A strange tension filled the room as the two looked at each other. They were friends, partners, roommates, but more than that, they were two young men with strong ambitions. If anyone else were to learn of the scale of their ambitions they would laugh at them as two deluded kids. But to them, they were absolutely serious in their pursuits, and the source of that was their inherent pride.
Whether it was their life experiences, their background, their skills, abilities, training, strength or whatever else, it culminated in a sense of pride that allowed them to believe that whatever they aimed for was within reach. In a way, that pride was also their source of self confidence. Or maybe it was their self confidence that resulted in that pride.
Regardless of which way it was, it was a matter of fact that their strong pride and ambitions sometimes caused them to clash. Regardless of what he said, Gabriel felt an unscratchable itch in knowing that Nero always beat him in a fight. Now that he was a Neophyte, he would be even stronger. That only made the itch worse.
On most days, he was able to control that itch. The more competent his allies were, the better it was for him. This was not just a mental mantra, as Nero had proved himself by deftly eliminating the vine from his body when he got infected by it. The fact that he had managed to do so without hurting him at all was remarkable.
But now that Nero had challenged him… he could not help but feel like this was an opportunity to prove himself. Or, at least, measure their progress.
"Let's do it," Gabriel said, his drowsiness completely gone by now.
Nero smiled, as he was looking forward to it. The two of them changed and walked to school under the clear, light blue sky. Even the sun had not fully risen yet, which meant that they did not have to look for an uncrowded gym.
Gabriel grabbed a gladius style sword from the weapons rack, but was surprised to find that Nero walked to the centre of the court unarmed.
"What are you doing?" Gabriel asked, his brows scrunched. He was almost offended at Nero's nonchalance.
Nero got into position and raised his hands, covering his left arm in his blue flames from elbow up, but leaving his right arm empty.
"I'm not going easy on you by fighting empty handed, if that's what you're thinking," he responded. "I learned something new this morning that I want to try out. Don't hold back."
Gabriel's expression returned to normal, and instead looked at Nero warily. Did he have a new technique in his arsenal? But he didn't see him use a card, so it must have something to do with his innate ability.
Gabriel walked to his spot, and channelled his own innate ability. Tiny red grains, as if they were sand, appeared around his sword. They grains danced and moved in the air, as if they were the embers of a fire, but they weren't.
Nero wasn't exactly sure what Gabriel's innate ability was, but he did know that those red grains were extremely dangerous. In fact, in terms of short exposure, the red grains of sand flowing through the air would be more dangerous than his own cryoflame.
The two stood ten metres (32 feet) apart and took a moment to gauge each other. Considering the fact that they were using their innate abilities, they should have informed one of the school staff members, but as if there were some kind of mutual agreement, neither of them mentioned it.
For a few seconds, silence filled the room. But in the quietness, the crackling of the cold fire, and the shuffling and shifting of the grains of red sand seemed to suddenly become extremely loud, almost demanding attention.
Nero moved first, suddenly bursting into a sprint as he ran towards Gabriel. The redheaded boy shifted his stance as he prepared himself to defend. A stray thought entered his mind, though he didn't have time to focus on it.
Wasn't Nero's initial dash a little too fast?
Nero approached, but Gabriels reach was greater since he had a weapon. He stabbed forward, using Nero's forward momentum against him, giving him almost no time to react.
But he reacted nonetheless. He pivoted on his foot and turned just enough to move out of the way of the sword, then used his left, flame covered hand to brush the sword and its red sands away from himself.
At the same time, using his right hand, he tried to uppercut Gabriel. The redhead dodged, and retaliated.
In such close proximity to one another, their movements became a blur as they exchanged moves, attacking, blocking and retaliating against one another. Red and blue clashed and crashed against one another.
Red rose like a tidal wave and crashed down like a tower tsunami, while blue roared like a raging blizzard, unstoppable and never ending. Like two natural disasters meeting face to face, red and blue mixed and grew as they devoured one another, dancing around each other and searching for the barest opening.
Then something happened that Gabriel didn't quite understand. Nero somehow got an edge on him, though he didn't understand why. Unlike their previous fights, the difference hadn't been overwhelming, leaving him no opportunity to retaliate. Nero didn't suddenly finish him off in one move. Instead, in a fight where they were both equal, he slowly started to shift the balance at a measured pace.
This… this was much worse than losing in one move. This was like he was playing in Nero's palm, and everything he did was completely within the others expectations. Amidst his confusion and fear, Gabriel made a move to change the tempo.
Instead of keeping his red sand just around his blade, he covered his other hand in it as well. He expected Nero to spread his flame to his second hand in response, but he did no such thing. Gabriel only saw excitement in the others eyes as he retaliated even harder.
How was this possible? How could he ignore the red sands so easily? His attacks did not slow down at all!
Gabriel covered his entire upper body with his ability, forming an almost living armour of red sand around himself. Not only would his hands protect him from taking damage, but they would corrode anyone who dared touch-
A bare fist connected with his stomach, breaking through the sand and knocking the air out of his lungs!
Gabriel lunged backward, trying to catch his breath as he tried to understand what was happening, but Nero was relentless. His flames still only covered his right hand, but the look in his eyes was that of a hungry beast.
He followed, moving much faster than it should have been possible, and used his right hand, unprotected by his flames, to punch him. Flesh met sand but there was no rising smoke of burning skin, only the grunts of Gabriel who was tolerating a beating for reasons he didn't understand.
He slashed with his sword, but Nero caught his wrist somehow, and struck him so that the sword dropped from his hands.
Unwillingness filled Gabriel. He didn't understand why he was losing. He was not weak and his ability was nothing to scoff at. So why was he losing? He looked at Nero, and somewhere in his heart, he knew why. Gabriel was a warrior, trained from birth, but Nero… he was a monster.
Excitement and hunger filled the blue haired boy's eyes, as he continued to strike. Instead of the familiar stinging they usually transmitted, the red sands only felt warm under his knuckles now. He-
Gabriel jumped back and raised his hands in surrender, ending the fight. The sudden ending caught Nero by surprise, but now he finally had time to let the thoughts he had been holding back fill his mind.
That old man was messing with him! Footer gave him a paper that hinted at everything that he could do with aether, but redacted all the good parts! Even though Nero was only at the first and basic level of aether sensitivity, the things he could do with it were much more than just the three listed in the research paper.
Nero's body trembled as he suppressed his excitement and his urge to laugh out loud. Just yesterday he had been feeling so weak, and even defeated almost. But a single, redacted research paper was all it took for a whole new world to be unveiled before him, and for him to grow so much stronger.
By controlling his internal aetheric pressure, and focusing it on certain body parts, he could give himself a great boost in strength. That was something he figured out on his own. So was the fact that… if he covered the boundary wall, or bubble wall, that wrapped around his skin with aether, it could act as a kind of shield. This was no longer just about resisting energies.
He directly resisted Gabriel's red sands this way!
In the end, Nero could not hold himself back anymore, and burst into excited laughter! This! This was the feeling of growing stronger that he had been chasing after for so long! The world was kicking his butt, but slowly and steadily, he was growing stronger too. And one day, he'd be able to hold his own against the world.
"Stop laughing, you idiot, and tell me what the hell just happened!" Gabriel said, trying to hide his embarrassment at losing once again. Unfortunately, his flushed cheeks betrayed him.