Chapter 24 : The Battle of A Wounded Beast And A Hunter

Ajel checked his equipment , before groaning and walking into the middle of the coliseum.

A roar of excitement swept among the people in the stadium , but Ajel didn't like the amount of people observing him at once.

"/ I thought this would be a private 1v1? /"

The girl in the middle of the battlefield had a long strongbow with a full quiver consisting of ice arrows.

Her mundane expression when she looked towards the crowd was instead replaced with a hint of surprise , before going back to coldness.

"/ You know Freljordian? /"

"/ No , just enough to get by /"

Ajel , in fact , doesn't know Freljordian , as he had only had a couple of months , instead , he had revised plans to mock the ice queen until she loses her cool.

He needed her mental to be low so she would stumble and let him try to take advantage of her.

( AN : Hey , almost like the game!)

The announcer was Freljordian , so Ajel had no clue what he was saying until he started with..

"/ 3 /"

"/ 2 /"

"/ 1 /"

The last words were blurry as he looked over to Ashe , who had already got two ice arrows knocked on her bow.

"That fast?" Ajel thought to himself as he observed the pattern of the arrows.

They were a trick , meant to pry on the flight or fight instincts.

She had observed him from last time and wanted him to dodge, and the arrows were meant to be where he was going to dodge to.

But if he stood still , the arrows would fly to the side of him and he would be left unharmed.

The arrows flew from Ashe's bow as it tore through the air with speed and power that reminded him of Sylas's chains.

Seeing the arrows that flew past his face , Ajel remained calm.

But then he noticed something strange.

Why did she shoot the arrows so far down?

something was wrong.

At most , they would of landed at the side of his feet.....

his feet!

Ajel rapidly jumped forward , before looking back and seeing a pool of crystalised ice where his feet would of being.

"I can't afford to not be careful , i keep thinking im fighting against a hunter, not a iceborn. Saying that nobody is born with this fucking ridiculous power."

"/You call yourself the successor when you can't even land two arrows? i have no leg and yet you can't shoot a injured beast./" The face of Ajel was mocking , as he thought of his praticised insults.

All thought he had forgot about the fight , he didn't spend all the time in the cave revising alchemy.

The less variables in a fight , the more chance he had in winning.

But the main variables now... were those arrows , his leg and his opponents mental state.

Ashe's cold expression had a crack in it , showing a large amount of anger that she had supressed.

Three arrows were knocked on the bow of Ashe as Ajel raised his eyebrows in surprise.

What a genius. His hunting master could only do two when he was 40 , and she was only around 16.

Yvonne's eyes turned into slits as she looked towards a lady , who was around 40 and had scars showing her fierceness.

(Conversation is in Freljordian)

"You've raised her well , Grena." Yvonne muttered.

"It's Warmother to you." A Bloodsword interrupted Yvonne , which caused the latter to frown.

"Calm down, Grimshall." Grena muttered , her white hair and blue eyes staring at her daughter , a mix of emotions present in her eyes and face. "You couldn't do anything about it even if you wanted to."

Grimshall knew what the woman meant , as she quietened down.

"Elder , is this the path really correct to raise my daughter?" Grena muttered , and through her fierce face a flicker of hesitation would be shown.

"The whole secret of a successful life is to find out what is one's destiny to do, and then do it." Yvonne muttered. "You are merely pushing the child towards finding her own."

"By isolating her?"

"By making her independent , and then she will rise up from the ashes ( AN : Get it?) and become reborn like a phoenix ( AN : Get it?)"

"Then tell me , elder , what role does the boy play in this?"

"Someone who will help her rise."

Grena knew better than to question Elder Yvonne's predictions , when she was a witch blessed with foresight and magic that made the land tremble.

----------------------

Seeing the three arrows slowly start to approach him , Ajel thought of a strategy.

She was inexperienced with three , and Ajel was lucky that she took extra longer with pulling the bowstring back.

Conjuring a normal magic bullet , Ajel fired it off , focusing on the speed of the casting more than the efficiency of the bullet.

Ashe's bowstring pull was interrupted by the bullet , as she was forced to use her gauntlets to block the bullet , which made a dent in the iron bracers.

The sound of cluttering happened as Ajel saw the arrows fall on the floor as Ashe rapidly retreated backwards after collecting the arrows.

Her face was red with embarrassment as Ajel slowly drew his spear and started to approach Ashe.

He felt a feeling in his stomach , one that wasn't meant for battle.

Sympathy.

He felt sad towards Ashe , who obviously has been training for this fight , whereas he had been in a cave learning Alchemy and cheap tricks.

"/YOU BASTARD!/" A voice rung out , as Ashe drew three arrows , each sparkling with a shine that wasn't there before.

Each arrow slowly started to become more rigid and sharp , each started to interwove with each over in a deadly but beautiful manner that made Ajel's heart tremble.

They all seemed to become connected , as Ajel looked towards the large arrow that took up the whole bow.

This was it.

Her ultimate move.