"Zahir Umbra Aphelion and Elisabeth Elinar Ashford you are up next."
A stark tone came from the instructor with a prosthetic hand.
"Get in the arena and prepare to fight."
My steps were light but impactful thanks to the military boots I had on as I treaded the stairs towards the arena.
It was an old arena for gladiators with a podium in the middle.
*Sigh*
A sigh escaped me.
I had done well on the other tests… but this one was going to be a challenge.
Especially with my opponent.
Elisabeth was a paladin and a strong one at that.
She had long golden hair and ocean blue eyes.
She shone like the sun.
Her armor was white with golden details and a lion's engraving on her chestplate.
She was a genius and I had only mastered elementary alchemy spells.
It wasn't about tactics or creativity anymore….. She was a tank and I was just a poor man with a magic slingshot.
This had been a bad matchup and I knew it…
Me a bastard son against…
…a genius found once a century.. A goddess kissed by talent and beauty.
Well there was no time to lament.
I could do that after I'd lost.
At least I had a plan.
Start the fight with my signature move.
A firebird.
That should distract her for a moment.
Then block her way by raising a stone wall between us and while she's wondering how to go through the stone wall I charge a fireball.
Once she moved past the wall she would then have to defend against the fireball which would give me just enough time to make the ground below her into mud.
Well that's how the plan was supposed to go.
..
…
But
She just swatted away my firebird by encasing her arm with a protective battlerune.
After which she kept bulldozing towards me.
The wall raised between us got cut down in an instant and my hastily formed fireball was cut in half.
Before I could even think about transforming the ground below her into mud she was in front of me.
Her sword which reflected the sunlight was aimed at my throat and not a hint of joy was to be seen on her face.
..
..
Well neither was there any joy on my face.
It was an outcome I expected… but nonetheless one I did not like and didn't want to admit.
Well what could I do when she was so much more talented than me.
I would have to win the next battle or I can't get in.
This would be my last chance and I would show them what Zahir Umbra Aphelion was made of.
*** *** ***
Unremarkable.
That was the word that came to mind when looking at that Aphelion brat.
It wasn't that he was especially weak… no he was actually better than average and his family background was impressive.
It wasn't his looks either; he had raven black hair, a sharp jawline, deathly pale white skin and one black eye and while his complexion looked unhealthy he had a certain troubled youth charm.
His military looking black attire and his black cape added to that charm and on closer look…. Yeah he was quite the handsome fella.
So it wasn't any of those aspects that could be called unremarkable.
It was something else.
His fights were by the book…. cold and boring.
Most alchemists were like that… but that boy… that boy was what we called a dimwit back in my days.
Someone completely unable to use sorcery utterly reliant on alchemy without a shred of improvisation.
It wasn't the end of the world… These kinds of men made good soldiers, horrible commanders because they didn't seem to think on their feet… but good soldiers and this country needed more soldiers with its growing conflicts in the east and south.
There were even rumours of revolts in the north which could have catastrophic consequences.
*Haaahhh*
A sigh escaped my lips.
Who was I kidding… this country didn't need more soldiers…. This country needed heroes.
And this boy was trying to get into the hero development plan.
Well actually it was called the Stars of youth program… but it meant the same.
We were developing these kids into weapons of mass destruction.
Despite what we tell the ground troops… they weren't the most important force on the battlefield.
The most important were the heroes and war commanders that could split mountains in half and raise hell on the battlefield.
One such hero could turn the tide of battle.
And we were desperate to turn the tide.
Although not desperate enough to waste our resources on a dimwit.
He was up for another fight and I wouldn't be surprised if it went exactly like the first one.
*** *** ***
Marielle Braveheart was not worried .
If someone had asked her why?
The boy she was going to fight lost to someone she deemed inferior.
Her tail swayed as she asked.
"Won't you give up, we both know this fight is useless."
She didn't want to fight someone so pitiful.
But the boy didn't even react.
"Hey didn't you hear me I'm being nice here… give up or you'll get hurt."
It wasn't in her character to ask for something twice after all she was royalty.
So when the boy didn't react…. she decided she'd break a few of his bones.
What she didn't know was that the boy was so focused on preparing his magic that everything else vanished.
Audience, referee, judges and even the words his opponent spoke.
*GONG*
As the fight started he unleashed his firebird.
Marielle had seen it before and knew despite its size she shouldn't underestimate it…
So she dodged it.
It flew after her but she was faster.
And afterwards she ran towards the wall he raised.
Fighting against an alchemist was a fight against time.
The more time he had the more magic he could prepare.
But Marielle wasn't worried..
She ran to the wall, charged a battlerune… and smashed into it.
Small pieces of debris shot towards the Aphelion boy.
After watching him fight she'd come to the conclusion that he would give up easily if hurt.
Plus even if he kept fighting the debris would make him lose focus and have to recast.
She didn't really care whether he gave up then or if she'd break a few bones and he'd give up after.
This fight was over.
Nothing was going to change that now.
Better luck next time, arrogant boy.
…
…
…
..
But what was with the audience's reaction?
Yes it was premature to call it a win and some cadets might still think he held a chance of turning the tables.
