First Battle

From far away, Mu En could already see the lights of Lorland. Figures moved through the village square, while thick smoke rolled from a massive bonfire and drifted into the sky.

He also noticed many dragons—roughly a dozen at a glance.

Lorland Village stood apart from the world and had little commercial character, completely unlike Hogsmeade. It usually sustained itself by supplying other wizarding shops with unique Magical Artifacts and cooperating with dragon farms.

At the same time, quite a few non-spellcasters in the village chose to travel to distant ordinary towns for their education, then settle down in the Muggle world.

Of course, most Lorland residents still chose the life of wizards, even if not all of them were spellcasters.

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

"You know, the world is vast, and there are few wizards. Places like Norway, especially—vast, sparsely populated, and on the edge of the world—are even more likely to breed Dark Wizards.

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

Romanian forests were notoriously infamous in the Wizarding World. Vampires and werewolves gathered there in great numbers, causing trouble everywhere.

After they landed in the village, a crowd immediately gathered around them. Mu En also noticed another group of Viking Warriors. They were much younger, clearly young people who had returned home for Christmas.

After Evan's unit had chased out of the village, they had stayed behind to maintain the village's safety.

Evan then introduced Mu En to the villagers, followed by another overwhelming wave of thanks.

Once everything was over, Mu En finally remembered Harry and Klee.

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

Klee was warming up beside the bonfire while curiously asking Harry, "Have you ever dueled?"

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

"That's the sort of thing wizards who think they're above everyone else do." Klee shook his head and stretched. "Vikings just fight."

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

Evan also noticed the two boys bristling with hostility. He immediately stepped forward and walked to the bonfire. Everyone else had already learned that Klee had challenged this young wizard, and all eyes turned toward the two of them.

"Come on, wizard boy! Teach Klee a lesson!"

"Klee, don't disgrace the Vikings! Hold out a little longer!"

Cheers and shouts rose without end. Naturally, most were directed at Harry. After all, he was the challenged party and a guest.

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

"Pete Jones," Harry added.

"Do you challenge Pete Jones to a duel?" Evan looked solemnly at Klee. "Whether there is injury or death, once the duel is over, there can be no resentment or jealousy."

Klee spun the hand axe in his hand. "Hurry up, Dad. I can't wait anymore."

Evan smiled, pulled a burning torch from the bonfire, circled it around Klee and Harry, then stepped between them.

The Viking Warriors formed a circle around them, chanting battle songs Mu En could not quite understand. Their imposing presence made Harry feel as if the blood throughout his body were boiling.

"When the torch falls, the duel begins!" Evan moved to the edge of the crowd and raised the torch.

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

Harry was nervous. This was the first time he had truly fought with real weapons.

But he was not afraid.

The torch trailed flames through the air, then—clang!

"Leg Immobilization Charm—" Harry immediately cast the spell, sending a streak of white light racing toward Klee.

It was about to strike when Klee's dragon turned sideways and blocked the spell. Its scales had extremely high magical resistance, and Harry's spell had no effect on it at all.

At the same time, the dragon curled its tail and placed Klee onto the dragon saddle on its back.

When Harry's first strike failed, Meteor shot straight toward Klee from behind him. Harry grabbed the broom handle and, without even mounting it, charged directly at Klee.

Mu En was somewhat surprised. Had this boy's proficiency in flying already reached such a level?!

Unfortunately, Klee and his dragon were clearly more experienced. They rapidly flew upward to evade Harry's attack, while the dragon's tail swept viciously across. Harry dodged quickly, but his arm was still struck hard enough to send him staggering.

Harry then quickly flew high into the sky as well.

"Isn't this a little unfair?!" Evan asked worriedly, then hurriedly added, "I don't mean anything by it. It's just that Klee and Bart have been together since birth, and Bart isn't like a flying broomstick."

Mu En shook his head unconcernedly. "It's quite fair. Of course... that depends on whether he has really learned anything."

"He should only be a first-year, right?" Evan was concerned. "How much magic can a first-year learn?"

"No, he hasn't even started school yet," Mu En said. "Compared to so-called magic, what matters more is one's way of thinking in battle.

"Because wizards cast spells at range, many people mistakenly equate wizards with archers. But a wizard's true advantage in battle is—being unpredictable.

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

"Is that so?!" Evan's face showed a thoughtful expression. For people like them, they might not care if you talked about math, physics, or chemistry, but if you talked about fighting and brawling, they would definitely be willing to use their brains.

"Most wizards I've encountered only know how to wave their wands around."

"A very flawed way to fight." Mu En nodded calmly as he watched the battle above.

Klee and Harry had not flown very high. They were keeping their distance now, and Harry clearly wanted to fight using a wizard's unique advantages.

Then he saw Klee take a bow from the dragon saddle. He nocked an arrow with great skill, and in the blink of an eye, it was aimed at him and fired.

Harry hurriedly dodged, then raised his hand toward Klee.

"Immobilization Spell!"

A spell shot toward Klee at high speed, only to be blocked once more by Klee's dragon, Bart.

"Flame On!" "Flame On!" "Leg Immobilization Charm!"

Arrows and spells flew back and forth. While dodging, Klee also used his arrows to launch attacks at Harry.

Before long, he noticed Harry's expression gradually turning strained. He shouted, "Fight me up close! That might be your only chance. A dragon's scales are still too difficult for you right now."

With that, he drew his bow again. Harry seized the opportunity and rushed forward.

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

"Flame On—"

The sound of the incantation might have been swallowed by the wind, but Klee caught the movement of Harry's lips precisely. His entire focus was fixed on Harry as he stared straight at him.

Yet nothing came from Harry's hand.

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

"A petty trick!" Klee kicked out, sending the burning cloth bag plummeting toward the ground.

But in that brief moment of distraction, when he turned back, he saw Harry hurling the Blue Steel Longsword straight at him.

"Enlargement Spell!"

In an instant, the longsword abruptly grew larger, becoming a full head taller than a person as it spun at high speed toward him.

By the time Klee narrowly avoided the sword, Harry had disappeared.

Below, the watching crowd cried out in alarm.

Just as the cloth bag Klee had discarded was about to hit the ground, a figure dove down from the sky at breakneck speed, seized the bag, and barely skimmed the ground, kicking up sand before flying up again.

At that moment, he seemed to have been no more than a foot above the ground.

Harry thrust his hand into the burning cloth bag, ignoring the pain as he yanked out—a wand!

It was the wand Klee had previously obtained from the goblins.

"I'm not a wizard who only knows how to fire blasts," he said slowly, then aimed the wand at Klee.

In Northern Europe, there was an ancient naming custom in which children inherited their father's name. For example, Evan Maxen's son was called Klee Evenson.

His surname came from adding "son" after his father's given name, Evan. In translation, it became "sen" or "son." For daughters, "dóttir" was added after the father's name, translated as "dottir."

This naming method was still common in Iceland today. There were plenty of names ending in -son and -sen in the World Cup.