Mares throwed some pebbles that were on his hand in the air, each one was of the size of his nails. It was just a casual thrown, for him the speed they were falling was nothing remarkable. He raised his right hand and made a gun sign, with his forefinger pointing at the pebbles and his thumb pointing up.
Just like the void beasts' technique, though previously it was something that should be shot by the lungs and throat through the mouth, astral energy was concentrated into his forefinger's tip, until it became a small sphere of silver light energy. There was a total of six pebbles, and Mares shot all of them in less than seconds.
Esen whistled. She was truly impressed with the speed her beloved manages to change a technique. And a beastly one, above all that.
Not seeming satisfied Mares put his hand on the ground, as if it wasn't some solid rock but soft dirt. This time he aimed with his thumb, forefinger and middle finger. Once more small spheres of astral energy were formed in the tips of each finger, each one shooting the pebbles, not missing a single one.
'Phew…' Esen whistled once more.
'It doesn't do as much damage as the original attack, but can be useful in moments I don't want to blow everything up.'
Mares was satisfied with how the training had gone. He now had more options in a battle, and the ability to shot could come in handy in various situations.
The long haired looked at his right hand, closed it and gave a punch. It wasn't like last time, where he did it casually, this time he put some strength into it. A hole, in the perfect format of his fist, appeared in the wall of the training room, with only small and thin cracks formed around it.
'Something wrong Mars?'
Esen could feel Mares seemed bothered, or to be specific, mildly annoyed by something. Hearing her question, the silver-eyed smiled in contempt.
'You know the feeling of having lots of energy and wanting to run?'
She nodded at his question.
'I wanna fight again.'
The feeling of having energy and wanting to use it was natural for most beings in the universe. It had already passed hours since his fight, probably more than half a day, but his regeneration and strengthening, plus his crescent reserves of Astral Energy made Mares feel like his body was just as a cup of water that could overflow at any moment. He wanted to make best use of this energy, unfortunately he had no idea when he would have another battle.
'I get it. You are becoming a battle maniac… hah, I will have to make sure our kids don't end like you.'
Mares giggled at Esen's overdramatic voice. He had the weird feeling things wouldn't go exactly as she wished though.
[…]
"Are you sure about this miss?"
In the huge ship that belonged to the Battle Crow Academy, on a room composed only of professors, they were all reunited around a floating table that had an oval form and looked to be made out of some type of black crystal. Qiulei was on the front of the table, with all the other professors were hearing her.
"I am." The orange-haired answered with her hands resting in front of her face, as she had her fingers crossed.
Above the table there were holograms in front of all the professors, and all holograms were showcasing Mares' battle.
"There is no point in getting someone stronger. We need the students to pass through actual battles, so we don't need someone they would unconsciously rely on too much."
Her explanation made them nod, comprehending their line of thought. Some of them frowned, they were not exactly thrilling to send their students to a place with actual risks. They were a little more conservative and preferred that things could be more under their control. Sadly, for them, Qiulei did not share their views and she was the one with the final say. Her position was much higher than any of the others present.
"Wasn't he severely hurt though?"
One of the professors raised the question, and all of them, be those that agree with Qiulei's standing or not, also shared that doubt.
"I manage to get permission to pay him a visit, and he was already healed." She didn't mention that she got the feeling that he was stronger, or that she couldn't see through his race or powers. After all, just that little bit of information she had just throwed made all the other professors widen their eyes.
"Impressive regeneration… a waynarck? Or the undying race?"
Naturally they started speculating about Mares' race. Qiulei just heard them for some time. In front of her there was a cup, that an earthling would think resembled a cup of tea, and she was quietly drinking, not interrupting them.
"Aham!"
After some time, noticing how they had gotten sidetracked one of the professors coughed to get the others attention. They were slightly embarrassed but rapidly recovered.
"When we will send the students?"
Qiulei took a sip of her drink and answered.
"After tomorrow. Let them watch the fight for one more day, but after that it is pointless. They will already have grown numb to seeing battles, so is the perfect moment for them to fight for real."
They had to admit her logic made sense, even for those that weren't enthusiastic about the whole training ground. Qiulei looked around satisfied and nodded.
"I already contacted the coliseum to hire him. I already passed the students which void beasts they are most likely to encounter, as well as a map of the areas they should wander around, and where they should not go."