But most knew this was it, especially the instructors.
They must've known how hopeless the boy's situation was.
Well doesn't matter, she just had to finish-....
…
…
*BOOOOMMM*
An explosion hit her.
She reacted fast enough despite her confusion, her instincts and training didn't fail her.
But what was that?
Well to answer her question… Zahir Umbra Aphelion had not lost focus even while being sliced by pieces of debris.
No, the boy might not have even lost focus if his life had been in danger.
Much less when he only had to worry about losing an eye.
No, the boy had come too far for something like that.
And something even weirder happened.
While Marielle was waiting for the dust to settle the ground underneath her turned to mud.
But that wasn't weird… no that was to be expected.
What was weird was that she couldn't make out his location.
Where was he hiding?
She tried looking through the dust left and right but nothing.
Until.
In front of her.
The dust opened up.
And
Revealed something.
A pair of hands with stonelike knuckle brass.
She was too shocked to react.
The explosion had actually hurt her a little and the mud made it harder to react… still it was mostly just her being startled that delayed her reaction.
The hands grabbed the back of her head and a knee smashed into her face.
…
..
It didn't hurt much.
It was much less of a risk than the charged fireball.
…
…
But…
…HOW DARE HE HIT ME IN THE FACVCCCCECECEC!!!!
"AHAHAHHAHAHAHAHH"
Marielle cackled.
The boy tried following up with a few punches.
"I'LL FUCKKKUNGGGG KILL YOIUUUU!!""
Shouted Marielle.
A vein almost popped on her temple.
Despite her rage she dodged the boy's blows easily.
And hit him in the stomach.
*GRUNT*
Spittle particles flew out of his gaping mouth.
His body got catapulted over the arena and onto the ground with such force he slid a few more meters until he could barely grovel to his feet.
And just as he got up another kick hit him square in the stomach.
All the air got pressed out of his lungs.
His whole body forced him into a fetal position but he wouldn't let it.
Because if he didn't react fast enough his plan would be for nothing.
He flew towards the edge of the podium.
So as to not get thrown off he raised a small earth wall behind him.
Which suited Marielle quite well as she would have hated not being able to smash this motherfuckers face in just because he got disqualified.
She grabbed him by the hem of his shirt and raised him up a little…. And hit him right in the face.
Over and over and over again.
She was controlling her strength to cause as much pain and damage as possible without knocking him unconscious.
And when she almost had enough…
..his hand moved towards her cheek.
But it wasn't only his hand.
In this hand was something glowing.
Something glowing red.
Instinctively she grabbed his wrist.
*BOOM*
And what he held exploded.
It was a half formed fireball.
One intentionally half formed.
An extremely desperate move.
Marielle looked up confused.
Normally this would be enough ground to stop a match.
After all this Aphelion boy had just blown up his hand and was still in an extremely precarious situation.
But somehow the judges didn't intervene.
As she looked back at the Aphelion brat…. Something shimmered.
Runes were swirling around the boy's mouth.
And something glowed extremely bright.
The boy was charging magic.
Marielle had seen this magic before… she had actually even seen the real deal before and so she understood what the boy was doing.
What she didn't understand though…. Was why he was doing it.
Yes if they had been mortal enemies who swore vengeance on each other or this was a battle to the death…
..Then maybe she'd understand.
But why was he using this in a match to qualify for the heroes program?
Did he not understand the consequences of this magic?
One wrong step and his head would blow off.
And even when cast correctly he'd burn his lungs, his throat and mouth.
Was it really worth it?
As she thought about this the magic activated.
Even she would suffer debilitating damage from a dragons breath this close to her.
She braced for the impact.
..
..
..
*BOOOOOOMMMM*
The blast should hit her any second.
The heat would burn her skin and the shockwave would throw her to the other side of the arena.
Or at least that was supposed to happen.
But it never came.
Instead a protective barrier shimmered in front of her.
And the judge with a prosthetic hand stood in front of her with a big frown on his face.
*** *** ***
It was excruciating.
I wanted to cry.
Why did I do this?
Why did I have to suffer like this?
I couldn't even stand as my throat contracted trying to get air into my lungs.
I was heaving…. my hands were grasping for anything to hold onto.
But there was only the hard ground below me.
Each breath sent excruciating pain down my lungs.
My lips were cracked and blood came out of my nose uncontrollably.
Despite the horrendous side effects, dragon breath didn't burn your lungs.
The fire mana just roasted it.
Extremely dangerous but not deadly if treated right away.
And my dry heaving didn't help either.
I was barely staying conscious.
My vision was covered with black spots.
But despite that I tried standing up.
Putting up one foot.
But I slipped.
I tried again.
And slipped.
*AARRGGHH*
I threw up blood.
FUCK I HATE THIS!!!!
I tried getting up again slowly.
And actually managed to do it.
Someone looked at me, seemingly talking.
But I couldn't understand him.
I just tried getting away.
Swaying on my way out of the arena.
Tears did flow down… I couldn't hold them back… it was just… just too painful.
Why was I doing this?
This stupid fucking ego of mine..
That's why.