"This idiot thinks he stands a chance against the Prince without his sword, haha."
Asura didn't take notice of the jeers from the inferior knights who chose to follow Valos because they were all as guilty as each other in his eyes.
'Hopefully, you are together in the assessment.'
He stopped three metres away from Valos on the spot indicated on the arena floor, slowly stretching his muscles and body that were still quite sore from earlier on.
"Prince Valos. If you would please stand in the marking and prepare for combat, I want you both to remember this is training and murder is prohibited."
The knight Bradley seemed to be quite fair, and Asura nodded. Only a fool would kill the Prince in the yard of the Kingdom.
More than fifty knights would hunt him down in a few seconds if he did that.
"Heh, did you hear that Fenix? Thanks to this being training, I cannot kill you—weapons would have been fine, you coward..."
"However, be careful because my magic might just cause you injuries that affect the assessment."
The Prince showed a prideful smile and flick of his long bangs before seeing Asura shrug his shoulders and take a strange stance.
"Nonsense."
"You!"
Valos pointed towards Asura with a twisted face filled with anger and jealousy, seeing how calm Asura was as his body began to crackle with a fierce wind element, causing the arena to become turbulent with rocks and debris fluttering around the pair.
"Don't think because my pathetic sister could barely defeat you and those tricks that it will work against me! I am the true heir and future King!"
⟪Asura Combat Arts⟫
—Void Battle Form
The void battle form is the basic Asura Combat Arts and teaches practitioners to embrace the chaos of combat rather than resist it. Movements are fluid, unpredictable, and designed to disrupt an opponent's ability to anticipate attacks.
They can use their Anima to freely flow through their limbs to add elemental damage at any moment of the attack.
With his arms at his waist, he relaxed, not showing any sign of guarding. This strange ability burned into his mind when he reached Stage One of the Asura Monolith.
It made no sense to him before—how could something called Void Stance defeat or protect him from an enemy's attack?
"You dare mock me? Your Prince!"
Valos roared with veins popping up on his forehead as Asura stood there with closed eyes and took a deep breath.
He could feel the magic moving through the air, the berserk wind mana from the Prince, gentle ice fluttering around the mouth of Mu Xue when she breathed, an intense volcano that surged each time Lorem's heartbeat and Xavida's crackling lightning as it began to fight back against her curse finally.
'I will listen, adapt and surpass... I am Asura in body and name.'
Like self-hypnotism, his feet slowly bounced faster and faster before his eyes snapped open; the fist of Valos was inches from his face, covered in a crackling green wind blade aimed to blind him... Yes, the Prince's mana was aimed at severely wounding Asura.
'Because you want to take Mu Xue from me... Hahahaha!'
A slightly dark glint flickered in Asura's eyes while his lips curved into a wicked grin—before Valos could blink, he had already countered.
⟪Asura Combat Arts⟫
—Shadow Serpent's Embrace
Asura's head and spine twisted and bent to avoid the blow, showing serpentine grace, as his right fist wrapped around the arm of Valos, filled with a black and silver flame
"Wha—"
⟪Asura Combat Arts⟫
—Void Palm
His left palm struck Valos in the chest, sending the Prince flying several metres before tumbling along the arena until he smashed into the wall as the flames began to burn his flesh, unable to heal fast enough due to the silver Asura flame.
"Haaa..."
Asura exhaled softly, his breathing and muscles completely relaxed even after using his power—this was the philosophy of the Asura Combat Arts: fight to control chaos, never consumed by it before turning to Bradley and glad the match wasn't over.
In contrast, the Prince looked horrible, his chest burned and the white uniform in tatters as he stumbled to the centre of the arena and faced Asura once more.
"You filthy cheater, I will crush you!"
Convinced of his stupid logic, the Prince's body wrapped in wind mana and exploded with an unstable and deadly aura.
Valos rose quickly and disappeared in a flash of green light, reappearing above Asura instantly and smashing downward with his fist shrouded in wind blades, attempting to shred Asura.
The crimson of Asura's eyes slowly fluttered as he looked upwards—like an ethereal dancer, he dodged the Prince's punch with ease and allowed the blades to cut into the arena ground.
⟪Asura Combat Arts⟫
—Ephemeral Cyclone Kick
His hips twisted, pulling back his right shoulder, before it shot forward like a bolt of lightning and crashed into Valos' stomach, knocking the wind out of the Prince as the explosive aura of flames caused Asura's body to spin rapidly before his right leg snapped back and kicked the Prince seven times in quick succession before kicking him upwards into the sky.
⟪Asura Combat Arts⟫
—Solar Flare Fist
Asura jumped upwards while he stopped spinning, with his body rising above Valos, with huge amounts of mana gathering in his left fist, before smashing Valos in the crotch as the silver flames condensed and exploded, sending the Prince crashing back down into the arena floor, causing a crater to form underneath him.
I felt his balls exploding... melted by my flames. Did anyone notice?
His body gracefully dropped before his feet landed on the lower body of the Prince, causing the poor man to vomit blood, already squealing like a pig as Asura lifted his leg into the air above his head, about to crush the Prince's skull with an axe kick—finally Knight Bradley spoke out to end the one-sided battle that made the Prince look foolish.
"That's enough! The Prince Valos cannot continue, Asura Fenix—please stay your hand!"
Asura didn't stop his kick but let it smash down into the hard ground, causing a small crater from where his heel landed a few centimetres from the head of Valos, who was staring at Asura in terror, his body trembling for several minutes.
'Doesn't this sound just like what happened with Mu Xue... All that's missing is...'
With a wet sound... The Prince ended up urinating himself.
'Although I assume it's bloody urine with the destruction of his testicles.'
Without regret or remorse, Asura saluted Valos half-heartedly before smirking under his bow.
"Thank you for the great lesson, Prince. I now know what to expect from my future battles..."
Slowly walking back to where Mu Xue was standing, his shoulder was brushed into by the princess who looked into his eyes with a fierce gaze, not like an enemy but as if Asura had done something to embarrass her, while Asura finished his sentence without lowering his voice.
"Disappointment."
"You bastard! Say that again!"
"I'll make you shut up!"
Two knights always around Valos drew their weapons and stepped forward as if to attack Asura before Knight Bradley stepped in front of them and flicked their swords...
A simple flick and their swords shattered, hundreds of silver gone instantly.
The two men felt as if their feelings of pride and belief in the Prince were shattered at this moment as they fell to their knees. Both swords were paid for with the borrowed money from the Prince, and they still had a lot of money to pay...
They were screwed.
"Know some shame! You are knights of Silvara, not common thugs who cannot afford to lose!"
"Victor, Asura Fenix, The future Earl of our Eastern Border with the vile Xian Tei Empire, is a talented and hopeful Heir!"