While Bael did not have a clear view, or even understanding, of what happened, the others watching did. In all honesty, practically all of them had a negative impression of Nero at the moment despite his attempts to act like he was joking earlier. The only exception was Clarissa who thought quite highly of Nero, though that was entirely for her own reasons.
To top it all off, none of them had missed how dismissive Nero had been of fighting Bael in the beginning. Although they had only arrived in Fordham just a couple of days prior to Nero, they had developed somewhat of an understanding between themselves, as well as compared notes.
Bael was not weak. In fact, in terms of physical performance alone, he already surpassed what a Neophyte should be able to do. Only those Neophytes who had abilities which augmented their physical performance could perhaps match or keep up with him.
To top it all off, his self recovery was actually insanely powerful. Although Bael could not claim to be the best of them all, he was definitely the hardest to beat. All of them were expecting an absolute beat down - which is exactly what they saw. Except, the person getting beaten was not who they expected!
Bael dashed forward, a blur they could barely follow with their eyes, and in the split second that it took for him to reach Nero, he hadn't even managed to react. The fight was over before it even began. Or so they thought.
In the most relaxed, casual way possible, Nero moved his spear and tripped up Bael. Since he had been rushing forward, and the weight of the shield and sword were in front of him, he almost fell faceforward. But he managed to recover.
Not only did he recover, he did it so fast that the keen eyed would not even notice that he had lost balance. Calling the recovery split-second would be inadequate, for it was much faster. Yet in the same amount of time, Nero moved and landed a full roundhouse kick straight into Baels' face, launching his body to the side.
The form and execution was so great, it could be taken as the very ideal one would pursue, yet to do it so quickly and with such perfect timing…
Everyone watching, from the Neophytes to the observer there to ensure there were no injuries, suddenly got goosebumps. Clarissa's hand started to become even more itchy. She wanted nothing more for Bael to give up so she could try her hand at fighting Nero.
Unfortunately, as someone who fought Bael the most, she knew the fight was far from over.
When Bael recovered, he couldn't make sense of what happened, but he didn't need to. The first thing he saw when he opened his eyes was Nero towering over him, his expression calm but serious, holding his spear beside him - a living testament to the art of war and combat.
In the corner of the room, a camera recorded everything, and unbeknownst to them, a figure watched everything on the screen in a dark room.
Instead of feeling defeated or demotivated, Bael instead felt a sense of relief. After he had figured out how much he could grow if he just trained his body with his innate ability, a part of him feared that Nero would prove an unworthy opponent. That just having superior physical prowess alone would grant him martial superiority. That the goal he was striving towards, struggling to pursue and surpass would be unworthy.
But this brief exchange reminded him of one simple fact. As it was, he was the one unworthy to judge Nero. He had to first win for that.
There were no words exchanged, no time wasted. Bael picked himself up off the floor and attacked again, unleashing his full force, but this time with a lot more skill and direction. The opponent he faced was not so weak that pure force would work against him - or else the berserkers would have won.
This time, Bael was not instantly knocked out. Instead, as he attacked relentlessly, he faced Nero's masterful spearmanship. Every attack was easily redirected, and every opening was taken advantage of. Bael made full use of everything in his arsenal, from his expert swordsmanship, his perfect defence with the shield, and his immense recovery, since Nero did not shy away from smashing his body with the spear.
It was an intense battle taking place faster than most Neophytes could even respond, where victory or defeat could be decided in a single second. Or so Bael thought.
It was only those who were watching from afar who realised what was genuinely happening. The fight was, very much, taking place much faster than most of them would be able to respond if they solely relied on their physical bodies. Of course, the fact that innate abilities were allowed in the fight meant that they likely wouldn't get into a fight like this to begin with - or at least try to avoid it. The fact that Nero could respond, even though they had all confirmed that his innate ability was not physical augmentation but apparently some kind of flame, was absurd in itself. The most ridiculous thing was that during the entire fight, Nero didn't move his legs!
