Zyriel Versalys's Point of View
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Areyos's ability to generate water through his chi was fascinating. No other race could do that. Water, being one of the most powerful and versatile elements, gave an undeniable advantage to anyone who could create it in any combat scenario.
"I forgot he doesn't need a source to create water," said Sorey with an admiring smile on his lips.
"What?! He doesn't need a water source to generate it?!" Melios Drimdess exclaimed, standing near Erina Shelter. Now that I think about it, no reliable information could be found on Melios, as if he simply didn't exist.
"Yes, Melios. It's probably an ability Areyos gets from his other race," Erina responded calmly.
"Wait a second, Areyos Orionis is a hybrid?!" Zayren exclaimed, his eyes wide.
"Yes," Erina confirmed. "But the nature of his second race remains unknown. What's certain is that his genes grant him exceptional waterbending."
As Areyos gently touched down, he was about to surprise the class once more.
Still trapped in that void tunnel, Areyos didn't seem to lack air at all. We quickly understood why. He extended his hand towards Corvus and slowly rotated it like a fan. Within seconds, the air sucked into the void was reintroduced into the space. A gigantic tornado, spinning to draw things downward like a marine whirlpool, formed around Areyos, rising with crushing power towards Corvus to violently pull him towards the ground.
"He can airbend ?!" the students exclaimed in unison, shocked.
"But since when?! That makes four elements now!" some added, incredulous.
"Well, well, he bends all four elements, like Klaus. Interesting," Zayren murmured thoughtfully.
"Corvus is letting himself be drawn in, that's strange," Yoko remarked, squinting.
"He's using the pull to gain speed," Kaiser explained.
"Yes, and he hopes that even if Areyos dodges, the shockwave from his impact will be enough to cause damage," Erina analyzed. It had to be admitted; their combat intelligence was impressive, especially Erina's and Kaiser's.
"Corvus is speeding up... Does Areyos know what's coming?" Keldo exclaimed, tense.
"Trust me, if I thought of this problem, Areyos already has the solution. He's always three steps ahead," said Yoko, a mysterious smile on her lips. Once close enough to Areyos, Corvus, still spinning in the tornado, shot out at lightning speed. Areyos reacted just as quickly.
" 'Shiro: Speed'," Areyos called out in a clear voice.
"Looks like he paid attention to our conversation," I said nonchalantly.
Areyos leaped aside near Corvus, keeping his eyes on him while deftly dodging his attack, then caused a pillar of metal to surge from the ground behind him. As expected, Corvus seemed intent on striking the ground. But the moment his fist grazed the surface, Areyos grabbed one of his wings, spun several times, and hurled him violently against the metal pillar.
A dull thud resounded: the sound of bones breaking, mixed with the clanging of twisted metal. Corvus screamed in pain and spat blood. His life gauge plummeted to 32%.
Areyos, now behind the pillar, buried it by stomping the ground as Corvus collapsed backward. He took his left hand out of his pocket and seized Corvus's left wing, " 'Shiro: Paralysis'," he intoned.
Corvus was frozen. Paralyzed. If it had been due to an electric current, he could have dissipated the energy through his lightningbending. But no, afflictions don't require the source element to work.
And there, before our astonished eyes, Areyos began to levitate with Corvus.
"Look! He's levitating!" someone in the crowd cried out, their voice trembling with excitement.
"Levitation… A secret sub-bending of air, unknown to many," Klaus declared in a calm voice, his eyes fixed on the scene.
"Levitation?! I only know of eight people capable of mastering it!" Professor Zaymon exclaimed, visibly shaken.
"Actually, there are ten, Professor Zaymon," Zayren corrected with an amused smile.
"10?!" the professor exclaimed, clearly in shock.
"Indeed, there are Lord Ceister and his four prodigious Aegyls, the God of Strategy Kazuhira Miller, who was also one of his students, the legendary Thaleus Sendaris, Astarus Shielden aka the Black Storm, Princess Oredys Kaltaris of Sylvestria, and finally, Klaus Varray," I replied, a smirk on my face, my eyes shining with defiance. Everyone's gaze instantly turned to Klaus, palpable curiosity gripping the class, as if simply mentioning his name made the atmosphere denser.
Suddenly, a phrase spoken with icy clarity demanded everyone's attention.
