Wrath's Virtue

A silence dominated the courtyard.

Ylva Silverfang, stared at Aurelion with wide eyes. "He's been able to use his energy since he was seven, but… this is still too much. He's using the same tricks against a trained instructor that he used in his brawls with me." She clenched her fist. "I have to tell Grandfather Viggo. I can't beat him right now… but I will."

With a newfound resolve, she focused on the fight with all her being, determined to glean any scrap of information that might help her in the future.

On the back, Faelia turned to Kargath and opened her mouth to speak. "Karg—"

"Not now," the Orc cut her off, his eyes locked on the two figures in the center of the field.

Arne's face was now a mask of anger. "You're talented, kid," he said, his voice dangerously low as he ran a hand over the pommel of his sword. "And that's why I'm getting serious."

He slid his hand down the flat of the blade while his energy flaring. "Let the wind be my sword!"

He swept his hand forward, and a crescent shaped wave of slicing wind shot across the ground toward Aurelion.

Aurelion leaped to the side, dodging the attack, but Arne was already moving, lunging through the space where Aurelion had just been. He thrust his sword forward. "Pierce!"

A spearhead of sharp, compressed wind flew from the sword's tip. Aurelion met it with his own spear. The collision of steel and wind created a small explosion of force that sent a shockwave through the spear shaft, staggering Aurelion and disrupting his balance for a moment.

"Focus!" he commanded himself. "Everything he's doing is physical, you can see it all. Just use your body with maximum efficiency and compensate for his speed!"He regained his footing just as Arne closed in again.

"Too late to dodge!" Aurelion thought, tightening his grip and thrusting his spear forward, this time aiming directly for the instructor's sword hand.

But just as the spear tip was about to connect, Arne's hand opened, releasing his sword. From his open palm, he unleashed a sudden, powerful blast of pressurized wind. The force slammed into Aurelion, sending him flying backward. He dug the butt of his spear into the ground, using it as an anchor to stop his momentum.

"Everything he does is visible, but he's fast. I need to see the energy," he analyzed, clicking his tongue in frustration. "But if I focus on energy, my physical vision will decrease. At least with energy vision, I can still see his location and his body. It's pointless to counter with my spear anymore."

He slammed the butt of his spear firmly into the earth, leaving it standing upright. The seal on his left palm pulsed with light again. This time, the physical world around him faded into dark silhouettes, replaced by the familiar world of vibrant, colored energies. He did this without closing his good eye. "If I close my eye, my vision would improve, but it would draw too much attention."

He raised both hands slightly, empty, and waited.

"What are you planning, kid, leaving your spear behind?" Arne asked.

Aurelion didn't answer, holding his position, ready to move at any instant.

Arne lifted his sword and slashed downward, sending another wind blade at him. Now perceiving the attack as a simple wave of energy, Aurelion turned his body to the side and avoided it effortlessly.

Arne's brows furrowed slightly. "I'll show you something big, kid. Consider it a gift from me," he said, raising his sword high into the air.

Aurelion could see it clearly now. The vibrant energy flowing from Arne's body, through his arm, and into his sword. A vortex of ambient wind began to swirl around the instructor, all of it being drawn into the humming blade.

Aurelion clicked his tongue again, this time in annoyance. "I hate getting ahead in fights thanks to luck. Dammit." He extended his right hand toward Arne. As his seal glowed, a thin, golden thread of energy, completely invisible to the physical eye, snaked out from his palm.

Arne saw the boy raise his hand, saw the seal glow, but saw no attack. He was confused by the utter lack of concern on the boy's face despite the storm he was gathering. "This isn't a technique you can handle, kid, so don't try to meet it head on. It gathers the wind around me and unleashes it. Simple, but powerful. I'm using this against you because you've earned a finale with a technique of this level."

Seeing Aurelion still standing there motionlessly, he couldn't figure out what he was up to. "You'd better run, kid," Arne said, and was about to unleash the storm in his sword when a voice thundered across the arena.

"Enough!" Kargath roared.

At the exact same moment, Arne felt a sharp pain in his sword hand. He grunted, his face contorting as he nearly dropped his weapon. He managed to hold on, but the storm of energy coiling within his sword became wildly unstable. Realizing with horror what was about to happen, he threw the blade as far away from himself as he could.