The professors, in general, seemed satisfied. Qiulei watched their reactions and said nothing more.
'Things will not be so smooth though, so I do wonder how he will react. Hmm, maybe Lhian could learn more about him…'
[…]
"Atchoo… Is someone talking about me?"
Lhian asked to no one as she massaged the bridge of her nose. She looked around her and shrugged, taking back her attention to what she was previously doing, rewatching a record of Mares battle.
"Could I be that strong?"
It was the first time she saw someone that was of her age and was so strong. It was inevitable for Lhian to admire Mares, and the fact that even her master was curious about him only made her more impressed.
There was also a feeling of pity for him. She might not know his particular circumstances, but Lhian doubted someone that strong and with so much potential liked to be locked in this place.
"I wonder how he is."
As Qiulei's only disciple, she already knew Mares would be going with them as their hired fighter if something were to go wrong. Part of her was looking forward to meet him.
With a mix of expectation and nervousness, she looked through the windows of her room, to the stars on the sky. Involuntarily that reminded her of a pair of silver shining eyes.
[…]
"Cheers!"
Elaso was the first to say it, being followed by the rest of the survivors of the room. Mares was on his side and he also raised his cup. The drink was something he never had before, but he quite enjoyed it. It could be related to some type of soda, and he remembered Madera saying something about being made of some kind of animal that floated through space.
They were on the first floor of a restaurant, in an isolated room only for them. The coliseum had a lot of those areas for relaxing, after all, if all the gladiators were so tense all the time, they wouldn't have good battles, meaning not good shows. It had cost quite an amount of points, but for the group that just passed through a harsh battle it was worth it.
The atmosphere didn't look like one where they have lost some comrades. This wasn't to say they were heartless monsters, some of the gladiators, after a few drinks of something Mares realized had similar effects to alcohol, had already fallen into tears. However, there was a universal law that could apply to several races. There is nothing like almost dying for one to notice how they are alive.
And it wasn't just a saying, most of them felt their senses and the awareness of their surroundings more strongly. They were not unfamiliar with this feeling, it was that only it usually fades after sometimes, if they do not partake anymore battles or some type of risk.
Mares also wasn't a stranger to this feeling, actually, for him it never faded.
"For our hero!"
Glarto said to Mares, raising his cup, of what the long-haired knew was the equivalent of some beer, though probably much stronger. The reptile was standing on the table, clearly drunk and almost falling. Naal was the one holding him so that he didn't. Madera looked at that scene and sighed. Elaso and Mares on the other hand both had a small smile.
The others followed Glarto and everyone cheered for Mares.
'Hihi, you deserve it.' Esen had a proud tone. Seeing him getting along with others was something that Esen thought her beloved more than deserved, after they had stayed with only each other for so long.
'Hmm… when we restore your body, I am sure the same thing will happen with you.'
He knew Esen was probably someone much more friendly than him. Though the thought of a lot of men trying to lick up to her wasn't something he was interested in having.
'If it comes to it, I will just take simple measures.'
'Hihihi.' She laughed because she could imagine exactly what kind of "simple measures" Mares would take. 'I am not interested in getting too much attention. The only people I wanna be surrounded by is you, my future sisters and our kids.'
She said sweetly, making Mares feel a sense of comfort and belonging inside. His eyes shinned with affection and a sense of longing when Esen mentioned her "future sisters".
"Thinking of something?"
Elaso asked, noting Mares' expression. The boy nodded slightly, but neither of the two went further into the topic.
"You could go to an upper floor if you wanted, couldn't you?"
Then the silver-eyed decided to ask something that was bugging him. Though Elaso wasn't particular outstanding in the last battle, Mares knew that was an exception, after all that battle was a special case. Probably because of him, and he didn't know how he should feel about it because of the casualties.
'The longer I stick with them, the more danger they are in. I should go to upper ranks soon.'
He thought with a mental sigh.
'It's not your fault Mars!' Esen said strongly and with a resolute expression. She did not like Mares blaming himself, not one bit.
'Yeah, but still…' It didn't sit well with him.
'We were just unlucky. You don't need to beat yourself over it.' She said, and they didn't discuss it anymore. Esen's words helped him to feel little less bad, at least.
After his talking with Esen, Mares' attention went back to Elaso.
During the beginning of the battle, he was holding himself well, what made the long haired believe that he would perform much better in the usual fights.
