A harsh gust blew Farren's auburn shoulder-length hair back. The mysterious friend he had made turned out to be every bit as impressive as he had thought.
Yet, such a notion seems so absurd coming from one of the only three n standing under the torrent of gravity released by Aurex.
Farren's dark brown eyes watched as Caelith shot forward to et the prince, a battle that would change the fate of Igaria, was about to occur, and he was there at the center of it.
The mischievous smile on Farren's face soon grew into a solemn, thin line.
He knew his job would co after this battle had ended…
He had seen it unfold.
There, standing in the center of the battlefield, Farren of The Plains, the conniving businessman and informant, watched the battle between the mysterious dark horse and the prince of Igaria; however, around him, an undetectable aura shaped like a jellyfish surrounded him, protecting him from the gravity.
He gave a nod to the jellyfish and returned his attention to the battle.
…
The world made way for Caelith's arrival above the arena.
The roar of the wind in his ears, the pressure of the air in front of him, and the scent of sweat and gri built up over the span of the day.
Every single one of Caelith's senses was screaming at him.
This was perhaps the most important battle of his life.
As the prince ca into view, his dark hair and red eyes beca visible from under his hood.
He had a face with delicate features, showing his descent from nobility.
If one had to rank his appearance, he would definitely be amongst the most handso in Igaria, only losing out to Caelith.
However, the most apparent thing was his smile. The overwhelming confidence from him had blended into his very aura. One could tell just by looking into his eyes that he was not soone common.
The prince had been the greatest talent of Igaria, receiving his first blessing at just three years old. Afterwards, it is widely known that he was sent to the central continent to train. Many had speculated about his power once he returned.
The masses had reached a consensus that he would at least be five five-star after his arrival yet, here he was, two stars but possessing the power of four.
He had defied the natural limits of power.
He had earned his confidence.
However, Caelith had as well.
And he had the greatest advantage in this match.
As Caelith approached the prince from below, the prince shifted and readied a long scimitar from thin air.
Just a quarter of a second before their blades would et, Rejection surged beneath Caelith's feet and manifested.
It was then that the prince's eyes wavered for the first ti since returning to Igaria.
Caelith's speed violently increased as his path shifted just left of the prince.
This was an aerial application of the Rejection step.
Sothing thrown together on the fly that only a genius could do.
Ashthorn ripped through the sky, becoming flooded with Rejection for the first ti since arriving at the capital.
The nearby mana sward onto the blade, compressing endlessly into a white glow covering the black blade.
The swords t with electric intensity as the world warped around them.
Shock filled the prince's eyes as he could only utter one word.
"You…!"
However, Caelith did not give him the ti to finish, as another pulse of Rejection manifested behind his blade, shooting the prince backward.
The crowd gasped from the floor. Caelith had just pushed the prince back on their first exchange!
The prince flew back a number of ters before regaining his footing in the air.
Caelith's follow-through sent him flying back to the ground.
The real battle would soon begin.
Yet, before charging Caelith, the prince lazily descended onto the ground of the arena, eting Caelith's gaze. Then he spoke.
"I haven't seen anything like you… not even in the central continent."
The prince seed to squint at Caelith, reassessing him ntally.
"No aura… simply killing intent. It's like you're a veteran warrior yet to awaken mana, yet your power betrays that fact. Even stranger, you're not affected by the ten tis gravity zone I've created bearing down on the field."
Then the most unexpected expression appeared on the prince's face.
Ecstasy.
A pure, overwhelming joy.
In his mind, he was a scientist uncovering a new elent on the periodic table.
And Caelith was all his to study.
"Alright, dark horse, let's play faster."
Before the last syllable had reached Caelith's ears, his world spun.
The prince changed subtly.
None besides perhaps Farren or Caelith could have noticed it.
He beca lighter.
And then he was gone.
A mont later, Caelith was rag-dolled in the air, and Aurex was standing in Caelith's previous place.
The unhinged smile on Aurex's face didn't diminish.
A mont later, a sonic boom sounded out as Aurex warped through the air, flying directly at Caelith.
'Shit! I couldn't even react to that royal bastard!'
The thoughts went wild in Caelith's head.
The source of Caelith's confidence was from the properties of Rejection.
Foreign mana did not work on Caelith if he did not will it so.
The essence of Rejection was the absence of mana.
Caelith was its incarnation.
Once noticing the qualities of Aurex's power through mana vision, Caelith had formulated a plan to leave a scratch on the overpowering prince.
This would be Caelith's first battle against a true mana user.
It was said that stars one through three represented mortals, and that starting at the fourth star, you would change.
The quantity of mana allowed for supernatural abilities and applications that bend the fabric of reality.
This was the proof of this world.
Mana decided all.
However, Caelith had one thing that a noble could never fathom.
Conviction.
With a burst of sobriety, Caelith manifested rejection under him, shooting him into the sky once more as Aurex whizzed past his previous location, scimitar in hand.
'If that hand landed, I would have lost on the second exchange!'
Seeing Caelith's evasion, the prince's smile grew even more unhinged.
"YES! This is what I was looking for! A talent to usurp this world!"
anwhile, in the air, Caelith reassessed the nature of the battle.
Gravity didn't work on him, but it did work on the prince.
This made his plans a lot more complicated; it would be a battle of pure physicality.
Even more shockingly than his evasion was Caelith's expression.
He matched the prince's unhinged smile.
"Bring it on, you spoon-fed bastard!"
The world changed with that sentence.
Caelith oriented himself, looking straight down on the arena, matching Aurex's gaze from below.
This would be a reenactnt of their first exchange.
Except that Caelith and the prince were no longer holding back.
Rejection manifested in all directions of Caelith, his will pouring out into the world.
His body beca covered in a destructive aura, exploding with every movent and banishing the mana around him.
The Rejection Aura that he had used against the bandit leader had manifested once more.
Although invisible to the naked eye, the stronger ones amongst the spectators noticed a peculiar difference about Caelith.
It was Selphira Stormont who spoke first.
"My instincts are telling there is sothing wrong with that man."
Back on the battlefield, Caelith surged toward the arena floor, gathering montum with every detonation of Rejection. This was a battle of speed. The mont the prince bled, the fight would be over.
Caelith did not need to win, he only needed to land a blow.
The other competitors would never have made it this far under such extre gravity.
Yet here he was, forrly Caelith Stormont, the worthless bastard of the Stormont Family, fighting on equal footing with the greatest genius in Igaria's history.
As the blades approached each other once more, the world warped like the first ti.
Except now, even the mana was warping, manifesting directly as foundational elents.
And once the two swords t, the arena was torn asunder.
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