Wrath's Virtue

In the darkness of his room, Aurelion sat cross legged, deep in a state of Void Focusing.

The room was already dark, so he tried to merge his own energy with the surrounding blackness. However, a pale golden glow emanated from around his body. Even as he managed to blend his energy with the darkness, it refused to be hidden, continuing to shimmer with its own light.

As Aurelion remained in this state of focus, trying to mix his energy with the darkness, he began to hear a melodic, rhythmic sound and he opened his eyes.

He saw a sliver of sunlight peeking through a small gap in the curtains. Next to his bed, the blue stone was glowing softly, emitting the gentle chime.

He slowly turned to look at the stone.

The golden glow around him faded, and he stared at the last remaining shimmer on his hand.

"This is going to be more difficult than I thought," he murmured and got up.

He pulled his thin leather armor over his clothes, slung his spear onto his back, and headed for the door.

Just as he opened his door and stepped out, the door directly opposite his opened as well, and Ylva emerged.

She stopped, looked slightly surprised to see Aurelion.

"So they gave you this room," Aurelion said.

"Yes," Ylva replied curtly.

She locked her door and started to walk down the corridor.

"Wait," Aurelion called out and he locked his own door.

Ylva turned and simply looked at him.

"There's about an hour until breakfast," Aurelion said.

"Show me around."

Ylva stared at Aurelion in surprise. "Show you around?"

"Yes."

"And why would I do that?"

"Is there a any reason you shouldn't?" Aurelion asked, a faint smile playing on his lips as he looked at her.

Ylva's expression remained flat as she listed off the reasons. "You're rude, you're arrogant, every move you make annoys me, and we are rivals."

Aurelion shrugged. "Usually, people think worse things about me. I'll take this as proof that I'm being nice to you."

Ylva stared at the infuriating elf in front of her for a moment longer, then let out a soft sigh of resignation. "Fine. Come with me."

As the other newcomers began to emerge from their rooms, the two of them descended the stairs.

They descended the stairs into the main hall, Ylva spoke. "If you had arrived earlier yesterday, they would have explained all this to you as well."

Unlike the upper floors, most of the areas on this level were open. There were semi open spaces for sitting and talking, as well as a large dining hall.

Ylva gave a quick tour of these places before leading him out of the building and back into the courtyard. She pointed out the various other buildings surrounding them.

Next to their own dormitory stood four other dorm buildings.

"Those are the dormitories for the upper classes," she said, then glanced at Aurelion as she added.

"And it is forbidden for us to go there."

She then pointed to the buildings opposite them. "Those are the workshops. Students earn tokens from the missions they complete. You can use these tokens to improve your equipment, or,"

She extended her hand toward another building to the side, "you can rent books from the library, learn techniques, or even request special training from the instructors. In short, you need these tokens for everything you do."

Ylva then pointed out the training buildings, the practice fields, and, in the distance, the challenge arena.

As she mentioned the arena, she looked at him. "Normally, challenges are held there. If Erik had wanted to, he could have demanded that his duel with you take place in the arena."

She paused. "But you made sure he had more reasons to dislike you than just me, so he accepted to fight you on the spot."

"It's not my fault he's an idiot," Aurelion said coolly.

"And I don't care if idiots have plenty of reasons to dislike me."

Ylva paused at that, trying to decipher the meaning behind his words.

Aurelion, meanwhile, pointed to a building standing apart from the others at the edge of the courtyard. "What's in there?"

Ylva turned to look. "I doubt that building would interest you much. That's where the beast tamers animals are kept."

"Do all the beasts in there have owners?" Aurelion asked.

"No," Ylva replied.

"Some of them can be acquired with tokens, if you have the necessary skill to control them."

Aurelion turned to Ylva. "Did they explain all of this to you yesterday?"

"No," Ylva said.

"It's a good thing I didn't arrive early yesterday, then."

Ylva paused for a moment, then let out a breath. "That's enough. It should be breakfast time."

