Vilhelm’s plan was decent, and his execution flawless, yet there was one mistake he made. He underestimated Nero’s strength, and overestimated his own endurance. Vilhelm’s plan was to put Nero in a chokehold, but the plan only lasted until he was slammed into the ground.
Vilhelm had braced himself for the slam, but when it really happened, it blew the air right out of him. His grips loosened and he lost focus for the half a second it took him to regain focus. Yet that was enough.
Nero freed himself from the lock and grabbed Vilhelm’s leg to put him in a lock instead. Yet Vilhelm, even in his current state, managed to react quick enough, kicking Nero in the chest to push him away and free himself.
The two were pushed apart for the first time since the match started. In their first, real clash, Nero seemed to be the one who had come out on top and observers watched in stunned silence.
To call this a spar would be to call a storm a breeze.
"You’re giving me flashbacks of the berserkers from Lumina," Vilhelm said as he slowly stood up, looking at Nero with a mix of shock and awe. "It’s a good thing I don’t have PTSD or this fight would be over."
Nero chuckled, accepting the compliment, even if that may not be how the words had been said.
"Don’t give up hope. I can still give you PTSD," he responded, and attacked.
Many of the observing crowd held their breaths as they felt like the situation might get worse for Vilhelm from this point onwards. After all, he had already sustained some damage. That could be the tipping point. However, the exact opposite happened.
Now that Vilhelm was taking Nero even more seriously, he never let Nero touch him again. The advantage of being faster than Nero, alongside having tremendous skill, was that he would be able to perfectly dodge all of Nero’s attacks no matter what angle they came from, and no matter how frequently he attacked.
While there was the drawback of not being able to attack Nero either, Vilhelm wasn’t thinking about that yet. Only after he had control over his current step would he move onto the next. But Nero was not so cooperative. After one whole minute of being unable to land a hit on him, Nero suddenly pulled back and began to observe Vilhelm.
He needed a new plan. This was the first time Nero had been unable to land a hit on an enemy. Most of the time, even against faster enemies, Nero could land hits by predicting their moves. Unfortunately, that did not work on Vilhelm as he could react in the shortest time possible.
Instead of feeling frustrated, as many would have in this situation, he felt intrigued. Since he couldn’t gain a physical advantage, it was a mental game now. Nero had been slowly playing a mental game too, right from the start.
The build up, the subtle attempts at controlling his own Aetheric Halo, the instant attack at full strength were all designed to give Vilhelm a certain impression of Nero. It was to lead him to believe that Nero maintained a certain attack pattern and style based on a kind of personality.
Now, though, Nero would have to step up the mind games. He thought of a few options. He could goad him with a handicap, but he didn’t think that would work out well. In that case...
Nero stopped controlling his emotions, letting them affect the aether around him, as he stepped forward and began attacking once more. Yet this time, Nero did not press his speed or strength.
Not only were the attacks at a slower speed, they packed less strength behind each punch as well. Yet where he began to lack in those areas, he made up for it by controlling the arena. Vilhelm could continue to dodge, but Nero would slowly and steadily push him to the edge of the arena, not allowing him to get past himself.
At the same time, the air was filled with a feeling of intense stability. It was as if Nero was completely calm, and acting with ultimate precision and technique - something Vilhelm usually displayed.
Despite the lower speed, Vilhelm did not treat Nero lightly at all, and continued to dodge, though he began to sneak in an attack or two. He could see Nero’s strategy - it was to push him to the edge, and then either defeat him by pushing him out, or forcing him to connect with Nero’s hits. Either way, the pressure was on Vilhelm.
The match entered its fourth minute, and Vilhelm couldn’t help but smile. It was rare for him to continuously be the one getting pressured in a match. It couldn’t be helped. While there were surely seniors who excelled in various fields far beyond Nero, it was unlikely that anyone was as physically strong as him. The pain in Vilhelm’s back, and the soft ringing in his ears were both indicators of just how dangerous it was to allow Nero to make contact.
Yet with him slowing down, focusing instead on controlling Vilhelm’s position, he was forced to begin taking risks. It couldn’t be helped - at this rate the match would be his loss, or a draw which was something neither of them wanted. The pressure, the challenge, the sheer intensity of each moment filled Vilhelm with considerable excitement. Yes, this was exactly what he was searching for!
In Nero, he could see himself finding a worthy rival.
Vilhelm kept dodging, but also began attacking Nero, taking a chance to land a hit whenever possible. He didn’t aim for weak points, or to take him down. He was just trying to make contact, to slowly accumulate damage.
Nero tried to block, or to grab ahold of Vilhelm’s hand or arm, yet Vilhelm always struck at such an angle, and at such a position that Nero was unable to prevent it. The only thing that he had going for him was that all of Vilhelm’s attacks were light, barely causing any harm at all.
Vilhelm’s success did not make him arrogant, and instead he raised his guard even more , ready to face an intense retaliation, yet it never came. Nero exuded an aura of extreme stability, remaining completely undistracted by anything Vilhelm did.