Chapter 23

Arya just about wanted to throw up all the grapes she just ate.

How could he just call her out like that?!! She didn't want attention and now she felt a hundred or so eyes on her.

She sighed. He challenged her in public like that and Arya didn't want to turn down a fight since she loved the thrill of sparring and fighting(Catalina and Elijah instilled their battle junkie trait in her). Besides, she was bored to death and was itching for some action. This boy just saved her the trouble of awkwardly asking someone for a duel.

She marched over to the stone platform and walked to the right side. She slowly climbed up onto the platform, one foot at a time, feeling like a prisoner walking towards her execution. She should know because she experienced that before.

She finally made it to the top of the training court. The barrier went up again.

The boy had long bright red hair that fell down in long locks to his waist with bright blue eyes that were the color of a clear sunny sky. He looked handsome and quite good looking but his eyes were sharp and cold as he looked at Arya.

Arya was about to unsheathe her twin swords when that boy just walked over and climbed up the stairs. Seems like he doesn't use a weapon in battle. Does he specialize in close range combat that involves punching and kicking or rely solely on his ability?

Elijah had always told her that magical ability users tend to have lower physical strength and endurance as their bodies were weaker than those with physical abilities. Made sense when you thought about how magic users relied too much on their abilities and absolutely sucked at close-range combat. Long range fighting was the go-to choice for magical ability users and Arya bet that this guy was going to be a long-range fighter.

Arya unbuckled her swords and set them aside on the ground gently. No need to use a weapon against someone who wouldn't be using one at all. And her close combat skills were at a good enough level where she could stand her ground against Catalina, an expert in close combat.

A mutter of approval rang out through the crowd as they saw Arya lowered herself to her opponent's level. That was good sportsmanship right there.

The boy stretched and gave Arya a cocky look.

"I'm going to win this fight. You don't stand a chance against me as I'm so much stronger than nobody like you!!"

Arya blinked once and smiled.

"Yeah, I think I'm going to whoop your ass so hard you'll cry like a baby, pretty boy."

Arya reacted first.

Arya rushed towards the boy and closed up the gap between the two of them in seconds. The boy was caught off guard and he threw a ball of fire at her face but Arya managed to duck in time to avoid the fireball. She then countered with a powerful jab on the boy's face which sent him reeling backwards.

So he was a fire user just like Elijah. But compared to her swordsmanship teacher, he was weak and unskilled. Elijah was more powerful and was more of a workout for Arya than his guy was. Arya couldn't count the number of times that he went hardcore on her and pushed her to her limits during her training sessions with him. But all that training paid off as Arya was forged into a sharp and deadly sword

Arya didn't relent and she continued to rain down blow after blow on him.

Uppercut, jab, punch, punch, punch, punch, hook, cross, straight punch. She delivered a powerful side kick that knocked the wind out of him. She was just about to deliver one final punch when the tables turned on her.

The boy grimaced and staggered under her attacks-but it looked like he wouldn't give up that easily- and his body slowly started heating up until he was literally on fire. Flames brusted from his entire body and Arya had to back away before she got burned by the flames flickering off his body. A flame grazed her fist and the skin of her knuckle was nearly blistered and burned by it.

Clever, Arya thought, now she can't land a punch or kick on him without inflicting damage on herself. So close combat was out of the question for now.

She nearly got burned alive when a huge pillar of fire erupted from behind her if her fast reflexes had not saved her in time and she was able to dodge the stream of fire only to barely avoid another one that appeared in front of her. 

More and more pillars of fire started to erupt all around her. Pillars of burning hot, bright red flames that threatened to melt off Arya's skin as she dodged all of them, her fast reflexes and nimbleness making it easy for her to do so. Every time she avoided one, another would take its place. She danced her way around on the platform, dodging every single pillar of fire that appeared from nowhere, heating up the air to a boiling temperature, while she tried to make a move on this guy.

Fire pillars popped out from nowhere seemingly at random from the ground and Arya was busy trying to not get roasted in a fine crisp by them to launch an attack. But she was going to kick his ass once she was able to. 

So, he used a rather interesting fire technique. Elijah was more of a "fast and efficient" type of fighter with all his fire attacks designed to quickly take out an opponent in battle. His fire attacks weren't just powerful and deadly, they were also a clever way of using his powers wisely and to do as much damage as possible with each attack that used up his mana reserves.

