Strong emotion

"Soo... I didn't think that you would be so weak, Ares," Amelia commented as she delivered the axe to him.

A vein appeared on Ares' forehead once she said so.

"I bet that you didn't think that I was weak either when you blocked my attack. I could hear your bones snapping even in the middle of that frenetic battle. I even thought that I broke them... porcelain girl."

This time, the one with a vein on her forehead was Amelia. She gave a fake smile while approaching Ares a bit more and looking at him straight in the eyes.

"Do you want to start something again, peasant? I can beat you any time you want. Just tell me when we will start," she took him by his collar.

Ares took her by her collar as well, nearly raising her smaller and lighter body from the ground.

"You can come. Don't use magic if you have the guts. Let's see who wins a battle without these cheap tricks."

Xavier hugged Ares' arm, pulling him backward with as much strength as he could. Amelia's friends did the same to her.

"You know, it's better to let things as they are right now. We can't afford one of our members to get injured, ok? Don't forget that our party has only TWO members, and you are the core of this party, so if you stay out of the exams, I will be the one screwed here!" Xavier scolded him.

If Ares continued to take such reckless actions, he would end up dying and leaving him alone.

"Ok, ok, leave me alone! I was just making fun of her face. I am not willing to fight anymore. After all, I discovered and architected everything I needed to."

Xavier sighed in relief.

"Good thing that you could use this fight for our own benefit, but you should be careful the next time, ok?"

Ares nodded his head as he rolled his eyes.

"You know what? I noticed that you always roll your eyes when you are not willing to follow someone else's advice..." Xavier narrowed his eyes at him.

"Well, anyway, let's get out of this cafeteria. It was a good fight. We should do it again after we both become novices," Ares began to walk towards the door but got stopped by her.

"I showed you one of my Mystical Arts. In exchange, it would be fair if I knew about these runes. I won the duel as well, so..." Amelia shamelessly asked him, though she wasn't claiming anything absurd.

Ares furrowed his brows and looked at the ground. He never thought that a bluff would be so effective. He nearly forgot that he lied about the runes to her.

"Well, the truth is that this axe is inherited. It isn't mine and I don't know how to use it properly, if you get what I mean," Ares admitted.

The girl's jaw dropped once she heard that. Her face began to get red and she moved her hands to her rapiers.

"BUT... I didn't say anything absurd by stating that these runes have the power to destroy this entire building. In truth, I am not sure about their full power, but I saw them in action before and it was just... perfect," Ares had a melancholic gleam on his eyes while saying so. He bit his lips while looking at the battle-axe as if it was the most precious treasure to him.

Soon, this wrath transformed into hatred and he firmly wrapped his fingers around the handle of the axe.

"Well, when I discover how I use them, I will tell you before anyone else," he promised to her sincerely, walking off again. The door of the cafeteria wasn't closed anymore.

"Hey, what about me!? I am your partner as well, dumbass, and I came before then her!" Xavier protested, following him with hasty steps.

Amelia stayed in the same spot for some seconds before she returned to reality again. For a moment, she got mesmerized by Ares, not in a good way though.

'How can someone have that kind of expression on his face? Say that it was just anger, wrath, or irritation seems very light to define... Even hatred seems unsuitable. However, one thing is for sure: this boy has a feeling within his heart that burns stronger than any flames, and yet is colder than any tundra. That's the true definition of hate in its most chaotic form.'

She narrowed her eyes as her friends looked concerned at her.

'I am curious now... What happened in the past of this boy to make him develop such strong emotions?'

Suddenly, Amelia felt that she was somehow chained to Ares now. She didn't feel like giving up before she could discover more about that interesting boy.

...

The day of the exam finally came.

Ares woke up together with everyone else on that day. Usually, he would wake up one or two hours before them to start his workout routine. However, on that morning he needed more energy and focus than normal.

The trainees changed their clothes without uttering a single word. The lowest noise seemed like a rumble of thunder. Everyone was feeling uneasy and didn't want to draw others' attention at all.

Ares wore for the first time the clothes that they gave to him to use as a trainee. He didn't take part in the training before, and the last week served just as a cooling week for the trainees, so they wouldn't get exhausted or injured.

Of course, Ares needed to train in order to condition himself after a lot of time not doing anything intense due to his messed up body.

After they changed themselves, they waited for a superior to call them to finally go to the place where the exams would happen.

It didn't take too long for someone to arrive at the door of the boy's dormitory and enter inside it without knocking.

He looked across the room, making sure that nobody neglected their duty of organizing their beds and changing themselves.

Satisfied with the results, he just nodded his head, never changing his expression.

"Come with me. You won't have breakfast until the end of the exams, so we will go directly to the training grounds. Did I make myself clear?"

""Yes, sir!""