As he looked at Fylard, Zeke used ‘Aether Control’ and saw how his body acting like a vacuum, absorbing the tiny green particles in the air non-stop.
Fylard was like a sponge as violent gales whistled within the arena, swirling uncontrollably. A milky aura covered the metallic Raul, further increasing his defences. He had confidence in his own ability, but Fylard’s Wind-aspected magic was getting stronger by the second and it would be folly to underestimate him.
The two students prepared themselves before Fylard’s body was enveloped by a vibrantly-colored wind; Like a bullet, he shot at Raul while unleashing all of his stored energy.
Likewise, Raul leapt in the air and performed a swift and strong punch that let out a milky-colored blast.
For a split second, there was a blinding light and a deafening silence before the ground cracked and shattered and the barrier protecting the arena shook momentarily.
When the bit of dust and the clashing energies subsided, the crowd saw Fylard covered in blood and looking at his opponent.
Unexpectedly, Raul also suffered a heavy wound on his chest. He pressed his hand against the gushing blood, looking astonished, to say the least.
Still, he was able to remain on his feet. Fylard cursed under his breath before he fell backwards, his vision turning black.
Nayro caught him in a timely manner and fed him a potion before declaring the winner.
There were loud and excited cheers, but Raul had an ugly expression. His body was riddled with small cuts, but injury in his chest did hurt his pride.
He was supposed to be the ‘Metal Man’, someone with an impenetrable defense, yet someone using Wind Magic had actually hurt him.
Not particularly pleased about his defeat, Raul got treated by one of the teachers before gloomily returning to his seat.
So far, after two battles, Veronica Serpens and Fylard Yak were eliminated whereas Zeke Orland and Raul Jackob ‘passed’.
The third fight was between two people Zeke was unfamiliar with; One was part of Francois Chivaux’ circle and ranked 12th, while the other was the 6th ranked Sarah Girm, a friend of Francesca.
The fight lasted 3 minutes and ended up with Sarah’s win. Surprisingly, she was a very good sword-user who didn’t rely that much on her ability, though that might’ve been due to its inefficiency in battle. Basically, Sarah was someone really good at fighting rather than a gifted individual who purely relied on their ability.
Zeke knew nothing about her, but he was fascinated by her sword attacks, her precise strikes, agile movements, and composed demeanor even in the face of danger.
“Next up is…” Professor Nayro paused for a bit and glanced at the Principal, who nodded in approval.
“Azmer Lorson against Francesca Moon.”
It wasn’t a secret that Azmer had significantly improved, but Francesca was 3rd-ranked and many, if not all, expected her to win with ease.
Soon, the blond-haired Azmer and the free-spirited girl walked to the arena and faced each other.
“Ready? Begin!”
Even after Nayro gave the signal, the two students were motionless. Neither invoked their abilities, they just looked at each other in a tense silence.
Eventually, Francesca shrugged her shoulders and stated,
“I would like to save some energy. How about you forfeit?”
In response, Azmer snorted and extended his arms, resulting in subtle waves of flames to appear and spiral in the air in a beautiful manner.
Upon seeing this, Francesca sighed and, in a disinterested manner, stretched her right hand and moved her fingers in a strange way.
By the next second, there was an explosion right at Azmer’s face. However, when the savage energy unleashed by Francesca vanished, Azmer appeared, looking unscathed as the flames protected him like a barrier.
Slightly surprised by this, Francesca repeated the same process but, this time, there were several and stronger explosions all around Azmer.
Again, Azmer was at the same spot, totally unaffected by her frighteningly loud and dangerous explosions.
“Oh?”
Francesca furrowed her brows and changed her stance. Before she could attack again, she was hit in the back by a thin and short flaming arrow.
Even with her empowered physique, the fire arrow pierced her shoulder and momentarily surprised her, therefore, Azmer didn’t hold back anymore and shot fireballs the size of his body.
