"Winner, Arian Grant." Amelia called out.
The fights so far had been pretty one sided. Az was aware of the reason behind this. The Redcrest Academy normally did something that would help control the loss of talent in the second portion.
They paired up the students who had studied the previous year against those that were jumping years and those that were directly trying to enroll into a higher class.
Since most of those people were just trying their luck, the academy would ensure that they didn't lose more talented students.
How? Well, let's put it like this, suppose the strongest and second strongest of the previous year fought each other. The strongest would win, but the academy would lose the second strongest, who was still a great talent.
Anyway, this was the 2nd last fight, so Az was sure that the next fight was his. He wasn't pressured in the slightest though. It wasn't cockiness but confidence in himself to win.
"Final match. Azrath Alikerth Bloodfallen vs Derian Stagsworn." Amelia called out.
"Aww, he's against Derian. I was hoping to study with him too."
"Speak for yourself. I believe in my pookie."
"Quit being delusional. First, he's not your pookie and also, Derian is the strongest in our year."
"Man, now I don't know who to cheer for. I hate the new dude, but I hate that motherfucker's arrogant behavior even more."
"Nah, the prince is a cool dude. He was so chill while talking to that idiot. You're just jealous, dude."
"I'm not jealous."
"Thou are a bitch if you lie. So, you're a jealous bitch."
Az heard their comments and smirked. It was fun when everybody was cheering for you, but making those who weren't cheering for you mute was the best feeling in the world.
"You should give up right now. I won't go easy on you even if you're a prince." Derian's voice rang out as Az was picking up a wooden sword.
"Mmm. Thanks for your concern." Az simply replied but didn't make any move that seemed to signal him giving up.
"Don't curse at me when you're in the hospital, then." Derian simply said, irritation clear in his voice.
"Start." Amelia's voice rang out.
As she said that, Derian rushed forward and started throwing several swings at Az.
However, for Az, these swings were just too slow as he dodged each of them quite easily. He then found an opening and struck Derian's hand with the wooden sword, before tripping him with his leg causing Derian to fall flat on his ass.
Before Derian could do anything, he felt a wooden sword at his neck.
"Winner, Azrath Alikerth Bloodfallen." Amelia announced in a slightly surprised voice.
The entire room fell silent. Some had expected the fight to last less than 10 seconds, but they all expected it to be in Derian's favor. Yet Azrath beat him without even breaking a sweat in 8 seconds.
"This can't be true. I want a rematch. I didn't even use aura." The silence was broken by Derian's desperate voice.
Amelia frowned and was about to scold him, but Az beat her ton it, "What do I get?"
"Pardon?" Derian was confused.
"I am risking my admission to the most prestigious academy in the world if I give you a rematch. What do I get in return?" Az asked with a smirk.
"1 million gold coins if you win." Derian said with a smirk, confident in his ability to defeat Az this time, believing that Az won the first one because he underestimated him.
"You're a phoenix. Then make an immortal promise." Az said.
An immortal promise was a promise made by phoenix that would be punished by torture until the promise breaker dies due to torture, after which the dead body of the promise breaker would be nailed to the wall near a graveyard instead of burying them.
"Are you suggesting I'm a liar?" Derian asked with a frown.
"To me, the only thing I've seen you do is whine about a lost match instead of honorably walking away. That puts your reputation in a pretty bad spot. Why should I trust your words?" Az said.
Derian gritted his teeth, but couldn't deny Az's words. "I, Derian Stagsworn, swear as a phoenix that I shall give Azrath Alikerth Bloodfallen a million gold coins, in case of my loss in our duel."
Derian, in fact, made this promise as he was desperate. His father, Duke Stagsworn, would kill him if he found out he failed the entrance exams for the 4th year, so he made this promise despite one million being a huge amount even for his family, which only made 300 thousand gold coins in a year.
Az turned to Amelia and asked, "Is it possible?"
"It is if both parties consent, but are you sure?" Amelia asked with a frown.
"I can't give him an excuse as to how I beat him now, can I?" Az said with a smile.
"What? Why would he do that?"
"Is he just an idiot who had his mind clouded when he heard 1 million?"
"Would a prince be short of money? Didn't you hear what he said to Miss Amelia."
"Just for that? That's just such a high confidence in himself."
"It's confidence if he wins, otherwise it's just arrogance."
"My pookie will win this time too."
"It's another thing now. Derian is an Apprentice level aura user. I think it's fair to say his highness isn't Apprentice level since there hasn't been one in history. So, he'll probably lose. Skill can't overcome the power difference between levels after all."
Two things false about what they said, Az was an apprentice level aura user and combined with his magic too, he could beat most basic stage Warriors.
