Damien turned around, reacting to the wind only to find nothing once more. He turned around to see Zurat in his face once more.
“That was your last chance to prove to me or anyone here for that matter, that you are worth something. You may be a little special, but now you will see what it really means to be special.”
Zurat seemingly vanished with his overwhelming speed and reappeared on the other side. Immediately the entire stadium went to an uproar. There were talks everywhere going on about how Damien stood no chance and he was being humiliated. Damien spotted out his group of friends who all had worried expressions. He gave them a calm smile but he knew that would not see their minds. He was just genuinely happy to know he met people that could care about him.
Cal looked to his adoptive sister, Yuki, without his usual charisma.
“Sis. He’s being played with out there. He’s being made into a circus show! He can’t go on!”
“Pipe down! He always has a chance as long as he finds the conviction to go through with it.”
This time Erik decided to chime as he was now a fully integrated member of the friend group.
“Through with what, huh? You know the secret, but now we are supposed to place our hopes on something we don’t even know! What a bunch of nonsense!”
Yuki raised her fist to knock some sense into him, however Erik cowered instantly.
“It’s best to watch and find out.”
During their conversation, Damien was being thrown around the arena like a rag doll. The only reason he was able to keep going was due to his defensive swordsmanship. Even though he didn’t activate his Dao Domain he was able to stay in the fight while taking damage. Everyone was certain Damien stood no chance and even up above they were having trouble why Nora had confidence in Damien. One of the Point Directors decided to bring up the matter.
“That boy stands no chance. Headmaster, I say we end this farce and save the boy some face, no?”
Ari was seemingly lost in thought as he stroked his chin.
“The fight has only begun, Cairo. It is too soon to make a decision as Damien still has the will to stand and stand. Anything is possible as long as someone doesn’t give up.”
Nora nodded her head in agreement with his sentiment. She was petting the head of the Keeper as she voiced her own opinion with her soothing tone.
“Damien was raised by Veron Flor.”
That sentence grabbed everyone’s attention as he was a figure that was atop of the mountain casting a shadow upon everyone. Even someone as long lived as Omarion could not confidently say he could match up with Veron Flor. Nora became melancholic when she mentioned his name but she continued.
“He trained him in an unpragmatic manner. I would even say it was detrimental to his growth. If he were given the same opportunity as others from an earlier age, then he would not need to be here. He would have long surpassed me and all of you for that matter.”
Cairo and all the other directors felt it was time I unbelievable for that to be true. He quickly retorted her statement.
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“And we are supposed to believe you? Sure he’s talented but from what I see, he was in over his head challenging someone 2 years above him.”
“You are to believe Veron, as these were his words not mine.”
“Of course, I should have known that. You are still his favorite niece even after excommunicating his own family. Still a Mildred at heart.”
Nora took his response with a tinge of sadness circulating around her. The Keeper nudged his head closer in her arms to comfort her. Omarion was the next to speak up with an uncharacteristic smile.
“I am happy to hear you are still the link between Veron and the Mildred Family, Nora. It is very important he still has a connection to this life, now with Damien as well. Besides that matter, if Veron were to say that then I am inclined to believe it. Well look at that, right on time. There has been a change in the duel.”
Down below Damien got up the floor with wounds covering his entire body. He spit out a glob of blood to his side, which evaporated into the air. His ragged breath slowly came to a calm as he internally circulated his Mana Mist through his Meridians. With that his wounds closed up and the blood smeared across his body evaporated as well. There was no longer any struggle or confusion in Damien’s mind. He was now certain of the course he will take from now on. Zurat gave him the time to catch his breath and recover, as he wanted to enjoy this as long as he could.
“You can always give up. You have no chance of winning, human.”
“You were saying that you would show me what special really is, yet I’m still here standing. It’s my turn to show you what it actually means. You can devour my Mana all you want, that is if you can handle it!”
Damien released all of his circulating Mana Mist outward to create a white flame in his hand. It grew to immense power feeding directly from his own source as well as targeting Zurat’s energies. Zurat felt his energy being usurped away and he laughed maniacally.
“You think you can compete with me in this!?”
Zurat reopened his mouth and targeted Damien’s source of strength. The white flame flickered in Damien’s hand but with his constant supply of Mana it did not extinguish. In fact, it was feeding Zurat an endless supply of reinvigorating strength. Zurat felt himself becoming invincible with each passing second.
“You idiot! You are digging your own grave!”
“Or your own.”
Damien smiled at him happily devouring his Mana. He knew it was feeding into him, but he was certain it would be too pure for him to handle.
‘Keep eating it up. You will be so full you won’t be able to do anything!’
Even with Zurat devouring away, the rate of which Damien could supply his ability was a bit faster. The flame slowly grew bigger and more intense, making the entire stadium sweat from the heat. This was not like the first time Ari witnessed his ability gained from his Dao. It was more refined and multiple fold stronger than before. Instead of standing around in this current statemate, Damien rushed Zurat while he was distracted. Damien had already sheathed his sword since Zurat had the superior physicality by a long shot. Damien could only compete in the realm of Dao Magic. After this past year of experiences he knew that the only ones that can compete with him were the ones with deeper understandings of their Dao.
He approached Zurat while forming his ever strengthening flame into the shape of a sword with the same dimensions as Thunder. Zurat kept his ability going with his mouth open while he met Damien in a clash. Zurat felt infinitely confident he would send him flying past the arena into the wall. Damien smiled profusely as he saw he would meet his attack with a swing of his fists. Their attacks collided with each of them pushing forth for the advantage. It wasn’t long before Zurat’s skin began to burn to a crisp. For the first time Zurat’s physicality failed him. He never knew what pain was until today. He pulled back his strength, which allowed Damien to follow through completely. Damien sent Zurat flying back and everything went silent. Only the sound of Zurat tumbling away could be heard until he caught himself.
The roles have been reversed and it was Cal who led the cheers to erupt throughout the stadium. Damien took the chance that he was hurt to feed his white flame even more. It made his flame shaped sword become more solid and heavier. Zurat got up slowly examining the wounds on his arm as well as the blood that seeped through his mouth. The sight of his blood caused him to see red and lose himself to his emotions. Zurat roared toward the heavens shaking the arena and everything around them. A beastial rat appeared behind him like an avatar. It was 25 meters in height with viscous features engorged on its body. Its tail was serrated with blade-like formations making it a fearsome weapon. To top it off the gruesome rat’s large maul split into four ways, opening up to reveal circular rows of revolving needle-like teeth. It was a scene straight out of a nightmare with its only goal to devour.
Up above Ari stood up in fury, heaving loudly with his forehead vein bulging. Everyone else watched on cautiously as he was well known to erupt in fury, especially in his past days in the military. Metal liquid slowly started to creep out of skin in multiple areas as he was ready to interfere at any moment. The disaster Zurat’s mother caused was a trauma hidden deep inside of him.
“That little rat! He broke through my seals and formed an avatar! In no time he can fully form it and become his true self! I say we end this now before we have another disaster on our hands.”
Ari was ready to call it quits but his mind was clouded with anxiety and anger. Omarion, the eldest of the group, came to Ari’s side and calmed him down.
“You must not lose yourself as the headmaster. Did you forget that we are all here to support you in any way. I bet we will see the true battle from here on out. I have sensed that boy, Damien, that his Mana is incredibly pure, to the point that I did not think possible.”
With that Ari sat back down with a calmed heart and mind, but his body was ready to react at any moment. All the students' safety were on the line and if something detrimental happened to Damien, Veron would inevitably appear without good intentions.