Some time later, the battle that Leopold had been waiting for finally arrived. Stepping out onto the battlefield, the boy looked and saw the crowd once more cheering for the next two fighters. They looked at both Leopold and his black haired opponent, their faces filled with anticipation for what was to come next.
That wasn't the only detail that caught Leopold's attention though. Recently, thanks to his many thrilling fights during the tournament matches, the boy had noticed that the surrounding crowds seemed to be rooting for him more than usual. Every once in a while, Leopold would hear the strangest of things from their lips.
"Oh my goodness! It's really him!"
"He's so hot!!"
"Not only did he manage to defeat someone as powerful as the school's student council president, but he also promised to help Princess Ceil!"
"Do you think he'd be my boyfriend?"
The boy smiled, enjoying the many comments being said about him. He looked at Zion who was entering the arena from the opposite direction and laughed, shaking his head. "I guess that this tournament ain't half bad." Leopold really hadn't expected to have made such an impression on all these people.
Zion looked at his friend and smiled as well, nodding his head to Leopold's statements. I suppose that you may be right." He scratched the back of his head. "Still... don't know why these people feel the need to go this far."
His friend grinned. "Is someone jealous?" Leopold clicked his tongue, playfully teasing the boy. "It seems that not all of us can be such lady killers, my friend." He tilted his head. "Besides, I don't think that Miss Amy would enjoy you being around fangirls and not her. Best that you stay away from all that nonsense, dear Zion."
Zion rolled his eyes. "You have no idea..." He put his hand on his sword and calm down, readying himself for the coming fight instead of his friend's antics.
As Leopold watched his friend, he started to think to himself. "I still have no idea what type of magic he uses nor how powerful he is... He told me that was fairly weak, but I'm not buying it." He smiled. "Still, it unfortunately will probably be a pretty quick battle..."
Leopold had yet to find someone other than Lucas who could even come close to his power level. Despite the fact that Zion had indeed been able to make it this far into the tournament, the blond haired boy was fairly sure that, like everyone else, he would fall into the pools of defeat.
The referee raised his arm and looked at both boys. "We will now begin the second battle of the quarterfinals! Zion White vs Leopold Stratus!" The man waved his arm back down. "Fighters ready... Fight!"
The match quickly began, Leopold crouching as he prepared for what was to come. He looked at Zion for a moment, narrowing his eyes as he waited for some sort of move from Zion. However...Leopold watched as his dorm mate simply stood there for a couple of seconds. He did not move, did not unsheath his weapon... He hold stood there like nothing more than a state.
And then...
SHING
In a matter of a what seemed to be just a millisecond, Zion was suddenly in front of Leopold, sword tightly griped in his hands and a look of victory in his eyes. Cries of amazement erupted from the audience, everyone shocked by the blazing speed demonstrated.
Even Leopold was a bit surprised for a couple of moments. He hadn't known that his friend had such an ability as to move at such speeds! Just where had he been hiding this?!
He felt sweat run down his face."My eyes can predict the future, and yet... I completely missed him! Was it because he moved so fast? But how is that even possible?!" He grinned nervously, a little annoyed by the sudden change of events if he was being honest. "Guess that I'll have to turn up the HEAT, eh?"
Quickly, Leopold clasped his hands together as he faced the boy. Taking a quick deep breath, he narrowed his eyes and prepared to counter Zion's attack. He needed to if he wanted to gain back some ground.
"Spirit Arts: Plasmatic Explosion!"
Around the male, some five to ten small balls of plasma started to form. They grew brighter and brighter until they suddenly burst, the sound of explosions sounding all around him. Zion was sent flying away from the arena, landing in the spot on the battlefield where he had originally started.
Zion laughed, wiping the dust from his face. "Damn..." He grinned, looking into Leopold's eyes. "I guess that you weren't exactly honest with your power levels either, huh." He stood up and breathed slowly. "Guess that means I'll need to take this one a bit more seriously."
Leopold nodded, unsheathing his sword. "In a battle like this one, I think you may be right!" He bent his knees, taking a few seconds to look at his friend who was across the battlefield.
"I should probably try to figure out his weak points. Doing that should gain me some sort of advantage in this match." Leopold observed, tightly gripping his blade. It was going to be tough, but he was fairy certain that he would be able to pull it off. "I just need to find some way to get Zion to let his guard down."
From the other side of the dusty battleground, Zion took a deep breath and looked at Leopold. What he pulled of next was so strange that not even Leopold himself believe what he had witnessed for a few moments...
Around Zion, the dust below his feet started to swirl. It formed a dust cloud that surrounded and engulfed the black haired male's whole body, the boy becoming hidden behind that dust. Leopold watched, confused as to what sort of plan his opponent was cooking up some distance away from him.
A few seconds later, the dust fell back to the earth. The space was left seemingly untouched at first, Zion still standing there with his sword in hand and a large grin spread all across his face.