One of his most punishing attacks was called "Heat Wave" or when he would suddenly unleash a large stream of fire from his hands and then propel it towards a single or multiple target like an arrow for maximum damage potential. It was simple but dangerous as the range of the attack was wide and Arya really had to be fast on her feet to dodge the attack.

Another was "Fire Nova" or when Elijah would generate a large amount of fire from his hands before condensing it into a ball in his hands. He would then unleash all of the balled up power and the results were an explosion of burning flames that burned anything within a 30 ft radius.

Elijah told her about that himself but she never saw him use it before.

The boy wasn't using his power in the most effective and efficient way as those pillars of fire must use up a lot of mana. Hell, even a training dummy would be far more dangerous than this boy right here.

Dodging and weaving her way through the pillars of fire, an explosion next to her feet suddenly startled her and caught her off guard. It wasn't a big one but it was still enough to storch her skin even through her boots and pants. The explosions just kept getting bigger and bigger and craters and storch marks from the pillars and explosions ranging from the size of birdbaths to the size of a teacup soon littered the platform.

Arya felt her lungs burn and ache as she now had to dodge both the pillars and explosions. 

She couldn't keep running forever. She needed to attack now or else this boy might get a chance to get her if he got lucky with a pillar or explosion.

She stopped moving-a risky gamble because she now became a sitting duck and a non-moving target- and focused on the boy. Channeling all of her energy and yanking the boy up several feet into the air by his neck. She focused on slowly choking him-not enough to kill him, but enough to make him lose focus and start clawing at his neck, gasping for air.

Now.

She dropped him onto the ground-from this height, it wasn't anything harmful or fatal-and the boy started gasping and choking for air on all fours.

Arya wasn't going to give him any time to recover though. That was what Elijah taught her: never give an opponent who's down on his knees a chance to recover. If you do, you could end up losing the battle even if you are the more powerful one.

She kicked the boy in the chest with her feet and he went flying backwards until he skidded to a stop a few feet away from her.

She was just about to launch another attack when the boy raised a hand into the air.

"I..surrender!! It's my loss!! It's your win!!!"

Arya lowered her fist and she helped the boy get up onto his feet; He leaned and swayed a bit and Arya grabbed him firmly to make sure he didn't fall down onto the ground like a sack of potatoes. She now felt a little bad for going so hardcore but that was now she normally sparred with Elijah and Catalina. Both of them were very powerful and strong people who didn't show much leniency or mercy towards her during sparring. She would need to tone it down a bit for the next fight.

"You okay, man? I'm so sorry about that!! I didn't know I was this strong…during training, I tend to go all out against my instructors….They're Mr.Elijah and Miss.. Catalina by the way."

The boy looked into Arya's eyes and Arya felt her heart fluttering just a little. His blue eyes were glittering and shining with amusement.

"No problem!! It's my fault for letting my guard down in the first place. You're a strong opponent and I underestimated you, your highness. I beg you for forgiveness for my disrespect and for looking down on you."

"Good match, man. You did well and I thank you for being my first opponent today. I didn't know anyone and it would have been awkward for me if no one stepped up."

The boy broke out into a big smile as if Arya never gave him a good beating just a few seconds before.

"You did well too, your highness. You deserved to win. You're so strong and I thought you might choke the life out of me with that little stunt of yours. That's a cool power you have. My name is Kanan Rubrum, Second Born Son and the Young Master of the Rubrum Family. Wish you luck in the next fight, Princess!!"

He winked at her.

Arya was left feeling a little hot under the collar as Kanan strutted off the stage and the audience burst into applause for her.

Arya didn't have much time to bask in the applause of the spectators when another challenger appeared.

Another boy with black hair tied back in a half-up ponytail that brought out his dark blue eyes was staring at Arya with a curious expression on his face. He was quite good looking in a sharp and cold way.

He made his way up the stairs and gave Arya what could be a look of respect.

Arya swore that these people looked familiar to her and then it hit her.

These were the very same kids who were there at her "execution"!!! She thought she recognized them from somewhere.

The black haired boy was wielding a sword and looked at Arya's swords that were still on the ground and not in her hands. Arya got the point and she unsheathed both twin swords.

The audience took some time to appreciate the beauty of her twin swords and then the next fight began.

The two charged at each other and their swords clashed and clanged against each other as Arya and the boy managed to stand on equal ground.

