Monster

Two weapons clashed, Alex's spear sword shot forward with an unrelenting force while the opponents giant blade smashed down like a never ending waterfall. Upon contact, the two aura energies began to clash and a metallic scream filled the arena. This power struggle continued until Alex redirected the giant blade to his right which slammed into the ground, creating a small crater.

"That's some power you've got there." Alex said as he twisted his body and slashed his weapon towards his opponent's abdomen.

Despite struggling to keep up with Alex's speed and power, the fur clothed teen reacted on experience and flipped his body over using his blade in the ground as leverage. At the same time, he pulled out his blade from the ground and swung it at Alex with the intention of bisecting him in half. As the giant blade was coming closer to Alex, he used his free hand to grab the edge of the blade and use its force to rotate his body in the opposite direction in which it was already spinning.

Alex then struck the fur clothed teen's chest with his foot as he did a backflip off, landing in a low and balanced stance.

"Wow, I didn't think that you'd be able to evade me at all. Especially like how you did earlier." Alex said in awe and wonder.

"Years of living in the wild has taught me to be flexible in mind and body, able to react and move in any way to survive." The fur clothed teen said as his emotions calmed down, needing to get serious as he realized Alex was no weakling like he had thought.

"By the way." Alex said as he coughed into his free hand a little. "What's your name? I didn't hear the referee over, you know, your yelling and all."

The fur clothed teen grew red with rage before he calmed down once more and answered. "Rah is my name and remember it as it will be the name of your new nightmare!"

The fur clothed teen named Rah charged forward with his blade held high once more as did Alex but Alex couldn't help but mutter. "I'll be sure to save that line and use it if I ever meet someone terrible!"

Unlike the clash before, Rah didn't use all of his strength within the blade which increased it's speed many times over. The two combatants from an outsiders view would see this as more of a dance than a fight as they traded blows and evaded. While Alex's movements were flowing, evasive, and fierce when he made contact, Rah was like an untamed beast with many unnatural movements and yet, was still elegant in a way.

Once more after a violent clash, Alex and Rah was separated once again on each side of the arena in their battle stance. Rah was breathing heavily as he growled like an animal, as for Alex, while sweating, wasn't at all out of breath yet. A strange event as the two had exchanged over hundreds of blows over the course of the fight.

"Man, this has been the most entertaining fight I've been in since this tournament started. Thanks Rah." Alex said as he started circling the arena.

Rah followed in suite and circled the arena as well but was furious as he stated. "Why won't you fight me with your full power! Do you even understand how shameful it is to fight with all my power and yet my opponent hasn't even use half or more of his power!"

Alex frowned and then asked. "Are you sure you want me to go all out? I thought it would be pretty nice if I didn't go all out so that you wouldn't lose too badly."

"I'd rather kill myself than lose like that! It's a fate worse than death for warriors who strive to reach the peak of power!" Rah yelled with pure anger as he charged once more at Alex with his blade raised high with all of his power.

Alex was shocked and lost in memories for a few seconds, a lot of time in a fight which allowed Rah to finally strike Alex. The arena shook under the weight of the strike as dust shot out from the ground. No one could see what was happening under the dust but everyone was silent in finding out the result.

Once the dust cleared, everyone was once again shocked as the giant blade Rah was holding was shattered beyond repair with only it's hilt. It's metal pieces scattered across the crater that surrounded Alex whose Metallic Silvery Aether was still flowing normally. As for Rah, he was shaking with his knees on the floor with lifeless eyes.

"I... I... I give up." Rah stuttered out with his eyes never leaving the floor, trying avoiding Alex.

"The Winner of the first finals match is Alex Mercer!" The referee declared but the crowd remained quiet as they were confused.

How did the match end? How did the giant blade get destroyed? Why's Alex not hurt after they saw the giant blade make contact. Why was Rah on the ground on his knees? These questions and more ran through the minds of everyone but no one knew the answers to them.

Alex smiled at his win before he held his hand out to Rah. "It was a nice fight Rah. I hope we'll be able to fight again soon."

