He had been hit twice, on his side and on the back of his knee, however the damage was negligible. The issue was not of damage, but of how effortlessly Vilhelm had dropped Nero onto the ground.
The moment his knees hit the arena floor, Nero’s instincts kicked in. Vilhelm was moving too fast, attacking too furiously, taking Nero entirely by surprise. In that split second, there was no time to even process what was happening - he needed to act!
Nero rolled forward, barely managing to dodge the chop that was aiming for the back of his neck. Had he been even the slightest bit slower, the match would have been over.
Vilhelm was slightly surprised that Nero managed to dodge, but he didn’t take it too seriously.
He had replayed all of Nero’s moves in his mind enough times that he could completely see through his fighting style. If one opening was not enough, he would create another. With his advantage of speed, and his knowledge of Nero’s fighting style, the match held no actual suspense for him.
Maybe if Nero was in a better state he may have surprised Vilhelm, but it seemed unlikely now.
That was the last thought in Vilhelm’s mind before he took a punch straight to the face, not only throwing him back, but shocking him!
"Predictable," said Nero as he took a stance completely unfamiliar to Vilhelm. The blonde teenager looked at Nero, confounded by what was happening. "You fight in your mind too much, relying on your predictions and patterns instead of what’s actually happening around you. That’s why it’s tough for someone to beat you a second time. But for anyone who realises your bad habits, it’s too easy to take advantage of it."
As new understanding dawned on Vilhelm, he looked at Nero with respect and admiration. This was something no one else had ever noticed before - or at least, no one had vocalised before, his professor’s included.
"Do you realise that by telling me, you’re making it harder for yourself to take advantage of this flaw," Vilhelm said as he stepped once again in front of Nero, ready to respond to him once more.
"Beating you holds no value for me," Nero responded indifferently. "Practicing against you is what is valuable, but if your flaws are too easy to take advantage of, my practice will be affected. Only if you continue to improve can you serve as a decent opponent."
Vilhelm could not suppress his grin. He’d already heard that Nero had called himself a monster. Right now, he could not help but begin to agree. The way this man’s brain worked was just... different.
A moment later, the two of them once again threw themselves into the fight. At certain moments Nero gained the advantage, and at others Vilhelm did. Ultimately, however, the match continued for ten whole minutes, resulting in a draw.
"That was a good match. I’ll look forward to the one with weapons," said Nero as he picked himself up, not even allowing himself a moment to rest, and started to leave.
"Where are you going? To class?" Vilhelm asked, feeling somewhat bewildered. Did he... really have the energy to go to class? Could he still focus? "Aren’t you tired?"
Nero paused for a moment, and looked at Vilhelm, before shaking his head.
"Since when does it matter if I’m tired?" Nero asked, walking away. Some things couldn’t be explained so easily. Nero’s life was a race against time. He needed to grow stronger. There was no room for rest... or exhaustion.
As he walked away, he couldn’t help but recall the days he used to train with Patrick. Training didn’t seem so tiring back then.
As Nero walked away, all Vilhelm could see in him was his strengthening resolve. He had never come across someone with such a consistent intent over such a massive period of time.
Vilhelm shook his head, and instead looked down at his hands. Did he really need to undertake special training to beat Nero? Or did he need to change his strategy? This was the first time he didn’t immediately have an answer to a question, and the feeling of uncertainty was... fascinating.
From that day on, rumors began to spread. Hushed whispers, uttered between classes and during drills. It was said that Nero’s performance had attracted the academy’s attention, so much so that he was enrolled in a special kind of training program that the others could not do.
Almost immediately after, as if to support those very rumors, Nero once again reappeared in the public eye. However, it was not during hte drills with his classmates that he reappeared, No, Nero was seen participating in drills carried out by second year cadets.
Moreover, there seemed to be a dedicated professor or trainer focusing solely on Nero all the time. As if like clockwork, every Friday Nero showed up for a physical examination to ensure that he had suffered no medical harm, and every Saturday he met with his counsellor to make sure he was mentally stable.
At first very few believed the rumours, but as more days passed by, more and more people began to notice certain things. His training, after all, wasn’t being carried out in secret, so more than once a few cadets saw him going into or coming out of dedicated classes.
Then, Nero’s position on the Crucible list was adjusted, and he was allowed to challenge third year cadets, once again bringing attention back to his antics.
Every two days, in the evening, Nero challenged a third year cadet. His fights were always long and drawn out, but he always won. At first, the cadets felt like they were close to winning, but as his winning streak remained uninterrupted even as he fought higher ranked cadets, it became obvious to all that he had been giving them face by carrying out a long, drawn out battle. The chances were high that he wanted to, he could defeat them quick enough.
His fighting record, as well as the mysterious training he was attracted a lot of attention. However, that did not mean that Vilhelm was getting any less attention. He too began challenging third year cadets, and his wins were a lot smoother and seemed one sided.
If Nero hadn’t already beaten him before, many would have speculated who was stronger between the two. In fact, many believed that Vilhelm was growing stronger even now and could still redeem himself.
However, only Vilhelm knew that Nero was growing stronger too, and at a noticable pace. More than once, Vilhelm had noticed that Nero was using body weights almost all the time, not only growing his own strength, but steadily improving his speed as well.
He actually felt threatened by his growth, which was quite exciting.
Thus, day by day, filled with endess activity and struggle, a month passed. All the new cadets were informed a couple of days in advance that at the one month mark, there would be a massive assembly wherein the Academy Dean would speak to all of them, but the new cadets as well.
Yet no one knew just how monumental that assembly would be, not just for the cadets, but for the whole world. It was the first obvious sign of the changing times, introducing the new cadets to a brand new future.
In fact, even Nero was given an entire, normal day with a full six hours of sleep so that he could be at his absolute best on the day of the assembly.
Early morning, he joined the other cadets from Enlil as they all marched to the largest drill ground in the academy, alongside all the cadets from all the other battalions.
Over five years and four battalions, there were only around five hundred and sixty cadets. Some cadets were missing for various reasons, but for the most part the academy had done its best to call them back, just for this ceremony.
All the fresh cadets were lined up very close to the stage, mainly because this would be the first time they attended one of these assemblies and it was very important that they pay attention. Yet even for those who had attended these assemblies before, this was destined to be a particularly memorable one.
As Nero stood in his designated place, he could not help but observe a massive, stone box that had been placed on the stage. There patterns of gold etched into the stone, marking an unusual design. What’s more, even from afar, Nero could feel the tremendous amount of aether radiating from the box, as well as the rapid current of aether flowing into it.
The box gave him a very unusual feeling, but he eventually stopped focusing on it when he could not discover anything. Instead, he started to observe all the other professors and staff who began to take their place on stage.
Of them all, Nero only recognised Isabella and Axel, while the rest were all people he’d never even seen before.
The minutes continued to pass by, and just as Nero began to wonder when the assembly would begin, or when someone would speak, a loud, dragging noise filled the ground.
The lid of the stone box was moving.