A violent ring of pure wind erupted from the spot where the sword landed, followed by a deafening explosion that kicked up a massive cloud of dust and debris.

After the explosion, dust and debris rained down on the silent courtyard. Arne stared at the smoking crater where his sword had landed. Then he heard footsteps behind him and turned to see Aurelion, who had already slung his spear back onto his shoulders as if nothing had happened.

"What did you do?" Arne asked.

Aurelion ignored the question. "It was a good fight, Instructor Arne. I would like to do it again in the future."

For a moment, Arne just stared at the boy, then a slowly smirk spread across his face. "Next time I won't hold back, you hear me, kid?"

Aurelion's lips curved into a slight smile too. "It's better this way."

Meanwhile, Faelia turned to the Headmaster. "The boy is certainly interesting, isn't he, Headmaster?"

"His level of energy control…" Ulrich murmured, his eyes never leaving Aurelion. "You felt it, didn't you?"

"Yes," Faelia confirmed.

Kargath looked between the two of them. Faelia turned to the Orc with a faint smile. "The boy made Arne's sword explode."

"Impossible," Kargath grunted.

"It must be thanks to his Seal," Faelia said. "It's not impossible."

As Kargath mulled this over, Ulrich's voice cut through. "Let's continue, Kargath."

The Orc nodded, then turned his attention back to Aurelion. "You've proven you're not just an ordinary whelp. Well done. Now go and wait over there," he said, pointing to a spot on the college side of the field, separate from the other children.

Aurelion said nothing and walked silently to his designated spot. Kargath then faced the remaining children. "NOW! Nineteen of you, step forward one by one, and stand before the instructor you wish to fight!"

What followed was an hour of brutal, one-sided education. The fights were nowhere near as intense as Aurelion's, but some children showed they knew how to handle a sword. A few of the Northern children endured the beatings with stoic resilience, while others, feeling the sting of a real blade for the first time, broke down in tears and quit. A foolish few charged in with blind rage, only to be met with a swift knee to the stomach from an instructor.

Ylva fought with two short swords, using the Serial Claw technique Aurelion had seen before, but this time enhanced with her own silver energy. She held her ground for a respectable amount of time before she was skillfully disarmed by her opponent.

Finally, after about an hour, the fights concluded.

Faelia watched the last defeated crying child being led off the field. "And with that, the number of those remaining has dropped to 62."

"Their numbers will drop even more in the next test, these whelps," Kargath grumbled.

Ulrich's expression remained unchanged. "It doesn't matter. After the final test, there will be 30 at most, anyway. And with the resources we won't have to waste on those who were eliminated, we will make those 30 much, much stronger."

Faelia stepped forward. "Then I suppose it's my turn, Headmaster," she said.

Ulrich just gave a single nod.

Faelia walked to the waiting group of children. As she did, several staff members came forward, carrying glass bowls filled with water in which metallic particles drifted aimlessly. They handed one to each child. Aurelion accepted his. "Now what are they up to?" he wondered.

Holding her own bowl, Faelia stood before them. "Sit, children," she instructed. Curious and exhausted, the children complied, settling into cross legged positions on the stone courtyard.

Faelia began to walk gracefully between their ranks.

"Your energy has a personality, a will," she began, her voice was a melodic whisper that reached every ear. "Some of yours are like a gentle summer breeze, others are like a raging storm. Do not try to suppress or change it. That is like forcing a wolf to be a lamb. You will fail, and you will only make it angrier."

She moved to the front of the group, raising her glass bowl slightly for all to see.

"What you will learn today is how to imbue your energy with a single, pure purpose, regardless of its personality. Your mind is a lantern and your will is the flame within. An unfocused mind is a lantern with cracked glass its light spills everywhere, weak and scattered. But a focused will is a perfect lens before that lantern. It gathers all the light and transforms it into a single, powerful beam."

Faelia raised her free hand over her bowl. A soft, greenish light pooled in her palm. As she lowered her hand toward the water, the thousands of iron particles within the bowl stopped move. As if answering a gentle invitation, they flowed smoothly toward the center, arranging themselves into the shape of a lotus flower.

"My energy is gentle, so it persuades the particles," she explained, holding up the result. "Yours might be crude. Then your will must be the command that forces those particles to a single point. The method is yours. The only thing that matters is the result. A perfect order created within chaos and your task now is to establish that order in this chaos."