Only...
Leopold's eyes widened, scanning over his friend's appearance. "Zion, you have six arms!" That was correct! What looked to be some sort of magic made arms were sticking out of the back of Zion, large and menacing. "And... what that light magic around you?!"
Zion smiled, glad that he had seemed to make a noticeable impression. "I told you I'd be stepping up my game, didn't I. I suppose that I never told you... that I was half Angel?"
Gasps erupted around the arena at Zions statement. Many of the audience members watching this fight seemed surprised by what Zion had said, whispers and gossip again spreading throughout the arena like wildfire. Even Leopold had to admit to himself that these turn of events were not on his bingo card.
Angels were considered by many to be the most powerful of all God's races. They were the direct messengers of God and had many famed warriors throughout their history, from the Archangel Michael to that of some of the Great Heroes. However, they were very mysterious and often didn't show up outside of their own kingdom.
Leopold scratched his chin, grinning. "Well I'll be damned." Of course it would be someone like Zion who would pull out a trump card such as this. Leopold wouldn't have expected anything less from his friend.
And he wasn't the only one who could express that great amazement. Leopold and Zion couldn't both hear the roars of shock that many of the people around them cried out.
"An Angel!"
"He's a real life Angel?! That's so cool!"
"This battle is getting intense! Hot guys fighting in hot ways!"
"This... is pretty hot when you think about it!"
To add, there were some "special" audience members who were watching the fight from off to the side. Those spectators were none other than that of both Cinder and Amy Kushida, first ahe second princess of the Kushida Kingdom. They both observed what was happening in the fight between the two Class 1-D males.
Cinder specifically watched, her eyes widened. "An Angel!" She grinned, arms crossed as she spectated the fight. "Leopold may actually be in trouble this time... Guess that this wasn't something any of us could have seen coming."
Amy looked at her sister, tilting her head just slightly. "I'm not sure that I've been following all of this. Why exactly is having Angel blood such a big deal? Is the only reason their lack of appearance?" She seemed to not be understanding why everyone was so shocked by Zion's new confessions.
The girl shook her head, looking over at Amy. "While I will admit that it is pretty rare to find them outside of their homeland, that isn't the reason for everyone's shock." She pointed to Zion. "Angels are the most powerful of all of the races of Vera, more powerful than that of both Demons and Dragons. They wield power that is unlike anything the other races could hope to achieve." She looked at Zion closely, thinking to herself. "I knew that I had recognized him from somewhere... I believe that his older brother is one of the main candidates to be the next Great Hero!"
Hearing those words, Amy's eyes widened. A soft grin spread across her face, the girl clearly pleased by this new development. "That's my Zion! He's so cool!" She laughed, happy for his new recognition.
Sighing, Cinder made a face of disappointment. "You know that you only started dating him a few days ago, right? It would seem like you're already his number one fan..." She shook her head, still sighing. "What is with my siblings lately? All of you seem so obsessed with all of these new males..."
As the attention of everyone was quickly turned back to the battle at hand, Leopold could be seen looking closely at his friend. He seemed to be figuring out what his own new attack would have to be, Zion's Angel blood something he hadn't accounted for.
The male narrowed his eyes as he thought to himself."This guy just keeps getting more and more impressive! It will be difficult for me to pull of the win if I try to hold back..." But in a small space such as this, it wasn't like Leopold could go overboard. "If I hold back just a tiny bit, then maybe..."
Leopold looked at his fake hand made of plasma. When his Spirit powers had been unlocked, he had found that he had the ability to replace his severed right hand with one made of his new power. Of course, he still did have to use a special glove that helped to actually keep the hand formed.
And that wasn't all he could do either. Along with his special eyes, his hand had some impressive power as well. The glove he wore on his right hand helped hold back this power, but now may be a good time to try and use it!
Taking no more time to think, Leopold took off his glove and threw it off to the side. Below the fabric that once covered it, the now visible hand of plasma could be seen by all surrounding Leopold. It then started to deform itself, spreading around Leopold's whole body and cloaking him in the power.
Leopold could be seen now with armor and that of a strange new weapon in what used to be a normal hand. He looked more powerful and his aura was more intimidating than it had been when this battle had first started just moments before.
"Spirit Arts: Plasma Armor!"
Zion watched in astonishment, enjoying the development. "So... you do have some special tricks up your sleeve as well?" He laughed, shaking his head. "And I thought that this would be dull at the start. Guess that's what I get for judging a book by its cover.
Laughing along with his friend, Leopold looked at all of the new touches that had been added to his body. "Yeah... but I still don't think either of us are even close to full power yet." He tilted his head, looking at Zion with a mischievous grin on his face. If Leopold was still holding back, then Zion probably was as well.
