James and Vlad moved to their left, watching each other and awaiting for either one to strike. James kept his shield over his chest to where you could only see his eyes stabbing daggers into your own. Vlad, arrogant as he was, held the large blade in front of him with no fear at all at a 45 degree angle. The air was tense, the grounds were silent. Time and nature seemed to stand still as these two rulers would battle it out. James was thinking on how to approach Vlad. He knew that he was outmatched in terms of size and what they could do. James didn't get much real-time combat experience, and his size was small compared to Vlad. Vlad was a different case. What separated James from Vlad was how smart they could be. This would be proven now.

Vlad charged at James with no fear, and with his pride standing it's ground, he took the blow head on. James used his shield, of course, and Vlad was stopped cold. However, Vlad grinned maniacally and pushed his blade forward, using all his strength. James was flung backwards, losing his shield but not his blade. He got up quickly, crawling quickly for it. Vlad was not far behind. Just as he grabbed it, he turned himself around and blocked again. Vlad had almost got him, but the shield saved his life. Vlad was ruthless, smashing his blade again and again on James' shield. There was nothing James could do right now, he was focused only on blocking.