Dagon and Nero had not had their conversation silently, and Bael heard all of it. By now his face had turned red with anger, but to Nero that seemed normal. After all, in the short time they had met, his face kept changing colours.
Maybe his ability had to do with that, which is why he was too embarrassed to use it.
Dismissing his random thoughts, Nero walked onto the arena, waiting for Bael. The last time they fought, Nero had only thought of him as the big burly guy, and that was for a reason.
Bael had inherited his father's large physique, and was one of the few people who was not only taller than Nero, but also more muscular. Considering the fact that he was supposedly only a year older than Nero, that was admirable.
Nero wanted to accredit his progress to genetics, but he knew that no one could have such results without sufficient work.
"Are you ready to pick up where we left off?" Nero asked. If this were a life and death battle, he would not bother with talking, unless he wanted to distract his target or agitate them. But since the meaning of this fight, for Nero personally, was to drive in the meaning of crossing him, Nero had to make sure the other side knew exactly why he had been beaten up.
No matter how amicable Dagon himself had appeared, Nero was under no illusion that they would get along in the future. The chances of reconciliation between Bael and him, at least, were thoroughly severed.
"Do not think you will get so lucky again," Bael said as he walked in front of Nero and got into place. None of them had weapons, but Nero did coat his fists in blue flames. He didn't need them, and would have preferred not to use them honestly, but since Dagon wanted him to force Bael to use his ability, Nero had to.
After all, if Nero beat him too badly without using his own ability, he knew it was likely that Bael's pride would prevent him from using his ability.
"I'm not the one who got lucky. You put your hands on someone under my protection. You're the one who's lucky that there was someone to stop me last time. It won't happen again."
Something interesting happened at that point. Instead of getting angry, Bael calmed down, and focused solely on Nero. He observed the flames around his fist, and his posture, making some minor changes to his own stance accordingly.
"Begin," said Dagon plainly, resulting in a burst of movement. Bael and Nero both rushed towards each other, though Nero was faster. Even though he had beaten Bael earlier, he did not take the other lightly at all. How could the son of a national hero be weak? So he held nothing back.
His manipulation of his internal aether had become much better in the past few weeks, not to mention that as he managed to absorb more of his innate card, he grew stronger. Nero finally knew what strong innate talent meant, because even before reaching 10% card absorption, his aether reserves could already compete with other Neophytes who had been cultivating longer than him.
That larger reserve also meant that Nero now had more internal aether to manipulate, and so the strength he could display was greater.
Bael's larger body proved to be a weakness against Nero, as he made for a bigger target. With speed that should far surpass an ordinary Neophyte, Nero dodged Bael's attacks and punched his ribs. He could have attacked weaker targets, but Nero wanted to take his time, slowly tearing him down.
After a brief exchange, Bael tried to body slam Nero since he couldn't land any attacks and kept getting hit. But he once again underestimated Nero's strength.
Nero grabbed the leaping giant and flung him across the arena.
"By the way, in case you were wondering, I don't have increased strength as an ability," Nero said, as he walked up to Bael, not giving him any time to recover. Even though the fight had just begun, Nero's great strength was already wearing him down.
The flames, on the other hand, were actually helping keep Bael focused, as they would numb whatever part of his body Nero would hit, keeping him from feeling pain.
The fight, much to Bael's chagrin, did not go as he had hoped. He changed tactics. Instead of trying to fight with skill, he accepted hits in exchange for a chance to hit Nero back, and it actually worked to some extent. Even if Nero blocked attacks, it would not keep him from remaining completely uninjured.
The only way to do that was to dodge, but that wasn't always possible in close range, especially since between them Bael had the longer reach.
But while Nero accepted a few hits here and there, Bael's body was thoroughly bruised and battered. Nero had not broken any bones on purpose. He wanted to keep the big guy fighting longer.
"Silas told me you didn't want him on your team because you thought he was weak," Nero said, after a particularly painful punch that knocked Bael to his knee, despite his best effort to remain standing.
"How can someone as weak as you look down on others?"
Nero punched him in the jaw, holding nothing back. Bael collapsed on the ground, the world shaking around him as he recovered from vertigo.
Nero did not proceed to continue beating him up, and instead looked towards Dagon. No matter what the man said, Nero doubted that anyone could watch their child get beaten up and not feel anything. It was best not to push it.
