Not with Fire, but with Steel

"Kid, if you keep holding back, then you're going to end up in the ground. Stop messing around! I've got a lot riding on you–"

"Jaret! What if Ms. Yuria hears you?" Aurelia moved over to hold back the exuberant Jaret while he continued his rant towards Erai below.

Whose battle had taken a turn with the wound on his arm fluttering the green aura of his Will Force about, though the reassuring gush of steam he was waiting for was nowhere to be seen.

The familiar heat of his aura coursing through his body seemed insufficient around his arm.

'This is troublesome. The bleeding has stopped but the wound isn't closing...if this keeps up, I'm going to burn through the last of my Will Force.'

"What's the matter, prole? You seem frightened now that I wield my SoulArm, did you not expect me too?"

In between his words Shynerai remained silent and moved against his target, with Jaret blaring atop the stands, doing his best to tame his wilding thoughts while he rushed towards him.

Recognizing the engrossing sensation of nausea and fatigue, hinting that he needed to draw out a greater deal of strength from within.

Stepping through the affected radius, Raon stood at the ready with a menacing grin, preparing for him. Shynerai leapt forward, remembering his sparring with Jaret, and took to guarding his chest and neck as he soared, with jade winds trailing after him the dust was kicked up by his sudden launch.

Meeting him head-on, Raon steeled himself as he stepped back, trying to clear the distance of his approach as he landed near him.

'Any moment now, that green aura will flare out, and it'll be over.' Remaining certain in his next attack, the gleaming edge of his blade shone as it faced towards the approaching Shynerai.

"Ah, not this time." Vanishing in a green silhouette before appearing near enough to strike him true. Running through him hard enough to throw Raon off his feet, flinging him far and slamming him directly into the walls of the Arena.

"What! The hell was that?" Charlotte stood in shock at the sight, sharing in the fellow spectator's disbelief at the feat.

"Yeah, that's what I'm talking about kid, you got me on the edge of my seat I tell you." Jaret's voice boomed with the sight of what Erai achieved, surprising Arno with his enthusiasm.

Amongst the group of First-years watching the battle, Vaceris could hear a surprised Ketsu comment on Erai, with him asking her if she knew what he was capable of.

"Thing is…he doesn't look it, but...yeah. Though I have a feeling that he's not done...he's not using his white flames." She mumbled under her breath as she responded to their Class Captain.

"But this...guess it explains how he made it out of the Configuration." Torren blurted out while he alongside a stunned Stephen who watched on.

'So your green aura has this much power left? That makes me certain of my decision, having seen your strength a third time, I must say, this might be better than expected.' Vauntuss sat thinking with eyes firmly affixed on the battle below despite sitting amongst the discord of his class.

On the windswept grounds of the arena floor, Shynerai stood with his green aura sputtering wisps that lost their hue with each moment that passed, causing the rings around his limbs to grow dim as the energy began to fade, leaving him with barely enough to relish his first hit, as the anticipation for Raon's next move consumed his focus.

And rise he did, with the figure that laid slumped against the walls slowly raising himself with the aid of his blade, Raon was ready to pursue him but felt a blunt pain against his chest while he took a breath.

The growing sensation of fatigue blurred as his gaze, barely affording him the awareness of an equally weary Shynerai set his blood ablaze.

"This...is absurd. To think I'd be brought so low to your level, that you would manage to strike me. Pneuma should have robbed you of your strength...and my victory...it should have been assured the moment I pierced you." Speaking bluntly as he managed to get to his feet before returning to where he once stood.

"Your spell is definitely a terrible match for me, but you aren't gonna hit me with your blade, now that I know how you fight, how you thrust, how you stand, how long its reach is, all of these things are about to change."

Green sputters of electricity ran down his arms with vibrant streaks as he wrestled himself into a stance, readying himself for his opponent that drew close. He resolved himself running ahead with the loss of breath making each step more difficult from the last.

"Let's finish this, Raon!"

Rushing in after a wave of suppressing energy washed past Shynerai, trapping him in the grasp of his spell, while he bore a look of disdain for the figure in front of him, he drew forth his gleaming blade.

With Shynerai breaching past the bounds of the spell, he moved to subdue Raon, avoiding slash after slash. As the exchange drew on, it made him wearier forcing him to halt his assault with Raon managing to strike his leg in his retreat. 

Seeing him stumble back, Raon wanted to finish the battle, pushing himself to rush towards him–

His desire to close the opportunity could be seen scrawled across his face with an intense piercing focus, catching Shynerai off-guard and ripping across his torso with a horrific blow carrying so much strength that the remnants of his Will Force burned away in a single momentary flash of green light.

The vanishing green hue highlighting his frame as he was thrown into the dirt below.

