Nero stood on the ground floor, while the legendary prodigy stood up on the mezzanine. The scene seemed perfect for their first encounter, almost akin to the setting from a story book. ’The much lauded prodigy looked down at the underestimated main character, his position a clear status of their corresponding positions in life’. Or, well, something along those lines. However, reality was not as dramatic.
Nero recognised him because he’d asked around about him, and got a sense for what he looked like. But it was clear at a glance that Vilhelm only looked at Nero because of the huge crowd he had attracted. In truth, his body was facing an entirely different arena.
Nero glanced over and saw that Vilhelm had been watching a fight between an especially fierce and aggressive woman, and a quick and evasive man. While ordinarily Nero would not have been able to recognise either, he could guess the woman’s identity based on rumors surrounding the so-called prodigy.
Initially, hearing about Vilhelm, Nero felt a sense of challenge. Who wouldn’t want to overcome a renowned prodigy? Unfortunately, the news he heard later made all his interest dissipate.
Vilhelm’s achievements were not few, nor were they something to be scoffed at. Yet it was extremely well known across the academy that the prodigy was actually quite lazy, and lacked any and all drive. He spent his free time reading novels, never showed a hint of any kind of ambition, and only completed his academy tasks according to what he had been instructed to do.
Yes, his skill could not be questioned, and his results were real. But with an attitude like that, Nero determined that he would only get so far in life. One day, all his innate advantages would no longer be able to keep him ahead of his peers. Instead, he would eventually begin to stagnate.
Of course, this was a very critical assessment of someone he had never met. He was only making a judgment based on what he had heard. The rumors, besides describing the prodigy’s leisurely attitude, made mention of one other significant thing. Vilhelm, apparently, was extremely fond of one of the cadets from his batch.
The story was that they had met during a mission inside Lumina and had saved each other’s lives. Since then, Vilhelm became enamored with her, while she only sought to maintain a friendship with him. What made the story even more exciting, at least for those gossiping, was that the girl was not just some random person, but someone from a highly prestigious lineage!
She was Helena Invictus - great granddaughter of Adelix Invictus, one of the founders of Kolar!
For those who loved gossip, and especially those with a flair for fantasy or romance, the couple was a match made in heaven. For Nero, it was one more reason he no longer took Vilhelm as a real opponent.
It wasn’t that he underestimated Vilhelm, or disregarded his actual skill or combat. He just felt like someone who lacked any and all drive, regardless of how skilled he was, could not get very far in life. Maybe after a few years he would mature and gain that drive or ambition, but for now at least Nero did not see him as much of a threat.
Whatever the case, it was still true that Nero needed to surpass Vilhelm, so a confrontation was inevitable. The two exchanged glances, as if aware that they would end up fighting each other sooner or later. Then, their attention returned to their respective fights.
Vilhelm watched Helena, while Nero focused on Silas.
The poor fellow was doing his best to stop himself from trembling, which was far from easy based on the vicious expression Andrew was showing him. This fight would be his most painful one so far.
"Your focus this time around is not to beat him Silas, but to make him bleed," Nero said, his voice barely a whisper. Yet the way Silas paused, as if focused on something else, allowed Nero to be sure that his words had been heard. Arithmetic Perception hadn’t been sealed, which allowed him to clearly pick up Nero’s words.
"Treat Andrew like a berserker. He’s out to kill you. You have no escape. All you can do is fight. Keep your guard up, trade blows, be as wild as you can be. Remember, this is a battle for life or death. When death comes for you, how will you respond?"
The reason Nero was partially to motivate Silas, but mostly because he knew Silas all too well. His own overthinking was his worst enemy, and would eat at his combat skill. He would keep thinking about how afraid he was, or how much this would hurt. By diverting his thoughts, and replacing his own inner voice with Nero’s, he began Silas’ training to toughen up.
The fight began, and much to everyone’s surprise, Andrew and Silas both pounced at each other. While everyone was expecting that from Andrew, no one had expected such a bold action from Silas. Unfortunately, it was not much help as it was obvious in their very first exchange how superior Andrew’s skills were.
Yet as Silas took a brutal punch to the face, breaking his nose on the first blow, something unexpected happened. He kicked, with all the might in his body, Andrew’s... family jewels. Silas had feinted! Any attempts at attack before that were fake.
He purposefully allowed himself to get hit to hide from the fact that he was aiming for Andrew’s testacles. While that was generally considered fighting dirty, and even disallowed in the Crucible challenge for serious damage to the testicles could be difficult to heal, Silas did not care. In his mind, this was no longer a challenge, but a fight for his life.
Unfortunately, despite his best efforts, he was not as refined a fighter as Andrew. His timing was off, which alongside the slight pause due to getting punched in the face, allowed Andrew to move in the last moment.
Instead of its intended target, Silas’ kick landed on the thigh! It was still a serious hit though, and by far the most serious hit he’d landed on Andrew so far.
The crowd was surprised. Heck, even the observing referee and nurse were surprised, yet the fight had only just begun. The punch to the face made Silas somewhat dizzy, but he didn’t pay any mind to that. He lunged forward at the surprised Andrew like a feral cat, striking and clawing at his face.
Yet Andre dodged easily and pulled back, putting some distance between them. Though he was angry, he was still a decent fighter. He circled Silas and struck again, yet the flow of the fight was not what he wanted to see.
Silas did not even try to dodge. In fact, he rushed into the attacks, aiming to trade blows with every hit! What should have been a simple beat down became a brutal and bloody exchange. Of course, most of the blood was Silas’, but Andrew could not help but suffer a bloody scratch right on his face as well.
In the end, Silas lost as expected. In fact, his condition was far worse than ever before since Andrew usually held back. However, in the end, despite winning, Andrew felt no vindication.
Today, Silas had fought with a vengeance he had lacked before, and a disregard for life that was too abnormal.
He could not help but look up towards Nero, who wore a completely neutral expression.
"That’s one training session. Feel free to find me whenever you want some tips," Nero said. "Don’t worry, Silas won’t challenge you everyday - that would be pointless. But he’ll challenge you again soon."
It would be impossible to train Silas today, but starting tomorrow he could begin. He wasn’t sure if the academy also gave special combat training for one on one fights. As far as he knew, they were only trained in group combat. So it was likely that he would have to take on the burden of helping Silas overcome this first obstacle.
He didn’t mind.
Nero spent the rest of his free time observing more fights between the new cadets who had taken to challenging each other, getting to know their strengths and styles.
The fights were all decent, and Nero could not help but wonder how they would have gone if innate abilities were allowed. Unfortunately, that wasn’t an option.
That night, to avoid any issues, Nero returned to his barracks before lights out and quickly went to sleep. He had a feeling that the drills next morning would not be any easier.
To Nero’s great dismay, he was absolutely correct. The next morning, since his laps from the previous day didn’t count, Sergeant Renald told him to run. He didn’t give any number of laps, and just told him to run.
Nero obeyed. Unfortunately, when the hour was up, and breakfast began, Renald did not tell Nero to stop, nor did he tell him that he could leave. Instead, he just watched, making sure that Nero kept running.
Nero suddenly felt like... it was going to be a very long day.