Asher Arnhaunt Versus Ezra Klein

So far, Asher had only faced opponents that were below him, even from the public's view. Whether it was Mischael or the student from the Second Dawn Academy or the other competitors, they were all below the rank of a duke's direct descendant. As such, it was inevitable that they would be weaker as they were not able to gain access to the resources, teachings, and techniques of such a family.

Even the Castellan family, which was aware of the nature of Asher's constitution as a null, weren't so surprised by his progress. Considering that the Arnhaunt family had released three different potions that can help mages below the fourth-stage of the Guardian realm to create a solid foundation and progress much faster than others, it would be no surprise that Asher was stronger than those below his family rank, being the only son of duke Darius. The potions could help fill in the gap created by his null constitution, albeit to a limited extent.

However, against direct descendants of dukes, who could easily afford the same potions and were even more naturally talented, it would be odd if Asher came out on top.

"It's a pleasure to be facing someone from the Arnhaunt family." Ezra smiled.

Asher, however, ignored him.

Ezra might fool others with his nice bearing but Asher could see through all of that. His years of experience dealing with humans, devils, demons, and other intelligent species had made Asher quite talented in reading people. He could easily see that beneath this magnificent exterior was a detestable personality. For that reason, Ashe felt it beneath him to even converse with the young kid.

Ezra frowned seeing as Asher ignored him but he calmed himself down right afterward. Prior to the battle, his father had informed him that Asher had a null constitution. Apart from that, Ezra was given a precious treasure at the level of grade three but closer to the peak. This meant that the weapon he was given was more powerful than Vergil's sword and on par with a third-stage mage, albeit one at the early stage.

With such a weapon in his possession, it would be easy for Ezra to pass through this stage of the tournament and progress to the next. Also, it would aid him in bridging the gap between himself and the children of the top dukes, or the Seven Pillars.

Against Asher, Ezra was confident that he could aim for a victory as long as he had the sword in hand.

'I've also used the same potions he has, and although I can't confirm the amount, I can say for sure that he isn't my match.' Ezra thought.

The mage in charge of refereeing the rounds announced the start of the match and while the other students on the various stages began their bouts, Asher and Ezra remained still, staring at each other.

Regarding Ezra, he wanted to feel Asher a little bit more before he considered using his artefact.

Unlike Vergil, Ezra kept his artefact hidden and not revealed it throughout the battle, even when he faced Mischael. In other words, it was his trump card. Using it now would eliminate its shocking effect in future battles as his opponents would now be on the lookout for it or even develop tactics to face it. However, there was the chance that without it, Ezra would be unable to beat Asher. So, he has to test Asher's capabilities first.

As for the latter, due to his experience which could be termed as a cheat, Asher usually gave the first move to his opponents alongside a few more handicaps. This was to 'even out' things although, in truth, this changed nothing.

Another reason Asher did so was that he wanted to see what the students had to offer, gauge their skill practically and spot the weaknesses and strengths in their combat methods. This in turn would enable him to have an idea of the techniques and training differences between each type of family.

To others, this might be a tournament, to the various nobles, officials, and merchants, this was an opportunity to gauge the strength of the future generation and possibly recruit some of them. But to Asher, this was a chance to get his hands on a ton of data on not just the students but their backgrounds as well. And he could achieve this by merely gazing upon their fighting style and techniques.

'The academy might be teaching some moves, but the majority of students from aristocratic families tend to use those they're most familiar with, which of course comes from their families.' Asher thought as he waited for Ezra to make the first move.

The public, on the other hand, spectated the match with anticipation for the first move and assumed that both parties were measuring each other. They believed that the two sides were cautious of the other, and wanted to get a good understanding of their foe before making the first move.

This belief held true for Ezra, but sadly, not for Asher.

"Since you don't plan to make the first move, I'll do it myself."

Asher abruptly moved and appeared close to Ezra, his arm outstretched towards his target.

'One of his advantages is speed, but against me, that's nothing.'

Ezra suddenly disappeared from his spot, leaving behind a silhouette that was pierced through by Asher's palm.

"Hmm?" Asher raised an eyebrow, surprised at the development.

'If I recall, this should be the Wind element, but a derivative. Azure Wind.' Asher turned to a different direction on the stage where Ezra had just appeared.

Azure Wind was a derivative of the Wind element that focused on a certain aspect of this element; speed. It was one of the most powerful forms of the Wind element to the point that when paired with an appropriate constitution, one could rival a Lightning element user in terms of speed, or even surpass them.

A perfect example of this was Lyn Castellan, the elder twin sister of Aurora Castellan. She had a Wind element derivative that was similar to Azure Wind but presumably more powerful. Also, her constitution was the Azure Willow Sage body; a constitution that favoured Wind mages greatly especially if one has the Azure Wind derivative.

The combination of her superior derivative Wind element and the Azure Willow Sage made it such that even though Lyn lacked the destructive capabilities of the Lightning element, she could still rival her younger sister and even had a shot at winning. At the same time, Lyn became clearly recognized as the second strongest in the academy's third-year division.

Facing someone with the Azure Wind element, if one lacked a complimentary level of speed or reflexes, defeat would be a much real possibility.