Also, it was to be noted that Az didn't do this to not give the fucker any excuses and whatnot. That was just a bonus he didn't give a fuck about. He was doing it for the money.
"Alright, are you both ready?" Amelia asked as both of them nodded.
"Then, Start."
Green aura flowed out of Derian as he rushed at Az once again.
"Rushing recklessly at an opponent whose power level you don't know. You are making the same mistake for the second time." Az said as he blocked the strike quite easily.
Green aura flowed out of Az's body as he applied some sudden strength, causing Derian to fly back a little. Just as Derian was regaining his balance, he was hit in the chest by Az's wooden sword, sending him crashing at the nearest walls.
"I'll be collecting the debt later and also, don't curse at me in the hospital too much, 'kay?" Az said with a smile, throwing Derian's earlier words back at him.
The room was silent once again, broken by Amelia's shocked voice. "Winner, Azrath Alikerth Bloodfallen."
"Did you see that? He's an apprentice. Isn't he the youngest one in history then?"
"Kyah, my pookie is so cool."
"Can you stop with the pookie?"
"Why should I?"
"Are we just going to ignore how badly he destroyed Derian?"
"Who gives a fuck? The fact that he's a 13-year-old apprentice is much more impressive."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"What do you think?" One of the old men who were the judges for the third portion asked the other two.
"He's just as monstrous as his grandfather."
"True. You think you can beat him, Darius?"
"I don't know, but I'm excited to fight him." Darius, the one Az identified as the one they were fighting for the third portion replied with a grin.
"We'll find out soon enough."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Alright, children, 30 minutes break before the third portion begins."
As Amelia said that, many people instantly started swarming Az (mostly girls), as they started asking him many questions.
"Wow, your highness, you looked so cool when you beat that arrogant fool."
"Your highness, can I have your babies?"
"As respectfully as possible, the hell do they feed you in the royal palace, your highness?"
"Your highness, what is your ideal type of woman?"
Az just smiled and calmy thanked those who were praising him, while ignoring most of the questions since they were ….well unique?
Just as they were surrounding Az, a heavy voice sounded out. "Azrath Alikerth Bloodfallen."
Everybody stopped talking and turned towards the source of the voice, where they saw a muscular man that looked like he was in his twenties.
He had slightly tanned skin with short brown hair and brown eyes with a chiseled jawline. His body was extremely muscular, like a bodybuilder in the classic division of Mr. Olympia.
The man was standing at probably over 2 meters, looking extremely intimidating to look at. "I'm Darius Zenith. I'm also the one you all will be fighting for the third portion of the entrance. I look forward to fighting you." He said as he extended his arm.
"What? He was in the 4th year while we were in 3rd year? So, he's 17 at most? He looks like my middle-aged uncle."
"He said he was Darius Zenith. Like the bastard of Zenith who was the 1st seat of the 4th year last year?"
"Yeah. They said he was strong enough to be in 10th year, but didn't jump years because he wasn't confident to pass the written test."
"We will be fighting him?"
Az, of course, knew who this man was. The bastard of Zenith. Zenith was one of the most powerful families in Atsolaes, perhaps the most powerful after the royal family, especially since a member of the Zenith was the first queen.
Akamane Zenith, Az had never met this woman, but they said that this woman was the reason a Bear beastmen clan like the Zenith had taken such a strong stand in Atsolaes politics.
And this guy was one of the 13 strongest of the younger generation in the book despite just being a bastard of the Zenith. The Zenith truly were quite dominant in this time.
He had surpassed all expectations and made quite a name for himself, purely with his strength, even though this dumbass was so dumb that the only reason he was gonna be in 5th year next year instead of the 12th or 13th year was cause he was too dumb to pass the entrance for the higher year.
Az found him quite amusing. He shook his and replied with a smile. "I hope senior will go easy on me."
Darius maintained an expressionless face. "I won't. Otherwise, I might lose before I can even blink."
Az maintained his smile. He liked this guy. He knew what's up.
...…To be continued
A/N: Alright, another chapter done boys. Hope you enjoyed it.
Extra:
When Az called Camillia Lia for the first time:
"Aww… Lia, go a bit easy on me, will you?" Az said as he fended of one of Lia's attacks.
"What did you call me?" Lia asked in shock since Az had always called her master. Az took advantage of her shock to tried to attack her.
Seems Az's plan didn't work, since his sword was easily blocked while Lia looked at him with murderous eyes.
"Seems you grew a third ball today, brat? Since you decided to try and tease your master?"
"Aww… fuck. I didn't land a hit and I'm bout to get beaten up? This ain't fair." Az said as his mouth became the victim of Lia's kick.
Let's all give a round of applause for his bravery before having a moment of silence for Azrath Bloodfallen. He was a good ma---, child I guess?