Since the time she had been to this place, Saintess Rhine's eyes had never left her precious disciple. No one other than the twins held any significance to her. However, all that changed just now...
Rhine had faith in her disciple and supreme confidence in the skills she had dispersed to them. Even so, for the first time, she can tell... it was insufficient to deal with what stood in front of Christina.
Standing next to her, Madelyn too didn't remain unaffected. "This.. this guy.. he.. did he just found a way to release the dark mana contained within his body.. all by himself..?" Who can tell her what exactly happened? Probably only Aron himself.
Had she so desired, she could have easily probed what the kid was trying while in his tranced state. And Madelyn was quite curious to know, regardless, doing so might have disturbed his concentration.
Under the stupefied ladies, Aron stood with a half-smile on his face. "Looks like I am still in the game.." He turned back to see his foot was less than an inch from the place where the boundary used to be.
His right hand was covered in bubbling dark matter, grasping Christina's light sword within itself. The black mass surroundings him, while momentarily destroyed by her attack, seems to be coming back together.
Christina was partly shocked and partly furious. "Holding back..? Isn't it disrespectful to your opponent?" Aron's face bloomed like a flower. "Will you believe me if I told you, I just came up with this?"
"No." The girl replied swiftly without a second thought, turning Aron's smile bitter. "Whatever.. that's the truth. Let's continue then. I can see you are reaching your limits already."
It was never easy to deal with the backlash of your attack being blocked with such overwhelming force. Despite Christina's best efforts, blood seeped out from her pursed lips.
"Haaaaahh...!!" She screamed at top of her lungs, channeling all her anger and frustration to reach a height she had never before achieved. Her armor which had previously sustained damage from coming in contact with the bloody red cloud from Aron rapidly sealed itself up.
She shined even more brightly, forcing her hands back to free her sword. In a matter of seconds, the flow of the battle had reversed. In spite of her last-ditch effort to put up the last assault, she found herself to be on the defensive.
Aron's attacks were totally crude without any skills at all. But what he lacked in skill, he made up with sheer strength. The black mass covering his body had made him almost invincible to Christina's attacks.
Her radiance was being diminished with every passing second. The scene had left everyone awestruck. On the stage, Aron's figure seemed to only be growing with time. The darkness around him felt like it was feeding off Christina's brilliance.
"Don't give up.. miss!!" "We are with you.. you can do it!!" "Yes, show him who is the boss!!" The audience actually came to sympathize with Christina. While most boys were vocal in their support, the girls around chose to watch silently.
But no matter their orientation, one thing was clear. The outcome of the match had been decided. The black mass around Aron was now towering over Christina's figure, threatening to assimilate her within itself.
Christina's breaths grew labored. Blood kept spilling out of her lips as she was constantly pushed back. *Bang* *Bang* She countered his blows, but every progressive save was draining away her last reserves.
The fatigue in her body had accumulated over time, making it harder and harder for her to keep moving.
"It's over." Aron pushed the girl back and as if to make sure she had no doubt remaining in her mind, he chose to hit not her but the ground this time.
*BOOOOMM* Darkness coalesced over the stage when his fist hit the ground. Caught in the wave of the blast, Christina was thorn back, landing on her knees.
Just as fast as the black mass had covered the stage, it was retracted back within Aron's body with a single thought. He stood in his place, watching the distraught girl.
Christina was unwilling. *Muaahh* Blood spilled from her mouth as the spell took its toll on her body. Even so, she pushed herself back on her feet, holding her sword out once again albeit a lot more unsteadily now.
"Yeasss...!! You are our hero miss!!" "Hero indeed..." "There is no one like you.." Aron looked around, finding the crowd cheering for Christina. "Haha.. I guess it's decided."
He turned to face the instructor, whose jaw was still dropped since Aron had released that dark energy. "Ma'am.. I admit defeat. That was the last of my mana reserves.. I am done."
With his admission, the crowd broke out in loud cheers. While the female gender still found him just as attractive, Christina's struggles had left a memorable impression in their hearts as well.
"This duel has ended. One side has admitted defeat.. the fight shall continue no longer!!" This was too much excitement for one day, thought the female instructor before declaring the results.
Christina's face was frozen. She was trying to make sure if Aron was saying to truth or not. Right then, her mind blanked out. Starting to fall down, a lot of people rushed for her, but only one reached her in time.
Finding herself picked up as her armor dissipated in the wind, Christina shared a long stare-off with the boy. "You better not have made this up." "Haha.. you think I don't know how much you would hate that?"
"Hmph..!" Christina's eyelids were heavy. Unable to keep them open, she let herself fall asleep in the same arms that she had fought against.
Aron brought the girl over, finding Chris waiting for him below the stage. "Hope she is alright?" "Looks fine to me. Probably exhausted herself." He held her out and Chris took over her sister.
"What in the world have I just watched? I am still having a hard time believing." Ben can only shake his head. But before he could reach out to Aron, the boy was already inundated by a mob of pompously charged young maidens.