The black haired boy nodded. "No, but that may not be possible to see today..." Suddenly, his eyes narrowed and he looked at Leopold's right hand. "That hand... It has a new weapon it it."
As Leopold looked down at where Zion was signaling to, he saw that his hand made of plasma held in it what looked to be a new weapon, none other than that of a white colored scythe. The weapon was huge and looked very imposing to most who saw it before their eyes.
And it was a pleasant feeling for Leopold. He looked at his weaponed and laughed aloud. "Well, you have six weapons of light in all of your six hands, I thought I'd get at least one more thing to fight with." Of course, that one thing was not exactly a very ordinary weapon for any fighter to wield. It was probably one of the more powerful accessories in Leopold's arsenal.
And while Leopold was indeed telling the truth about is reasonings, he was also failing to leave out a couple of major details about the white scythe. No, this was no normal weapon nor was it just a simple scythe at is seemed up front.
"This Scythe..." Leopold thought to himself. "It may be ranked among some of the most powerful accessorized weapons in the world! That also means that I have to be careful when using this... I'll try to keep its output down to a minimum degree and I won't use its special powers either."
Although he really did want to.
After a few more seconds of preparation, the two boys again charged at one another. The two jumped high into the air above them, clashing weapons while above the ground. Sparks flew and gasps sounded as around them as the crowds continued to enjoy the show.
It seemed as though neither one of them was planning on giving up any time soon. The feeling of exhaustion and anxiety that had overflowed the both of them at the beginning of the tournament was nothing more than a distant dream now. They couldn't help but enjoy the tension and thrill that filled the air all around them.
And neither couldn't anyone else for that matter. Ceil, who was watching from below, looked up at both Leopold and Zion. "This battle may never end at this rate... Already, twenty two minutes have passed, meaning this fight will be over in under eight minutes!"
Up in the air and now starting to fall back to earth, Leopold and Zion continued to clash. Leopold narrowed his eyes as he blowed a strike from Zion, still falling.
As they hit the ground, Zion looked over at Leopold. He grinned, wiping the sweat from his forehead now that he had a few seconds. "Another step up? I don't think we have enough time to finish this swiftly. We should up the stakes." He looked at Leopold, hoping his friend would agree with him.
Leopold nodded. "Couldn't agree more." There was a set time limit for the two boys in this battle. If they wanted to end it, they couldn't hold back entirely. "I'll let you make the first move, old friend."
Zion, grinning from ear to ear, took a deep slow breath and raised his hands to the sky. "I call upon the stars where our ancestors remain! Lend me your power and help me with an army of the hosts of God!"
"The heck is this NPC ahh chant?"
"Star Magic: Heavenly Hosts!"
Everyone around Zion watched as an of light beings appeared around him, taking form right before their eyes. There were so many of these light filled soldiers that Leopold couldn't even count them all! When you talk about someone who just emanates power, Zion would have to be at the top of Leopold's list!
"I suppose that is an angel for you." the boy observed.
He stared at the large army Zion had created for a couple of moments. With how many of them there were, Leopold wasn't sure that he would be able to fend all of them off. He was in quite the bind...
The black haired boy grinned. "Have I made you rethink your stance?" He seemed confident enough. How exactly would Leopold counter the one? "You could always throw in the towel."
Signing, Leopold shook his head. "Unfortunately, I don't think that will work. Both Charlotte and Ceil would kill me if they heard that I gave up so easily." Not to mention that Cinder would also jump in if she found out that the ONE person who had upstaged her so easily had been defeated by someone such as Zion. "Sorry, bud."
And then suddenly, a shaking filled the arena. Leopold looked at Zion, eyes narrowed as he tried to figure out something that would possibly be able to match Zion's spell.
"Spirit Arts: Spirit Summoning!"
In the air just beside Leopold, magic started to flow all around him. Then, pools of both water and wind came into view for Zion and everyone else. The matter swirled in its space, as if opening a gate to somewhere else.
Out of these swirling pools of magical energy, two females came into the light. Their eyes shone with that of power and determination as they looked at where they had been brought to. Everyone watched what Leopold had done, trying to figure out what kind of new trick he was pulling this time around.
Taking a step back, Zion narrowed his eyes. "Those girls... Are they Spirits?" He scanned over the two new women, not taking his eyes off them for a second. "How did you do that?"
"It's... more complicated than it sounds."
"I can tell."
Leopold shrugged and then scratched his cheek. "Where to begin." He held his hands out, trying to explain what he was going. "You remember that I told you I was part Spirit, right? Well, that being the case, I can both use the powers of the Spirit race as well as summon Spirits to me that I have a contract with."
This is the gist of what had happened. Spirits, one of the many races created by God, are known for using a power known as the "Spirit Arts" rather than magic that channels supernatural power out of their life force rather than the mana around them. Leopold can use this said skill since one of his parents was that of a Spirit.
