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Raymond Kirk
This boy was truly crazy. How could he wield this much power?! If it wasn't for my artefact being S-rank, I'd probably have lost the struggle for control of the handshake we'd had. This boy... Lough Freed... who is he?
---------------- a few hours earlier
I'd been given reports of each of the contestants in the Aurora Constellations Tournament, and there were some notable ones.
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Lila White: a user of holy magic with a silver rapier as her artefact. While her actual combat skills were average, her ability to use holy magic made up for that in volumes.
Kane Hunt: a powerful summoner. His power to summon things, be it weapon or beast, is unparalleled. His artefact is a purple gem embedded in a necklace. His physical traits are impressive.
Darius Black: a member of the Black Household, a house of assassins, with a black glove, encrusted with onyx gems in the centre, as his artefact. His main skill {Fade}, is a versatile ability that lets him become invisible and change his visibility depending on his mana application.
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These 3 people were most likely going to be in the top 4 when the final, free for all battle would take place.
How wrong I was.
I watched each match carefully. During the first rounds, each contestant wanted to finish the fight as fast as possible without revealing too much to their enemies.
But one person surprised me beyond everything else that was to come.
Darius had cleared all his fights quite well. His first fight with another person with a stealth type artefact was a long one. Kane had demolished his competition, not holding anything back and summoning his powerful allies. Groups of knights, trolls, and even a wyvern at one point, which surprised me.
I walked to the bannister of the balcony from where I was watching the matches and announced the next match.
I watched as a boy walked into the arena. My eyes narrowed at him as I saw he was wearing no protective gear, and his hands were in his pockets.
I looked at Nylah, my secretary, and tapped her on the shoulder. "Nylah, who is that boy?"
Nylah looked at the boy and then down at the sheet of participants, "his name is Lough Freed, he's a fire mage, has apparently demonstrated good physical and combat prowess with a few close and ranged fire spells," she said with the same unimpressed tone she had when talking about others. She had been my secretary longer than I'd been principal, and she had seen me fight during my days as a hunter. After I became the principal of Aurora, she found everyone rather unimpressive despite everyone being a little younger than I was in my prime.
I nodded, "thank you... he seems..." I began.
"Arrogant..." Nylah finished for me. I didn't respond nor gesture my agreement since I could easily be proven wrong.
And wrong I was proven.
I'd heard of this boy's incident in the training hall for the entrance exam and I had been surprised to hear it off Mr Dean himself.
The buzzer sounded, and all the fights began. The boy, I now knew was called Lough Freed, took a few steps forward with a confidence that no normal person could emit in these conditions. I saw a ripple in the air and suddenly felt my body get slightly heavier. I looked around, and to my absolute shock, I saw everyone, except me, on their knees and struggling with an intense pressure.
Even Nylah, an A-rank mage, was unable to stand up or even talk for that matter. I scanned the arena looking for anyone else who was stood up, and my eyes landed on Lough. His eyes were glowing a soft white colour, and he was walking as if nothing was happening.
I couldn't believe it. This pressure, one that had me staggering and feeling cold and icy, was being emitted by this 19 year old boy.
This was not the aura of a boy... but of a man, trained to kill, trained to utterly destroy their enemies and reduce anything to rubble in order to do so.
For the first time since becoming a hunter... I felt a cold feeling seeping into me...
Fear.
I stood with an expression of concern and apprehension as Lough made his way to his opponent. His lips moved as he spoke something I couldn't hear over the ringing in my ears from the pressure he was pressing on the entire stadium.
Then the pressure was gone, and immediately, Lough's opponent activated the forfeit scroll that was given to each student competing so that they might resign if they thought the battle was over for them.
But this wasn't a fight. If they were to fight, it would have been a massacre. Maybe not even a massacre... but a public execution.
Lough then left the arena, and the crowd erupted into a mix of cheers, complaints, and shouts. Some aimed at Lough. In fact, it was the majority, and the minority were still fixed on the other matches.
I was sure in that moment that Lough Freed was something much more than he was letting on. I could almost guess as I checked over his information that it was all a lie. What worried me most about that revelation made me feel sick: Is he an enemy of the Empire? And if so... who could even stop him? I was sure I could put up a decent fight, but I wasn't sure if I could defeat and kill him if he were an enemy.
There was a resolve in his eyes that no one I'd ever seen had before. The will to do exactly what he must.
I sat down in my chair and let out a heavy breath.
"Sir..." Nylah whispered quietly. I raised a hand.
"I know... Lough Freed... he's a monster..." I said with a shaky voice I wasn't aware of until I listened to myself.
"What should we do? If he continues like this..." she trailed off, letting me imagine for myself what may happen to not just the people he was fighting, but also everyone in this stadium.
"If something happens... I will interject," I replied firmly. It was the only possible way to stop whatever may come around. And if that meant sacrificing myself for the protection of these tens of thousands of people, then so be it.
"But sir, if you have decided that that's the best course, then that means that - " She stopped as she saw my focused gaze.
"Yes. It means that sooner or later, with the powers he has, he will surpass an S-rank mage," I responded calmly. I heard a heavy breath released from Nylah and mirrored the gesture.
"We can only wait and see," I continued before watching the rest of the matches. This boy... he's like a king in his own rights...
---------------- Present moment
Even during his other battles... his display of power was beyond what I thought he would show. I thought as our hands were still clasped together in the powerful handshake.
I decided.
"Change of plans. The final battle will be between myself and Lough Freed!" I yelled out to the guards and the officials who were watching this entire charade with shaky bodies.
