Zyriel Versalys's Point of View
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Areyos Orionis… According to the information Klaus gave me, he was the only Devas on this continent before we arrived. The poor guy… without the help of another Devas, he probably doesn't even know how to best harness his innate powers. We'll see how he manages. After all, he's the adopted son of Barrios Mendoris, the legendary Lion of Scourge. His waterbending must be above average. But facing him is Corvus Sherwind, the grandson of Lord Ceister Sherwind, a powerful lord and master of hundreds of prodigies among the Aegyls, including the legendary Kazuhira Miller. This fight promises to be interesting.
The professor launched the magical simulation, and the avatars of the fighters appeared on the field. According to what the professor had just said, the fighters' bodies were transported into a small alternate dimension, with the magical avatars being controlled by the consciousness of both combatants. It was a combination of magic levels 3 and 4. What was fascinating was that I was able to hear everything the professor and the others were saying from the stands without it disrupting my concentration. This was made possible through spiritual magic. The fact that the kingdom of Baringer possesses such magical technology clearly shows its proximity to that of Sylvestria. It's dangerous…
"Go! Fight!" ordered the professor with a strong voice. Corvus glanced at Kaiser, seated a little further away.
"Watch closely what I'm going to do to your brother," he began, his tone disdainful. "I hope after this demonstration, you'll quickly understand that I'm not just anyone and that you'd better double your training for our future confrontation." He finished his sentence with an assured smile.
Kaiser gave a small confident smile. "I have only one rival, and he stands before you, ready to show you that you're not yet playing in the big leagues."
No sooner had he spoken those words than a ki ray crossed the field, sending Corvus towards the wall.
"Focus, I'm your opponent," Areyos said, his face serious. The fact that Corvus was already anticipating an easy victory against him had probably pricked his pride. Corvus didn't reach the wall but managed to slow himself down using his legs.
"Ah, sorry, I forgot about you. I'll get to it now, no worries, just try to keep up." Corvus seemed amused. He leaped forward, charging at Areyos. To everyone's great astonishment, Areyos put his hands in his pockets and dodged Corvus's punch. But when he had an opening to attack, he just smiled before backing away.
"He dodged without effort?!" the Aegyls exclaimed in surprise.
"Why are you surprised? This is Areyos after all. He knows speed," responded a girl with red hair, tied in a long ponytail reaching down to her thighs. According to Klaus, she was the little sister of the former elite captain, Megane Belserion. Given the confidence with which she spoke about Areyos, they must have been long-time friends. Clearly, Areyos was someone who relied heavily on speed. Corvus hadn't finished his assault. The Aegyls were cheering him on as he prepared another lightning-fast attack.
"Not bad, you're fast, but you won't last long like this against me." Corvus launched himself again at an impressive speed towards Areyos, who dodged once more. Corvus continued his close combat assault. But Areyos, hands still in his pockets, effortlessly dodged Corvus's repeated attacks, his expression relaxed.
"Impossible! Corvus can't even touch him!" Aegyls exclaimed.
"Go Areyos, crush him!!!" shouted Sorey and Yoko.
Corvus suddenly stopped, slightly out of breath, a look of surprise distorting his face.
"Have you finished warming up?" Areyos asked nonchalantly.
"Well, I guess I'll have to go to 60% against you, you don't—" he started, but before he could finish his sentence, Areyos appeared in the blink of an eye in front of him. His left hand was out of his pocket, and his right foot was firmly planted on the ground, ready to strike.
"What speed!" students exclaimed in fear, but they weren't at the end of their surprises yet. Areyos struck over Corvus's shoulder. A devastating shockwave swept half the arena, spreading the shockwave through the forest behind. Fortunately, these damages were also virtual. With the same arm, Areyos grabbed Corvus's head and pressed his forehead against his, his piercing eyes then said in a chilling voice: "Against me, you'd better go all out if you don't want me to make you doubt the effectiveness of your training." A deep silence settled over the audience, an indescribable shock visible on the students' faces. In an instant, Areyos had captured everyone's attention: students, professors, everyone. Corvus's life gauge had fallen to 64% due to Areyos's opening attack. With his waterbending, Areyos, still with his hand on Corvus's head, used healing to restore his health points back to 100%.
