The hammer smashes through the sphere and sends August flying upward. His back slams into the ceiling as the air gets forced out of his lungs. As he falls, gasping for air the golem sets up a volley of aether blasts.
‘I should’ve ended it when I had the chance...’
The blasts begin flying at August the moment he gets in range. He wraps his glaive in his aura and releases wave after wave of that ferocious red aura. The crimson waves fall from on high as they clash with the pure white blasts that are rising from the depths.
Zachry’s face contorts in such a manner that the thoughts running through his head are laid bare. ‘Is this what a fight between two entities who hold the rank of Knight?’
“Of course, this is a battle of two Knight ranks.” Void answers his question without him asking, “While the gap in strength and technique between someone ranked Page and someone ranked Squire is substantial. The difference between Squire ranks and Knight ranks is similar to that of heaven and earth.”
‘That just makes me want to fight him even more!’ The corner of Jasper’s lips curl to his ears as a look of frenzied delight spreads across his face. His breath becomes heavy and his pupils dilate.
Zachry who’s standing beside him notices the sudden change in Jasper’s demeanor. He turns his head and looks at him with eyes filled to the brim with disappointment.
Back to the clash between red and white. The power, speed, and overall technique of August’s attacks are improving by the second as he gradually gains the upper hand. If this fight goes on any longer the winner will undoubtedly be August and the golem has realized this.
‘He’s getting stronger over time, huh? He’s truly the honored one. A physique that is balanced in all factors, superhuman spatial awareness, and the ability to raise those factors to godly heights. But all those precious gifts would be wasted without the proper mindset. And don’t even get me started on those eyes of his…’
Void looks closely at August’s eyes. Eyes that are moving around so swiftly and taking in the entirety of the hall. He’s constantly updating the information in his mind. And don’t think for a moment that he’s not focusing on his opponent just because his eyes are not on them. All is laid bare before him.
The golem’s attacks cease as the waves of aura rain down upon it like hellfire and brimstone. The floor of the training hall begins cracking under August’s unrelenting barrage of attacks. But then a lone beam resembling that of a divine light pierces the crimson rain.
“MAXIMUM AETHER OUTPUT. GRAND AETHER CANNON.”
Smashing through all the waves of aura it makes its way to August. He follows suit and stops his flurry of attacks, he focuses everything on the blade of the glaive and swings it down on the golem’s beam to put an end to the fight.
‘The end is near… I can feel it.’ Jasper stares unblinking, not wanting to miss even a second of the scenery that’s unfolding before his eyes.
The scenery unfolding before their eyes is the embodiment of pure martial might, an acquired beauty. August clad in crimson flames with a dark tint falls from the sky resembling a shooting star. While the divine light halting his descent is being torn asunder.
“Glorious…” Never in his eighteen years of living has Jasper ever witnessed such a beautiful event.
He descends from on high like an angel carrying out god’s judgment on the poor golem. And with his landing, August concludes the match between him and the golem. His blade slices through all the golem have to offer and shatters any hope it had of winning. He stands over the destroyed body of the golem panting heavily as he gazes at it.
‘Simply outstanding. It was the right choice to come here after all. If this is the kind of practical training they do here I might finally end up finding ‘them’ here.’
“MATCH OVER. WINNER AUGUST STRIDE RANKED KNIGHT.”
Loud and lively claps come from behind August as he turns to find out the source. Void is walking toward August while clapping to celebrate his win.
“That was a splendid display August.”
Jasper runs up to him out of nowhere and gets way too close to his face, “Me next!” his face is positively beaming with an awestruck expression.
“You should at least give him time to rest,” Zachry interjects.
“Fuck that shit. I wanna fight him now.”
“Language. Don’t you think it would be best if he got some rest so you could fight him at full power? That way if you win he can’t say that he was exhausted.” Zachry explains.
‘Did he just say language? What, is he from the 19th century or something?’ August looks at Zachry weirdly.
“I hate it when you’re right…” Jasper pouts like a child.
“In any case, I think we should continue with the practicals. Jasper, you’re up next.” Void says as he fiddles with the golem’s control panel.
“RECONSTRUCTING BODY. RECONSTRUCTING TRAINING HALL.”
As if time itself is being reversed, the hall slowly begins repairing itself as the golem turns to liquid.
‘Oh… This is so convenient. I wonder if this function runs through the entire building.’
Upon completion a flash of light envelopes the entire hall. The light fades and the hall is completely fixed along with the golem who’s in its original bulky form.
“I no longer have any interest in that golem,” Jasper says as he turns his head in dismissal.
“This golem is a good source of experience without the risk of being killed. Your personal feelings have nothing to do with it.” Zachry states.