" 'Ranmei:'" Areyos began.
"A Ranmei!!!" Zayren exclaimed, his voice full of surprise.
"Don't tell me he just figured out how it works!" I exclaimed, astounded by Areyos's quick thinking.
"It wouldn't surprise me if he understood; he's very observant," Erina responded calmly as an energy sphere had already formed in Areyos's right hand. Ice crystals and wind enveloped it, creating a mystical and electrifying whirlwind.
Kaiser, watching intently, couldn't help but ask a burning question of curiosity: "What's the Ranmei for?"
"The Ranmei is an incantation used for fusion jutsu," I explained, my eyes fixed on the forming orb. "It combines all the ability multipliers of the powers used in that fusion into a single jutsu."
Zayren added, his face serious, with the precision of a master: "In other words, Areyos, by using wind, ice — a sub-element of water — and lightning, which is a sub-element of fire, will simultaneously activate the ability multipliers of wind, fire, and water, as well as all their sub-elements."
"Creating a 'Ranmei' with three elements is one thing," Anos Sendaris interjected, arms crossed, a thoughtful look on his face. "But controlling it is another..." He turned to the others, his tone hardening. "The more elements and sub-elements combined, the more unstable the Ranmei becomes. The risk of it evaporating is huge. Excellent control of energy systems is essential." He added.
I looked at Areyos, impressed. "Even I struggle to combine three elements with half of their sub-elements... He's strong. Very strong."
Before our amazed eyes, Areyos launched his attack.
" 'Ranmei: Blight of Dawn'," he said in a calm, yet terribly assured voice. Just as he was about to crush the energy orb in his hand onto Corvus's back, Areyos's 'Paralysis' affliction ended. Corvus tried to fly away, but Areyos, quicker, grabbed his left wing with deadly precision. Corvus, with no other choice but to protect his back, covered it with his other wing in a desperate move. But Areyos, mercilessly, crushed his orb against that wing, shielding his back, already weakened from the violent impact on the metal pillar. This propelled Corvus with the orb to the wall at the other end of the arena, leaving in Areyos's left hand Corvus's other wing, torn off, unable to withstand the sudden thrust due to Areyos's devastating Ranmei. The orb grew to 100 times its size before exploding violently, freezing half the arena.
Corvus's body, in silent agony, gradually turned into ice dust. His wing, completely frozen, disintegrated under the pressure of the explosion. The transformation that had made him so proud vanished along with his chances of victory. His legs, frozen, were also reduced to ice dust, followed by his right forearm. He lay there, on the ground, struggling to get up.
Areyos, still levitating, his right hand slipped back into his pocket, observed Corvus with icy calm. He set fire to Corvus's other wing that he still held, then threw it back at him with evident irony.
"Here," he said, with a cold look, "I think you need to warm up a bit." The wing fell before Corvus, slowly turning to ash.
"This..." Corvus began, dragging himself on the ground, his voice strained from effort, "this isn't... over yet," he murmured, earning admiration from the other Aegyls, who couldn't help but look at him with respect, even in defeat.
"What are you talking about? Of course, it's over. I mixed four elements in that orb, ensuring you wouldn't be in any condition to fight," Areyos stated, his gaze piercing and confident.
"Four elements?!" my brother and I exclaimed, overwhelmed by the scale of the feat. The students whispered among themselves, impressed and fascinated.
Areyos continued, his tone still calm and icy: "Don't you wonder why you've returned to your base form?"
Everyone fell silent, staring at Areyos, who explained slowly, with unparalleled clarity: "Apart from ice, lightning, and wind, I added chibending to my technique." He said, levitating in front of Corvus.
"Chibending!? When did he learn that?" Sorey exclaimed, dumbfounded.
"At the library," Yoko answered with a smirk. "Remember when he was flipping through your chi book?"
"Yes, I remember. He flipped through it for a few minutes," said Sorey, recalling. "I offered to lend him the book, but he refused."
"Yes, if he refused, it's because he had already learned everything there was to learn from that book." Kaiser said, his gaze focused. Professor Zemus, Anos, Zayren, and I watched Kaiser explain this feat, unable to hide our surprise.
"He mastered chi in a few minutes?" Sorey repeated, total incomprehension in his voice.
