The moment Professor Alaric called their names, Aodhán stood up from his seat, laughing as his friends wished him good luck. Most of them said it as a courtesy, not because they thought he needed it, but Ayisha looked him in the eye and smiled. “Don’t be nervous. You can do it.”
In that moment, Aodhán forgot that he was still mad at her for throwing the match with Harnoth. He needed to have a conversation with her about the whole thing, but for now he had a match to win, and yes, he was nervous.
Breathing deeply, he walked down the stands and onto the stage, tiny arcs of electricity crackling around his fingers. As he stepped into the ring, he released his mental hold on {Empathic Link}, letting Varéc’s emotions flow into him unimpeded. Determination, wariness, and all manner of chaotic emotions flowed into his own, but Aodhán managed to stay in control of himself.
He took a moment to affirm his control before proceeding into the ring to face Isis, who was staring at him with an expression almost as cold as that of Daruk when he harnessed the power of his seal. Unlike he and Yurin, Isis’s bloodline manifestation was barely noticeable. Her black hair was sleeked back, yet it moved subtly as if underwater, and the only other noticeable part of her bloodline manifestation was the change in the color of her irises. It shone a subtle purple color and was ringed by a band of black as dark as her hair.
Her core, however, blazed just as brightly as Daruk’s, pure and unblemished by the absorption of unaligned cores. She was at the 21st tier, the same as him, and when Aodhán focused deeper, he found the beginnings of an opening as well as the golden quintessence of her seal. He had always known Isis was strong, but this just proved it, hence his nervousness.
Aodhán, of course, believed in himself, but this was the first time he would be facing a decent opponent within the arena, and he couldn’t afford to mess up.
Isis inclined her head slightly to acknowledge him, and Aodhán returned the courtesy before turning to stare at Professor Alaric, who glared at both of them before reciting the rules of the match just like he had done many times before. When he finished speaking, Aodhán and Isis voiced their assent and prepared themselves for the match.
Aodhán inhaled deeply and prepared himself to activate {Create construct} at a millisecond's notice. Isis was a menace in a fight, and it would be extremely foolish of him to underestimate her at all.
Professor Alaric looked at them, his gaze lingering on Aodhán for an extra second before calling out. “Begin!”
Isis attacked first, snapping a finger to create an undulation of sound waves that surged forward almost too fast for him to react. Aodhán managed to create a storm shield in time, but the construct shattered into a thousand tiny shards of storm essence the moment the undulation of sound waves smashed against it.
Aodhán grimaced, and without hesitation, he constructed an armor of white-gold lightning that covered his body from head to toe, leaving only his eyes exposed. The armor crackled and fizzled as it solidified, resplendent and bright, but it wasn’t beauty Aodhán was going for; it was durability.
He’d never actually needed armor in a fight before, but Isis was a different breed of beast, and with how easily she had shattered his construct, Aodhán definitely felt much safer with the armor in place. Isis smiled coldly at his preparation as if she found it amusing, and suddenly, a cascade of musical notes sprang forth from her as she let out her aura.
The notes wove themselves into a cyclone of sound waves that encased her in a protective bubble. Harmonious tunes echoed throughout the arena, beating to the natural rhythm of the earth, and even with all of Aodhán’s protections, the sound reverberated in his skull.
A nervous shiver raced down his spine, but Aodhán pushed it aside, firmed his resolve, and attacked, unleashing a condensed beam of fiery red electricity from both palms. The beams surged forward, accompanied by a clap of thunder, but a sudden explosion of discordant tunes sent the lightning beam scattering in every direction.
Aodhán lost control of the beam, and when the lightning arcs smashed against the sound barrier Isis had erected, she turned the sound of the resulting explosion against him, amplifying it to such a degree that Aodhán was hit with an intense wave of vertigo and disorientation, despite the padding of constructs he had placed over his ears to prevent this exact situation.
With his ribcage still vibrating painfully, Aodhán retaliated with another beam of electricity that Isis barely managed to dodge. Unwilling to let her go so easily, Aodhán layered his armor once more and created a storm hammer for himself. He felt his seal hum in approval, but he barely paid it any mind as he dashed forward, intent on bringing this duel to a close without revealing all of his skills.
