Fight Club (1)

"Theo, are you awake?" Ivan inquired, shaking Theo's body, trying to see if his friend was alright.

Last night, when Theo decided to enter the spiritual plane again, he got carried away.

For the past twelve hours, instead of sleeping, he remained reflecting in the spiritual world, resulting in twelve hours of sitting.

When Ivan shook Theo, the latter awoke helpless and confused.

"Did you sleep well?" Ivan asked again. "You were sitting up all night."

"Yeah, I slept. Did something happen?"

"No. You said you wanted to go to the fight club with me, remember? Are you still coming? I'm leaving now."

"I want to!" He woke up instantly. "Can you wait ten minutes?"

"Of course. Take all the time you need."

☽✪☾

Fight club, center of Fulmenbour.

A huge grassy field surrounded by the famous "Royal Castle," where the current master of Fulmenbour lives. Some Vagus agents began to gather around the field, forming circles, and some—those who arrived earlier—had the privilege of sitting in the stands.

Theo and Ivan were barred at the entrance for being "children," but upon showing their IDs, their entry was allowed. Even so, they missed the chance to sit in the stands, so they had to sit on the grass.

Several dozen knights began to gather to chat, others to arrange fights and make exchanges.

"Kids came to watch today?" an agent commented, handing vests and a cloak to the two.

"We're freshmen from Wispells," Ivan retorted.

"Didn't you come yesterday? Why are you talking like it's your first day?" Theo whispered to Ivan.

"Amiah put me at the top of those stands and gave me everything I needed. So, I didn't talk to anyone."

"Got it."

"That's good. Lately, it's just old guys around here. Knowing that kids are interested in our friendly confrontations makes me happy," said the agent. "The vest protects against sword blows, and the cloak protects against spells. Since you probably won't fight, it won't be that useful. But, in case you want to… It's a pleasure to meet you, call me Agent Clifford."

"The pleasure is mine. I'm Theo."

"Ivan," he nodded.

"Do you want to fight?" Clifford asked.

"And can we? I thought only rank four and five agents could…" Ivan was interrupted by Clifford.

"Of course you can! We have no restrictions. The problem is that only rank four and five agents want to fight, because those of lower rank are studying, and those of higher rank are stuck on missions. Even so, anyone can battle, as long as they are an agent, no matter which order they follow."

Theo nudged Ivan with his shoulder, and the latter looked at him with a sigh.

"Actually, it's been a while since we last trained together, hasn't it?" Ivan commented, noticing that Theo would make him fight no matter what.

"We will," Theo said to the agent.

"Perfect! Put on the vest and cloak. After that, you can go to the field. Oh, right. What's your rank and what weapon do you use?"

"Rank one, he's rank two," Ivan informed. "He likes swords, right?" Theo nodded. "I don't use weapons."

Putting on the vest, Theo noticed it was made of an adjustable material that soon felt comfortable on his body. Taking the cloak, he just threw it on haphazardly, forming a cape on his back. Exchanging glances, the two boys walked to the field.

"Hey…" One agent nudged another, pointing at the two. "Teenagers here are rare to see…"

"Indeed," the other agreed.

Agent Clifford began walking towards the boys, holding Theo's sword in his hands. A broadsword, common in current armies.

As he handed it to Theo, the agent used a sonic attribute to announce:

"Agents of all orders, today we have an opening show unlike any other day! After twenty years, we finally have novice agents; teenagers embracing our culture and letting the fervor and heat of confrontations take their hearts!"

"Excited, huh?" Ivan murmured.

"Just a little…" Theo commented.

"On one side, we have Ivan, from the general order of Vagus, rank one! And on the other, his order companion, Theo, rank two! Today we will see what the future generation, the one we train today, will be capable of! The fight will begin with the sound of the bell."

A few seconds later, below the stands, Sigmore and two agents arrived at the club and began to gather with the others. Sigmore shrugged his shoulder, walking towards Clifford.

"Hey, do you have the first fight already?" Sigmore inquired.

"Yes. It'll be two freshmen, can you believe it?" Clifford replied, excited.

"Seriously?"

Sigmore turned his face towards the field where the battles take place. His eyes widened along with an incredulous smile as he spotted the wheat-haired boy there.

"I can't believe it… Blondie?" he murmured.

☽✪☾

"Well, we'll have to try harder now," Theo said. "We're not going to give these idiots any reason to laugh at us."

"You're right. A fight for the top spot in the class?" Ivan proposed.

"Huh? What do you mean?"

"Right, you were unconscious that day. We decided to create a ranking in the class, as a way to aim for the top. Currently, you're in first place due to influencing the victory against the arcane crystal. Aryna is second because she has the most potential. I'm third, Rebecca fourth, and Tony last."

"He accepted that position?" Theo laughed.

"Yes. He himself wanted to be last. He accepted that he's very impulsive and irresponsible in combat…"

"Got it… So, what kind of bet is this? I'm first and you're third. I'll be behind Aryna if you win."

"Are you afraid of losing?"

"To you?"

Theo extended a closed fist to Ivan, who returned the gesture with a punch, and both returned to their fighting stances.

"Don't even dream about it."

The castle bell rang, marking eight in the morning. The same time the first fight begins every day. All the agents in the audience began to shout, creating a tumult and generalized war cries.

"Let the combat begin!" Clifford exclaimed.

For a few moments, Ivan was lost in the energy the agents gave off. A cheerful, cozy place where no one hated anyone. Even though he had watched the fights yesterday, being in the center receiving those shouts and applause was completely different.

However, for Theo, that environment was already common, since Egon's soldiers used to do the same as the agents.

While Ivan was distracted, Theo advanced against his companion and delivered a kick to his stomach, resulting in Ivan being thrown backward.

