Inside the waiting area, Akio was seated on a sofa. He had Anna, Cel, Emily, and Alice surrounding him.
"Will he ever change?"
Because of Lucius' behavior, Alice was worn out. He has been this way since middle school. Lucius had a quick temper and would frequently challenge Akio while enraged.
Even when his team won, he was prone to jealousy.
"What a disgusting person."
Also not a big fan of Lucius was Emily.
"What did you mean when you mentioned you had plans today, by the way?"
Akio said with a wide smile, "Oh..that." He was eagerly anticipating his plans.
"Today I'm going to grill with Ryujin."
"What?"
Ciel leaped up from her chair.
"When did they approach so closely?"
Akio was confused.
"Why are you that surprised by that?"
"No! I was not surprised. I just...wanted to shout What"
She also wanted to go with Ryujin.
Emily saw an oppurtunity to tease Ciel. She liked it when Ciel would get flustered.
Alice looked at Emily face and knew what was about to happen.
'She definetly is planning to do something.'
Emily got closer to Akio.
"Hey Akio ! Can I come with you as well? You know that I wanted to thanks Ryujin... in a private manner."
Ciel flinched when she heard Emily. For some reason she felt jealous when she heard Emily talk about Ryujin.
Akio shook his head sideways.
"I'm sorry you can't make it."
"Why?"
"It's a boy's day today. You know like how girls go out for a girls' night."
Emily gave up her debate. Her entire scheme was thwarted. On the other hand, Ciel was relieved but also eager to leave.
"Canmore Akio! Please to the arena, please. The room was filled with a robotic voice. The moment had come for the duel. "
"I will go now." Akio looked at his friends and waved his hand.
"Good luck." All of them cheered for him.
******
The arena was not completely filled. The duel was booked just thirty minutes ago and the most no of students were from their own class.
The professor from second year S class, Mrs Lily was supervising the match. Many students here were actually here to see Lily. Her black hair and red eyes captivated everybody.
Especially her hour glass figure must have made many men drool and have many lewd thoughts.
Akio and Lucas both were on the arena. Lily was actually forced to supervise the match.
'Ahh.. So frustrating.Why did I have to do it?'
Many people thought of her as a gentle soul but they didn't know she had a nasty personality.She didn't like weak people so she never liked supervising matches.
She was equal when teaching students despite their talent but she still preferred talented ones.
However,someone else had piqued her interest. She looked around the arena to see if that person was here.
After few seconds,she found him.
The person looked mesmerizing when his hazel eyes reflected the sunlight. The scar on his left chin made him look like a warrior.
The person she was searching for was Ryujin. She had seen his power and wanted to test his powers herself.
"I can't wait to get my hands on you."
Ryujin felt chills spread around his body.
'Did someone curse me?'
Ryujin was here with Aqua and Adam. He was looking forward to the match.
Adam was also eager to see the fight. As Akio was ranked 1st in the class while Lucius was 3rd.
"Ryujin! who do you think will win?"
"Akio."
Ryujin didn't even hesitate to answer.
"Why?"
"Akio is just natural with his technique. Lucius doesn't even know what his own strength is."
Adam had known Ryujin since they were children but he was always amazed about Ryujin's observation.
******
Lily looked at Lucas and Akio and asked, "Are you both ready?"
Lucas and Akio nodded in unison.
"Then fight."
Lily left the arena. Lucas and Akio soon got into a fight. Lucas lunged at Akio with a spear. Behind his spear was a purple lightning bolt. Ryujin saw the flash and thought. "
Like his brother huh."
Lucas had no "talent." He has two skills, both of which are S rank. One of the skills is "Purple Flash", the next is "24 Sky Move".
Although his skills were very strong, he had no talent with the spearman. Lucas swings his spear, but Akio easily stops him. The collision produced a "ching" sound.
Akio's sword quickly pushed Lucius away and thrusted his sword at Lucius. Lucius used his movement ability to quickly dodge the attack. He was already behind Akio. He thrust his sword, but Akio's body turned to smoke.
It was Akio's only ability, Smoke. The ability turned his body into smoke, and no physical attack could touch him unless the attack was connected to mana. Akio was behind Lucius. This time Akio showed his talent. "Heavenly Sword, Devouring Blade". Akio's blade contained a black falme. he swung down his sword.
Lucius blocked the sword with his spear, but the flames slowly burned his hands. He countered the flames with purple flashes. Akio's sword was pushed back a little. Lucius saw an opportunity and quickly retreated. Lucius' hands were shaking with pain.
'Never again. Never again.'
He didn't want to lose again. He was getting desperate. In desperation, Lucius resolves to do what is best. He could only use 10 of his 24 sky moves.
Lucius gathered magic power in his leg and disappeared. He disappeared from Akio's sight. No one in the audience could see him except Ryujin. Ryujin god easily sensed where he was. He was a little bit impressed by Lucius' use of mana.
"Not bad Lucius."
Lucius turned to Akio. A chain of purple lightning bolts appeared around Akio. "This time I win." Lucius launched his attack.
"10 Sky Move: Lightning Tornado" The lightning bolt formed a tornado around Akio and approached Akio. Lucius, on the other hand, launches an attack from above. He pointed the spearat Akio's head.
Lily approached the arena ready to intervene if the situation escalated. This time, Akio was unable to use his smoke ability.
He took position and started spinning in the opposite direction of the thunder tornado. He defended against the tornado using the "Heavenly Sword: Dark Tornado" tornado attack.
His attack easily prevented a tornado of lightning, but Lucius still came from above. Then Akio raised his sword.
"Heavenly Sword: Strike" A black aura formed around the spell and shot towards Lucius. Lucius tried to repel the attack, but was unsuccessful.
His spear broke easily and the attack hit him in the chest. The impact knocked him to the ground.
"Cough! Cough!" He immediately started coughing up blood.
Liky returned to the arena and proclaimed "the winner of this duel is Canmore Akio. "The whole crowd started cheering for Akio.
Lucius was shocked to hear that .
"How did I lose?"
Lily was annoyed by his intervention, "Look down." When Lucius looked down, he was already outside the boundaries of the arena, so he was defeated.
He couldn't even move his body properly. On the other hand, Akio didn't have a single scratch. "Since when did the rift grow so wide? Why are my efforts in vain?"
Lucius was broken. Years have passed and Akio has not been defeated. Lucius thought about all the training and effort he put in. The blood, sweat and tears that went into his training are immeasurable.
He always dreamed of being on top, but he never achieved it. For him getting to the top was the same as people who wandered the desert and get excited when they see water . They could never reach the water as it was mirage and Lucius could never reach the top because he never had the talent for it.
Everyone left the arena. Except Lucius and Ryujin. Lucius was having an existential crisis. Looking at the crowd, he spotted Ryujin
'Will I be as strong as him? You must think of me a some who is pathetic'Ryujin stood up and looked at Lucius. He felt sorry, but disappointed.
'What a waste of talent.'
Then Ryujin walked away. Lucius looked up at the sky. he felt miserable. "Why doesn't it work for me?Why mom? Why was I born weak?"