CRACK
"Shit!" Adonis's timing was off, sending him hurtling into Amber, the two of them colliding into a pile of stacked chairs.
I was too late.
{You idiot, did you seriously think you could master the technique today and nail it on the first try?} The Devil God scoffed in disbelief.
‘Well, yeah... Why not?’ Adonis chuckled to himself, despite the pain.
"What's so funny?" Amber pushed Adonis off her, standing up abruptly with a glare.
"I didn't expect the attack to be that strong," Adonis replied, showing her the broken mess that was his forearm.
"You're not stronger than me." Jerald's voice cut through the moment, his gaze locking onto Adonis.
"What?" Adonis turned his attention back to Jerald, surprised by the statement.
"I said, you're not stronger than me." Jerald cracked his neck, preparing for the inevitable battle.
"We'll see about that in a second," Adonis smirked, his confidence unwavering.
"Fix it." Adonis looked at Amber.
"Fix what?" She scowled, clearly annoyed.
"My arm. I broke it saving you, so it's only fair you heal it." Adonis shrugged, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.
-sigh- "Whatever." Amber placed her hands over his shattered arm, channeling Holy Aura into it.
DIMMMM
"Ahh..." Adonis couldn't help but let out a soft groan as his ulna mended itself at an unnatural pace.
‘That was faster than usual... I can't even heal myself that quickly,’ Amber thought, a frown tugging at her lips.
"Sorry for keeping you waiting." Adonis flexed his now-repaired arm and smiled at the fifth Rising Star, a playful glint in his silver eyes.
"What was that about you being stronger?" He rotated his shoulder, preparing for what was coming.
"I'm not the same as I was at the Battle Royale. I'm stronger... And trust me, I won't be holding back this time." Jerald's Earthly Aura surged, filling the room with its raw intensity.
"Tier 9... low rank," Amber whispered, her eyes widening.
"So you've crossed over." Adonis smiled, his excitement barely contained.
"I've surpassed the entire Class A. All that's left is you." Jerald's voice was cold, resolute.
"You may be Tier 9, but so is Vindicta. You'll never beat the two of us," Amber’s confidence returned as she glanced at Adonis.
"The both of us?"
"The both of you?"
Adonis and Jerald responded simultaneously, their rivalry consuming the air around them.
"Stay out of this. I want to see who's stronger," they both declared, dismissing Amber.
DUMMMM
Their Auras clashed, each aura cloak swirling and violently crashing into the other.
{Since when did you get excited at the thought of killing someone?} The Devil God questioned, his voice a low, mocking whisper.
‘It's not killing him that excites me... I've never fought someone equally as strong as me before. I've always been significantly stronger or weaker. I want to see what a fellow Tier 9 is capable of, Adonis replied with a wild grin.’
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Eager to start, Adonis threw a haymaker at Jerald, who quickly raised his arm, bracing for the impact.
THUD
Jerald absorbed the blow and countered with a fist coated in Earthly Aura aimed at Adonis's stomach.
WHOOSH
Adonis moved swiftly, grabbing Jerald's arm just in time to evade the punch, stepping aside and cutting through the air with a sweeping kick aimed at Jerald's legs.
Unfazed, Jerald leaped, bringing his knee up towards Adonis's head.
"Gotcha." Adonis bent backward into a crouch, sending his foot flying upward to catch Jerald mid-air.
"Argh!" Jerald gritted his teeth as he used both arms to block the kick.
BAM
"That was... strong." Jerald staggered backward, pain evident in his clenched jaw.
"Is that your way of complimenting me?" Adonis grinned.
Ignoring him, Jerald's fists ignited with fire magic as he took a determined step forward.
Flame Magic: Fire Armament.
Jerald's fiery fist shot upward in a sharp uppercut aimed at Adonis's chin.
"I'll take that as a yes," Adonis quipped, narrowly dodging the flames, the heat so intense it vaporized the water in his hair.
WHOOSH
Without pause, Jerald swung his leg in a flaming roundhouse kick.
WHOOSH
Adonis bent low again, dodging the flames as they passed over his head.
As Jerald landed, he extinguished the flames, replacing them with the familiar Earthly Aura.
His next kick hit its mark, shattering Adonis’s guard and sending him skidding backward.
"Dammit."
{Kukuku... Why does it look like you're getting overwhelmed?} The Devil God's taunt echoed in Adonis’s mind.