Elaso however gave him an ironic, a little self-depreciating, smile.
"Is not so simple kid." He drunk a cup of the strong drink that made everyone drunk and continued. "Because I can use astral energy, I do a little better than the others, but that's the limit of it. You will learn this sooner or later, but I am the only one outside of the top members of each group of a thousand to have a technique. The number of technique users here probably don't exceed thirty, and mine would be of the lowest classification."
That did surprise Mares a little.
"But your technique is useful." The silver eyed might not have used it a lot yet, however he still had plans to it, and recognized as a technique with potential.
Though Elaso replied with a tired smile.
"Not really. Is not flashy or particularly useful for combat. And is a learned technique of only the lowest grade, there is no space for improvement."
That's when Mares noticed the issue. He was thinking from his point of view. In his hands, a learned technique would be the same as an innate technique, it had an undefined space for growth. However, for Elaso he probably had already reached the limit of what he could do.
"I see…"
"You don't need to feel bad for me kid. You are not so wrong either, I could probably go at least a hundred or two floors above, but its meaningless." He looked around, no longer there was self-depreciation on his smile or on his eyes, he seemed rather satisfied. "I hate this place just as much as you, but I like those around me. If I can try to keep us together and improve or chances of living for another day, I will just do it."
There was a sense of peace in Elaso's words. Mares looked at him with some admiration.
"Wouldn't you like to go out though?"
The silver eyed asked almost by instinct. He noticed Elaso's expression slight changing.
"I have no actual chance of going out. And besides…" His eyes became unfocused, Mares understood that he seemed to remember something. "I don't really have a reason to go away."
The silver-eyed would be lying if he said he wasn't curious, but he knew better than to intrude on other's stories. The only thing he did was to let clear he was hearing if Elaso wanted to keep talking. The older man noticed, and so he did.
"I was travelling with my wife and daughter. We were merchants; it was simple and happy for us. My wife made the negotiations, I acted more like a bodyguard, since I knew how to use a technique. It is quite funny. The business was from my family, but when my parents saw how talented she was, they basically kicked me and decided to teach her everything." His face had the same sense of longing, just like Mares had previously. The long haired heard with his full attention. "There was an accident."
As Elaso told the story, he started tapping on the table. It seemed to be a tic of his.
"A spatial storm suddenly started. We were in the middle of travel from our home planet to a neighbor galaxy. Our ship couldn't handle a spatial storm, not of that scale. We were unlucky really. The ship went off, but because of the storm we were being thrown from one side to the other. One of the last things I remember is a big shadow covering our ship as a bunch of lightning hit us at the same time. It was probably a comet of the size of this restaurant or bigger."
He took a break to drink a little and continued.
"When I woke up, I was in another, completely different, ship. My body was damaged, but I was in one piece. Then I looked at the side. My family…" He took another drink. "They weren't as luck as me."
There was a moment of silence. Mares knew that there were no words he could or should say. In that instance, silence was the best choice for both.
"The ship was from the coliseum, and that's how I ended up here." He looked around, at the others. The two were talking low, almost whispering, so the conversation was kept only between them. "At first, I was completely lost. I fought by instinct. Part of me wanted to have died with them, and at the same time I felt like I couldn't die just yet. Then I met Glarto and Madera, and later Naal, and now… here we are."
At the end, Mares could see once more, both sadness and longing in Elaso's eyes. And yet there was also a sense of peace.
"You lost your place, but found it again."
The words left Mares' mouth before he himself realized.
"Heh, I guess you could say so."
Elaso's face was tired, however he still smiled with satisfaction.
Mares seemed to think of something, memories coming back to him.
'Mars…' Esen knew perfectly what he was thinking.
"My family is also dead. One day I got home and…"
Elaso put a hand on his shoulder. He noticed how distressed Mares was becoming talking about that.
"No need to rush kid. Tell me about it when you are ready."
Mares opened and closed his mouth various times before saying only one thing.
"Thank you."
Elaso waved his hand.
"It's nothing much." He circled the top of the cup in his hand, seeming thoughtful. "I am sure that you also find your place." Elaso's tone was so low that for most it would seem like he said nothing. Mares could hear him clearly though. "And let's hope that it is better than mine." He added jokingly.
Mares looked at his own drink.
"My place, huh..."
He also took a sip.