Chapter 42: Arsène Vs Victoria
"The snow family has revoked your entrance within the academy of war. " Grimlor curiously said, "I am sorry, Arsène, but you are no longer a student within the Academy of War.
Narrowing my gaze, I scoff, " Grimlor, I am sure you are aware of what happened a few days ago. It will not be long before this kingdom is relying on me for the nexus armour." I coolly said, "Do you think it would be wise to remove me from this academy."
A grim look appeared on Grimlor's rugged appearance, "So what do you propose? It is not within my hands. Even though I am the principal, there is a committee I must report to. It is not me you have to convinced but them."
"I beg to differ; you do not really seem to understand the power you hold." I cunningly whispered, "There is a reason you're the principal of this Academy for over one hundred years. Do you really believe that the committee will voice their complaints against me if you stand by my side?"
Rising from my chair, I fixed my uniform, "Allow me access to this school, and I will create a few hundred Nexus suits that can defend against a Spirit Realm master. I will even make the armour look like the school uniforms." I said, walking out of the room with an indifferent expression.
I could feel an air of gloom surround Grimlor," Fine……I accept," He weakly expressed
With a smile, I left, walking to homeroom with a delightful expression. Yet, to my dismay, a loud dreadful voice filled my ears, "What the hell is an outcast doing here." Genis shouted in a manner unbecoming of a prince.
Sending an irritating glance towards this mistake, I took a huge breath, trying not to kill the son of the king. With a smile still on my face, I stepped to my seat as Victoria weakly welcomed me.
Oddly glancing towards Victoria, I couldn't help but be surprised at her unkempt appearance. Although most would not notice, I could not help but observe the deep panda's under her eyes along with her ruffled clothing.
"As most of you have heard, the King of Asterion has declared a state of emergency in regards to this school." She shouted regain the vigour that was missing before, "For those that don't know, this state of Emergency means an upcoming war will begin soon."
With a deep breath, everyone aside from me gasped, "That is why a major change is about to happen so in five days. A major competition will be held to determine who will enter Class S. We usually don't do competition after competition, but this is a major event the king demanded we have. "
With a powerful clap of her hands, Victoria stared us down with a cold, oppressive glare, "Resources, Artes, instructors, everything you could want is presented in class S." She proudly declared.
Raising my hand, I rose, "Instructor does this mean that there is no school for the next five days." I asked with an optimistic tone.
"Correct, Grimlor has said will be allowed unfettered access to all resources assuming you have the school credit or money to use them," explained Victoria
The sounds of Cheer exploded out as even I chuckled with joy. Smirking at us, Victoria cleared her throat, "Enough! You are all allowed to leave, but if you have any questions or you need help, please contact me." She loudly said.
However, everyone rushed out of the room, completely ignoring the poor instructor except for me, her favourite student. Eying the young woman as she gathered some documents, I approached her with a grin.
"Instructor, I could use your help," I confidently said, "Unless you are busy."
Shaking her head, she looked at me with a puzzled expression, "I thought you hated me?" She muttered with a pitiful air around her.
"I do not hate you, Victoria, rather I'm disappointed bordering on disgust by your actions. I am sure you have your reasons, but it doesn't matter to me. Wynnstan is dead, and that's all that matters. Now back to my request, I would like to spar with you."
With a mask of gloom surrounding her, she stared at me in bewilderment, unable to even speak, "Don't be so surprised. I need to understand how powerful I am, and a Peak Spirit Realm master is perfect." I voiced in an annoyed tone.
Arriving on the training ground, I drew DragonsBane before getting in position. At the same time, Victoria's Aura began to fall before she appeared the same rank as me while drawing a long sword out of thin air.
The air of gloom surrounding her vanished, leaving only a powerful killing machine, "Ready," She systematically asked.
Arching my brow, I nodded, "Ready," however, just as my words fell, a pale knee shoot into my face blasting me back. Blood gushed from my nose, but I didn't panic. Focusing, I applied qi around me before I flicker to her.