"Get away from me you monster!" Rah shouted as he slapped Alex's hands away, turning pale as he made eye contact with Alex.

"AHHHHHH~!!!!" With a whimpering scream, Rah crawled off the stage, his pride missing after what had transpired.

"Well that's mean." Alex said as he turned to the Referee. "So now I wait until the other four have had their matches right?"

The referee nodded silently as he was also confused about the situation but still did his job as he announced a ten minute break to repair the arena. Alex then walked off the stage, finding Jade standing at the entrance of the tunnel exit leading to the stands. She had a complex expression of curiosity, and worry but was calm with a smile.

"That was quite a fight Alex." Jade complimented with her hands on her hips.

"Thanks, it was pretty fun. Better than my earlier fights at least." Alex said.

Before he could ask her who she wanted to fight however, Jade quickly asked. "So what did you do to scare off the supposed second dark horse of the competition?"

"Second dark horse?" Alex asked, confused about this title before he asked another question. "Also, who's the first?"

Jade had an irritated expression as she pointed at Alex and stated. "You! You're the first dark horse of this tournament. You and that other guy both defeated all of their opponents in one blow! But that's besides the point."

Jade calmed down as she asked again. "What did you do to scare your opponent, Rah, so badly that he lost all of his pride as a warrior? Even the more talented fighters of the same age in my family pales in comparison to his willpower and strength."

Alex hummed in thought before he answered. "I simply did what he said and used all of my power."

Jade was confused as Alex couldn't have been much stronger than Rah, or even her. They were the same age after all and their training time was limited to only about ten years.

Not being able to withhold her curiosity, Jade asked. "I know we only met but, what's your Aether Level. If you don't mind me asking that is."

Alex chuckled awkwardly as he explained. "Actually, I've never actually had my Aether Level scanned before since it costs a lot and I'm an orphan."

"Oh, I'm sorry." Jade said.

Alex was silent for a while before he stated. "I heard that an elder will appear and scan our Aether Level before we get accepted so I guess you'll receive your answer at that time. I'm also curious about it too but for now, you should probably get ready to fight."

"That and I'm hungry." Alex said as his stomach began to grumble.

Jade laughed at this and waved for Alex to follow. "Come on lord of grumbling stomachs, I know a good place."

----- -----

In the medical bay, the doctors and nurses tending to hurt competitors were taking notes as they asked their latest addition to the room some questions.

"Sir, are you hurt anywhere?" A long brown haired doctor wearing a skirt asked but received no answer as the patient shivered under the blanket.

"Please tell me so that I can help you get better sir." The nurse tried to say but when the patient didn't reply, she sighed and pulled off the blanket.

Within a second, a fur clothed teen jumped out and grasped the neck of the doctor. This teen was Rah and his eyes were bloodshot as his eyes jittered across the room.

"Is he here?! Is he here?!" Rah shouted as guards began to approach him.

The doctor motioned for the guards to stop as she carefully forced out words. "It's safe. No one is going to hurt you. You're safe. So please stop choking me."

Rah gained some clarity but was still shaking as he let the doctor go, muttering repeatedly. "I-I don't know... I don't know what happened. I just felt it, the hunger, the pain, darkness, the emptiness. It was just so cold, so so very cold."

As the nurses and doctors tried to get him back on his bed to check on him, in a dark underground area, a similar situation was occurring. The guards who had tried to hurt Alex was shivering on the floor, bloodied with missing limbs and muttering the same words.

"You were meant to protect my son from any harm and this is what happens!" A man wearing a light blue suit yelled. "Why do I even pay you if you can't even do your job!"

The man kicked one of the bodyguards but they didn't do or say anything, barely even registering the words of their employer.

"Tsk! Looks like I'll have to send in the big guns if I want to get rid of that brat before he leaves off world." The man said but at the mention of the so called Brat, the bodyguards began screaming and tried to burry themselves into the walls.

"No! Please let me go! Let me go! Just, let me go..." They all whimpered.

"Weaklings." The blue suited man said as he left them in the room as he left.