However, being as he his only HALF Spirit, he can also perform what is known as a "summoning" with contracted Spirits. The boy could find Spirits and make a contract with them so as to be able to summon them to his location whenever he needed assistance.
It was a common practice that had been used for the last couple thousand years. However, since Spirits were more or less the contractual partners UNDER a master, they were treated more like slaves after some time. Being this the case, less and less contracts with Spirits have been made over time so as to preserve their independence and keep them out of the hands of people who may do them hand.
Zion scratched his head, still processing. "But... water and wind? These two Spirits are some of the most powerful Spirits in all of existence!" He narrowed his eyes. "And aren't they the supposed daughters of the current king?"
"Thats correct."
Everyone who was around the two fighters listened in to their words. For what was possibly the hundredth time in the tournament, Leopold could hear them all gossiping amongst themselves. He couldn't really blame them though. After all, this wasn't something that people saw happen every day.
But not even he could have expected what was to happen next.
Without warning, the two new females jumped onto Leopold's arms. They wore evil smiles on their face as they hung on him, making Leopold blush as he tried to figure out what they were doing.
"Honey!" the taller one said. "It's so good to see you!"
"Honey?" Zion echoed. "Is she your wife?"
And that wasn't all. The second spirit spoke after the first one had said what she needed to say to Leopold. "Daddy! It's rewlly Daddy! Yay!" Everyone's jaws instantly dropped.
"DADDY!"
Seeing the shocked expressions of everyone, Leopold let out a nervous laugh. He watched as many of the surrounding women including that of Nix and Breeze fell down to the ground in complete and utter confusion. Of course that girl would have to use her nickname for Leopold to make everything so complicated...
"I can explain." the boy quickly breathed, trying to calm the situation. He signaled to the two girls and smiled. "The taller woman, Lemia, is one of my contracted Spirits and the woman of which I have been engaged to." Then, he pointed to the Water Spirit. "This is Lemia's little sister and my sister in law, Mia."
Zion nodded. "So what you're saying... Is that you keep getting weirder by the second." That was not at all what Leopold would have liked for him to have said.
Blushing, Leopold waved his hands in protest. "T-That is not what I'm saying!" Of course it would just have to be one of his own moves that would have him become the complete weirdo of Academy Five.
"I suppose that is what I get for being to brash, huh."
Sighing, Zion shook his head. He soon waved off the whole ordeal, trying to focus on the battle at hand. "I suppose that it doesn't really matter anymore. We need to finish this soon or else we'll run out of time." He pointed to the clock that had almost lost all of its time now that the battle had dragged on this long.
And Leopold agreed with his friend. The boy raised one finger and pointed at Zion's Angel army that still floated up in the sky. "Lemia... Mia... do you think you could take out his army?"
Lemia nodded, flexing her biceps. "Should be easy enough, darling." She looked at Leopold, waiting for him to let them start to attack. "I'll do anything for you! Just give me the command and we will attack!"
Mia bounced up and down next to her sister. "Anything for you! I think daddy and sissy's plan wowks." She was quite the airhead sometimes, although Leopold did have to admit that her Spiritual powers were a whole lot stronger than his were.
Giving them full ability to strike the army, Leopold watched as the two girls flew that the army and held out their palms. Leopold narrowed his eyes, watching them cast their "combined attack" they were so famous for. It was sure to be a show, especially since he had only seen it once himself.
"Spirit Arts: Water and Wind Swirling Typhoon!"
Everyone in the crowds and on the battlefield watched as the water started to swirl around and formed a typhoon to engulf the opponents army. Zion's force fought back as the battle ensued, using defensive barriers made of "Light Magic" to keep the power at bay while preparing for a counter attack.
As their followers fought one another, Leopold and Zion flew at one another. Zion raised his six arms and swords and parried attacks at Leopold. Meanwhile, Leopold used his scythe to defend himself while looking at Zion.
"Ain't going to defeat me that easy, bud."
A grin crossed Zion's face. "I already knew that, unfortunately. That's why-" Before he could finish his statement, the whistle blew to indicate the end of the battle. "Or nevermind..."
Leopold frowned. "Man, and it was just getting good..."
The referee looked the two as they started to descend. "The battle has hit 30 minutes and as such is over. Due to less damage taken in the battle, Leopold Stratus is the winner of the battle!"
Leopold clicked his tongue. "I wish it could have kept going... That was my first fun battle in years!"
Zion put his hand on Leopold's shoulder, his access arms and wings disappearing. "Don't worry. We can have a rematch without a time limit some time!" The two boys high-fived and walked toward the exit.
"I do have to ask though..." Leopold said. "How much of your full power were you using?"
Zion scratched his head. "I don't know... At the end maybe like 28% at most..."
Leopold nodded. "Same here... I think you and me could destroy this battlefield if we went at it for real..."
Zion shook his head. "That will probably never happen..."