A look of shock consumed her beautiful face, but it faded just as quickly as she parried my spear. Sparks began to fly as we clashed. Thrusting my spear out chaotically, I slowly began pushing Victoria back as light wounds starting appearing.
Yet, just as I felt I was going to win, her cultivation jumped one realm above mine. Not letting it startled me, I ducked as her sword light flashed above my head, nicking some of my hair. Doing a small spin as I ducked, the back of my spear swept forward towards her chest.
Yet to my astonishment, she vanished; not feeling her around me, I turned to the air just as her blade came crashing down. Pushing DragonsBane at an angle, the loud clank of steel against steel filled our ears, followed by sparks as her sword skidded over my polearm.
Not letting this pass, I sent a palm to her chest, blasting her back, yet as if she was expecting my move, all I felt was a small resistance as she lightly flew back.
Sweat had completely filled my head as I fell to one knee in exhaustion. While Victoria had a bright smile, "You really are a monster," She exclaimed, trying to mask her excitement.
Clenching my fist at nearly hearing the young woman, I wiped the blood from my nose. Having a semblance of how strong I was. While I could fight a peak second-tier monster, it was just a beast that held no skill. Against someone in the same rank or higher was a different story.
Catching my breath, I arose, readying my spear while clearing my mind of any thoughts aside from Victoria and DragonsBane.
Eyeing me, Victoria used her cultivation, charging at me at an impeccable rate. Trusting my senses, I sidestepped while leaping into the air, thrusting my spear over fifty times. BLack qi covered Dragonsbane boosting its speed, but Victoria easily weaved through it, like a master anticipating my every move.
Frowning, I began refining my spear technique; no one had ever survived this long against me. Especially within the snow estate, I was only allowed to fight people around my age or, as they said, in my generation.
The Demonic spear of Order was a paradox within itself broken up into millions of different forms, but one thing that stood out was that there were only two constants: Chaos and Order.
Suddenly understanding that I was focusing on learning both at the same time, I stopped only focusing on the chaotic section of this technique. Putting Order off, for now, my fighting style began to warp.
With wild abandonment, Dragonsbane became an eccentric dragon thrusting, swiping, moving in any direction possible. Not letting up even when my qi was running dangerously low, I pushed forward.
Blood began leaking from my palms, but I rushed forward, ignoring everything, understanding what it meant to fight like a demon truly. With incautious precision, I ignore the wounds I was gradually receiving, charging forward. Dragonsbane shot viciously towards Victoria's neck before twisting like a serpent, somehow attacking both left and right, becoming more ruthless with my strokes. Astonishment showed Victoria as she upped her cultivation again, parrying my strike.
A deep vibration began filling my hands as a primordial instant began kicking in. The royal demonic emblem began to throb as Victoria, and I began clashing over and over again. Her sword was both elegant and graceful, encompassing the winds as it swept through the air—allowing it to boost her blade's speed and flexibility.
As we fought, however, by technique slowly began to pulse with a more sinister concept. My eyes slowly began to glow as I remembered the darkness; if she could use the wind, I shall use the darkness.
Gripping Dragonsbane tighter, my eyes glimmered as we continued clashing. Tightening my Concentrating, I envisioned my blade surrounded by the shadows that plagued us with the sun shining down from the heavens. Giving a thrust, Dragonsbane suddenly vanished from both my perception and Victorias as a load clank sounded, blasting Victoria back.
Blood began leaking from her chest as she clenched where my spear struck; remembering the feeling, my eyes slowly began to glow with a dark light as I laughed at Victoria's grim expression.
Rising as if she wasn't hutting, she spat up a little blood as her wounds began to heal at a visible rate. "I think it's best for us to stop. I believe you have accomplished what you set out for, have you not Arsène?" She questioned
Puzzled, I nodded absentmindedly as my vision slowly began to grow blurry. Falling to the floor, I began gasping excessively for air as blood pooled from my body.