BLANC hated virtual meetings.
He couldn't tell who was lying and who was not.
There were seven in number, including Blanc himself.
Adrien and Audrey's father was one of them. The apple didn't fall far from the tree. Festus Reed, known for his nasty temper, had given his blond hair to his children but not his brown eyes. The scowl plastered on his face was strikingly similar to Audrey's.
The apple fell far from the tree in this case. Though they were both figures of beauty but they were different. Reyna had natural shoulder-length white hair while her mother had long, luxurious black hair. They both shared grey eyes, but that was all. Even though she was in her late fifties and a mother of four, she still looked young and beautiful without a single stand of grey hair.
Then, there was the strongest exorcist on the planet, Dominic Crest. Some even claimed he was the hottest, too. He had earned the title three years ago, at a young age of twenty-three. His brown hair was scattered like a bird's nest and his eyes were bloodshot. Blanc didn't bother to know what Dominic had done.
Those were the people he was wary of. The rest not so much. Two were principals of other exorcist schools, and the last was the exorcist president.
"So where is the kid that defeated the demon?" demanded Festus.
"Hold your horses, Festus," Camila said. "The question should be how he defeated the demon?"
Blanc watched the projections in front of him. He didn't want to display Isaac, but he had no choice.
"Sorry to burst your bubble, but there is no footage of the demon's exorcism," Blanc explained. "It probably cut off all cameras."
Festus rolled his eyes. "How could a demon infiltrate your school? Your incompetence precedes you, Noah."
"And you your impatience," Blanc shot back. Festus had begun pissing him off.
"Were there any witnesses?" Camila asked.
"Yes, there was one," Blanc admitted. "Your daughter, Reyna."
Camila sighed. "So what did you want to show us?"
"Is it not better to witness the person in action?" Blanc offered. If he was going to display Isaac, he had to do it right.
"What do you mean?" Dominic asked. Blanc had finally perked his interest.
"Finally piped up, did you brat?" said Festus.
"Festus, will you keep quiet," the President said. It was his first time speaking since the meeting began. "Noah, kindly proceed."
"Yes, sir," he replied and pressed and snapped his fingers.
A projection popped up in front of all of them.
They were just on time as the spar between Isaac and Adrien had just begun.
The spar began, and Isaac quickly disappointed his spectators.
"You called us to watch a kid get beat up by my son," Festus commented. "What a waste of time."
Silence followed afterwards as Isaac began to laugh on the floor.
"I did say your impatience precedes you, Festus," Blanc recalled. "You've just confirmed it."
* * * * *
Isaac got up laughing, and silence followed yet again.
What was the halfbreed laughing about?
He didn't put that much force in the punch but it had obviously knocked some screws loose. What did he expect? The halfbreed was weak.
"Time to end this," Adrien yelled and fire sprouted on his palms.
He hurled them at Isaac.
The halfbreed didn't move and took the blasts head on. What was he thinking?
******
Smoke erupted from where the fireballs had hit.
Leo gritted his teeth when Adrien had first punched Isaac.
He was the only one who was worried about Isaac in the gym. Payne was grinning which was unusual. Audrey was smiling which wasn't surprising and the whole class were mocking Isaac but he didn't expect Reyna to be expressionless.
But there was something bugging him.
Who had exorcised Bloody Mary?
Everybody else who could have exorcised the demon had either been in a mirror or incapacitated. So the only person who could have done it just got pissed off and Reyna was the only person that knew.
Leo watched the fireballs race at Isaac but just before impact Isaac whispered something in another language and Leo picked it up amidst the noise in the gym.
It was a feature of his charism which he hated. He was born with enhanced hearing but he couldn't control it. He had to wear special sound canceling headphones all the time, even when he was asleep but he could still hear sounds with them on. The slightest sound made when he wasn't wearing his headphones could make him deaf. He was already deaf in his left ear and couldn't risk losing the other.
He didn't need to do anything to hear Isaac's voice.
* * * * *
"Glacies".
It meant 'ice' in Latin.
Isaac was tired of the charade. He wasn't going to play the weak little shit forever. Adrien maybe stronger than him but Isaac didn't care. He wasn't going down without a fight.
A magic circle appeared in front of him before the fireballs hit. A pillar of ice sprouted from the circle and blocked the fire. Their collision resulted in a mass of thick steam. Isaac didn't hesitate.
