Ores feet were heavy as he slowly walked towards the stage. His aura was stifling, the sky seemingly darkened with his every step.His muscles rippled, sending his simple linen shirt into the wind. The battle axe on his back seemed to vibrate with antic.i.p.ation.
Every step was like an attempt to crush Dyon"s heart, to crush his arrogance, to crush any means of resistance.
Weaker students shivered. The pungent smell of p.i.s.s filled the area under the terrace and even reached the regular audience.
Grabbing his axe from his back, Ores swung it leisurely, but the air seemed to slice willingly. Bowing down to his skill and his power.
Ores leaped.
BOOM!
He landed 3 meters from Dyon. To him, this distance was enough for an instant kill.
He loomed above, staring down at Dyon with disdain. A Dyon who didn"t seem to have any intention of moving despite the danger.
Ores" voice rang out, carrying a domineering will, "I"ll only give you one chance. Take out a weapon and defend yourself, or else you won"t know how you died."
Dyon"s arm trembled, causing Ores to sneer, "it"s too late to be afraid now. You"ve blasphemed the Grimbold name. Today you won"t leave without becoming a cripple. Either that. Or you won"t leave at all."
Suddenly, Dyon yawned, "what are you talking about," Dyon brought his hand over, he scratched an itch, "I just felt so disgusted by your presence that I gained the irresistible urge to scratch myself all over."
The crowd froze as Ores" face darkened.
"It"s clear you won"t cry until the coffin"s being lowered. Since that"s the case, you can be on your way now," Ores raised his axe, a gleam of hot and raging fire gracing the blade.
Dyon looked up with an interested expression, "4th level meridian formation… 34 opened meridians… not bad. At such a young age, considering he must have only recently begun cultivating, he definitely has a good chance of stepping into the saint stage."
BOOM!
Ores" axe stopped inches from Dyon"s face, a dazzling array swirled with complex gold, not showing a hint of wavering to Ores" power.
Ores" eyebrows furrowed, "is this how Acacia Academy does battle? Array Plates? How pitiful."
The crowd booed, disgusted with Dyon"s actions.
Elder Cormyth sneered along with the geniuses brought from the other academies, "is this your so-called genius?"
Uncle Acacia said nothing, instead lightly smiling. He sent a look over to Ri who was smirking. Clearly, she knew something.
Dyons sighed, "you know, I"m tired of my genius getting mistaken for the work of others…"
"You dare to still say that this is your genius? If I wanted to use a pract.i.tioner level plate, you think my family wouldn"t be able to buy hundreds, if not thousands for me? You disgust me. Not only is your lineage subpar, your character is even worse. You don"t have the spirit of a warrior. You aren"t worthy of dying by my axe," Ores put his battle axe away, intent on walking away.
Suddenly, the air changed around Dyon. A Demonic will permeated the air. The anger was clear in his eyes.
"My lineage? Subpar? Open your dog eyes."
The wind raged, tens of formations spun violently behind Dyon, their formation slowed so that everyone could witness their construction.
Ores looked back, a serious expression surfacing on his face.
"You"ve done a lot of things to p.i.s.s me off. First you try to take a 5-year-old as your concubine. Then you insult my friend"s beauty. And now you have the face to insult my lineage?"
BOOM!
A weapon"s h.e.l.l array completed, immediately firing a spear of unparalleled speed towards Ores.
Ores Roared, brandishing his axe and swinging to block.
BOOM!
Ores flex backwards, sliding across the stage to finally stop at its edge.
"You"ve got a lot of nerve. Is the Grimbold family so great?"
BOOM!
A spear sped forward again, tossing Ores cleanly off the main stage and tumbling into the neutral areas of the coliseum. But, Dyon didn"t have any intentions of stopping.
"Wasn"t I weak? Wasn"t I subpar? Wasn"t I unworthy? Give me your axe oh great one"
BOOM!
Grimbold flew backwards again. But, this time, a defense array appeared behind him, causing him to cough up blood as it jarred him forward.
The crowd could only look on in awe. Dyon"s spears were laced with so many wills, even the experts were having trouble picking out what was going on.
However, there was one gaze that wasn"t worried about how powerful Dyon"s spear were, she was only worried about his reaction to Ores" insults, "it"s not like you to get so angry so easily…" thought Ri.
Ores had had enough. A tempest of aura violently raged behind him.
BOOM!
Dyon"s defensive array shattered under the pressure, leaving Ores" manifestation leering in the skies.
A battle axe wreathed in flames seemed to want to burn everything in its path.
Ores said no words, but his red eyes deepened. His fiery red hair raged with wind, wildly fluttering in the air.
A warrior"s cry resounded through the arena as Ores pounced forward, landing before Dyon and swinging his battle axe with deadly intent.
The elders all held serious expressions, "7th level battle axe will… 5th level fire will… both boosted to the 9th level as soon as his manifestation appeared…"
However, Dyon had no reaction. His eyes still reddened with rage. His shirt sliced apart under his storm of sword qi.
"he"s a sword master!" Jade"s eyes sparkled. What was a better mix than a domineering yet elegant man? Nothing could compare to the sword in her eyes.
"you"re not worthy of my sword. You"re not worthy of me moving from this single spot. You"re not worthy to carry the t.i.tle of warriors. GET OUT OF MY FACE!"
BOOM!
Tens of Weapon"s h.e.l.l arrays released all at once. Shearing the air and careening towards Ores.
Despair colored his eyes as he watched the end of his life.
Suddenly, Headmaster Grimbold moved. Uncle Acacia made no move to stop him, fully aware that it wasn"t in Dyon"s best interest to kill a young master of the Grimbold family.
With a wave of his arm, the spears shattered.
The crowd sucked in a collective breath as the gold and shattered lights finally dissipated.
There, before Dyon, Headmaster Grimbold bowed with his hand across his chest, "it isn"t n.o.ble of me to interrupt your duel, especially when I wouldn"t step in should it have been your life in danger, but, unfortunately, I must. Ores is an important member of our Grimbold family and cannot die under my watch. The Grimbold family holds strength above all and no one finds this act more shameful than we do. However, even with that said, I must do it. If one day you become strong enough to eradicate our family, no one of Grimbold blood will blame you."
Dyon"s eyes still held rage, but he calmed it. It was clear that he wouldn"t be able to take Ores" life. And, what Ores" senior had said was correct – and it"s underlying meaning… even more so. Strength above all else. He couldn"t kill Ores today, because he didn"t have the strength to fight the Grimbold family. It was just that simple.
"Since the Grimbold family is so honorable, I think it would be a simple matter that can be resolved with an apology just as simple, no?"
Headmaster Grimbold lifted his head and looked back towards a pale Ores, "apologize."
His tone left no room for discussion. As such, Ores stood to apologize to Dyon. However, what Dyon said next surprised him.
"Not me. The beautiful girl over there," Dyon pointed towards Ri who had a gentle smile on her face.
"it seems like the Dyon I like is back."
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As you guys can see, the Grimbold family is about as honorable as it"s going to get among the major families, if you can even call them honorable. Ores is a pretty interesting character, despite his blatant flaws. Just the very fact he was embarra.s.sed by what he tried to do with Lyla is more than enough to show that, no? How many members of the major families would care if no-names caught them doing something they wanted to do?
Oh, and I feel like this is a bit of trivia, Ri is technically a year younger than Dyon. But, her birthday is really early in the year while his is fairly late. So, really, Dyon is only a couple months older than Ri. HAPPY READING!
Follow me on twitter @Awespec if you"d like to interact :)