"He healed him!" students exclaimed, stunned.
"Is he playing with him or what?" some laughed, others visibly shocked. As the students began to chatter, Kaiser Mendoris seemed slightly disturbed.
"Even if he hits with less force with his left arm, he could have ended the fight with that strike… Why didn't he?" he murmured, puzzled.
"Maybe he wants to have some fun," suggested Yoko Belserion.
"Areyos isn't really the type to have fun when the fight is boring," Kaiser responded.
"Indeed, I think he's the kind who wants to instill such deep despair that he crushes any trace of arrogance in his enemy, annihilating their will to fight. And Corvus is going to get it for underestimating Areyos," suddenly said Erina Shelter, the daughter of Ghost, the least active of the Shelters. Was she friends with Areyos to know his intentions, or had she simply deduced them?
"Exactly," Kaiser agreed. "If Areyos had ended the fight with one blow, Corvus could have claimed it was a stroke of luck, that he wasn't at full strength."
"Ah, I see now," said Yoko.
Areyos released Corvus, turned, and walked away from him, still with his hands in his pockets. After a few meters, he turned back towards him.
"Transform," he said in a sharp tone.
Corvus, visibly surprised, stared at him fixedly. Perhaps he thought Areyos didn't know he could transform.
"I imagine how destabilized Corvus must feel," murmured Yoko Belserion.
"Why do you say that?" asked Sorey Atherion, a human of little importance according to Klaus.
"Well, the fact that Areyos showed no sign of worry against Corvus, knowing he could transform, makes Corvus understand that he was prepared to face him, no matter the form he would take," explained Yoko, her voice calm. Her reasoning was correct, and Corvus immediately understood his mistake. Just like Arwyna, he would have to fight seriously against a Devas. Areyos Orionis is somewhat stronger than I had imagined.
"How do you know I can transform?" asked Corvus, his eyes piercing.
"Your excessive confidence," Areyos replied sharply. "After what you've seen of Kaiser and me, the idea that you would be so confident against me seems absurd unless you've recently acquired additional power or a transformation. The second option seems more plausible."
"I see. Indeed, it's a new transformation. I've trained relentlessly to make Kaiser bite the dust," retorted Corvus, his gaze determined, charging lightning in his hand. "And you, you're just an obstacle in my way," he added, launching the lightning with lightning speed. The sound of thunder echoed in the arena, but the surprise on Corvus's face was just the beginning of a series of shocks to come.
"He took the lightning head-on, but his health gauge didn't drop!" exclaimed students, confusion written on their faces.
"I didn't see any glowing red aura. He didn't use the mystic siphon. That's strange," remarked Zayren, worry creeping into his voice.
"He just covered his body with a thin layer of completely pure water, an almost perfect electrical insulator," I explained, fascinated by the scene.
"But wait, how is that possible? Where does this water come from?" Zayren asked, his face marked with confusion.
"I have no idea… Maybe it's ninjutsu," I replied, a fleeting thought crossing my mind. Although pure water is considered an almost perfect electrical insulator due to the absence of dissolved matter, which normally causes conductivity, a lightning bolt potent enough could still propagate through the particles forming that water. So either Corvus's lightning wasn't powerful enough, though I doubt it, or something was escaping me about this technique. The fight continued with an attack from Areyos.
" 'Hydra Shock'," he said in a calm voice. A dragon-serpent of water emerged from his aura, which had just turned from blue to incandescent red, characteristic of Chakra, and then launched at high speed towards Corvus. The latter dodged by taking flight, but the dragon relentlessly pursued him.
"Do you think that scares me?" Corvus shouted, his eyes shining with defiance. " 'Giant Wind Orb'," he yelled, propelling a gigantic wind ball towards the dragon. The attack shattered the dragon into a mist of water, but Corvus quickly understood his mistake when the mist condensed into large water droplets with a simple gesture from Areyos's hand and began to hit him from all sides at a blinding speed. The sound of these droplets hitting was loud enough to make us imagine Corvus' pain.