He charged through the steam and rushed at Adrien. This was the tricky part he had to use his magic without people seeing him use it. The only person who had seen him was Reyna and so far she hadn't said anything and he didn't think she would.
If they saw the magic circles he would be in trouble because witches weren't supposed to be in a school for exorcists.
Adrien charged at him with his fists on fire. He created a torrent of fire and directed at him.
Isaac considered himself lucky. Adrien's flames were flashy meaning he didn't have to be so careful.
"Ventus," he whispered and the magic circle for 'wind' appeared on his palm. He gave a palm strike and swept the flames away.
Adrien was genuinely shocked by what happened.
"What's your charism?" he asked Isaac. "You can't have two."
Isaac knew this was coming. He simply didn't reply. Adrien wrapped his arms in fire and charged at him.
The class wasn't cheering Adrien anymore because they didn't know who would win.
Adrien threw a fist at Isaac when him was near.
Isaac sidestepped and palmed Adrien's arm. There was a large gust of wind which snuffed the fire on his arms. The whole class gasped.
* * * * *
Payne narrowed his eyes.
This kid was good. He was well proficient in martial arts. Bagua Zhang, if he guessed correctly. It was also called eight trigram palm. It's defining characteristic was constant movement and change, and the ability to fight while on the move.
Payne watched Isaac's footsteps. The kid was multitasking. Implementing gusts of wind with his palm strikes, he was the worst type of foe for Adrien who was starting to understand.
The only thing bothering Payne was Isaac's charism. What exactly was it?
It couldn't be a Jonah Charism. He had generated ice at the start of the fight. Could it be a minor one?
Probably.
Or could he copy the charism of others. If so, where did he get the wind manipulation from?
There were barely any exorcists with wind manipulation in the school and the ones that were around were senior students. So Isaac could have never gotten the chance to see them use it. He could have gotten it from outside the school.
Payne shook his head. He didn't want to dwell into charismata. They were too complicated. He preferred hand-to-hand combat.
He focused on the match which was almost at its climax.
* * * * *
It wasn't that the halfbreed was fast, his footwork was exceptional.
Adrien figured that when he went into hand-to-hand combat. He brought it upon himself. The halfbreed's gusts of wind wasn't helping matters. This was the worst case scenario.
Then Adrien just noticed something.
Since the fight had started the halfbreed hadn't made direct contact with him. He had only used his palms to dissipate his flames. It was either he was being cautious about being burnt or he was toying with him.
Adrien made his choice.
He generated heat from his feet and closed the gap between them quickly leaving scorch marks on the floor. He feinted a punch at the halfbreed and he fell for it.
The halfbreed snuffed the flames on his arm and Adrien dropped to the ground. He spun quickly and aimed a kick at his legs. The halfbreed reacted by jumping backwards.
Adrien smiled and created an arc of fire with his feet which he launched at the halfbreed in the air. The arc was moving to fast for the halfbreed to react. Dodging wasn't possible when you were in the air.
"You're done," Adrien yelled.
Unfortunately the halfbreed wasn't out of tricks yet.
Under his feet a disk of ice appeared which he used as a foothold. He launched himself above the arc and brought down his foot on Adrien's head.
He quickly propelled himself backwards with his flames but the halfbreed sent a blast of air which knocked him into the wall behind.
* * * * *
Isaac watched Adrien struggle to his feet.
He was tired of this fight, and he'd also expended a lot of his mana. He had to admit Adrien was strong and smart, battle wise. If it wasn't for the Ventus and Glacies spells, he would have been in trouble. Also, he didn't want to drag it out too long, or else he would be at the disadvantage.
"I'm done," Isaac said and walked away.
"Don't you dare walk away," Adrien yelled and charged at him, leaving trails of fire behind him.
Isaac sighed and charged at him.
Adrien threw multiple fireballs at him, which he dodged gracefully. Each one left a cloud of smoke, which Isaac used as cover.
The smoke was too much for Isaac to see, but he knew that if he couldn't see Adrien, he too couldn't see him.
After a while, he heard Adrien laughing.
"Finally got you piece of shit," he yelled.
Adrien sure was too full of himself.
"Ventus," Isaac casted and darted forward. Two magic circles appeared on each of his palms. He used one to punch a hole in the smoke.
His target was right in front of him. He didn't want to resort to knocking someone out, but how much force did he need?
He amped up the circle's strength and aimed his fist at Adrien's chest.