Spearmanship was just as much about the legs as it was about the hands, as not only do the legs determine the distribution of power, but they dictate the spearman's balance. Each and every manoeuvre with a spear required a different stance, yet Nero could not even be bothered to take it.
The more that they watched, the more they started to get an ominous feeling. What kind of monster was Nero?
Suddenly, in the middle of the fight, Nero looked over towards them for a single moment before looking back at Bael. Upon seeing their solemn expressions he could not help but smirk. They were all reminded of the moment where he declared himself better than them.
While they all had their reservations, at least in one aspect they could admit that he was an absolute beast.
The glance had only been for a second, and while everyone else thought it was just Nero gloating, Clarissa saw the challenge in his eyes, and she was no longer able to hold herself back.
She drew the daggers at her hips and dashed forward, startling the other Neophytes as well as the observer. She moved too quickly for anyone to stop her, or for anyone to give Nero a warning as she slashed towards his neck.
She moved silently, like an experienced hunter, and her footsteps made no sound, but that did not mean there was no sound at all. Nero heard the wind blowing against the dagger as it neared him, and on sure instinct moved out of the way. It also finally took his first step back.
The sight of the dagger slashing through where his neck had been didn't anger him. Instead, Nero grinned, and did something that gave Bael pause. He grabbed the spear with both hands, swinging it with great momentum to cause both of them to retreat.
Bael, who had up until now thought they were both having an intense fight, was stunned. Had he… had he only been using a single hand to control his spear so far?
"Hold!"
"What are you doing?"
"Clarissa stop!"
Voices rang out just a moment too late. They had no idea what had prompted her to interfere, and while none of them were particularly fond of Nero, none of them had any thoughts of bullying him either. Especially after watching his display. But Nero himself had other intentions.
"I had a feeling you were strong," Nero remarked with a smirk. "Come on. I want to see if together you can force me to use my ability."
Nero's casual remark caused Bael to clench his teeth. Unlike Bael, who had his passive ability set to work at full capacity, and Clarissa who was using her ability to scan Nero, Nero himself had not used his ability at all.
There was a moment's pause as everyone else felt confused about what to do. Then the fight resumed anew, Bael and Clarissa attacking Nero from two opposite sides, and Nero was finally forced to move, and use his spear to the best of his abilities.
Admittedly, Bael was quite strong and fast as well. While he looked like he was relaxed, Nero could not divert his attention from him for even a moment lest he lose track of him. Clarissa on the other hand was not abnormally strong
or
fast, yet each time she attacked she targeted a weakness in his stance Nero didn't even know existed.
Each time she attacked he was forced to retreat or move aside. At the same time, making sure Bael couldn't smash him with his shield or stab into his body with his sword kept him on his toes.
Nero finally felt pressure, and quite a great deal of it. Even though, objectively, both of them were weaker than berserkers and dark berserkers, the amount of pressure Nero felt was much greater for their teamwork was absolutely perfect.
Or rather, Clarissa worked perfectly around Bael, using each and every movement to find an opening and launch an attack that would put Nero out of commission if it connected.
Yet Bael's attacks never landed and Clarissa, despite having the perfect attack and timing, kept failing. Nero used his superior speed and reaction time to react even though she was able to find his flaw
every single time
.
Everyone watched in solemn silence as two of the strongest, most accomplished Neophytes in the country worked together to attack the self proclaimed strongest Neophyte alive, and failed to land a single hit. Worse still, instead of looking worried or stressed, Nero had the widest grin on his face as if he was thoroughly enjoying himself.
To make matters worse, so far, he was only defending. He hadn't tried to attack even once even though it was clear that he could. Considering that he was both stronger
and
faster than them, how could they keep him pinned if he didn't want it that way?
Then, in the midst of the fight, something changed. Somehow, amidst the chaos of battle, Nero found a rhythm. He controlled his openings, dictating how Bael would attack, and was able to predict how Clarissa would attack, taking complete control of the fight, and then…
Then he looked back towards the other Neophytes, a clear challenge in his eyes.