After a last glance at the beast enclosures.

"Let's go then," and turned toward the dining hall.

Ylva walked as well, and they arrived at the dining hall just as the meal service was beginning. While the other children were talking amongst themselves, they collected their trays from the staff and moved to the tables.

After Ylva got her tray, Aurelion got his and sat down directly across from her.

Ylva looked up and stared at Aurelion, who had started spooning food into his mouth as if nothing was out of the ordinary.

"Why are you following me?" she asked, and some of the other children turned to look at them.

Aurelion waited until he had chewed and swallowed his food.

"Because you're my rival," he said, and took another spoonful.

"I really can't understand what goes on in that head of yours."

After swallowing his next bite, Aurelion continued, "I like rivals, and I want to shorten the time until you challenge me. If you stay near me, you'll get to know me better, and you can prepare better for your future challenge."

"What does eating together have to do with this? And do you want me to defeat you?"

"You can't defeat me, Ylva."

Ylva's brows furrowed but Aurelion continued.

"But I want you to try. Because I'm sure you will surprise me, just like you did two years ago. The meaning of eating together is that you can grasp things about me even from the words I speak, and you can use them. You can learn things about me in a moment when my guard is down. By spending time with me, you can challenge me at my weakest moment."

"I don't need cowardly tactics like that," Ylva said.

"I will defeat you with my training and hard work."

"Did you sleep last night, Ylva?" Aurelion asked suddenly.

Ylva just looked at him, confused.

"Did you sleep last night?"

"Yes," she answered.

"I didn't," Aurelion said.

"And guess what I did instead of sleeping."

Ylva's eyes widened in shock.

Aurelion brought another spoonful to his mouth, but paused just before eating it, looking at her.

"Just diligence and hard work are not enough to defeat me," he said, and began to chew.

Once Ylva recovered from her shock, she said, "I want to ask you something. It's just something I'm curious about, and I don't need a detailed answer."

Aurelion raised a single eyebrow and Ylva continued, "The thing you did to Erik..."

She shook her head. "Forget what I said," she said and reached for her spoon.

Aurelion smirked slightly. "I understand your pride, Ylva, but if I didn't respect you, I wouldn't see you as a rival. So, you should respect me too. Respect my strength. As long as these conversations stay between us, you can ask whatever you want. Even if a situation arises where you can defeat me because of it, that will not overshadow your victory."

Ylva stirred her food with her spoon for a moment. "When you touched Erik, he couldn't move his arm. What was that?"

"It's a bit complicated to explain," Aurelion said.

He glanced around and noticed a boy trying to listen in on their conversation, recognizing him as a member of the Frozen-Axe clan.

He quickly entered his state of Void Focusing. With his Touching the Flow technique, he gently touched the boy's ears.

The boy bent his head forward in pain, clutching his ears.

The attention of the nearby students was drawn to him. Ylva also noticed that the boy's pain started right after Aurelion had glanced in his direction, and she turned back to Aurelion.

"When you fight me" Aurelion said. Now his voice was low and instructive.

"Don't open up too much distance. At the same time, don't let me touch you, and don't give me any room to breathe. If I get the chance, I will directly damage the energy in your body."

After watching the boy clutch his ears, Ylva turned her gaze back to Aurelion.

"I can now use the Serial Claw technique I used against you two years ago with my energy, and I can apply it with my swords as well," she stated.

"The technique doesn't just sharpen my blades. It sharpens my body as well."

"Why are you telling me this?" Aurelion asked.

Ylva shook her head. "You should have been able to guess this already, and you should have seen it during the talent tests."

She met his gaze directly. "I have a technique called Hunter's Savagery. The more my opponent is injured, the faster I become. Do not let me injure you in the future."

Then, she added, her voice was firm with the weight of her conviction, "Just as you respect me as a rival, you will respect my strength too, Aurelion. If I ask you something about yourself, I will, in return, explain something about myself. I cannot allow you to be the only one giving information."

"The honor of a Silverfang demands it."