48 Immovable

Arata defended off the young nobles easily, he even had an expression of boredom on his face, which angered some of the young nobles. They weren't used to being looked down on, but they couldn't do anything about it. They were unable to make him budge at all.

"Clear the way, you're all just wasting our time."

The young nobles stopped attacking Arata as they turned around to see the two young boys walking forward. The rugged looking one continued speaking.

"Young Master Arata is clearly stronger than you all, you won't be able to make him move with your mediocre skills. So please move to the side and let us have a shot."

The nobles frowned at the two young boys, but the young nobles clearly knew who they were as they didn't respond or retaliate. To Arata's surprise, the young nobles begrudgingly moved out of the way. This perked up Arata's interest. They must be either very important or very strong. The rugged man bowed to Arata.

"I am Jokull, member of the Kari Clan. Pleased to meet you, Heir to the Sato Clan."

The other young boy also bowed.

"I am Isotz, member of the Kari Clan. Pleased to meet you, Heir to the Sato Clan."

Although Arata made no expression, he was inwardly excited. The Kari Clan were a powerful Clan that focused on imports and exports. They had one of the largest shipping companies in the Kingdom and travelled across the sea quite often. Because of this, the Kari Clan would only take in and receive people with a strong business mentality and understanding, or with the ability of ice and water.

Ice and water were the Kari Clan's specialty and they had many secret techniques and Sacred Arts to utilize the Ice and Water Energy withing someone's Elemental Reservoir. Arata was curious to see what these two young members had to offer. He nodded at them while staying in his Vitality Bestowal stance.

"I look forward to your guidance, Seniors."

The two boys grinned as they began to charge their Energies. Jokull leaped forward and threw a punch at Arata. As Arata went to block it, Jokull's hand seemed to turn to water as it splashed through Arata's hand before reforming and hit Arata in the chest. Arata stayed still as he was hit, transferring the Energy from the punch and sending it back into Jokull's chest. To Arata's surprise, Jokull stayed still and wasn't effected by the transfer of Energy. Instead, he grinned at Arata.

"So that's how you defeated them all. You have some sort of redistribution technique. Well that sort of move isn't going to work on me."

Jokull continued to throw punches that Arata was unable to block as his fists would just pass through Arata's arms and hit his chest. Although Jokull's punches didn't affect Arata much, it was still a problem for Arata that he was unable to counter Jokull at all. Jokull seemed to know that his punches weren't doing any damage to Arata, yet he continued attacking. Arata could see that this form that Jokull was using weakened his attacks slightly, but it made it so all of his attacks would connect unhindered and Arata was unable to do any damage to him.

Arata activated his Shadow Awareness as he sensed danger. He quickly responded to what he saw and moved his hands in front of him. He caught a blade made of ice in front of him, stopping before it could reach his chest. The blade had gone through Jokull to get to Arata, but Jokull seemed unaffected by it. Jokull attacked Arata again, forcing him to let go of the blade as it went back through Jokull and disappeared.

But with his Shadow Awareness activated, he could see Isotz behind Jokull, his arm had become a large blade of ice. He was hiding behind Jokull, waiting for the chance to strike. Arata now knew their battle tactics. Jokull would distract while Isotz attacked. A very good use of Ice and Water. But with Arata's Shadow Awareness activated, he could see the flow of Energy in Jokull's Elemental Reservoir. And he noticed something strange about the movements. It gave him an idea.

Jokull was happily attacking Arata, believing that he and Isotz had Arata beat. He was unable to hurt either of them, and although he was able to block the Ice Blade attack, he would slip up eventually and that would be the end of the battle. As Jokull threw another punch, a glow appeared in Arata's eyes as he went to block Jokull punch again. To Jokull's surprise, Arata was able to catch his fist. Jokull found that he was unable to circulate the Energy within his fist, causing him to be unable to turn it into water. Arata grinned.

"My turn."

After the first time Arata tried to redirect the Energy back at Jokull, he had just been storing the Energy from the following attacks within himself, waiting for the right time to use it all. He placed his hand on Jokull's chest again. Jokull had already began circulating the Energy in his chest, in anticipation for Arata's attack. But as Arata placed his hand on Jokull's chest, Jokull froze. Literally.

The Water Energy circulating within Jokull began to slow down and harden. He realized that Ice was forming and spreading out from where Arata's hand was. He found that he wasn't able to move as all the force within his body was somehow trapped. He was quickly being frozen over.

Arata had used a piece of the Ice Blade that Isotz used, to forward his attack and used the collected Energy from all of Jokull's attacks to strengthen it. He then used his Shadow Awareness and his new ability of the Void to manipulate the strengthened Ice Energy to mix with the Water Energy within Jokull. Although the Water and Ice Elements were from the same source of power, they were two different states that were best separated within one's Elemental Reservoir as they could affect the other.

And this is what Arata was utilizing. By forcing a strengthened Ice Element into an Energy Reservoir filled with the Water Element, he could affect it by cooling and freezing the Water Energy. As it was not it's normal state, the Water Energy would try to expel the cold from it, thus pushing the cold to the body, freezing it over.

The noble all watched as Jokull became a frozen statue in front of Arata. They were completely confused and stunned by this as they whispered amongst themselves.

"Isn't he the Heir to the Sato Clan?"

"How is he using Ice?"

"Why isn't he using Darkness?"

As the nobles whispered and talked amongst themselves, Akimitsu had a look of wonder on his face.