Not letting himself be defeated, Corvus formed a wind sphere, dispersing Areyos's water droplets with colossal force. The assault was stopped, but the spectators held their breath.
"Well done, Corvus! Don't give in!" the Aegyls encouraged. A slight smirk appeared on Areyos's lips, and he pointed at Corvus with his finger.
"'Abyssal Rays'," Areyos whispered. From his finger, water projectiles, launched at an imperceptible speed, emitting a sound like revolver shots, hit Corvus, each one piercing his skin with surgical precision. The impacts were violent, like rifle bullets, hitting vital points. Corvus couldn't dodge any of these attacks. He fell to the ground, bleeding profusely.
"Oh no, Corvus!" the Aegyls cried, terror written on their faces.
"His health gauge just dropped to 2%! If he keeps bleeding, he'll lose!" other spectators exclaimed.
"Areyos could have ended the fight by aiming directly for his head," Kaiser noted calmly, as if he expected everything.
"I guess he's waiting for Corvus to transform," said Yoko thoughtfully.
Areyos created water, seemingly from the palm of his hand, and slowly covered Corvus's body. Then, by snapping his fingers, he activated his healing power. Corvus's health gradually regenerated, reaching 100%.
"His ego must be taking quite a hit," remarked Zayren with an amused smile.
"Yes, I imagine," I responded, watching Corvus slowly get up, hatred burning in his eyes.
"You dare humiliate me… Me, Corvus Sherwind…" he began, his voice trembling with contained anger. Silver marks, like sharp lines, appeared on his right arm, extending up to his cheek. His blue eyes turned silver, and his blond hair turned white. A violent wind suddenly blew through the arena, amplifying the tension of the moment.
"You finally decide to show us your transformation," said Areyos, his gaze piercing and a slight smile on his lips.
"It must be the first transformation of the Aegyls, 'the Path of Wind'," my brother murmured in amazement.
"It's been a long time since I've seen this transformation. It unlocks the sub-element of sound and multiplies wind and sound attack power by 100, doesn't it?" he asked me, curious.
"Exactly, Zay. And given the basic energy reserve of an Aegyl, Areyos will probably need Ketsurei at some point, or he risks running out of energy before Corvus."
"Unless Areyos manages to beat him before," Zay replied with a smirk.
"You're right," I responded. The girls around us were going wild over Corvus's transformed appearance.
"Believe me, Areyos has a monstrous energy reserve. He doesn't have to worry," Anos intervened confidently. If Anos says so, I can only trust what he sees…
"Go, Corvus! Show him what you're capable of!" the Aegyls shouted.
Corvus attacked with a concentrated sound wave, sent directly at Areyos. But the latter didn't move an inch, taking the attack without any loss of life.
"Are you kidding me?!" Corvus exclaimed, beside himself. With a gesture, he summoned a lance from his dimensional ring and rushed towards Areyos at lightning speed. In an instant, he was in front of him.
" 'Speed'!" Areyos whispered. Just fast enough to draw an ice sword and block Corvus's attack. The sound of the two weapons clashing echoed in the arena, leaving the spectators in a deathly silence, hanging on every move.
"He used an affliction there, didn't he?" Zayren exclaimed, finally realizing.
"Yes, it was a lightning type affliction. Areyos is indeed using ninjutsu. But why doesn't he use the incantations for his techniques?" I responded, puzzled.
"The incantations?" Kaiser Mendoris asked, intrigued.
"The 'Kuro' and 'Shiro' incantations for jutsu and afflictions," Zayren explained.
"These incantations allow you to combine all the ability multipliers of an element and its sub-elements, regardless of the energy system used, to boost a jutsu or affliction," I added, focusing on the conversation.
"A jutsu?" Kaiser asked, now totally absorbed by the subject.
"Yes, an abbreviated form of ninjutsu, if you will," I responded with a smile.
"Ah, okay. So you mean, by using my 'Azure Dragon' jutsu with the 'Kuro' incantation, I could combine the multipliers of my blue flames, my normal flames, and my lightning all at once?" Kaiser asked, astonished.