But he clearly underestimated Dagon, who pulled out a card and used it.
A gust of wind surrounded Nero, and suddenly he felt incredibly re-energised. The few aches in his hands from blocking Bael's attack faded, and his knuckles which had ripped from the constant punches healed.
Similarly, Bael, who was on the ground, was surrounded by a gust of wind, and all his wounds began to heal visibly. It barely took a few seconds, and he was back in perfect condition. Nero could not even imagine the level of the card that the commander had just casually used.
"Nero, your frequent use of internal pressure is a huge liability," Dagon said. "There's a reason why Kolar does not use this frequently. The day you face an overwhelming enemy who can squeeze your internal aether you are already putting under great pressure, you will pop like a balloon. It's instant death, with no chance to heal."
Nero was stunned. No one had ever identified what he was doing before, let alone given him advice on it.
"Having said that, your tactic of only using it in brief pulses is a good idea. Not everyone can maintain such fine control over it. You should look into finding some cards that help you strengthen your outer aether membrane to avoid suddenly popping if you face an unexpectedly strong foe.
"As for you, Bael. You have disappointed me. The difference between you and me is not our innate abilities, but your lack of resolution to use every tool available, even if it is in the form of an enemy. I cannot believe you purposely tried to discard a recruit that the army itself deemed useful enough to draft. You are not strong, you are just a spoiled brat.
"Now resume the fight. Only when I say so will this end."
Nero couldn't believe the commander was giving him fighting advice! Suddenly, he was lit ablaze with excitement. He would show the commander everything he could and make use of this opportunity to get as much advice as possible.
While Bael might be unwilling to use every opportunity for his benefit, Nero definitely did not lack that same drive.
The flames around his fists grew into much larger balls of fire. Nero was no longer interested in punishing Bael. Instead, he was interested in using him as much as he could. The fight this time did not last as long, because in only a couple of minutes Bael was brought to the point of suffering extreme frostbite. For whatever reason, he hadn't even used his aether to protect himself.
Maybe it had to do with his ability.
Dagon healed them both once more, and gave them advice. But instead of feeling pleased, as Nero was, Bael began to ground his teeth, mainly because of the only thing his father told him.
"You still remain reluctant to follow in my legacy, but Nero is already taking advantage of the advice I gave you. He is using this opportunity to improve, yet you who have my advice regularly ignore it. Disgrace."
The hate in his eyes only grew stronger, and Nero could tell that this would probably cause him issues in the future. But that was for the future. For now, the fight continued.
This time, Bael fought even more desperately, hoping to exchange blows. But the more desperately he fought, the more easily Nero was able to defeat him.
"You have lost your composure, Bael. Did my words hurt your feelings? But your enemies will do much worse than that. Do you realise that every defeat you've faced means death? In the battlefield, you would be dead, and the Thomas bloodline would come to an end."
That last sentence, for whatever reason, finally got through to Bael. The look of anger in his eyes finally changed to something Nero couldn't recognise.
But whatever it was, Nero felt like the big dumb brute was finally ready to use his ability. Nero raised his fists and waited for him to make the first move this time. Yet when Bael finally attacked, Nero sensed no aether fluctuations. Had he still not used it? Was he really so stubborn?
That hardly mattered to Nero though. The more he resisted, the more advice he could get from the commander. But it was only after a few exchanges that Nero realised that the tempo of the fight this time was different.
His punches were landing, but Bael was not slowing down. The flame was draining his temperature, but the effects of frostbite weren't showing. Eventually, the skin on Nero's knuckles began to tear after constantly punching Bael, but the brute looked perfectly fine.
Nero hesitated, as he began to wonder what his ability could be, but Bael clearly thought Nero felt afraid.
"Are you ready? It's your time to take a beating now," he said, his voice seething with excitement.
But Nero only snorted. He dodged the brutes' next few attacks until he felt he was in the perfect position, then threw his first kick of the fight, landing right on Baels chin. One hit was all it took to knock him unconscious.
"Are you sure no one else could beat him up?" Nero asked, as he looked at the body on the floor. "He didn't feel that strong to me."
This time, it was the commander's turn to snort.
"Stop trying to show off, kid. You're dismissed. Tomorrow morning, report to my office at 6 am."