Dodging another wave of discordant sounds, Aodhán appeared behind Isis and swung his hammer with all his might. Unfortunately, she dodged again, gracefully leaping into the air on motes of golden musical notes.
A condensed beam of black electricity brought the light show to an abrupt halt, and Isis tumbled back to the concrete floor hard enough to break something. In that little moment of disorientation, Aodhán flashed forward, his hammer poised for a swing, but Isis suddenly screamed, and a sonic shockwave blasted out of her mouth, ripping through the air with visible undulations.
The wave shattered both his armor and weapon, threw him into the air, and sent him tumbling backwards so violently that his bones shuddered. Now unprotected, the sonic wave rippled through his body painfully, threatening to rip off his skin, but before such a thing could happen, Aodhán quickly flooded his body with willpower. The amount of willpower he channeled was astounding, but Aodhán barely noticed a dent in the swirling ball that resided within his core.
The flood of silver willpower served as a layer of protection, but it wasn’t enough, and Aodhán knew he would be the first to fall if he didn’t take serious action soon. With the fear of loss now added to the swirling mess that was his emotional pool, Aodhán finally released his aura and empowered it with as much willpower as he could.
What happened next was nothing short of horrifying. Perhaps it was because Aodhán only used the full extent of his aura against extremely strong individuals; he was unprepared for the damage it would do to a person on the weaker side.
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Isis smashed to the concrete floor so violently that her jaw cracked!
The sound wave cut off abruptly, and if it had been a different opponent, Aodhán might have hesitated, but this was Isis, and Aodhán knew a broken jaw was barely enough to hobble her. Reconstructing his armor, Aodhán rushed forward and smashed a newly constructed hammer at Isis's head.
Concrete cracked, and perhaps her skull did too, but Aodhán couldn’t tell as he was violently thrown back by a concussive blast of sound that shattered an entire half of his newly constructed armor and almost sent him flying out of the ring.
Aodhán arrested his momentum with a storm cloud and looked up to find a concentrated beam of pure sound shooting towards him. Eyes widening in surprise, Aodhán created multiple shield constructs of storm and lightning to protect himself, but the beam tore through them like a bullet through cardboard until it smashed into him and exploded right on his chest.
The force of the attack threw him to the edge of the ring, and Aodhán cried out in pain as his body smashed against and shattered the hastily constructed storm shield he had placed behind himself to arrest his momentum. What was left of his armor crumbled away, and his skin burned from the heat of the attack.
His bones protested loudly, and his eyes watered, but Aodhán was undeterred. Dodging the next beam of concentrated sound, Aodhán willed a storm cloud into existence and activated {Lightning Spear Rain}, carelessly dumping a ton of willpower into the skill.
Spheres the length of his arms descended from the cloud, each one a different hue, and with unwavering focus, he directed all that lightning at Isis. She staggered backwards, eyes wide in panic and jaws hanging limply as she hastily summoned an array of harmonically charged constructs to protect herself.
The constructs began revolving around her, but a flex of Aodhán’s aura shattered the constructs to pieces. Isis stumbled, but she must have greatly fortified herself with willpower because rather than collapse to the floor, she dodged a hail of lightning spears and sent another beam of pure sound in his direction.
While Aodhán dodged the beam, Isis created another array of constructs, but the lightning spears struck them down before she could complete them. Aodhán poured more energy into the skill, and with a clap of thunder, a fresh volley of lightning spears descended.
The spears struck the sound shield Isis had hastily erected and completely smashed it to pieces. Isis defended herself with another explosion of sound waves that sent the lightning spears scattering in every direction, but now that she was unprotected, Aodhán dashed forward again and swung his hammer at her head.
The force of his attack lifted Isis into the air, shattering her left cheekbone, and whatever trick she’d been employing to disrupt the lightning spears ceased. One slammed into her right hand and practically nailed her to the concrete, the second pierced her shoulders, and the third skewered her thigh.
She screamed in agony, and Aodhán quickly cut the skill off, not wanting to go too far, but that was a foolish mistake. Before he knew it, multiple balls of compressed sound the size of a fist materialized around him and exploded.