I let go of the handshake and turned away and quickly walked inside the small tower that led up to the balcony I was originally on. Once I was alone, I looked at my hand. It was shaking tremendously. The amount of power I'd had to exert in order to keep the balance between me and Lough equal, such that my hand and arm altogether wouldn't be ripped off, was astounding.
As I reached the balcony, I was swarmed with questions about what was going on.
"Quiet!" I shouted, a little louder than I hoped. "Listen, that boy is not a normal mage. If he were to fight the other contestants, he would massacre them," I stated matter-of-factly.
"Preposterous!" One of the officials complained. "Yeah, how could a mere nineteen year old boy challenge you?" Another one agreed.
My eye sharpened and became a steel cold glare. I saw, in the corner of my eye, Nylah tense up as she felt my change in demeanour, no matter how small it was.
"Would you like to see for yourself?" I asked in a flat and chilly tone.
"Yeah!" A different official retorted with a hint of a careful tone since he knew who he was talking to.
I held out my trembling hand, which was still shaking. Although not as much as previously, it still served as a reminder that Lough was the real thing. I could see the nervousness in the eyes of every official. Even Nylah seemed a little surprised, which was rare for her, at the sight of my shaking hand, which I attempted to reign back under my control.
"Shall we let him fight in the free for all? I have asked that he prohibit the use of that ridiculously powerful fire spell he used just now," I offered. It would be an interesting fight, to say the least.
The officials looked at one another before nodding slowly.
It was decided. Lough would dominate the free for all, as expected, and would fight me afterwards.
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After the display of power in the third bout, the person fighting Lough forfeited instantly, not even letting the battle start, and gave his apologies to the crowd who shouted at the boy.
The final four remained: Lough Freed, Darius Black, Kane Hunt, and Erik Murphy.
Erik was a muscular man. He wielded a greatsword and could apply runes to equipment and himself. This created the man known as the strongest 'Giant' in all of mankind. He was a well-known hunter and had been on many missions. He was in this competition on my request since I wanted the students to get a feel of how it would be to face a true and powerful hunter.
What I saw, however, was the opposite of what I had brought him for. He looked nervous. His eyes constantly glanced over at Lough, who was stood nonchalant and uninterested.
No one seemed to notice, however, and many were cheering Erik on, which clearly eased his anxiety.
Lough looked around, and I saw a true sense of respect and friendship when he looked at Darius. The four remaining fighters all walked towards one another.
I stood and walked towards the edge of the balcony. I raised my arms in a grand gesture and projected my voice to the whole stadium. "This fight will go on until there is only one fighter left standing," I commanded. Looking at each of them, I continued, "Let the battle... begin!"
There was a moment of tension as each of them stared one another down. Then Kane tapped the gem in his necklace, and his hands ignited with a soft purple aura. He planted his hands on the floor, and a giant wyvern appeared from a large portal behind him. As this was happening, Darius was vanishing into thin air, and Erik was applying strength runes to his arms and speed runes to his legs.
Lough, however, stood and watched with an expressionless face as everyone prepared for a skirmish. He raised a single arm, and a small droplet of fire dripped from his fingertip and hit the floor.
As soon as the drop of fire connected with the ground, a red, transluscent orb expanded and covered the entire stadium. The sky turned red, and the air got hot and roasted everything it seemed to touch, making my lungs feel like they themselves were on fire. I could feel the heat's true intensity, and I began to sweat profusely.
This... what is this?!
The same anxious and slightly fearful feeling returned as I witnessed Lough essentially turn the entire battlefield into his own playground. Bubbles of fire spurted through the floor, and I could see everyone breathing hard and taking off coats, jackets, and hoodies from the heat. There were trails of fire streaking across the sky that created a feeling as though we'd been transported to Hell itself.
A smile finally broke across Lough's face as he revealed what was most likely his strongest spell. I'd forbade him from using whatever that tornado spell was... I hadn't said anything about other skills. He'd taken advantage of that fact and hidden this spell just so that he could use it now.
Clever... very clever... I thought to myself as I watched what was likely to be the single most one-sided fight I'd ever seen.
Lough's body burst into red flames that matched the sky, and he burst with crazy physical strength towards Erik. Erik met Lough head on, and his greatsword connected with Lough's fist, which sent shock waves out, shaking the entire stadium due to force that was applied by both of them. For a moment, it seemed like Lough was being pushed back until Lough's foot tapped the ground, and he spun round and through the inside of the greatsword in a fluent and blurred motion. He swung his arm, blazing with fire, and his fist connected with Erik's chin before he could react, and Erik was sent crashing into the wall of the stadium. The people in that area backed away from fear of the wall collapsing.
Meanwhile, Darius had gone transluscent and could barely be seen and was fighting Kane and his wyvern. I watched as they engaged in hand to hand combat, Darius had much more superior physical abilities. However, Kane had his wyvern assisting him in a tag team battle. The wyvern bit at Darius, and he dodged only to be met with a fist to his jaw, sending him sprawling to the floor. He stood up immediately and jumped out the way of a stomp from the wyvern's large foot. A claw raked towards him, and he barely avoided, a scratch being left on his back, which let some blood out.
It was an intense fight of fists and close quarter combat until a pillar of pure red fire pierced the wyvern, and it dissolved, returning to the place that ethereal creatures were summoned from. That being Dyirath, the Ageless dimension.
My eyes turned to look at Lough, who was slowly making his way towards Darius and Kane. His twitching fingers seemed to be the cause for the spikes and columns of flames.
I watched in awe and a little fright as he confidently stepped between Darius and Kane and ignited his hands on fire to engage in combat.
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