Arslan looked up and could enjoy the view of a very clear sky. It was June, so it was normal that there weren't many clouds scattered in the sky. He could feel a gentle breeze on his skin, while the weather itself was quite hot,
"Ahh, what a beautiful day." He said as he breathed in the air as much as he could, before exhaling all of it.
Arslan had the feeling that it would have been a positive day. He couldn't understand why yet though. Maybe because he talked with his sister or maybe because something good was going to happen. He didn't think too much, as he just wanted to enjoy the peaceful feeling he had.
Then, he looked again at the arenas. As he got closer, people started staring at him,
"Look! The trash has come!" Someone from the crowd said, pointing his finger. Everyone looked in the direction he indicated. Arslan mood changed rapidly, with his expression getting darker, as he continued walking without answering the insults and the laughter coming from the crowd. Troy was staring at him too from distance, waiting for Arslan's demise.
"HAVE YOU ALL FORGOTTEN HOW TO PROPERLY GREET AN ELDER?" The outer Elder asked out loud to all of the disciples that were still making noise.
"Disciples respectfully greet Elder Song!" All the disciples said together. A quite old person was standing in front of them. A long white beard was its most iconic detail and everyone respected him, as he was one of the strongest elders in the whole Academy.
"Now that every challengeable disciple is here, we can start with the examination!" Elder Song said as everyone got ready to listen to his words,
"Each person who passed the entrance test can now challenge one and only outer disciple whose name isn't written in the ranking." After hearing these words, every new levy began to look for a suitable opponent, by estimating their capabilities through their nervousness and physique.
At that moment, both Troy and his friend nodded, as they looked at each other...
The same morning, as mother and son walked away from Arslan's room,
"Troy, are you sure he is gonna lose?" Eveline asked apprehensively, as she looked at him.
"You don't need to worry mother, he will be destined to be a cripple after today's match." He answered completely sure of what he was saying.
"Why are you so sure of this? There is no guarantee on the strength of who is gonna challenge him." She said as she bitted her thumbnail because of her nervousness.
"As I said... there is no need to worry. The one who is gonna challenge him is one of my friends and none other than the entrance test winner..."
"I challenge... Arslan Crimson!" A voice came out of the crowd, as everyone tried to find the person who talked. He was Walter Gray, the only son of the Gray family's Patriarch, a family under River's family protection.
"Look! The one who talked is the entrance test winner!" A voice from the crowd said.
Troy grinned in satisfaction, as he looked at Arslan's shocked face.
'Sh*t, I didn't expect that the one to challenge me would have been the test winner. This is gonna be troublesome,' Arslan thought as he understood who his enemy was, 'And, considering how Troy is grinning, I bet he planned this.' He concluded as he sighed.
"Then we have the first match decided. Please, get on the stage both of you." Elder Song said as he indicated both of them with his hands.
"Really? That trash against the entrance test winner? He is at the Early-stage of the Earth level, whereas Arslan is just a Late-stage Human level and didn't even awake his bloodline." Someone from the crowd said.
"He is surely gonna get kicked out after this match." Another one thought aloud.
The two challengers got on the stage,
"I'm sorry Arslan. I don't know you, but it seems you stepped on the wrong feet this time." Walter said as he was sure that he would have been the winner of the match, "I will try not to hurt you too much... But if I cripple you by mistake, don't take it to heart hahaha." He continued while laughing.
"The winner... is yet to be decided." Arslan answered completely calm while he distanced his legs, waiting for Walter to come at him. He was serious. His eyes didn't lie. Walter stopped laughing and observed him, as Arslan gave him an unsettling feeling... as if there was more to him than met the eye,
"If you desire to die so much, then don't blame me later!" Walter said as he started attacking. He jumped in Arslan's direction and clenched his right fist, ready to punch as hard as he could,
"Meteoric Clash!" A yellow flame gathered around Walter's fist, as he hit Arslan in the stomach, evading his arms, with which Arslan tried to defend his chest. He was sent flying for 20 metres, leaving Walter confused, as he didn't expect to hit him so easily. Everyone remained silent trying to understand what was happening. Everyone knew Arslan was weak, but this much would have been even beyond their beliefs. Even Troy was surprised by what his eyes were telling him. Elder Song was silent too, as he watched the scene expressionless.
Some seconds passed and Arslan was still laying on the ground, not moving a muscle,
"Was he really that weak?" Troy wondered as he continued staring at Arslan's motionless body.
"Hahaha, have you seen Troy? Probably every entrance test passer could have beaten him without much of a problem." Walter said as he turned around to see his friend's face. But the face he saw wasn't what he expected. Troy looked quite worried as if he saw a ghost,
"Hey Troy, shouldn't you be jumping for joy right now?" He asked nervously, as he didn't understand what was going on with him. Then he watched other disciples' faces and noticed that everyone was having a similar expression.
