Ingressus Siderium
5...
4...
3...
Just as the timer was about to reach zero, a subtle smile played on Aymon's lips. "A Castiel... this will be an entertaining spar."
2...
"Kriegsschaten... where have I heard this name before?" contemplated Byron as the countdown reached 0.
1...
The atmosphere in the sparring room intensified as the last second was about to pass. Both Aymon and Byron were prepared for the duel that would soon unfold. Aymon's stance was rather peculiar; his posture was perfectly balanced with a slight forward lean, his feet shoulder-width apart, and his arm slightly raised to allow for efficient offensive and defensive movements. Byron's, on the other hand, wasn't as greatly balanced as Aymon's, but his main focus was his stability and the trust in his solid body. His hands were close to the chin, and his weight was pretty evenly distributed.
0...
The moment the countdown reached 0, Aymon vanished out of Byron's sight for a slight moment. He underestimated Aymon, or more correctly said, he couldn't estimate his level. Throughout their walk, Aymon gathered enough data to defeat an opponent that was, in the worst-case scenario, 1.5x stronger than him. Aymon used the extremely short interval in which Byron's eyes were covered by his eyelids as he blinked to get in his blind spot and vanish out of his line of sight.
His strategy was perfect; being in Byron's blind spot, Aymon enhanced his lower back muscles and his hip flexors with astral energy to deliver an extremely fast and precise roundhouse kick to Byron's side.
The kick was a success; Byron lost his balance for a moment. Still, that kick taught him the hard way that Aymon wasn't an easy opponent. He wasn't a pushover either, because he knew that with that kick, Aymon now had the upper hand, so he decided to focus on defense to find a chance to counterattack.
Having pushed Byron back a bit with his perfectly executed kick, Aymon now lunged forward with a front knee kick, one that Byron barely dodged after the previous attack that took him by surprise.
Being a master of his own body, Aymon pulled a superhuman move and, in midair, changed from a knee kick to a sidekick, one for which Byron was prepared now. He deflected Aymon's kick with his outer palm and caught Aymon's leg with his other hand.
Enhancing his major back muscles, Byron pulled Aymon with all of his might, channeling his strength into his right arm to deliver a direct punch to Aymon's solar plexus.
This was an extremely hard move to counter, so Aymon found himself in a pitch because his only choice was to dodge. With his quick decision-making, Aymon used his arms to generate a rotational force strong enough to allow him to escape Byron's grasp and reposition for further attacks.
They were now facing each other once again after some fearsome blows.
"Let's up the game a bit, what do you say, Aymon?" said Byron as he started letting astral energy pass through every astral channel that he had opened, reaching a 64% ARQ Siderius state. Coming from a reputable family with a deep lineage, his Siderius technique was refined through the years and was the 5th best technique on Earth.
Byron's provocation made Aymon smile. "Sure," replied Aymon as he started channeling his astral energy. His ARQ was 72%, but he decided not to go all out, so he entered Siderius with only 53% ARQ, not wanting to play all of his cards at once. Aymon's technique was something that he created. Unlike Byron, he didn't have a special technique passed down through generations, so he had to come up with his own.
Even though Aymon's ARQ is 72%, the quantity of astral energy that he had was inferior to Byron's. Having grown up in a renowned family, Byron consumed various elixirs that helped him accumulate more astral energy.
---
The Siderius is the ability of awakeners to unleash all of their astral energy to step foot in the demigod realm. ARQ stands for Astral Resonance Quotient. This is a measure of an awakener's compatibility or synchronization with their astral energy. It represents the percentage of their ability to resonate harmoniously with the astral realm, reaching 90%, which would allow them to step into the demi-god realm. The overall ability of an awakener multiplies by two with each 10% increase in their ARQ until they reach the threshold of 90%, beyond which they can access the demi-god realm. In the 100 years that have passed since the Shattering, only two humans have managed to attain 90% ARQ.
---
The atmosphere inside the sparring room took an unexpected turn; now the pressure that emanated from the two students would make the humans from 100 years ago faint. This wasn't the case with all of the students of the academy who would spar. Aymon and Byron are two exceptional students, who are probably amongst the top 5 in this year's batch, and their fight would put some third years to shame.
These were also Ghost's thoughts as he spectated their fight from his office through one of the cameras in the sparring room.
"Heinrich, your son is one hell of a monster. To think that the kid who asked me such a funny question at the briefing would be your son," thought Leif as he enjoyed the fight between his two future students. "This display of prowess is more than enough for them to become official first-year students. Who am I kidding, they may even beat some third years," he mused, a sly smile playing on his lips.