Blows were parried or blocked and arabs and slashes were deflected. Arya sped up and increased the intensity of her attacks with stabs and slashes being delivered in an unpredictable way. 

The boy managed to parry and deflect every one of her attacks and deliver a few of his own attacks that Arya also blocked or parried.

She then saw the tell-tale signs of aura being manifested. Dark blue mana was being drawn out of his body and sharpened and hardened around his blade. She spent more than enough time training and sparring with Elijah to know what was coming. 

Arya leaped to the side as a flick of his wrist sent the blade of dark blue aura just a few seconds where she was before. Instead, it went and left a deep gash in the training court and sliced off a little bit of her hair from the ends.

Alright. She can play the same game. Especially after he pulled that little stunt on her. It could have killed her or at the very least seriously injured her if she didn't dodge in time.

She channeled her own mana and turned it into aura.

Bright green aura covered both her swords and she relished the surprised look on his face before she unleashed two aura blades with a flick of her wrists.

He managed to dodge both of them but a small cut appeared on his face. Blood leaked out of it and Arya charged at him and brought her swords down onto his head. He was able to block it with the blade of his swords and Arya pushed down on him with all her strength.

But he was stronger than Arya thought.

He managed to push her off and away from him as she stumbled trying to recover, her swords went flying out of her hands with the pure force behind the push, and he launched an attack on her, swords ready to be brought down on her head.

Arya then had one of the swords redirect itself in mid-air and go flying at him. She only meant to scare him and maybe knock him off balance-not hurt him- but then he turned transparent like a ghost and the point of the sword went through him and bounced off the barrier instead.

Well, it seems as if he could turn himself transparent and have objects go through him.

She rolled over to the side as he brought down his swords to where she was just a second before. His swords slammed into the stone ground but he quickly recovered and brought his swords down on Arya once more but Arya reared up and planted both feet into his belly, kicking him in the stomach hard enough to send him flying backwards until he went flying into the barrier and crashed into it.

Orhe should have been slammed around enough against the barrier to knock him out.

Instead, he quickly twisted and maneuvered himself so that his plant would be planted against the barrier and he pushed himself off the wall and was heading straight towards Arya, sword ready and with a fierce look in his eyes.

Arya saw him coming and she summoned her swords back to her.

She crossed the blades and took his attack head-on. A bit stupid and reckless but Arya didn't have time to dodge. 

She was pushed back a few feet and she felt just how powerful this guy was with all his power and strength put into this blow. 

She managed to plant her feet down into the ground and stop herself from being pushed back any further. 

His dark blue eyes looked intensely into her own green ones.

"Your highness, I will admit that you are a strong fighter. I will tell you my name now: It's Jarek Eidolon. I'm the only son of the Eidolon Household."

He then backed away from her before he slashed his sword down at her shoulder. 

(Arya wasn't doing anything and just letting him as if she had an ace up her sleeve.)

Only to bounce off her shoulder as if it hit solid metal. Bright green aura covered her entire body and formed a sort of armor around her.

Everyone in the crowd gasped and went wide-eyed. Elijah was smiling proudly at his student and Catalina was whooping and cheering. 

"No way. Is that…?"

"High Level Aura manipulation?!!"

"Doesn't this mean that she has swordmaster potential?"

"Oh my goodness!!!"

Arya successfully managed to create her own aura and she had just used it to slice through the wooden dummy, the body falling onto the ground with a loud thud.

The arc of green light flew through the air and sliced through the training dummy and the stone wall of the training ground like it was made of butter. A huge gash appeared on the wall-long but very shallow. 

Arya turned to look at Mr. Elijah.

"What's so special about it? I did poorly, didn't I? It was my first try."

Elijah face-palmed.

"It took me a year to be able to manifest an aura and be able to use it. You mastered it and manfasted it in just two months!!"

"So, I'm a fast learner?"

"Not just a fast learner, you're a prodigy, Adelaide. I'm sure of it now. People called me a prodigy, but if they saw you, that title of mine would have been seriously challenged."

Jarek was taken aback. Then he bowed his head at Arya and readied his sword. Seven dark blue swords made entirely from aura formed and surrounded him, their blades pointed at Arya.

"I see. You are more powerful than I thought and I thought and I will show you the respect you deserve. I'll go full out now!!"

Arya just smiled.