‘Whose side are you even on?’ Adonis thought, annoyed as he sidestepped Jerald's next flaming punch, striking Jerald's elbow to disrupt the attack.
THUD
Adonis followed with a step forward, leading with a solid right punch.
"Hm!" Jerald dodged, shifting his entire body and extending his arm in retaliation.
He charged forward, striking Adonis’s neck with full force, lifting him off the ground and slamming him down.
BAM
SHATTER
"Argh!" The impact sent splinters of wood flying from the classroom floor.
Jerald crouched, gathering Wicked Aura into his fist, ready to end it.
DEMMMM
But Adonis rolled away just in time, dodging the deadly blow.
BAM
SHATTER
On his roll, Adonis grabbed a nearby chair and hurled it at Jerald.
"Childish." Jerald swatted it aside with a flick of his wrist.
"I call it strategy." Adonis smirked as he landed a solid kick to Jerald’s thigh.
"Wha—?" Jerald’s knee buckled involuntarily.
THUD
"And here's another," Adonis said, launching a knee into Jerald’s jaw.
BAM
"And dessert." With a final strike from his heel, Adonis fractured Jerald’s jaw.
CRACK
SPLURT
{Not bad.} The Devil God commented dryly.
"Fuck." Jerald staggered back, blood dripping from his jaw.
"You done?" Adonis asked, his voice almost teasing.
"Of course not." Jerald spat out a mouthful of blood.
"You enjoying your front-row seat?" Adonis teased Amber.
"We would've been done if you stopped being a show-off," Amber scoffed.
"Someone's salty," Adonis smiled.
"I do have a few questions," she said, her face still stern.
"Go ahead, ask away."
"First of all, why are you wet?" Amber gave him a quick once-over.
"I just got out of the bath," Adonis shrugged.
{I told you to use a towel.} The Devil God reprimanded.
"I prefer to air dr—"
Flame Magic: Fire Torrent.
Jerald interrupted their banter by firing a cannon of flames at Adonis's head.
"You can ask me the rest later." Adonis stepped out of the flame's path, narrowly avoiding the blast.
"Were you that jealous that someone else had my attention?" Adonis shook his head.
"Don't flatter yourself."
"Just when I thought we were getting closer..." Adonis pouted, stepping toward Jerald.
"Shut up and fight." Jerald used a yellow magic circle to summon a thin blade of flames, aiming it at Adonis’s belly.
"You're very rude." Adonis raised his right hand, engulfing it in his ivory flames.
Inferno Magic: Isolated Hell Shroud. (Matter Variation)
BWSHHHH
Adonis’s flames quickly overwhelmed Jerald's, reducing them to nothing.
"How annoying." Jerald used the distraction to launch a front kick at Adonis’s chest.
"Are you always in a bad mood, or is that just how you are?" Adonis shrugged off Jerald's kick with his right hand and retaliated with one of his own.
"I hate you." Jerald caught Adonis’s leg, his scowl deepening.
"What'd I ever do to you?" Adonis’s eyebrows shot up.
***
Five years ago.
Roma City - Pugna Kingdom, Empire of Caelum.
"I-I don't wanna disappoint you, Daddy." Inside a dark, foul-smelling closet, a boy with long black hair wept softly.
"I want to be better." He cried, his voice trembling.
"Please don't throw me away."
"Jerald, time for training!" A deep voice shook the closet, along with the entire mansion.
"Yes, Daddy!" Jerald threw open the closet door, wiping his tears. He slipped on his Roman sandals and fetched the gladius from his bed.
Extra information:
This world has an intelligence measuring system called the intelligence index. The system considers memory, processing speed, pattern recognition, problem-solving and calculation speed. This scale is from 1-9:
1- Basic survival intelligence, the mental capacity to fulfil all the living functions eg. worm
2- Primitive intelligence, eg. Goldfish
3- Animal intelligence, eg. lion
4- Monster, magic beast intelligence, eg. intelligent animals, most magic beasts, and monsters.
5- Average human.
6- Incredibly smart human.
7- A mind that exists once in every generation. "One in 10 billion" eg. King Minerva.
8- Intelligence beyond human possibilities.
9- Intelligence beyond human comprehension, eg. Deities
(Oizys Hermes was evaluated to be at level 8.)