"WALTER TURN AROUND!" Troy screamed as he couldn't believe his own eyes.
"Ahhh... That hurt quite a bit..." Arslan said as he got to his feet again. A thick layer of darkness covered his body, 'If I didn't use the Power of Darkness, I wouldn't have been able to stand up again. I have to be more focused,' Arslan thought. This was his first real battle, excluding all the times he got beaten by Troy's friends in these 2 years, 'My rise from the bottom to the top will start here.'
"What is that black thing covering his body?" Someone from the crowd wondered.
"Is that a technique? I always thought he didn't learn any technique because he said the elders gave him only the useless ones." Another one said.
"Yeah, it is the first time I see him using his QI. I was starting to think that he didn't have any at all." The crowd continued talking.
'I've never seen such a strange technique. It seems that the black layer is protecting him.' Troy thought, trying to understand what Arslan learnt.
"So, you are still able to fight. I was worried that I killed you by mistake hahaha." Walter said as he started laughing, sure of his victory, 'He wasn't even able to avoid my attack, beating him will be as easy as drinking water.'
"The fight is just at its beginning." Arslan said, as his glare was absolutely not the one of an almost defeated person.
"Then, I will show you what the difference between you and me is! LEGS STRENGTHENING TECHNIQUE" Walter jumped 10 metres high and prepared for his next move. Arslan took a defensive position,
'Here it comes.' He thought.
"FALLING STAR TECHNIQUE!" A blinding light came from Walter's right punch, as an enormous quantity of heat spread through his body. His falling speed was absurd, but, for Arslan, it was as if time stopped for a moment... Then he raised his left hand and whispered,
"Pressure field!" A layer of darkness pressed the underlying air on the ground, increasing Walter's fall speed by ten folds. What was heard after it was the sound of an explosion, as a huge fog of dust formed.
"My God, how did Walter master such an outstanding move?" A disciple wondered.
"I don't think Arslan survived this time around." Another one said.
'Was I the only one to see it?' Troy wondered as he heard other people speaking, 'Arslan clearly raised his hand in Walter direction and muttered something... after that, Walter was utterly crushed on the ground. How stronger did Arslan become? Has he always been like this all along?' Troy had a lot of questions coming to his mind as he followed, speechless, the match.
After the fog got blown away by the wind, no one could believe their own eyes, as Arslan was still standing outside the, at least 5 metres deep, crater that formed after Walter's fall.
'I saw correctly.' Troy thought as he was getting worried about the uncertainty of the result of this match.
"How can he still be fine? Where is Walter?" Asked the crowd.
"Look! He is at the crater's centre!" Another one said pointing his finger towards the centre.
"Argh... What happened? What did that trash do?" Walter wondered as he was trying to come back to his feet again, 'I was attacking him, but suddenly my fall speed increased by a lot and I missed him completely.' He thought as he attempted to remember what just happened. His body was full of bruises.
Then Walter looked up and saw Arslan's cold gaze on him,
"ARE YOU LOOKING DOWN ON ME?? EEH?" Walter said furiously about how he was looking at him. Walter stood up again and jumped out of the crater he was in,
"I WILL UTTERLY DESTROY YOU! Let's see if you can survive even against the special technique created by my family." As he said so, an enormous yellow fireball was created. It was like a little sun, "SPECIAL TECHNIQUE: SUPERNOVA!"
"Oh my God, it is the famous Supernova of the Gray family. It is the reason why many fear them and now we are gonna see it for real!" Someone from the crowd said.
"Arslan is really dead this time." Another one said.
'I must block it at all costs. I'll need to use almost all of my QI for this one.' Arslan thought.
Walter launched the Supernova against his opponent as Arslan prepared to counterattack,
"WAVE OF DARKNESS!" Arslan said as he gathered all of his power to generate a huge wave of darkness with his left arm. As the two moves clashed, a huge explosion generated a shock wave that blew away everyone in a 30 metres radius. Walter and Arslan couldn't avoid it too.
"Holy crap, have you seen it???" Someone from the crowd said.
"Was Arslan always this strong??"
"What was that black thing that was on pair with the Gray family's special technique?" The crowd continued with endless questions as they didn't think this battle would have been so fierce.
'Wait for a second... Once my father told me that the Crimsons had a secret power... But I thought it was lost with their patriarch's death... I don't know how Arslan got it, but it is obvious that such strength could only come from the same power his father had. If Walter can't beat him, I will need to find another way to deal with him.' Troy thought as he continued observing the match to understand more about Arslan's techniques.