Slowly rising to his feet, Seth appeared slightly shaken, 'Indeed, that damn inevitability is troublesome. What would have happened if I hadn't taken precautions?'
He didn't desire to utilize his true strength, but to lose against Anon, even if it was just once, was even less desirable.
"You must feel it by now, right?" Seth was pleased at the sight.
Blood oozed from Anon's orifices showing no signs of stopping.
Weeping blood, vomiting out blood, blood spilled from his ears, soon after, he had already lost consciousness, the fight had come to an end almost instantaneously.
Blood Resonance…
Nickyle had True Dodge, Catharina had Gold Storm, and Anon had nothing, but Seth also had his own trump card, well card.
Blood Resonance was what he decided to reveal, as for his true ability, he was not in a state of desperation that needed him to expose himself, so none would be the wiser.
But this spar…
This spar brought a great change to many things…
As the battle ended, Parkinson's voice echoed through combat room, causing the mechanisms that created the illusory world to cease operations.
But even after his voice sounded out, those around him, especially Nickyle and Catharina, were drowned in silence.
The disparity between themselves, and the duo that had finished sparring was simply too great.
Seth was a freak, an utter oddity.
"When I entered the academy back then, I'd say only the children of the greater families at that time, can compare to the current Seth."
Rolan voiced his opinion, but his underlining tone hinted at his exasperation.
After all, Seth was still growing, and there were over three months until he would enter the military academy.
With such strength at this stage, how strong would he be at that time?
His words, and its meaning, shook the minds of the geniuses, especially the two stellar geniuses from great families.
And still, when they saw Parkinson standing before a bloodied and unconscious figure, pointing some strange device that released a light which encompassed Anon, the sight of Anon instilled a stuffy feeling in their chest.
Anon…
He lost to Seth, so why was he so intimidating to them?
By chance, did one not see his movements in the climax of this fight?
Until now, he hadn't revealed any type of trump card, relying only on the Man Like Beast battle art and the basic prowess that came from his grace-related principle, and still, it struck towering waves of disbelief into the hearts of Nickyle and the others.
'We began learning these martial arts yesterday,' Catharina inwardly summarized, 'In a single day, he engraved the martial art into his muscles, and then in this battle, went a step further and truly mastered Man Like Beast, making it follow his whims…'
For them, Anon's rate of learning was frightening, but what was more horrifying was the 'how'.
He had broken through amidst battle, a spar…
Time passed.
The day went by like yesterday, with the only change being Nickyle's presence, and the absence of Seth and Anon.
Now present, Nickyle received the howling from Rolan that he missed out on yesterday, and yet, the arrogant youth showed no signs of anger.
As they dissected Anon and Seth's spar, Andrew and Melissa would listen intently, Nickyle and Catharina would instead be lost, staring into the holographic videos in a dazed manner.
In a room among many in the infirmary pavilion, Anon lay unconscious in a healing pod.
Submerged in bubbling fluids, he wore a medical mask that provided him with air and monitored his breathing and vital signs.
Unconscious…
No, he was not.
But his eyes were closed so tightly that they were trembling, as was his body.
His heart rate was chaotic as scenes of the battle with Seth played out in his mind.
He had lost.
Disappointment?
He felt it.
Bitterness?
It coated his tongue, filling him with hatred.
Anger?
It consumed him.
'Seth was casual until the end. Just as dead mother says, he's observing me and keeping me in check.'
'At the same time, he does not allow our strength to become too close…' Anon groaned inwardly.
It must be noted that Seth did not use any of his other principles.
Principles, he had three of them, and had used only one to defeat Anon.
Subconsciously, Anon knew from Seth's state at the end of the battle, that he didn't even get to unravel all the layers that covered just that single blood-related principle.
He did not get Seth to reveal the full power of that single principle.
Such was the disparity in strength.
This wasn't something as simple as one's rival being stronger than them.
Seth was Anon's greatest helper, but just as much of a helper he was, he was a thorn on Anon's side, Anon's greatest enemy.
Though he did not know the true purpose of his appearance, Seth and Anon's final battle would be against each other, one where the loser died and the winner triumphs over the other's corpse.
It wouldn't even be a battle at this rate, Seth was beyond.
Anon was already intertwined in thousands of strings that were controlled by Seth.
He was lost in a maze that spanned hundreds and thousands of kilometers, whilst Seth observed everything from above.
His body had not fully healed, but every second spent in the pod, recovering from the wounds inflicted by Seth, fueled his rage, spreading through every corner of his being.
Unbearable!
It was too unbearable!
He grabbed the mask in a fit of anger and yanked at it whilst pushing the hatch that covered the pod.
With a click, the hatch lifted, and he stood up, fluids overflowing from the healing pod.
"W-Wait, what are you doing?!"
A woman adorning a white overcoat came over with a metallic board showing video data of Anon's vitals.
She had an expression that showed her shock and worry, but as she approached Anon, he swiped his hand at her.
Pa!
She was slapped away as he exited the room soaked from the fluids.
He only had on tight-fitted pants that stopped before reaching his knees as his upper body was bare.
There were bruises of all kinds across his body and his upper body showed signs of malnourishment.
One could easily count each of Anon's ribs attempting to break through his skin.
His skinny waist that had not even the slightest bit of flesh was a sight that intertwined and amplified in layers of horror along with his bruises and swelling.
At times he stumbled and at other times he leaned on the walls as he barely made his way to the end of the hallway, slowly descending a fleet of stairs and exiting the infirmary pavilion.
Therein, a group of individuals were left in his wake, some of which were left stunned by his actions, made obvious by those who had approached him now on the ground with busted gums or bruises from being hit by him.
He walked barefooted across military zone #91, ignoring the workers going about their business as he made his way to the dorm, therein, Elissa would approach him, but he'd growl at her to stay away.
It was a deep, kind of beastly growl that immediately brought her to a halt.
He made his way up to the second floor where dorm room one was.
After slamming it shut, he entered the bathroom and stared at himself in the mirror.
His amber-gold eyes were now surrounded by sclera that had lost their whiteness. With bloodshot eyes, wet and disheveled hair, and a sickly, malnourished body, he appeared almost like a golden-eyed devil.
Seth was the devil; it was Seth that his mother spoke of, right?
So right now, why did it almost seem like he was the devil too?
Gritting his teeth, Anon's fist shattered the glass.
As these fragments and shards exploded into the surroundings, they reflected Anon's appearance from dozens of differing angles, showing within, the image of Anon, amongst other things…