While snorting angrily, Francesca snapped her fingers and caused more explosions, which easily stopped the fireballs. However, from behind the dust and clashing energies, Azmer appeared with a golden and flaming sword in hand.
He thrust his weapon forward, but Francesca blocked it using her bare hands before stomping the ground and spinning her body.
She held onto his sword and threw him away, but Azmer’s flames appeared behind him, allowing him to glide in the air and safely land on his feet.
He sensed a deep rumbling as the space twisted and a red-colored savage aura formed, followed right after by an explosion that ravaged the half of the arena.
His clothes were shredded and he sustained a couple of wounds, but so did Francesca. For the second time, she was hit by another arrow from a random direction.
She didn’t sense it or even know how he was able to attack like that. Her left thigh was bleeding and her skin was burned, making her look haggard.
If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.
“Alright, then. I’ll get serious.”
The girl snorted and rushed at him with remarkable speed, her hand stretched forward and clawing the empty air, which extinguished all the flames spiralling around Azmer’s body.
Still, when she reached him, he was able to move his hand and slash his sword at her.
Golden flames clashed with Francesca, suffocating her with the heat and rendering her unable to properly use her ‘explosion’ ability.
Just as she was about to be overpowered, she managed to touch his chest with her open palm; At that moment, Azmer felt an agonising pain inside of his body. It was as if an explosion happened inside, injuring his organs and disorienting him.
While gritting his blood-covered mouth, Azmer swiped his empty hand at her, but she swiftly kicked his knee then punched his jaw, blowing him to the back.
Even then, Azmer kept holding the golden sword as his body crashed to the ground and rolled several times.
He groaned in pain and, with difficulty, got to his feet, but an explosion occurred, sending him flying again.
Half of his outfit was gone and he was bleeding from his head, right arm, and right leg.
Nayro had been intending to interfere, but the Principal signaled him to merely watch.
It was apparent that Azmer was heavily wounded and continuing this fight would lead to an untimely and unfortunate death, however, he needed to be in such a situation to be able to break through his limits, or so thought the Dean.
He had specifically asked his old friend, Solas, to let the fight continue no matter what. As Azmer’s teacher, he trusted his students and knew that Azmer could do more than this.
“It’s futile.”
Francesca was annoyed by the two injuries she sustained, and when she saw Azmer’s sword disappear, she grinned.
He closed his eyes and concentrated, soon resulting in a heat to spread outside of the arena and past the barrier. Beginning from a tiny spark, a golden flame was getting bigger until it formed a miniature blinding sun.
Looking deathly-pale and spent, Azmer glared back at the nonchalant girl and pushed his hands forward.
The golden sun moved slowly toward Francesca, but she counterattacked with another powerful explosion.
A third of the ‘flaming sun’ was gone, but it still kept floating closer to Francesca.
“Fine, let’s make it flashy.”
She interlocked her two hands together and muttered inaudibly, thus making the ground shake and a small red-colored particle appeared in front of her.
Upon seeing this, Solas chuckled and motioned with his chin,
“The girl’s ability is truly terrifying.”
Erva Erayne, who was expressionless, unlike her usual cheerfulness and beaming smile, wasn’t that impressed.
“She doesn’t have full control over it. Nayro needs to intervene.”
Solas looked at the barrier around the arena, focusing on the cracks all over it. He threw a glance at the elderly Dean, but the old man had a serious expression with his arms crossed and breathing rapid.
“Xavier is on standby. To begin with, we are preparing our students for real-life fights. This would be a good display.”
“But…”
Erva tried to object but she felt a cold and sharp aura emitting from the Dean, so she closed her mouth and prayed in silence.
The crowd of students, including Zeke, were dumbfounded by the magnitude of the clash. The barrier was on the verge of breaking and, within it, raging flames and an explosion confronted each other, destroying the rectangular arena made of white tiles and resulting in a deep rumbling akin to an earthquake.
