"..." she blinked. Nothing else, it was a complete surprise that Dio was actually being honest with her in such a way and situation. More than that, what he said actually made a lot of sense.
"O-okay…." She nodded and turned away quickly.
"Winner Tony Williams!!"
"Surprise surprise. Stupid Caesar and his extremely laurel wreath-able face," Dio grumbled under his breath, making sure absolutely no one heard him.
The matches were progressing at a random pace, naturally, the difference in skill was vast. There were applicants who stood out, these applicants were more or less already accepted into Hexora. Kind of like an untold truth. However, the reason they still wish to strive and fight to their heart's content is solely to establish a certain hierarchy. Of course, that may not be the case for all of them, some may just want to see how strong the others are, or how they would fare against the other applicants, but for the majority, it was a matter of social image.
"Alex Glendale and Hina Jaeger! Please come up to the stage!"
"…..Good luck…" Dio said in a low tone. He lost. There was nothing he could do to change this fact. It would forever remain in the records that the great Dio Aethereus Wolfriver actually lost to someone. However, for the entire fact to still settle in would take him time, especially with all the denial and avoidance.
"Yeah," she nodded and stood up, mentally preparing herself to go against someone whom Dio had lost to. More than that, Alex recognized the fight in her eyes, she shared that feeling so there was no doubt she felt encouraged to go all out against her.
She walked up to the stage, the pressure was different, it was more internal than external. She saw the audience as people or individuals expecting her to lose or at the least put on a fight. It was something an anxious mind naturally went to. Paranoia of any sort isn't pleasant, especially when it turns your own thoughts against yourself. It put her in a position where she had to fight herself and Hina at the same time.
"Good luck," Hina said with a slight smile, she recognized Alex as a fierce competitor, someone she could very well lose to, someone she could go all out against. Someone who would respect her desire to fight and reciprocate it.
"You too…." Alex smiled, her mind wasn't particularly in turmoil but it wasn't fully at peace either. At this moment, Dio's words echoed through her head, constantly until she was forced to accept what he said, even if it was temporary.
"Begin!!"
They met in the middle of the stage, when both their strikes clashed. In terms of strength, it seemed that they were equal. Alex was proficient and well versed in martial arts, however, that didn't mean she lacked experience in using magic. In this aspect, calling Hina and Alex similar wouldn't be an overstatement.
They mainly focused on spells that either directly enhanced their movements or spells that worked and mixed well with them. Considering their fast-paced combat style, there wasn't a plethora of spells someone at their level could really learn.
Hina grabbed Alex's arm and swung her aside, she knew it wasn't going to be that easy of a fight, there was absolutely no way. Alex leaned in the opposite direction and used her leg to push Hina off her balance, drastically reducing the amount of force that was there behind the swing.
"Heh..nice," Hina smiled as she watched Alex go sliding back a bit, other than a little bit of distance between them, there was nothing wrong, for the moment it looked like they were evenly matched.
It was Alex's turn now, she moved forward and whispered, "flame dance," the next second both her legs were fully covered in bright crimson flames, a newfound lightness seemed to be coursing through her body as she could feel the spell enhance her physical abilities.
"Haste," Hina used a skill that she hadn't disclosed in her fight with Dio, the reason for this is something that only she may ever know. It was baffling to see such a spell hidden away, if not for the audience, it was for Alex. She nearly lost concentration when Hina used Haste. The question of why she wouldn't use it against Dio was immediately pushed to the back of her head.
Haste was a wind spell that more or less did the same thing as flame dance, but it lacked the flashiness and had no fire wrapping around the legs. However, Haste sacrificed the cosmetic aspect and improved her physical abilities by a lot more.
If it was unclear to anyone about who the faster applicant was, then that doubt no longer existed. Hina was clearly faster, nevertheless, the strikes exchanged produced sparks. It was like a blacksmith's hammer striking the weapon that lay on the anvil.
Every step forward that Alex took, Hina took two, one to the side and one forward. She was quicker for the moment, however, that didn't mean she was winning. The flames around Alex's legs were starting to prove their worth. The accumulated damage was now slowly catching up to Hina.
Whilst the two of them were going at each other with full intensity, Dio was not in the best of moods. He wasn't mad or angry, but he was disappointed in himself, of course, he would and could never truly admit such a thing to anyone. But that didn't change the fact that he questioned himself, even if it was just for a second.
'Haste…..' Clearly Hina's decision to not use the spell was taking a toll on Dio. Even after the duel had ended it seems like Dio was still feeling the pain. Unfortunately, there was nothing that could be done.
He never questioned his gift. It was truly something that put him aside. However, for some reason, for the first time ever, Dio had a unique feeling, one that was born of the blood Dio and Hina shed.
'A curse…..' To remember everything, to lack the ability to repress anything, it does a lot to a person. Shatters them, hurts them, eats them up from the inside. The scene of Hina's fist connecting to his stomach constantly replayed in his head. There was nothing he could really do, but suck it up and tolerate the torture his "gift" put him through.