"It's him!"
"Aegon the Specialist!"
Shock rippled through this combat arena.
Ramon knew this boy, he was part of the 4 including him that Mr. Patrick pointed out in his first class as specialists.
Unlike most of the first years, Aegon was already 11 years old.
Aegon was a handsome boy with sharp facial features and an arrogant look on his face, clearly bred from his incredible talent. His short but well-groomed white hair added even more to his charisma and charm.
Hanging loosely from both sides of his waist were 2 weapons, sickles.
Sensing Aegon's presence, Storm Breaker vibrated intensely. This time though, she didn't vibrate in excitement, but due to the threat of the enemy.
Able to read his sword's emotions, Ramon's face turned serious for the first time since he made his way to the combat arena.
Ramon stared at him as he walked to the middle of the combat arena where he stood, then he asked. "You challenge me?"
"Are you deaf?" Aegon threw this casually with a teasing smirk on his face.
The normal Ramon would go red in the face before exploding in anger on receiving such a rebuke, but this time, his respect for his opponent overshadowed his normal mischievous personality.
Instead of being angry, Ramon laughed. "Hahaha, I like you".
"Let's be friends!"
"…," Aegon was left speechless, he stared blankly at his opponent.
Aegon scoffed. "You're as foolish as they say".
"They say that?" Ramon was surprised.
"They don't dare say it to your face but I don't give a damn, fool!" Aegon looked at him with disdain. "It's a blasphemy of heaven for a fool like you to be blessed with the power of a specialty".
"Today, I'll prove how wrong the heavens were to make you a specialist".
"I bet 100 contribution points".
Ramon grinned on hearing that, his combat loving personality was rearing its carefree head at this moment. "I love high stakes but I don't have enough".
Ramon slapped his head in frustration. "If only I had enough".
Aegon's face showed even more disdain. "Fool, you don't even know basic information like this".
He scoffed. "You can borrow from the academy system so long its within the range of 100 contribution points, this is the limit for first years like us".
"Oh, it's possible?"
"Fool".
Ramon only grinned in excitement as he grabbed his sword tighter, the next moment both contenders stepped into the combat ring.
The attention of the full combat arena was attracted to this duel.
DING!
The bell rang but none of the 2 combatants moved.
Silence.
They were checking each other out, a sign of respect for each other's strengths and knowing this, Aegon scoffed in disdain to himself.
Raising his right hand, Aegon brought out his middle finger and flicked it twice, indicating for Ramon to come on.
Trust Ramon's hot head.
"I'm coming!" He yelled.
BAM!
The ground underneath Ramon's legs in the combat ring cracked, a result of him arousing his golden astral energy and concentrating them on both of his legs this time instead of just one to grant himself explosive acceleration.
Ramon exploded forward with incredible speed, leaving a blur in his wake.
He went all out from the onset.
Despite his incredible speed, even as Aegon's body could not react to it yet, this warrior's eyes showed remarkable adaptation as they followed the evolver.
Ramon closed the distance in nothing but a moment as adrenaline flooded his body, making his astral energy flow to become smoother than ever before.
Ramon loved battle; a wide grin was on his face as he finally unsheathed his sword from its sheath.
"Battojutsu Sword Technique: Slicing Mountain!"
Whoosh!
Golden energy erupted and engulfed the sword blade as it left its sheath.
Ramon bought his first sword technique just a few hours ago but he already mastered it to perfection, this was his specialty.
His draw of the sword was executed to perfection.
His stance oozed excellence, and the execution of the reverse diagonal cut upwards reflected perfection like the cool calm surface of a silent sea.
This sword slash would slice it's target in twain from the hip if not interrupted.
The coordinator spectating this battle's eyes widened. 'What execution…!'
Evolvers were the best physical combatants in the astral world. No other astral path could match them in physical combat, they were simply faster and stronger than everyone else and Ramon took this distinction even further, bordering on ridiculous.
Aegon was also a specialist but his body was too slow to react.
His body was slow to react but it was not Aegon's strongest point.
Who was Aegon?
Aegon was one of the 4 Specialists among the first years, and he was a Mage of the Manipulator path. His strongest point was his brain and astral energy usage.
BZZZ!
For a brief moment, Ramon felt like he just fell into a hostile domain as Aegon's brown astral energy exploded.
CLANG!
One of the sickles clashed against the sword, creating sparks in the air even as it was pushed backward by the force carrying the sword.
And the next moment, the last sickle went under Aegon's legs, carrying him on a swift short distance retreat.
Aegon's eyes narrowed as he retreated rapidly. 'That attack…!'
…Was dangerous.
Though he rarely paid attention to others since getting admission into Centerpoint Astral Academy, Aegon had still heard about the 3 other Specialists and also the fact that Ramon was the best student of the sword department.
Despite this though, he still underestimated the 10-year-old boy's power.
