Shin being a contractor was a confidential matter in the Family.
The only ones who knew were Shin, Souzen, and Vanessa.
But the Aubades were a long time ally.
And the only reason they kept it confidential was due to the battle for succession.
If they let out the fact that Shin was a contractor come to light…
Then there was a probability that someone in the family would assassinate him before he grew
too strong.
But the Aubades had no motive to do that.
Souzen had decided.
He leaned in to whisper to Jerome.
"First, put up a sound barrier."
VOO!
At Souzen's words, Jerome instantly casted a sound barrier."So? What is it? It must be important enough that you don't want your own family to hear."
"Shin Nocturn… is the contractor of the God of Night."
...What the fuck?"
"Language… nevermind, your Daughter can't hear anyway."
"You're not joking around are you?"
Jerome couldn't believe if his old buddy was just pranking him or not.
But…
"Why would I ask you to put up a sound barrier?"
There were no lies…
Jerome leaned back, unable to process Souzen's revelation.
"Noctis… Just like the First Patriarch…"
"That's right."
"It all makes sense now… Why you put so much expectations on the boy."
"Exactly."
Jerome could only believe in Souzen, he had no reason to lie about such a thing.After his friend confided in him, Jerome let out one of his secrets as well.
"Actually… My Daughter is a Contractor as well."
"What?"
Revelations one after another.
"Which Deity?"
"Solis, the God of Sun."
"I see…"
"I know… what's with these kids?"
Contractors weren't too rare, but the ones who were born Contractors were a one in a million.
"Thanks for telling me."
"It's no problem, the Aubades already know. But for you… this could be trouble."
"Haa… I know."
Souzen could only sigh at his friend's words.
Unlike the Nocturns, the Aubades did not have a battle for succession.After their conversation, Jerome lifted the sound barrier.
No words were spoken between the two.
They could only watch the battles that unfolded in front of them.
The battles raged on, when it seemed like one was winning, the other would retaliate.
None of the fights ended as fast as Shin's.
Until the final three were decided.
Shin vs Satoshi.
Whoever won this battle would face Camilla in the finals.
It was a fight everyone had their eyes on.
The main family children against the branch family child.
Shin stepped foot onto the arena, maintaining his nonchalant look.
Satoshi was irritated by this.
T o him, it seemed like Shin was looking down on him as well.
"Hey, bastard. Don't think you can beat me the same way you did the others."
"Understood."
Shin did not care what Satoshi had to say.
He was only focused on one thing.
Total victory.
"Hey, Souzen. Who are you rooting for? Your kid or Shin?"
"Don't go spouting nonsense, of course I'm rooting for Satoshi."
Despite his words, it was clear to Souzen who would come out on top.
He didn't need to think about it.
After observing their matches, he knew the skill gap between Shin and Satoshi.
"Then I'm rooting for Shin. What about you Alea? Who do you think is gonna win?"
Alea pretended to ponder in respect for Souzen.
She knew who was the better fighter between Shin and Satoshi.
After all, she had kept a close eye on Shin's fights the entire time.
"I think… Shin would win."
At the referee's signal, the battle between Shin and Satoshi commenced.
The two just stood still, no one made the first move."I know the way you fight, bastard. You can't bait me into rushing like an idiot."
All of Shin's matches had ended in an instant.
The whole time, Shin just stood still, employing the same strategy he used against Souma.
But…
"Then here I come."
Suddenly Shin bursted from his position.
"Wha-"
Satoshi was flustered, Shin had never made the first move in all his matches.
Instantly, Shin appeared in front of Satoshi.
Bam! Crack!
Satoshi deflected Shin's attack through sheer reaction time.
But…
The moment the two swords clashed, Shin twisted his body and struck Satoshi with a tornado
roundhouse kick.
Pow!"Argh!"
Satoshi was sent hurling.
Thud! Thud!
As Satoshi crashed down on the ground, Shin gave chase and instantly made his way towards
Satoshi.
Satoshi had no time to get up as Shin was about to kick him again.
But this time Satoshi saw it coming, motioning to defend against it.
Bam!
Satoshi was once again sent hurtling away. But this time he was able to recover mid-flight,
The moment he got up on his feet, he bolted towards Shin. Preparing to swing his sword over
his head.
'Too slow.'
This was an ability that Shin had practiced for a full year.
[Rewarp.]
Fuuu!
A miniscule of blue-blazing embers materialized only by a fraction of a second.The moment it did, Shin instantly vanished and appeared behind Satoshi, who was suspended
in the air, trying to swing his sword towards where Shin once stood.
***
"WHAT THE FUCK?!"
"LANGUAGE, JEROME!"
This time, it was Vanessa who reprimanded Jerome.
***
After Rewarping, Shin bolted from his position and struck Satoshi's shoulder.
Bam!
"...!"
Shin could end this match any time he wanted.
Despite always being able to keep his composure.
Shin had a different side to him.
He was petty.
Shin had to pay Satoshi back for the amount of times he'd harass him.What better way than to severely injure the boy?
Shin had practiced Rewarp ever since he reached the 20-second mark during assimilation.
It was akin to teleportation.
Through harnessing the powers of Noctis, Shin can swap places with any object he channels
his mana into within a 20-meter radius.
Before the fight with Satoshi began, Shin had already laid groundwork during his other matches.
He'd channel his mana into small pieces of paper, and placed it all around the Arena.
Though, some of it wouldn't work, since the mana would dissipate within twenty minutes.
This was the reason why Shin ended all of his matches instantly to save time.
***
"Did you see what just happened, Souzen? What was that?"
"Yeah… I'm not too sure."
"What a fucking monster…"
"Jerome…"
Vanessa could only sigh.
***
Since Shin had only assimilated with Noctis for a fraction of a second, the blue-blazing embers
had barely manifested.
And since he didn't actually use any magic, none of the Ascenders present couldn't tell what
had just occurred.
Using Rewarp once, Shin panted heavily. Sweat beading from his forehead.
It wasn't an unlimited use ability.
He could only do it thrice with his current body.
Despite being able to assimilate for 40-seconds, using Noctis' power was a different story.
With his 8-year-old body, Rewarp was the only thing he could manage.
It was an ability Shin had come up with.
He got the idea when he remembered how much he wanted to swap places with his comrades
that died for him.
'Instead of them… Instead of my mother… It should have been me.'
After the first strike, Shin continued to relentlessly beat Satoshi down until he fell unconscious.
"Shin Nocturn, that's enough."
At the referee's instruction, Shin stopped his attacks.
"Winner, Shin Nocturn! He advances to the finals.
"The match lasted a total of 43-seconds.
The longest match Shin ever had.
Clap, clap.
The only applause that was made was from Shin's family.
Silence.
The crowd had gone silent.
They had never cheered whenever Shin won, it was only complete silence.
But…
They all realized one thing.
Shin Nocturn was the real deal.
Give him a few more years and no one could stop him.
What was once alienation due to envy, had become due to fear.
They were afraid of him.
If they continued to mess with him and his family, then they had hell to pay.Clap, clap.
The silence was broken by a single applause that was coming from the Imperial Box.
Shin, noticing this, shifted his gaze towards where the applause was coming from.
It was Alea Aubade.
"That was so cool!"
Leaning on the railings, the little girl's hazel-brown eyes gleamed with stars.
Shin tilted his head in confusion.
What was so cool about ruthlessly beating down a 9-year-old kid? Is all shin could think of.
'That little girl has a few screws loose.'