When the two silhouettes of the fighters became clear, the spectators saw an overly-exhausted Azmer barely able to keep standing and the relatively unscathed Francesca.
Her uniform was burned, specifically around the chest area, so she used one arm to cover her breasts while menacingly looking at the youth.
Her other hand was extended forward, her finger moving strangely as if she was to use her ability again.
She had burn marks all over her body, and her long hair was dishevelled, making her look undignified.
“It’s over. Forfeit now.”
In comparison to her, Azmer was breathing heavily and no longer able to invoke his flames. He was almost about to fall unconscious, but he gritted his teeth and straightened his back.
“It’s not… over yet!”
There was an ear-piercing screech that echoed across the arena, and by the time Francesca realised it, there was a large vermillion bird flying at her from behind.
Although she was fast enough to trigger her explosions, the bird passed through them and crashed into her with full force.
She let out a shout and tried to defend herself but the fire was inextinguishable and highly-dangerous. Right after, a wave of water fell from above, saving her and ending the fight.
“The victory goes to Azmer Lorson.”
“What? But why? I could have-”
Francesca wasn’t pleased with this and immediately tried to protest, but Nayro looked down at her with a cold look.
“You would’ve died if I didn’t interfere. Those were not normal flames.”
“...”
Francesca’s face was red and her eyes were tearful as she couldn’t believe she lost. Not only that, but her clothes were burned and most of her body was exposed, making this situation even more embarrassing.
Although Nayro quickly covered her with a large cloth, that didn’t make things any better.
A distance away, the swaying Azmer was caught by the Dean. He supported his student while smiling and saying,
“You did good.”
“Ha…ha…ha”
Even with blood leaking out of his lips and shortness of breath, Azmer had a satisfied smile as struggled to keep himself conscious.
To ensure fairness, all the winners will be healed and given time to rest, so Azmer wasn’t worried about the next battle. He wanted to prove to himself that he could do it, that he could reach the top through hard-work.
His talent was mediocre compared to his father and brother, but he kept pushing himself to the limit, and now, he had defeated Francesca Moon.
She was someone whom he would never have dared to face in the past, but everything changed after Zeke ‘awakened’. Azmer sorted his goals and stopped fooling around. Seeing that his efforts weren’t for nothing, he felt a wave of bliss and unbridled happiness.
----------------------------------------
“Normal flames will eventually become a weakness. Artifacts and the right type of magic could counter them. You need something special… something that’s unique to you.”
Azmer was sitting on the ground and listening to the Dean, who was pacing around while speaking.
“Your father has the notorious Ink Fire, but you didn’t inherit it. The thing with genetically-transferred abilities is that they could be awaken given the right trigger. However, the Ink Fire isn’t something for you.”
“Then what should I do?”
“Fourth-year students are given the chance to undergo what’s commonly called the ‘Second awakening’. It’s not an awakening, per se, but forming a unique speciality using one’s ability. There are many techniques that were proven efficient, but the best way is to discover your own speciality by yourself. To dig deep into your consciousness and heart and unleash the so-called hidden potential. Yours is Pyromancy, so you’ll have to obtain a special type of fire.”
“...”
Seeing the youth’s confused face, the Dean frowned and continued,
“It’s more about comprehension than talent or genetics. You need to truly understand what your ability is about, to fathom its complexity and simplicity and form something that belongs to you and you alone. It’s an arduous task, but I know you can do it, Azmer.”
Much to the old man’s surprise, it didn’t take long for Azmer to achieve the ‘second awakening,’ albeit it not being complete.
Late at night, when the students were asleep, Azmer was sitting on the dirt in front of the Dean’s shed, his eyes reflecting a beautiful vermilion fire.
In terms of appearance, it was no different than normal Pyromancy, however, this one had a barely noticeable and majestic luster. It was equipped with a frightening heat and it illuminated its dim surroundings.
“Hahahahaha!”
Seeing the gentle flames burning in the air, the Dean, in contrast to his usually solemn mood, burst out in laughter.