Such an explosion of power was abnormal for a low tier Legionnaire Stage Warrior, that attack could even kill a mid-tier Legionnaire Stage Warrior in an instant if he was not prepared for the incoming attack.
When the attack came, his body could not move but his brain could. Stimulating his astral energy, he was able to control his 2 sickles with his astral energy, using 1 to block the deadly attack while using the other to retreat.
It seemed simple but against this young prodigy, it was a crazy feat.
Aegon survived only because he was well, Aegon.
"Hahaha…!" Ramon cackled loudly.
"I love this! Let's be best friends!" He laughed and finished his move.
"Battojutsu Sword Technique: Thrusting River!"
Golden astral energy erupted.
Majority of the astral energy divided, with part going to the young Evolver's legs even as the remaining converged on the tip of the sword, then…
BOOM!
Ramon exploded with even more speed.
Aegon no longer hesitated to go all out, he dared not.
That first attack already left him feeling like he would die any moment and this one went even further, Aegon could see the wavy black shadow of death.
"Mage Technique: Manipulation!"
BZZZ!
The 2 sickles sped through the air with crazy momentum towards the incoming stabbing sword like unstoppable fighter jets.
Aegon's intention was to stop the sword on its track, reset the battle, and gain initiative over the battle.
But again, he underestimated his opponent.
CLANG!
Ramon felt a strong resistance but his unstoppable momentum bulled through it as amid sparks, he cut through the resistance of the 2 sickles.
Aegon felt his heart fly to his throat on seeing this, he saw death.
Yet, he didn't panic, it only made him calmer.
'I truly underestimated you!'
His eyes narrowed even more. 'I need to use it'.
Aegon activated his mage technique again at the last moment and this time, the 2 visible sickles were not affected.
Instead, Ramon saw what seemed like fire appear before him, transforming into sickle shapes the next moment as they accelerated.
Normal Manipulators can control 1 of the 2 options available to manipulators, they can either control animate or inanimate objects.
Aegon's specialist ability enabled him to control both animate and inanimate objects.
Only Mr. Patrick and the Headmistress knew of his specialist ability before now, now he was forced to use it before the public for the first time.
As soon as the 2 new sickles, now made entirely out of fire appeared before him, Ramon's eyes narrowed but this did not make him stop his attack.
The fire sickles collided against the sword again even as it cut through them. The fire sickles dissipated but only after fulfilling their job.
The burning fire managed to burn off Ramon's aggressive golden energy.
With the golden astral energy no longer supporting the sword's momentum when executing the astral technique, the sword became a bit slower.
This was all Aegon needed to react as he bent his body the next moment to an impossible angle, intent on dodging to the side to avoid the deadly attack.
Instead of stabbing his throat, the sword ended up grazing his right cheek as blood flowed, leaving a scar but Aegon survived.
Having avoided death, Aegon erupted.
"Mage Technique: Manipulation!"
As his brown astral energy erupted, 2 more fire sickles appeared in the air even as his original twin sickles also came back under his control.
Aegon grabbed the original 2 sickles with his hand and controlled the 2 fire sickles with his manipulator astral technique.
As he went on the attack, his brown astral energy burst out strategically from his joints, acting as boosters to increase his speed and help him keep up with the evolver who he fought against.
BAM! BAM! BAM!
The battle accelerated as attack after attack hit.
Aegon hit the accelerator, rapidly increasing the battle tempo and pressure on his opponent as afterimages were left in their wake as sword and sickle stabbed and slashed.
The normal low tier Legionnaire Stage Warrior would already be dead.
Despite the rapid tempo, Ramon managed to hold his ground.
He laughed. "Hahaha…, I love this, let's be best friends!"
"I'll kill you!" Aegon was fuming.
Despite the zeal of both sides to continue like this until they won, the barrage lasted only 10 seconds.
Unlike Ramon, Aegon fought the normal way with his astral energy while also using his affinity as a mage. This showed his talent but in payment, he sacrificed more astral energy than his opponent with each attack.
The barrage lasted only 10 seconds because the astral energy stored in his sea of consciousness got exhausted after the rapid barrage.
Ramon noticed it as soon as his opponent's astral energy got exhausted.
He reacted instinctively to deal the finishing blow.
"Battojutsu Sword Technique: Slicing Mountain; Thrusting River!"
Aegon managed to use his all to defend against the first attack, but the accompanying combo attack broke his momentum completely. Aegon was defenseless against the second attack.
CLANG!
Ramon's sword hit the invisible metal wall again, the coordinator intervened.
Ramon won.
"Ramon Brenden wins". The coordinator announced.
The announcement broke the spectating students out of their reverie.
They all had the same reaction. 'What a duel!'
Aegon felt dizzy as he fell to the floor as soon as the duel ended due to astral energy exhaustion, still he was able to stare at his opponent.
"Fool! You cheated! How did you win?!"
Ramon grinned. "Let's be best friends!"
"…"