'He has an even deeper understanding and affinity to Vitality Bestowal than Azrail! And was that the Void he utilized in his attack? He can already use it to this level after just obtaining it? Azrail, you have truly raised a monster.'

Jokull now stood frozen in front of Arata. Arata hit Jokull carefully in the chest, causing the frozen Jokull to slide backwards, out of the circle and away from Arata. A stunned Isotz moved out of the way as Jokull slid past him. He then turned to see Arata looking at him.

"Let us continue."

Isotz hesitated for a moment before charging his Energy. Ice spikes began to form on his blade as he circled around Arata. Arata stayed still as Isotz ran around him. When he was behind Arata, Isotz fired the spikes on his blade at Arata. Arata turned and his arms became a blur as they moved at such a fast speed, catching each and every ice spike. After he caught them, the ice spikes seemed to melt and were absorbed by Arata.

Isotz charged from the side as Arata dealt with the ice spikes and slashed at Arata. Isotz was stunned when he froze in mid air. Arata was still facing the other direction, but his hand was grasping on Isotz ice blade. He had caught it. And with Vitality Bestowal activated, Isotz was unable to move. Arata turned around and place his hand on Isotz chest.

"Thank your for sparring with me, Senior."

In an explosion of ice, Isotz was sent flying backwards. Arata casually got back into the Vitality Bestowal stance and waited patiently. Both the young and old nobles were all stunned and shocked at this display of power. He was a fortress wall that none of them could knock down. In their minds, he was completely immovable.

Arata closed his eyes and sensed the Energy around the room. There were still a couple of young nobles here that he would need to use some effort against, but everyone else were small fry to him. As he thought this, one of the stronger Energies in the room moved towards him. Arata opened his eyes and turned to see a bald young boy with a bandana around his head, which seemed quite strange for an event like this. The young boy excitedly bowed to Arata.

"I am Maona Dyzek, second son of the Dyzek Family. Please guide me, Heir of the Sato Clan."

Maona jumped forward, but as he touched the ground, he sank into the floor. Arata who was watching had seen the Energy circulating within him and knew what he did. He was an Earth/Rock user. After his mission, Arata was able to spot it instantly. He used his Shadow Awareness to scan the ground. He turned to his right and moved his foot, stomping down at the ground. A fist emerged out of the ground right where Arata's foot stomped down, pushing the fist back into the ground.

A moment later, Maona came jumping out of the ground, sending an uppercut at Arata. Arata simply caught his fist and redirected the Energy to send Maona flying away.

'So that's another one down.'

Arata sensed that Maona had a strong Elemental Reservoir, but he was too predictable and didn't have enough experience in battle, so Arata defeated him easily. Another noble that caught Arata's eye also stepped forward. He was a fire based user and arrogantly taunted Arata before charging Arata head on. Which Arata was easily able to counter and send his Energy back, defeating him instantly. Now there was only one strong Energy left.

The nobles were all silent now as they realized that this test wasn't so Arata could give his approval to someone, but it was so that he could show that none of them were worthy and that their efforts were fruitless. Arata was an invincible guardian that the young nobles needed to pass to get to Akari. But by this point, they were all to afraid to even attempt to get past Arata.

While everyone had their eyes on Arata, Arata had his eyes on a young boy in the corner. He had dark green hair and emerald colored eyes. He was leaning against the wall casually, clearly bored of this event. He turned to see Arata looking at him. As they locked eyes for a bit, the young boy shook his head and yawned, clearly not wanting to do anything.

Arata was curious to see his power, as he knew that he wasn't normal, but he didn't seem to want to fight, so Arata let him be. Arata straightened up as he looked over to Akimitsu and the nobles.

"Lord Akimitsu, I believe that my test has concluded. Unfortunately, I was unable to find a suitable candidate that I, or my Clan, would be willing to support. I apologize for wasting everyone's time."

Akimitsu chuckled.

"Not at all, Little Arata. I believe your assessment to be right. I think that I still haven't yet found the right match for my daughter. Thank you for enlightening me."

The nobles all had grim looks on their faces. It was obvious what this meant. None of their children were worthy and this made it so it was stated without being told directly to them, which would be an insult to one's status. But this was a trial by test that had they all failed. They couldn't say anything against it. They had been played by the young Heir to the Sato Clan.

Arata felt the intense stares from the nobles and bowed.

"If you will excuse me, Lord Akimitsu and distinguished guests, I must take my leave."

He nodded to Akari who nodded and smiled back gratefully, and Arata walked out of the large hall. Once he was outside, he took a deep breath.

'I hate intense staring. So uncomfortable. Next stop: fluffy bed!'

As Arata reached a carriage that Akari said for him to use after, he sensed someone behind him. As he turned around, it was the green haired boy.

"Are you heading back to the Royal Institute? May I join you? I hate these events."

Arata looked at the yawning young boy for a moment before nodding. The two boys climbed into the carriage. As Arata sat down, he could see that the young boy had lay down on the other seat.

"Comfy. Not as comfy as the beds back at the dorm though. Soooooo fluffy."

Arata raised his eyebrow. He has his guard down in front of him and is so casual towards him already. But he was also intrigued by his use of words. Arata also thought the beds were fluffy. Arata was confused. There was a familiar feeling to this young boy yet he had just met him. The young boy saw the confusion in Arata's face.

"Right I should probably introduce myself. The name's Visha. The exiled son of the Bricriu family. Nice to meet ya, Arata Sato."