"Exactly. If your blue flames have an ability multiplier of 50, your normal flames 5, and your lightning 10, by activating the 'Kuro' incantation, your 'Azure Dragon' jutsu would be 65 times more powerful. Instead of being limited to just the blue flames' multiplier, you would simultaneously benefit from the combined multipliers of your fire techniques and those of your fire sub-elements," I explained.
"Amazing... No wonder you nearly killed Arwyna with one hit," he said, suddenly suspicious. I responded with a charming smile, all while watching the fierce battle unfold.
Corvus's life gauge then dropped to 42%. Areyos was terrifying in close combat, I must admit. His attacks seemed to destabilize his opponents with every strike, and his mastery of the sword was worthy of the greatest masters. It wasn't just a matter of dodging; he was constantly counterattacking with disconcerting fluidity. Faced with this display of power, Corvus had no choice but to retreat, his body covered in traces of wounds. He rose into the air, trying to catch his breath.
"Where do you think you're going?" Areyos said, taking one hand out of his pocket. He extended it, and a powerful burst of searing flames spread towards Corvus. The latter immediately dodged, then retaliated from the skies by launching lightning. But as usual, Areyos seemed unaffected. He took the attack with an almost supernatural ease.
"There's something intriguing about Areyos. None of Corvus's attacks seem to affect or harm him… I can't say why," I murmured, my eyes fixed on the giant mana screen.
Areyos propelled himself at high speed using his flames to join Corvus, but the latter ascended even higher, far above us. They continued to climb, their figures becoming smaller and smaller to the naked eye, but their movements were still visible on the giant screen.
"What is he doing?" Yoko exclaimed, worry in her voice.
"He's trying to kill Areyos in one hit," Erina responded calmly, almost prophetically.
"How so?" Yoko asked, totally confused.
"Look," Erina said, pointing at the screen. Corvus and Areyos were now at a dizzying height, close to leaving the atmosphere.
"Perfect, I've got you!" Corvus cried, a triumphant glow in his voice.
"You think so?" Areyos retorted, his tone implacable. He charged lightning in his hand, ready to attack. But Corvus launched his attack first.
" 'Void Tunnel'!" Corvus shouted, his wings spread. Instantly, a vortex formed, swirling like a giant tunnel from the heights down to the arena floor, trapping Areyos inside. The flames propelling Areyos went out immediately, leaving him to plummet towards the ground.
"So that was his plan?" Yoko exclaimed, eyes wide.
"Yes, he knows Areyos isn't immune to fall damage. By creating this void from the ground, he canceled Areyos's flames and isolated his lightning; the void is the perfect electrical insulator," Erina explained, a satisfied smile on her lips.
"Areyos, pull yourself together!!!" Yoko cried, her tone full of anxiety.
"Well done, Corvus! You got him, it's over," they said, confident but tense.
"Calm down, he'll make it out," Sorey said, without a shred of doubt in his voice.
"You're not far off. Areyos had probably already guessed that Corvus was trying to trap him," added Erina, her eyes following the scene closely.
"Exactly. And if he followed, it's because he knew he could get out of it," Kaiser confirmed with an enigmatic smile. Their confidence in Areyos was impressive. For my part, I couldn't see how he would survive this fall. He couldn't use his flames to cushion the fall because of the lack of air in the void tunnel. So even if I assumed Areyos could extract moisture from the air to create his water, it would be entirely useless in this airless tunnel. Moreover, he couldn't rely on Jutsu since they don't allow free use of elements; Jutsu has precise forms and functions. But just meters from the ground, the giant screen zoomed in on his face. An enigmatic smile appeared on his lips, then he straightened up, his feet directed towards the ground. At that moment, steam burst out at high speed from his shoes, replacing his flames, cushioning his fall with perfect precision. That's when I realized, like elves with plants or metaryon with sand, Areyos could produce his water directly through his aura. He landed softly, as if it were just a simple training session, his hands returning to his pockets with disconcerting nonchalance.
There was something profoundly strange about Areyos, but I couldn't quite put my finger on it. One thing was certain, the rest of the fight would be very interesting.
To be continued...