Aodhán managed to erect a storm construct to protect himself, but it was too little too late. The sound balls exploded with so much force that the concrete cracked, and Aodhán lost the ability to think for more than a few seconds. Sound lanced through his mind with a high-pitched whine, and Aodhán groaned as he felt pain stab into his mind like knives.
Unable to come up with a single coherent thought, Aodhán collapsed to the floor beside a terribly bleeding Isis and grabbed his hammer.
“Sur…surrender!” he gasped out, but when she refused, he swung his hammer at her face once more. The hammer impacted with a loud crack, but rather than give up, Isis screamed again, the sound seemingly tearing itself out of her mangled face.
Rather than the pure sound waves she’d released earlier, this time, the sound that erupted out of her mouth was an abhorrent tone. It was a high-pitched screech not unlike the grating of nail against metal. The abhorrent sound sliced through the air, leaving an almost tangible echo that set his teeth on edge and sent an involuntary shiver down his spine.
The shrill scraping sound was amplified to such a degree that Aodhán lost control of his body, completely overcome by an urge to plunge his claws into his own head and scratch his fucking brain.
While Aodhán battled the urge that was practically a death sentence, Isis freed herself from the lightning spears, blood dripping all over her body. She staggered forward, amplifying the abhorrent sound until Aodhán screamed in agony and his body convulsed from the pain and sound waves wreaking havoc on his body.
At this rate, he was going to lose, and although he still had a few more skills that could drastically alter the trajectory of this match, Aodhán refused to use them, wanting to end this match only with the skills he had displayed so far.
Determined, he harnessed his willpower again. He didn’t weave it or control it; instead, he just let it pour out of his body like water from a broken dam. This was vastly different from what he had done earlier. Aodhán wasn’t just flooding his body with willpower; he was flooding the entire ring.
Shock rippled through the audience, and Aodhán smiled when he realized the repercussions of his actions. He had just given out a vital clue to deciphering his identity, and with the astounding amount of willpower he was channeling, there were only three logical conclusions.
He either had a willpower-based bloodline—an extremely rare and royal bloodline, was an inheritor, or, the most dangerous option, he was a transmigrant. The first option would be discarded immediately considering his affinity, but the second and third had to be addressed immediately.
Being so impulsive, Aodhán hadn’t really planned for the repercussions of his actions, but given his limited options, Aodhán didn’t waste too much time on thinking. He pushed through the confusion of the abhorrent tune and forced himself to his feet, growling as Isis staggered back in fear.
With an intentional motion, he ripped off his uniform and could almost feel the heat of hundreds of eyes on his back, each one searching for a transmigrant mark, and when they found none due to Varéc’s tattoo, they made a wrong assumption.
Aodhán breathed a sigh of relief, basking in the rush of emotions that came from deceiving the entire arena. To the world, he was now an inheritor.
With a grin born from that very major victory, Aodhán activated {Lightning Beam—Red} and empowered it with all the strands of energized willpower his technique allowed.
A condensed beam of red electricity punched forward with so much speed that Aodhán’s body jerked from the recoil. Isis was unable to defend against it, and she let out a piercing scream as lightning struck her and sent her careening backwards.
This wasn’t a death match, and Aodhán’s emotions were already on a short leash, so he cut off the skill, suppressing the urge to explode the arcs of electricity that had already made it into her body. Instead, he discarded his hammer, created a serrated lightning blade, and pressed it against Isis’s dented skull.
“Let’s not take it any further, Isis.” His voice was weary and barely a whisper, yet it rumbled with the sound of distant thunder.
Isis stilled, and a moment later, she whispered. “I surrender.”
Cheers rang out from the audience, and Aodhán nearly collapsed in relief. Aside from his fight with the Silverwing IceDrake, this fight was the most brutal match he’d ever been involved in. Aodhán could have summoned Varéc or even opened his spirit to the origin plane at any point, but it felt good to have beaten Isis without any of those boons. It felt like he had passed a test he set for himself, and he was more than glad.
He turned his gaze to the applauding crowd and grinned when he saw Rahim smiling at him from beside a mute but less disinterested Professor Alaric, who for the first seemed to have been paying attention. As the applause reached a crescendo, Professor Alaric announced. “Winner. Aodhán Ashoka-Brystion!”