not care if you talked about math or science, but if you talked about how to fight and battle, they would definitely be willing to use their brains.

"Many wizards I've encountered mostly just wave their wands."

"A very wrong way to fight," Mu En calmly nodded, watching the battle above.

Kri and Harry hadn't flown too high. At this moment, the two were maintaining their distance, clearly indicating that Harry intended to fight using the unique advantages of a wizard.

Then, he saw Kri take a bow from the dragon saddle. He nocked an arrow and drew the bow with practiced skill. In the blink of an eye, the arrow was shot towards him.

He dodged in a hurry, then raised his hand to aim at Kri.

"Immobilization Spell!"

A spell shot towards Kri at high speed, but it was blocked by Kri's dragon, Bart.

"Flame On!"

"Flame On!"

"Leg Immobilization Charm!"

Arrows and spells flew at each other. As Kri dodged, he also used the arrows to attack Harry.

In just a moment, he noticed Harry's expression becoming strained. He shouted, "Close-quarters combat with me might be your only chance. The dragon's scales are still too much for you right now."

With that, he drew his bow and nocked another arrow. Harry seized this opportunity and quickly mounted his broom.

"Finally!" Harry's eyes gleamed with excitement. He leaned over his broom, his fingers twitching slightly.

"Flame On—"

The incantation might have been drowned out by the wind, but Kri perfectly caught Harry's lip movements. His entire focus was on Harry, staring directly at him.

However, nothing came from Harry's hand.

By the time he realized what was happening, he saw flames erupting from the cloth bag behind him.

"A little trick!" Kri kicked his feet, and the burning cloth bag rapidly fell towards the ground.

But in that moment of distraction, when he looked back, he saw Harry sending the Blue Steel Longsword straight towards him.

"Enlargement Spell!"

In an instant, the longsword suddenly grew larger, a full head taller than a person. It spun at high speed and flew towards him.

After Kri narrowly dodged the longsword, he looked again and saw that Harry had already disappeared.

Below, the onlookers let out a gasp of surprise.

The cloth bag, abandoned by Kri, was about to hit the ground when a figure swooped down from the sky, grabbed the bag, and then, narrowly missing the ground, kicked up dust before flying up again.

At that moment, he seemed to be no more than a foot from the ground.

Harry reached into the burning cloth bag, ignoring the pain, and pulled out—a wand!

It was the wand Kri had obtained from the goblin earlier.

"I'm not just a wizard who casts spells," he said slowly, then pointed the wand at Kri.

There is an ancient Nordic naming custom where children take their father's name. For example, here, Evan Maxen's son is named Kri Evenson.

His surname comes from adding "son" to his father's name "Evan," which translates to "sen" or "song." Daughters have "dóttir" added to their father's name, which translates to "dotir."

This naming method is still common in Iceland today. During the World Cup, there were many players with names ending in "son" or "sen."