"You're a strong fighter too, Jarek. I respect you too but I just want to kick your ass right now."

…

The sound of swords clashing and clanging against each other filled the air and Jarek and Arya clashed again and again.

Jarek's aura swords danced and twirled around Arya, attacking her left and right from all directions. Arya sidestepped and dodged all of them with such elegance and beauty that everyone was left in tears by her lady-like gracefulness even during a fight. She continued to rain down blow after blow on Jarek while protecting herself from the attacking aura swords at the same time. She was a perfect mix of beauty and deadlines as she blocked and parried those aura swords. 

Her own aura swords attacked him as well. She controlled them and she could control their movements to attack him, slashing and flying towards him from any direction possible, forcing him to not only fend off blows from Arya herself, but from her aura swords as well. He dodged and nimbly avoided them with the grace of an experienced warrior while deflecting and blocking them. It was a dance of two sword users.

All the while, Arya was looking for an opening and Jarek was too.

She readied her swords and covered it with aura. He did the same. The aura swords disappeared and blue and green aura rained from the skies.

When the two clashed swords, a loud explosion and cloud of dust rocked the garden and blocked people's views. 

When the dust cleared, both Arya and Jarek were on their knees, panting and gasping from all the fighting they just did.

Jarek was breathing hard and Arya was sweating and on all fours, swords discarded.

The crowd was silent for a moment then applause broke out. It was so loud that it sounded like thunder even though the sky was bright blue and it was a sunny day.

 Arya could hear Elijah yelling "That's My Girl!!!" at the top of his lungs.

Jarek smiled at her weakly. He was still gasping and out of breath but he managed to form the words.

"You're the first person to really push me to my limits, Your Highness. I was top of my class at the Royal Academy in swordsmanship but you gave me a run for my money. That was a good experience. Thank you for being my opponent."

Arya returned his reply.

"You too. Jarek, I think I might have lost if it weren't for the fact that I must have done some serious damage to you when I sent you flying into a wall. You were really strong and I had to use every trick up my sleeve to fight you. Thank you for the fight, Jarek."

…

Arya took a small break. She didn't want to overwork herself. Myna fussed over her and urged her to drink more water; She handed her a large flask of water, practically shoving. She also got super excited and worked up about Arya's two fights with someone who was NOT CATALINA OR ELIJAH.

"You were so amazing, my princess!!"

Catalina and Elijah both nodded their approval and congratulated her for a fight well done.

"Excellent job. You made sure not to give him any chance to fight back. You remembered my lessons."

"Yes, I did, Catty."

"Your swordsmanship is perfect and wonderful. You were amazing out there and handled yourself pretty well, my princess."

"Only because you two taught me so well."

Catalina and Elijah blushed.

"My princess, you were an amazing fighter and fast learner yourself. You made so much progress and grew so much in just five months."

"Finally, I found you, Ar-Ar. You ran off just like that and made me run around the entire palace trying to find you!!"

Crown Prince Ezekiel was standing there behind Arya, all sweaty and hot.

Everyone noticed his presence and all bowed to pay respect to him, bowing or curseying. 

Elijah and Catlaina both quickly got up.

"Greeting to the future king, the Crown Prince of this kingdom, what brings you here today, my prince?"

Ezekiel rolled his eyes and waved a hand dismissively.

"You can all sit down now!! Standing up like that and bowing to me all at once is a bit creepy, not gonna lie!!"

He went back to answering Elijah's question.

"I planned on doing a surprise inspection of the Royal Academy and I stumbled across you three. Nice work, Ar-Ar. You made short work of those two boys."

Arya raised an eyebrow.

"How long were you watching me?"

Ezekiel gave her a lazy and cocky smile.

"Since your first fight, little Ar-Ar. You were badass. As expected of my favorite little sister."

"Since when was I your favorite little sister? And I'm your cousin by the way, not little sister!!"

Ezekiel squeezed in between her and Elijah on the bench.

He patted her on the head. Arya let him. It felt kinda nice and she really liked how friendly and nice he was to her. 

"Since I first saw you at my father's birthday party-the first time I ever saw you. That boy you were dancing with….don't tell me you have a crush on him."

Arya turned bright red.

"He was just some random boy I decided to dance with!! He was handsome but that doesn't mean that I like him!!"

"I'm not ready to see you get married yet."

"SHUT UP!!"