“Hah. Experience? I already have enough of that.”
Jasper points his hand to the ceiling and he begins releasing cold blue energy from his palm. He grabs hold of it and it solidifies. The blue energy takes the form of a great bow made of ice. He aims it at the golem and pulls back on the blue string. Three arrows of cold energy appear out of thin air, and icy winds swirl around him as the temperature in the hall begins falling.
‘Ice manipulation, huh? One of the more simplistic elements. Fundamentally the same as earth and metal, but its fragility and the fact that it’s easily sensible makes it mediocre at best. And will he fire those at a golem made completely out of steel? Stupidity at its finest.’ August examines Jasper’s attack.
The arrows start spinning rapidly as he lets them loose on the golem. The three arrows fly straight and true as swiftly as possible. The golem tries to shoot them down but the arrows deviate abnormally and evade the aether blasts.
The arrows still manage to hit their target. The first arrow easily drills its way through the golem’s head while the second and third drill through its torso. However it doesn’t end there, the arrows swerve around and penetrate the golem’s body over and over again. The golem tries to defend itself but ultimately falls to the ground riddled with holes.
“MATCH OVER. WINNER JASPER CARLYLE RANKED HIGH SQUIRE.”
‘Interesting… What sublime usage of his ability. The amount of aether needed to create ice hard enough to penetrate steel is absurd. It seems I misjudged him, his application, awareness, and mastery over his element are almost the same as mine. It seems I’ve already found one.’
Elsewhere, at one of the many infirmaries at the academy, an unconscious Leo finally begins to wake.
He lifts himself off the rigid bed. In a groggy state, he rubs his head to soothe his mind-numbing headache.
“Ughh… What the hell happened?” He asks expecting no answer.
“I’ll tell you what happened.”
The sudden answer startles Leo as he looks to his left and sees Fredrick, his father, glaring down at him.
“F-Father!”
An ugly and twisted expression appears on Fredrick’s face as he knitted his brows in anger upon hearing Leo’s words.
“I told you to only address me as Lord Ashfrey!” Frederick almost sounds like he’s barking orders at a mangey mutt much less his flesh and blood.
Leo shrinks back at his father’s words, “I-I’m sorry… L-Lord Ashfrey…”
“You lost to a peasant such as him without any educational background. To think you would lose to someone who isn’t one of the heirs. You truly are the same as your mother, you worthless bastard.”
“I underestimated him… it won’t happen again.”
“You’re right it won’t happen again. And we’ll make sure of that.”
“We?” Leo asks curiously.
“Yes, we’ll make sure you never lose a fight again my dear boy~,” A hunched old man says as he enters the room.
The sun's slant rays gave the city a warm orange tinge. The hallways of the academy are bathed in orange light.
Zachry, Jasper, and August march through the lonely hallway in a serene silence on their way to the dorms. August kept his hair in a ponytail with a few loose strands of hair on both sides. He trails behind the other two with a rather serious expression.
Zachry turns his head to look at August in order to initiate some sort of small talk and their eyes meet. They say that eyes convey emotions, the language of the soul. And the feeling Zachry gets from looking into those eyes…
‘Such an overbearing ego…’ He thinks almost as if he’s in a trance.
“Something the matter?” August asks.
His question snaps Zachry back to reality, “Oh, I just wanted to ask you where you’re from?”
‘That’s kinda gay dude…’ Jasper thinks as he surveys the situation.
“You’re quite the curious one aren’t you?”
“I prefer the term inquisitive.” He says as he adjusts his glasses.
“I’m… from a foreign land. A small island to the west of this continent.”
‘A small island to the west…? To the west…?’ Zachry ponders as they start to climb a spiral flight of stairs.
“Then does that mean you crossed Brinhelm’s Gulf?”Jasper asks with an intrigued expression
“Yeah…” He answers vaguely.
“What reason could you possibly have in mind to make you venture through such a place? It couldn’t have been just to study at this academy, could it?” Zachry asks in a deeply concerned manner.
August comes to a stop at the archway leading to the male dorms. His abrupt stop halts the other two in place as well. The towers surrounding the archway cast long, dark veils of shadows that enshroud the archway.
“Not exactly,” He answers silently, “I came here in search of The Solace Library.” He states bursting with desire.
Once again Zachry met his eyes. And this time, in the darkness of the shadows, they gave off a faint luminous red.
“The Solace Library? I’ve never heard of such a place. The only library around these parts would be the Reverie Athenaeum. I can take you there in the morning if you want.” Zachry answers, pulling himself out of a trance.
“That would be much appreciated.” He says as he bows slightly.
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