Cocky Kaelan Eats Defeat

A aron sat quietly on a stool at one corner of the dressing room as everyone was watching the battle of the first group. He did not need to watch it as he already knew who would win.

Raven Longstaff might have been rated at grade 4 but he was an experienced grade 3 necromancer. Daniel Walker was also grade 3 from his calculations but Jane Compton was still in the middle of transcending into grade 3. They were all very strong and Aaron could tell from the one time he looked at them during the King's speech.

'I should have just stolen the fragments and gotten the job over with, my people at Barrya must be wondering where I am by now. Well, I did tell them that I'll be gone for quite a good amount of time' his thoughts wandered around and around until he heard the crowd cheer louder than ever.

"I guess we have a winner" he whispered without even checking to see who was being cheered. He stuck his hands in his pockets and as he was exiting the dressing room he heard the announcer's voice booming through the arena.

"...fastest victory in the history of the Howling Tournament. Raven Longstaff broke Amelia Regis' record of seven minutes with a devastating six-minute victory!"

"They do have talented mages" his emotionless voice matched his blank face as he exited the room.

***

"THE GROUP 2 BATTLE ROYALE MATCH BEGINS NOW!" 

The announcer screamed out as all ten members of Aaron's group stood in different positions across the arena.

For a second none of them moved but Kaelan soon broke the status quo with a loud battle cry as he activated his Eye of Hope.

[Light Ray Rain]

He held out his hands and multiple light rays began to shoot out of them. The Eye of Hope amplified all light magic attacks by over 200% and negated all dark magic attacks or defenses so the light rays were unstoppable. 

Aaron noticed that the light rays were not being targeted at him rather they avoided him completely. He wondered why as the mage a few feet away from him was smacked into the wall by a light ray.

'It hasn't been more than four minutes since we began. Is he hoping to break Raven's record the same day it was set?' Aaron thought lazily as he counted the number of mages who had been incapacitated. It came to a staggering number of seven which meant that there were only three people still standing in the arena.

[Light Ball]

The spinning mass of light energy flew from Kaelan's hand and struck the last mage in the abdomen. He coughed out blood as the ball's momentum smashed him into the wall.

'That must have hurt a good deal' he thought as his eyes returned to stare at Kaelan who now had a sadistic smile on his face.

"To think we would be placed in the same group, someone had bad intentions for you. It's time to complete your humiliation from all those years ago" he smirked at him but if Aaron took any offense at what Kaelan said it didn't show on his face.

[Light Spear]

Light magic seeped out of Kaelan and converged on his palm to form a long spear that glowed fiercely under the sun.

Kaelan got into a throwing position and hurled the spear at Aaron. The spear travelled true and straight towards its target who had his hands in his pockets.

[Ice Wall]

CRAAACK!

The light spear struck against the ice wall and only managed to remove a chunk of the solid ice.

"WOAH!!!"

The crowd gasped in amazement as Kaelan's attack was stopped so easily by Aaron. The light magician turned red with anger as every second that passed could potentially sabotage his dreams of breaking Raven's record.

"Just fucking die Aaron Regis!" Kaelan screamed as he dashed forward while gathering mana in his hands. He was planning on using an AOE attack to blow Aaron away but he had a big surprise waiting for him.

[Arrows of Light]

He was shocked as arrows made of light energy appeared behind Aaron and started shooting at him. Aaron's family was known for their flame magic superiority and they could hardly use other elements, but here was Aaron using two nearly opposite elements skillfully. He jumped left and right to dodge but the arrows persistently chased him.

'Shit! I didn't want to use this but I can't afford to waste time

[Eye of Hope: Aura Release]

His eyes glowed brightly and the whole arena was blinded for a second by the glare of the light but when their sight had returned they were shocked to see the two mages still standing.

Aaron's cold green gaze hadn't shifted from Aaron and he had a trickle of blood dribbling down his cheek but no injury was to be seen. 

He wiped the blood off before deciding that he had wasted enough time. He wanted the whole thing over with already and he knew just how to do it.

[Instant Movement]

The crowd gasped as he moved behind Kaelan in a flash and kicked the mage at the back of the knees before grabbing his flailing arm and twisting it behind his back.

CRAAACK!

"Aaaaaargh!"

The scene was grisly as bones stuck out and blood trickled down. Kaelan's right arm was bent at an unnatural angle and he was on the verge of breaking into tears from the pain.

Aaron's eyes were still as cold as ever as he watched Kaelan scream. A battle wasn't over until you incapacitated your opponent and Kaelan was still screaming so the battle wasn't over yet.

CRAAACK!

"Aaaaaaargh!"

Kaelan screamed again as Aaron broke his other arm. The audience was shocked and the officials were already running into the scene to stop Aaron. The closest referee leaped forward to tackle Aaron to the ground but Aaron didn't even pay him any mind.

[Instant Movement] 

The referee had almost reached Aaron when he disappeared from his sight and the confused referee crashed into the ground.

"As the last mage standing, Aaron Regis has won the Group 2 battle royale! Five minutes and eighteen seconds, he broke Raven Longstaff's record less than an hour after it had been set!" The announcer was in high spirits as he declared Aaron the winner. Kaelan already had healers attending to him but Aaron was just staring blankly as another referee lifted his hand into the air.

'Eye of Hope users are supposed to be able to see my instant movement when their eyes are activated. Why wasn't Kaelan able to?' He thought as his eye roamed through the crowd. At the VIP action, he crossed eyes with his father who had looked incredulous.

Stephen Regis stared at his son with an expression of utter surprise. Aaron always managed to shatter his composure with his actions. An ungraded mage defeating another mage over four grass ahead of him was a feat unheard of before. Aaron had made history and Stephen felt very proud of his son at that moment.

"Aaron has regained his honor and has finally stanched all those rumors about the Hope family slowly becoming the greatest ducal family of Aldesty. Our son has solidified our position over the Hopians with this victory" Dorothy smiled proudly while placing a hand on her husband's lap. Her mental state had greatly improved since Aaron came back but she was still saddened about his new behaviour.

"Have a little modesty. This is just the first match, he might be eliminated in the second match. Besides, he's my child, my talent flows in his veins" Stephen's cocky nature returned quickly and he regained his cold expression. Dorothy shook her head with a rueful smile as she knew her husband all too well.

'Stephen, you still don't understand yet...'