"Hmph." Raon caught enough of his breath to scoff at the sight of the bloodied and dust-covered remains lying within the shallow crater, but before he could walk away...

He was overwhelmed by the sound of the rising body of churning steel and writhing blades, Raon turned his sights to the image of the blood-tinged and blackened pieces of metal shimmering with the glances he managed to catch through the flowing clouds of dust. 

Leaving him unsure of how this could be.

"You should have just stayed down." He roared with his grip intensifying around his sword.

With a thinned voice, Shynerai whispered,

"Word of Power: Gilgamesh." Before being consumed by the mess of dark metal shards twisting and locking themselves in place.

Shynerai was showered by Raon's final volley of attacks with Raon's remaining vestiges of strength draining away, hearing of Shynerai's tactic had surprised him as per Charlotte's instruction he'd been waiting for him to use his white flames.

An observation that he cussed him out for, taunting Shynerai in the hopes that he would use his Beowulf incantation.

Shynerai found himself at odds, wondering how he knew of it but with the last of his Will Force burnt out, he knew that all he could trust was the strength of his wrought-iron greaves. 

Reeling himself out of the crater, he dragged himself out drenching in blood and tatters fluttering about the gaps within the armor, but through all of this…the mass of metal kept moving forward.

With each step forward, the pieces of shadowy steel crumbled away and turned to ash that was carried off in the wind, revealing more and more of his torn body.

Seeing him draw closer and closer, Raon's thoughts were shaken when suddenly the image in front of him was gone, leaving a shimmer in its disappearance.

'What! Where is he?'

Struggling to follow the figure as it vanished amongst the past dust clouds—only to bear down with a kick from above giving him just enough to block the attack.

Though once his feet touched the ground, he went on to vanish again. This action continued, each clash between them knocking him off balance until Raon tried to use Pneuma once more....but having strained himself, the spell couldn't take shape.

Seeing his chance, Shynerai vanished once more, with the lasting image of his shadow being all that Raon could remember when he blitzed him from behind, rushing him with a flurry of attacks.

Managing to knock him off his feet, Shynerai took the chance to finally disarm him with his blade being flung loose from his hand.

And ending the entire brawl with a fearsome strike sending him crashing into the ground.

The chorus of vigorous chants and support that rained down from the stands gave way to the singular silence of the Arena with all the onlooker's attention resting on Ms. Yuria, waiting to hear her call on the battle. 

She leapt from the stands down to the Arena field, before she was able to see the outcome of the clash.

Raising a hand to signal the end of the battle, she quickly followed with an announcement.

"The battle between Class 1A's Vetmier Raon and Class 1F's Shynerai Astrapordt is over. The victor–"

Walking over to the crater in the Arena, she raised the arm of one of the weary students that was barely managing to stand, supported against a single knee.

"The victor is Shynerai Astrapordt."

"Well damn, he did it. This kid." Jaret smiled at the sight of his battered body rising to its feet in victory.

Much to no one's surprise, the stands of the Arena fell completely silent from those with had nothing to say as one of their own laid unconscious to Erai's own classmates and the myriad of bystanders that filled the bleachers in the hopes of seeing the 'lynching' Class F would be put through.

"Hey, you guys, are you just going to sit there? You got the win, no need to look so glum." Jaret yelled over at the stunned group of Shynerai's classmates.

Without much hesitation the group followed after Ms. Yuria as a voice from below could be heard calling out to Stephen in the stands.

"Hey!! What are you waiting for? Get down here already!" Torren voiced boomed as they walked towards their comrade, who outstretched a shaky hand to greet their approach, with faint words accompanying them as he did so:

"Sorry, Stephen. Looks like you're still stuck with us." Doing his best smile as he spoke though he would be reminded of his body's condition when embraced by the crowd that congratulated him with relieved cheers. Standing with a gleaming expression, Ketsu moved to rest his hand on Erai.

"You did well, and I'm certain that with what comes next, you'll do even better." Ending his words and allowing him to rest against his shoulder with Torren helping him to his feet.

Elsewhere within the Academy, the educators are summoned to the Conference at the command of Ulrich.

"Thank you all for arriving on time, we have a great many things to discuss and sadly the nature of them will not be for the faint of heart"

"I do hope the Lady of the Hour is here, Julius prepared the most delicious sweet bread and it would be a pity to let it go to waste." Reiss spoke with an unusually aloof tone when entering the room, much to the annoyance of most present

"Thank you, Ulrich. And how nice of you to join us, Reiss. It's as Ulrich said before."

"We have reason to believe that a great change is upon us and it's one that Mortalkind may not be ready to face." A figure spoke frankly and clearly, motioning to all that were present to seat themselves as she did.