"That was a ridiculous ride indeed." Madelyn wiped her brows, releasing the breath stuck in her chest. "You should be proud, Ms. Saintess. You struck gold."
Standing in the air, next to Madelyn was a fair lady with very few wrinkles on her face. Dressed completely in white, she gave off an indomitable aura. She was beauty in her own regard despite her advancing age, and yet, the gorgeous face of Saintess Rhine looked like she just swallowed a fly.
"You guys.. you knew about this, didn't you?" "Knew about what?" Madelyn immediately feigned ignorance. Rhine's head heated up in anger. "About his Dark mana affinity."
"Hmm.. well we had our doubts. But yeah, this is the first time I saw him use it." Madelyn explained matter-of-factly as if whatever came after this was not her issue.
"This.. this trickery.." Rhine felt a headache coming. If it was not for the joyous occasion of her disciple finally achieving the first stage of the Valkyrie spell, she would have definitely fought against this cunning fox.
"Heh.. heh.. you can't be thinking that we are responsible for not warning you about his affinities?" Madelyn waved her hands. Shock was evident on her face like this was the most incoherent thing she heard all day long.
Rhine was aware that the boy had some necromancy tendencies. That had already made it very difficult to get his enrollment application approved by the church.
Necromancy magic was the polar opposite of the church and its values. Humans should not play around with life. Only God had that right. That's one of the core principles her organization followed.
Even after that, Rhine went out of her way to collect this approval. Her argument being many kids are born with more than one affinity. As their ages progress, they can end up discovering new affinities.
Aron could have been the same. He could have discovered a different affinity and then build upon that, leaving behind his Necromancy abilities. The boy could have turned on a new page in life and everyone would have been happy ever after.
Yet, man proposes god disposes. Dark magic was even worse. Someone like that was bound to go against the church one day. Wasn't this akin to sheltering a snake that was going to bite them in the ass later?
"Hmm.. why do I recall telling you something about the Dark Lighting Spear? What was it.." Madelyn pretended to be deep in thought, stressing it out.
That's when the realization hit Rhine. The very name of the relic is based on Dark mana. How can she miss it? Obviously, for a boy to wake the spear from its slumber, he should have at least some affinity with the same magic discipline.
"This changes.. everything. I.. I must discuss.." Even as Rhine was iterating through the thoughts of her mind, she felt something slip out of her hand. "Kekeke.." Next moment, an arm wrapped over her shoulders.
"Why think so much about it, madam Rhine? It's not a big deal you know. So what if he discovered Dark magic on his own? You think we will ever go against the royal decree and teach him any skills?" The smile on Madelyn's face was spreading from one ear to another. She had managed to snatch the verification documents from the Saintess.
"Let him try exploring on his own. You already know he got no future in that. Rest assured, the boy is talented. Who knows he might have another hidden affinity just waiting to be explored?"
"You must be tired of watching the show. Come over to my room. One sip of my cherished wine and you shall forget all about these worldly matters." Rhine protested, but Madelyn was not any weaker than her. The lady principal was able to drag the Saintess away after some great efforts.
In the third terminal below the ladies, Aron found himself suffocating. Girls were pushing him from all around, leaving no room to escape. "What is your name dear? Why haven't I seen you before?"
"Yes, you should not remain holed up in your room too much. It will negatively impact your skin. Try to come out more often." Assuming that Aron was in the first year and still they had never heard of him, they can only anticipate that the boy was a shy one and spends time alone in some remote corner of the academy.
"Which family do you belong to, love? I am from the main branch of the Truss family. You must have heard about us." While some flaunted their figures and faces, others chose to flaunt their families.
Questions were coming in a sequence such that it was near impossible for Aron to even begin answering them. "Out of my way, piglets!!" Someone finally came to his rescue and the boy felt the load on his body diminish.
The disrespecting words sure raised quite a few eyebrows, but one look at the approaching girl and they chose not to retaliate. Tina arrived by cutting a straight path to Aron.
While many females had backed away, quite a few confident ones still stood next to him, refusing to budge. Nonetheless, Tina could not be bothered with them.
Standing opposite to the black-haired boy with ripped shirt, she took into account his condition. "You aren't hurt, are you?" "Nahh.. just a little tired. That's it." Aron came out clean, having nothing to hide.
Tina gave a nod. "Firstly, thanks for taking it easy on Mark. He got a thick skull but he is not a bad person." Aron smiled back. "I can tell."
"Then, secondly.. do you want to join our team? I hereby extend the offer." Tina extended her hand. Aron looked down. This girl.. it will be a mistake to measure her strength based on her mates.
She was on a different level altogether. Just from the aura she released to disperse the crowd.. Aron can tell she could probably defeat him without any exertions on her part. There was not a doubt in that.
"Like I told.. I am new here. Let me take my time exploring things out. Still, we can be friends if you want." Tina was not surprised by his answer. Having expected that she held the boy's hand, shaking it vigorously to accept his offer.
< Kudos!!>>