Alina versus Ratimir (1/2)

The next few fights progressed smoothly, exactly as Arthur remembered they did.

The descendents of Elders, or those whose parents were Fae Masters always had an advantage in these sorts of tournaments. Of course their elders, or their parents would assist them and teach them more about Fae and cultivation?

Most parents and guardians wanted what was best for their children. To take everything they accumulated over the course of their lives and pass it down, so that it wouldn't be forgotten.

Even Randolf, whose grandfather was a Fae Master taught him some things about cultivation which he didn't already know.

Little tips or wisdoms about the <First Tale> or Fae Formulas or origin essence manipulation. These sorts of things were priceless in terms of shortening the time it takes to cultivate, or for research into Fae to progress.

In the <First Tale> the First Man along with the newly reborn Myriad Races pooled their knowledge and wisdoms about Fae, and gathering the essence of the Heavens and the Earth.

After the events with Hatred Fae, the First Man never told the Myriad Races about the truth behind his birth, and how he too awakened his talents as a Fae Master.

Naturally, being the very "first" being born into the world, these Myriad Races respected their elder sibling, whom they also thought was born of the Heavens and the Earth.

They were all born with knowledge inside of them, in addition to their origin essence seas being awakened at birth.

Gathering this knowledge, the First Man found out how to manipulate origin essence in the same way as all the other Myriad Races did, but found out while he could manipulate it in the same fashion as they did, they could not mimic one another like the First Man did.

Despite possessing much longer lives, and powers at birth, the Myriad Races didn't have the same potential with regards to origin essence as the First Man did.

Some questioned this ability, some others envied his massive potential, while other Races adored the First Man, claiming him to be the progenitor of all the other Races.

He was treated as both a God and a Devil. Someone who could take away the uniqueness of one Race, and absorb it into himself.

However.... that was when the unthinkable happened.

A single Fae, one born from the awakening of his origin essence sea, was released from the First Man.

All the other Races had seen this, being shocked at the First Man's ability to create Fae. Even the most cold-hearted, or the most doubtful of the other Races suddenly believed in the First Man, and his status as the Progenitor of all the other Races.

This single Fae. One that was born from the very First Man was-.

"Earth Fae....".

Arthur's eyes opened as he glanced upwards, towards the next fighter.

This was the last match before the semi-finals, the two fighters being-.

"Alina and Ratimir! Please both come to the stage immediately!".

The two descendents of Elders glanced at each other before narrowing their eyes and heading to the main stage.

Both of them had multiple Fae, and were some of the only competitors whom possessed more than just the Fae they awakened, and were given.

They both also had grandparents and parents whom were Fae Masters. From a young age, they were most likely taught some sort of martial arts, as well as lessons regarding Fae, their abilities and their various types.

Both of them were strong competitors for first place, is what the audience thought.

Alina glanced towards her Grandfather whom smiled at her before nodding.

Ratimir did the same, only to an elderly lady sitting several seats down from Alina's grandfather.

The two Elders turned to each other, smiling at each other politely before turning back to the main stage.

Despite their polite smiles, neither of them possessed a polite meaning behind their gazes.

Even the referees could see that this wasn't going to be a normal fight.

Niklos obviously noticed these two Elders smile at each other, and smiled nonchalantly before raising his hands glancing at both Alina and Robert.

"Are to two competitors ready?".

It was the first time Niklos had asked this, although as the last fight before the semi-finals, the suspense was definitely worth it.

The two fifteen year olds nodded, turning back to face one another.

The Kovacs Clan Leader raised his hand above his head, swiping it down swiftly as he shouted,

"Begin!".

In an instant, the two fighters shot towards each other, showing a speed completely unlike what they had shown in their earlier fights.

They clashed, both sides shooting a flurry of kicks and punches towards their opposition, trying their best to deal some sort of injury to one another, as they constantly deflected their opponents attacks.

Alina had the disadvantage in terms of size and strength, but had the benefit of being smaller than Ratimir, more easily able to dodge his blows and his punches.

Ratimir grunted, turning around constantly trying to move Alina out of his blind spot and directly in front of him.

The smaller Alina, practically danced around the larger Ratimir, dodging, or parrying his blows just like Arthur did his earlier opponents.

Arthur's eyebrow raised a fraction of an inch, before resting in its normal position.

'This girl.... is she trying to copy me?'.

Arthur nearly had to stop himself from laughing at the thought.

These movement techniques, the ones unassisted by Fae or origin essence were at their essence pure martial arts. Even with a Fae Masters enhanced physique it would be troublesome to get their bodies to attempt to the strain of moving muscles they weren't normally used to moving.

This technique, was purely Arthur's. It suited his body the best, and made advantage of what he had and didn't have.

If Alina wanted to try and copy this footwork of his, she might have trouble in the latter stages of the fight, he thought.

Ratimir, as someone who attended Arthur's martial arts lessons narrowed his eyes, taking a few steps back, glancing at Arthur for a second before turning back towards Alina.

"So.... you think you can beat me with that fancy footwork, eh?".

Alina snorted, tossing her hair back behind her shoulder.

"It certainly seems like I'm winning, doesn't it?".

Ratimir narrowed his eyes, before letting his hand glow a bright quartz colour.

A small praying mantis appeared on the palm of his hand, which quickly morphed into a much larger, one handed longsword. Complete with both a guard, and jagged, bony edges.

His other hand opened up as well, revealing a small spiky lizard whose back resembled tree bark. With a faint bright flash, it morphed, becoming a oval shaped shield, whose exterior appeared like the bark off a tree.

"Oh! Look at both of those Fae!".

"Is that a bone sword fae!? And a bark growth fae?!".

"Yeah! The bone sword fae is Ratimir's Origin Fae, while the bark growth fae is the Fae he chose from the Clan Reserves!".

One of Ratimir's younger cousins stood proudly in the audience. His eyes glistened as he looked towards the older young man whom he considered his older brother.

Alina narrowed her eyes, gathering her origin essence also in the palms of her hands.

A small long horned beetle appeared on one hand. It's external carapace completely black, the same colour as a moonless night. It dripped down, melting, becoming like shadows before reforming itself and becoming a pair of daggers.

This was the shadowstream fae.

Another Fae appeared out of her back, this one a butterfly, larger than any butterfly naturally found in the wild. It's wings were completely black, exactly the same as the beetle before it. However, small white coloured flakes of dust fell down out of its wings and onto Alina.

This was her Origin Fae, the Silent Butterfly Fae.

It could "bless" its Fae Master, turning all their actions silent for a short period of time.

Even if Alina wanted to scream and shout and say anything, nothing would come out of her mouth so long as this fae's effects were active.

The pair narrowed their eyes as they looked at each other.

The screaming from the crowds and the shouts from their audience had been completely ignored, their attention solely focused on how to get the other one onto the floor in the shortest amount of time.

Arthur smiled.

The fight had only just begun.