Azrael, unaware of the situation in Regulus's room, took his stance opposite his opponent and began weighing his options.
'Let's just hope my luck stays how it's been so far. The angel tribe's fate is resting on my shoulders.'
Being at the pinnacle of low 'Ace' rank, he had faced two opponents weaker than him in the previous matches leading up to this one. In his final match, Azrael could only hope to get lucky once more.
Azrael's opponent, a scrawny boy duel-wielding daggers, was obviously highly trained, as Azrael couldn't tell his rank at a glance. The boy had a face like a slate, carrying a cold glint in his eyes that would silence a baby.
'Come on, Azrael, just one more match. I'm sure Regulus is waiting for me.'
Hyping himself up for the fight, his focus slipped for a second. Seeing this, his opponent melted into his own shadow.
'A shadow user, this will be tricky for a dark angel to counter.'
The teacher watching Azrael's match began to feel his chances at victory were slim. The shadow element the assassin wielded was one of the rarer ones. Although it wasn't particularly powerful in the higher ranks, when fighting less experienced people, its tricky nature dominated.
"Shadow element!"
Azrael jumped off his spot in an attempt to stop the assassin from pinning him down, yet his dark wings cast a sprawling shadow around him.
A dark figure pounced like a demon out of the shadows with his blades aimed to finish Azrael in a single move. Barely able to react in time, Azrael placed used his spear as a final layer of defence.
Clash
His flexible spear bent at the collision between the two, and the force behind the daggers sent Azrael flying. Using his wings to regain balance mid-air, he skid across the magic circle, sweat now beading his forehead.
'That much power from an assassin? A mid 'Ace' rank opponent for sure.'
Azrael couldn't help but grit his teeth as he braced for impact once again. He was no Regulus; the gap between ranks was challenging to surpass.
'At this rate my defeat is almost certain, think Azrael think!'
He knew he had reached a level no dark angel had in the Karta academy entrance examinations, yet he couldn't fight the voice inside telling him he was finished.
"No! It's not ending like this."
The shy-looking Azrael could no longer be seen in the magic circle. Steeling his resolve, he took a stance he had little mastery over. He began recalling what Regulus had told him about the Scorpio style.
---
In the training room, Regulus watched as Azrael failed over and over again. No longer able to watch the angel's performance, he chimed in.
"Listen, Azrael, the key to the Scorpio technique isn't in the way your spear moves or celestial energy. At its core, it's a style powered by emotion, the most effective one being venom."
Hearing these words, despite being once again shocked by the layers the technique had, Azrael couldn't help but frown. His reaction caused a smirk to appear on Regulus's face.
"It seems you've realised it. Your personality is in no way suited to Scorpio. Yet, ironically, it's the only way to break the curse of your people. Either you break past your limits, or you'll remain trapped."
---
Enlightened by the words of Regulus, who seemed like a sage trapped in a young man's body to Azrael, he began burrowing into his emotions. Quickly coming to his buried negative feelings, he let them run rampant.
He recalled the suffering he had experienced as an angel, the discrimination he had faced and the laughter of those behind his back at the once mighty people brought low.
Azrael recalled the King of Angels bowing before a human King in order to spare them, the ambition in the eyes of all angels slipping away with each failed attempt to find a cure.
"I'll show you what an angel really is. Make sure not to forget this!"
Channelling his meagre celestial energy throughout his body, Azrael's spear began to move. His lack of experience was obvious with one glance, yet his spear hissed through the air as if fueled by emotions.
A speckle of silver appeared in Azrael's eyes as the curse slightly lifted; despite the silver specks being as sparse as stars in the depths of space, holy energy was present.
Feeling like he could see a whole new world, Azrael's eyes pierced into the shadows below him once more. The former plain shadows transformed into murky pits; although subtle, he could see an assassin moving briskly through them.
The assassin could only widen his eyes in shock at the spear coated in purple energy heading towards him like a scorpion's tail.
'That's impossible! There's no way someone of his level can see through my shadow magic.'
Yet the incomplete Scorpio first technique remained true as it skewered the assassin, violent purple energy running rampage through his body, tearing up his organs.
With his spear-piercing flesh, Azrael felt as if the entire angel race was behind him at this moment, his stroke a requiem of their suffering.
"Nothing can hide under the gaze of an angel."
For the first time in centuries, the racial trait Holy Sight was seen on the face of Immisso in its most rudimentary form. With these words, Azrael smiled as he watched the assassin transform into a golden light, signifying the end of the battle.
'I got lucky. The assassin was far too confident in his shadows due to the rank difference, providing me with an opening.'
The teacher supervising the matchup was still considering how Azrael's victory was possible when the assassin appeared once more.
'Wait a minute, that shouldn't be possible!'
The assassin whom Azrael had defeated was coughing up large amounts of blood. He rushed over and placed a hand on his chest, healing the remaining wounds.
'What an insidious technique. It's likely 6 stars, although I don't recognise it; this needs to be reported.
The teacher looked at the dark angel in a new light. Even in its incomplete form, his technique held such venom that it suppressed the healing magic of the circle.
Azrael was back to his usual self as he smiled shyly, unaware that he had just drawn attention to himself that could expose him.
In their respective training rooms, under the dumbstruck looks of the other applicants, two people who were deemed talentless, Azrael and Regulus, smiled as they prepared to enter Karta academy.
-Author's Note-
I'm on holiday so It's really hard for me to find time right now, don't worry ill still try my best from now on I just had to take a small break.