As the sun began its descent into the horizon, the Citadel was bathed in a cascading warm glow. The absence of the evening wind left the leaves still on the trees.
Inside the Citadel though the atmosphere was the exact opposite, the audience had just witnessed something they had never expected, no on had seen this coming. It was like the competition was a play written by a half psychotic novelist.
Derek would have liked to agree that Edward since the start of the competition had concealed his ability with meticulous precision. However, that was not the case since abilities were not allowed at the beginning stages.
But it was arguable that he had been a little bit concealing because all he had done for the past half hour was to dodge his opponents abilities without revealing his own abilities.
Except for the moment before Edward had released a wall of flame, his calm demeanor showed no trace of apprehension. His slightly blue eyes flickering with determination had shown no traces of the blood of the Astor that ran deep in his veins.
Slowly, the fire that had erupted began its descent, dissipating into the ground. Far from the stages up in the crowd, the eyes of the DuPont head closely followed the stranger that had just displayed amazing control of the family's ability.
"Hiding a protege from the eyes of the public?" Jeremy Dupont regarded the Astor head, Benjamin.
"Ha ha, nothing like that Remy" Benjamin replied "he is more of a half blooded outcast than a protege. Nothing really special about him" Benjamin replied in mock modesty.
Jeremy vibrated silently in anger, a crackle of lightning raced across his finger tips at Benjamin's insinuation of a nobody beating his son.
The aides around the room sensing the slight escape of energy from Jeremy were immediately at alert even though the intimidating nature of the energy made them shiver in their boots.
Benjamin knew Jeremy was touchy but he still made sure to have a go at him every once in a while. He wasn't sure how thing would end, should a fight break up between the two of them but he was quite confident in his abilities and he enjoyed dancing at the edge of life.
Jeremy knowing he could do nothing about a silly banter soon calmed down and the rising energy along with the tension in the room vanished. The aides that accompanied the heads of family were finally at ease. Even more Vado, Jeremy DuPont's personal aide, he had seen the leader in a bad mood and he was not willing to be the object of his spite.
Nathan's surprise dissipated along with the fire, his surprise soon turned to satisfaction of having driven the famous wonder kid to a corner. Despite his calm demeanor, he had forced him to unleash a wall of flames.
Nathan smiled from the other end of the stage "I will wipe that calm look off your face and show the world that the Rothschild family is not to be taken lightly".
"I would like to see you try" Edward mouthed at his opponent, trying to provoke him into a blind rage, but Nathan was not falling for it. He was usually calm and calculative.
Having identified the nature of his opponent ability, Nathan exuded confidence. His azure eyes glistened with the fluidity of her element, a testament to his expertise.
Like a spectacle to behold, water particles began to form in the atmosphere, the water encircling his like a protective shroud seeming ready to respond to his slightest command.
Edward stood watching as the water particles gathered, he was in no manner underestimating his opponent. He was just getting ready to move away from its range of assault in time.
With a sudden surge in energy, Nathan propelled torrents of water at Edward. Edward jumped out of the way just in time for the liquid barrage to fly off the stage and into the nearest wall. His skills of evasion still at its peak.
"Is that the extent of your power?" Edward asked." How do you plan to defeat me if you can barely touch me?" Edward taunted.
Nathan replied his taunts with another torrent, this time faster than the previous. Edwards moved away just at the nick of time. He could feel the force of the water as it wheezed past him.
'This guy is really strong, little wonder he is the Rothschild's favourite. Had that torrent touched me, it would have done quite a damage not to add throw me off the stage without much resistance' Edward thought to himself.
Derek had been observing Edward since the beginning of the fight, he had no experience whatsoever in fighting so he couldn't tell for sure what was going on down there except the few times when Maya offered some free commentary.
But he could tell that the Astor was a formidable opponent, he could hear him taunt his opponent even though he toned down his voice just enough so no one outside the stage could hear him.
He had built an image of a victim turned 'wonder kid' and he intended to keep it that way. He didn't want his taunting to ruin the image his smiling face portrayed.
Derek wondered if he was the only one who could hear the tauntings of Edward from where he sat amidst the sounds from the crowd, but that was of secondary importance to him right now.
Focusing all his concentration on the stage, he could hear a beating sound, increasing in tempo by the moment. He wondered if it was the sound of someone's heart beating but he quickly disregarded the thought. It must be crazy to think that he could hear someone's heartbeat.
Still hearing the beating sound, he started to feel energy rise from the stage. Like a music building to a crescendo, the beat and the energy began rising rapidly, simultaneously.
Edward was getting ready to attack