"Slept too much…" Ivan thought after processing Theo's blow.

"While Ivan let it go to his head, Theo attacked without wasting time with a strong kick to the stomach!" Clifford narrated.

Spinning his hands on their axis, a white mist covered Ivan's fingers as a spell was formed. Stretching his arms forward, a huge ice spear shot out of Ivan's palm, aimed at Theo.

Throwing himself to the side, Theo felt an icy draft as the spear was embedded in the grass close to him.

An inert gas flowed across the ground and made Theo's intuition scream at the highest level. The boy's sixth sense was not wrong. Suddenly, another icy blade was launched at Theo, surprising him for an instant.

Coming from below upwards, the blade forced Theo to try to stay upright in the air to avoid hitting his face. However, it did hit. Striking Theo's forehead, the blade flew upwards and disintegrated ten meters in the air into water particles.

Ivan despaired because, from his point of view, the spell he used had precisely hit his classmate's head.

Some agents in the audience felt the same as Ivan, but with Sigmore it was different. He managed to notice what Theo was doing.

Using the cloak as cover, Theo fired a wind projectile fast enough to go unnoticed by the agents. Ivan only dodged at the last moment, as he felt a cold breeze before it touched his hair.

"That… that was a wind shot!?" Clifford exclaimed, surprised, representing most of the agents.

"No…" Sigmore thought. "It was much more complex than that…"

Falling to the ground, Theo got up, dusting off his clothes.

"I hate using spells, but since that's the case…" Theo grumbled. "Hey, Ivan! Stop playing around!" Theo exclaimed, lifting his hair and showing a small cut caused by the blade.

"He's right…" Ivan thought.

"Don't forget this, Ivan: the only honor we have in battles is to come out alive. If someone is stronger than you, why hold back in a confrontation?" a familiar voice echoed in Ivan's mind.

Stretching his arms towards the ground, Ivan began to produce a huge amount of mist: a white gas that extended to Theo.

"The last spell started thanks to this mist. I believe it's a facade to hide his attacks… Sorry, friend. But I can't let this continue…" Theo thought, opening his right hand towards the gas on the ground.

"Blow to the north: Aquilon!" Theo conjured.

A grand and violent gust of wind blew towards the north, causing a momentary imbalance in Ivan and carrying all the white mist with it.

Taking advantage of the inopportune moment for Ivan, Theo attacked with the blunt sword.

"Incredible! A gust of wind swept to the north!"

With a lunge, Theo attacked Ivan's vest—since the vest has an enchantment that negates 80% of physical attacks and the sword is also blunt, Theo was sure he wouldn't hurt his classmate.

The sword sank into Ivan's vest slowly. Both of their perceptions of time slowed down, giving them enough time to think about the next step.

Being in close combat, Ivan knew with 100% certainty that he wouldn't last seconds against Theo. Trying to distance himself and counterattack using his spells wouldn't be effective either, thanks to Theo's agility and speed, mixed with the way the latter found to react to Ivan's spells.

"That's the solution!" Ivan thought, grabbing Theo's sword with his hands.

Again, a small cloud of gas covered the sword, freezing the entire material instantly.

"This gas… It's not ice!" Theo concluded. "It's immensely colder than ice."

Theo pulled the sword back towards himself, releasing it from Ivan's hands.

To distance himself, Theo pushed Ivan backward with his left shoulder. However, at the moment of contact, the gas touched Theo's skin momentarily, changing from a gaseous state to a liquid.

Upon physical contact with Ivan's element, Theo could only describe the sensation as: something so cold that it managed to burn. A sensation of being touched by a liquid of -196 degrees Celsius.

Throwing Ivan backward, Theo showed a bit of vulnerability as he felt an immense burn. Taking advantage of the opening left, Ivan dispersed a shallow mist on the ground, which consecutively turned into a liquid and then changed to a solid state.

Turning into a solid, the element trapped Theo's legs in a spider web-like formation. In that situation, the boy could only think of one conclusion: resort to the element he had abandoned almost ten years ago.

"Release the third core. The main source of energy. React the air with the energy that is in your core, releasing it outwards," said Ethan, Theo's father.

Releasing ether through his hand, Theo managed to react with the oxygen in the atmosphere, releasing sparks. With ether as the energy source, that process resulted in a…

"Combustion! Theo uses the element of life, fire, to melt Ivan's ice!" Clifford announced.

However, something went wrong.

Theo gave up on this element because, when trying to use combustion, the explosion was so huge that he couldn't control it. But this extraordinary explosion didn't happen at that moment. The combustion was isolated by Ivan's element.

"I knew it! It's not ice. Ivan's element is some inert gaseous element, combustion won't be enough. But maybe, if I mix my two attributes… To create a new spell…"

In Theo's chakra veins, an elemental mixture formed. Sharing his energy channels with fire and wind itself, Theo managed, in a moment of pressure, to create a derivation of the "Aquilon" spell.

"Burn everything to the south, Auster!" he conjured in a desperate exclamation.

A storm cloud blew a huge gust of wind to the south, carrying with it an immense wave of heat. The wind melted Ivan's element.

"Drown to the east: Vulturnus!"

Ivan was thrown backward with a speed and force that almost made the boy faint.

"Be gentle to the west: Favonius!"

Being thrown now towards Theo, Ivan felt a calm and comforting sensation, even though he was in a tornado.

To finish the combat and taking advantage of Ivan's momentum of being thrown from side to side, Theo delivered a punch to his classmate's face.

Ivan fell to the ground without being able to react.

"Incredible!" Clifford declared. "Amidst a mythological storm, the victor has revealed himself! After two minutes of fighting, the winner is the second-rank agent of the Vagus order, Theo!"

Theo, panting, wiped his lip with his right wrist, looking at Ivan with an air of strangeness.