Prince of The Abyss

Clenching his wooden rapier, Aether took a deep breath as he slowly made his way through the corridor that led to the center of the arena. He could hear the cheers were for his opponent.

Once he left the darkness and emerged in the arena, they stopped, completely replaced by insults, that is, until his opponent walked out; then the happy cheers resumed.

Aether rolled his eyes, staring at the cocky smile of his opponent. He knew he was confident, and he had every right to be so; after all, anyone can have trust in themselves and wish to win.

And with all the praise from the crowd, he didn’t doubt that it gave him a huge ego boost. He was just going to have to see if he could prove himself.

He didn’t know him; he had seen him around the Academy, but he had never really talked to him. The only thing was that he had noticed him looking at him, and his gaze felt filled with rage.

A part of him made him wonder just how they had chosen the battles, and if it had been influenced by something. Since this seemed quite ironic from fate, for him to face someone who hated him in the first round.

”Aether, right?” He said, throwing his wooden blade from one hand to another. In all their battles, they were going to use these blades, they weren’t just any normal practice blades though, they were relics, made to have abilities that way they wouldn’t break, while at the same time, to not injure anyone.

Plus, they could choose what type of blade to use, so that was nice.

’Though, are we sure everyone has the same blades... after all, some Celestial families probably have some connections to the Smiths making the relics, so has anyone even inspected to see if they haven’t put another ability inside?’

He sighed.

’Doubt it.’ Before finally responding to the boy. ”That’s right. Why? Does my name matter to you that much?”

The boy shook his head. ”It matters less than what I ate at breakfast. Why should the name of a Withered brat matter to me? I am Harvey Hale, the richest family in all of the Blue Rose. And our beauty.” He chuckled. ”Is known through the whole world.”

Aether tilted his head. ”And how does that matter in a fight? Are you going to throw money at me or something? Or try to stun me with your beauty?”

Harvey frowned as the bell rang and the fight started.

They were only allowed to use their blades, their affinities weren’t allowed, actually, the walls of the arena they were fighting in were coated in the Kings truth, that way, even if they wanted they couldn’t use their powers.

The only thing they had was their pure skill.

The goal was to deliver an attack that is considered lethal with a normal blade; that is how you won.

...

Harvey didn’t dash forward instantly; instead, he slowly circled around him, a gesture which Aether followed, as they slowly got close to each other. Trying to surprise him, the boy suddenly swung his blade, which Aether blocked with his hand.

It was a huge surprise; many gasped through the crowd. Aether didn’t understand it; after all, he hadn’t done anything special, but at the same time, if he thought about it, his style of letting attacks hit him wasn’t very used.

It was a disgrace in the eyes of most, so of course they would be surprised to see it.

But it wasn’t like he cared even a bit about what others thought of his style.

After blocking the blade, Aether thrusted Voidpiercer, but Harvey leaned back just enough to make the blade pass just above his head. But the position was in no way natural, making him lose his balance slightly, something Aether abused by kicking his foot, and making him fall on the ground.

At that point he knew, the battle was already over, before Harvey could get up, he pointed the blade towards his head, finishing the fight. The bell rang once more, officially announcing his victory.

He smiled at the boy’s face.

Before turning towards the crowd and bowing to thank them for watching the show.

Walking back in the dark hallway, he sighed.

The fight had been easier than he had thought, but it was expected, after all, most Celestials don’t use the blade as much as he did, even if its their main weapon of choice, they haven’t only fought with it, they use their abilities and skills, and maybe other relics. But he has mostly only fought with Voidpiercer, without any ability.

The blade has been his main way of fighting, so of course he was going to easily outskill a Celestial who probably hasn’t spent half the time he has with the blade.

The real deal was when he was going to have to fight one of the Knights, since they have actually had real training with the blade.

’I don’t doubt that many Celestial also hire teachers for their children, but the training can’t compare.’

...

Plus, in his first battle, no one knew his style; it probably was a huge surprise for Harvey when he blocked his blade with his hand, after all, no one is taught to do such a thing in a fight, even if the blade isn’t sharp at all, and won’t cause any damage.

But with each round, people are going to get more and more used to his style. Maybe even create tactics around it...

Was he going to try to change it when it happens... yes and no... his style revolved around adapting... and he was confident that he was going to be able to adapt in time.

...

He didn’t have long until his next battle, so he wasn’t going to waste precious time when he could go and watch the next matches himself, and also get a feel for what the other competitors were like.