"Yes, but he still spent four hours practicing it against me over the weekend." Kaiser added this with an amused smile, not losing his laid-back attitude. I realized I had vastly underestimated Areyos, and looking at my brother, I saw he felt the same.
Areyos resumed his explanation, his calm tone contrasting with the ambient tension.
"Chibending, combined with lightning, allows me to block all chi nodes in your body through which my lightning passes. And since ice was also in the mix, this lightning freezes every fiber of your body it touches. Luckily for you, your tolerance to lightning limited the spread of my lightning, hence why you're not entirely frozen and disintegrated." He paused, letting his words resonate in the heavy air of anticipation.
An icy silence fell over the arena, faces filled with fear and wonder. The Devas and the professor stood frozen, all watching Areyos with a mix of respect and fear. Klaus and Anos, as usual, remained nonchalant, almost indifferent, likely the only students not feeling the tension.
"I lost today, but in a few weeks, I'll catch up to you. You'd better double your training if you don't want to be humiliated next time. Your techniques surprised me, that's all. Next time, I'll be better prepared." Corvus said, his eyes swollen with rage and determination.
The Aegyls, moved by such determination, encouraged Corvus.
"It's nothing, Corvus, you'll do better next time!" they shouted in unison.
"Yes, in a few weeks, you'll catch up to him, we believe in you!" the young Aegyl girls exclaimed, full of enthusiasm.
"They're really optimistic, aren't they?" Zayren remarked, surprise in his voice.
"I don't even understand how they can be so optimistic... Areyos's life gauge didn't even move, and they think a few weeks will be enough?" I added.
Areyos remained impassive, his smile gone, his eyes cold and piercing, fixed on Corvus still crawling on the ground.
"Why... why don't you finish me off?" Corvus asked in a suffering voice but with a proud smile. His eyes shone with defiance that Areyos didn't seem eager to break just yet.
"Because you still have that same look. That look that shows you haven't yet grasped the difference in strength between you and me." Areyos began, an icy aura emanating from him. He hadn't even moved, but the air around him grew heavier, more threatening.
"What's happening to him?!" Sorey cried out, alarm in his voice.
"An Aegyl, pinned to the ground before an opponent dominating the air... What irony, isn't it?" Areyos added, his tone almost sweet while his eyes glowed with a silver light.
"Don't tell me he could transform from the beginning!" Sorey exclaimed, shocked.
"It's obvious; he's a hybrid. Even if Devas can't transform, he must surely draw from a transformation of his other race," Keldo Stark stated with certainty.
A cold wind suddenly blew through the arena, and Areyos's hair, usually light blue, darkened to a night-blue. His eyes turned a silver white, with dark outlines.
"You guessed right, Erina," said Kaiser, a smirk stretching his lips. "Areyos is the kind to sow such deep despair that he crushes any trace of arrogance in his enemy, annihilating their will to fight."
Zayren's look betrayed his shock. While we thought Areyos wasn't that far above our level, realizing he was actually ten times stronger than we imagined was a real shock. I felt foolish for thinking he was only slightly above average when he had Barrios Mendoris, the Scourge Lion, as his mentor.
"The Moonlight mode..." Yoko murmured, awe-struck, her eyes shining with admiration.
"Moonlight mode? That's not in the school textbooks." Sorey looked up, completely caught off guard.
"That's normal; it's a transformation of an unknown race," Kaiser added.
"What you see here is just the first form, the Crescent Moon." He said this with ease, as if it were nothing surprising.
All eyes in the arena were now fixed on Areyos, who exuded a mystical and icy power. The murmurs died down, and, like Corvus, the Aegyls suddenly realized how unreal their so-called "victory" over him was. Their dreams of success shattered against reality.
Corvus, his gaze initially proud, slowly lowered his head, as if crushed by the truth of the situation.
"I give up. You're too strong..." he murmured, tears in his eyes, refusing to fall. His dignity, pride, and determination extinguished.
The mana screen then declared Areyos the winner, a bitter feeling permeating the arena. The Aegyls, who had until then believed in a possible victory, now faced the cruel reality. Areyos was now one of their worst nightmares.
And if students at Baringer had such levels, I didn't even dare to imagine the extent of their army... We would really need to be very cautious.
To be continued...