F-F-FLASHBACK!

Just as I saw the tall blonde walk off to a corner, I catch the glimpse of vivid green eyes and bright red hair.

"Achilles?"

The way I said the nickname aloud slightly startled the spartan themed warrior.

We stared at each other for a moment, until Pyrrha broke the 5 seconds of silence.

"Theia?" She uttered, dumbfounded .

Let's rewind a few years back, 'ay?

…

I check up my stats once more to see my conditions.

[Name: Grayson Heartvale]

[Status]

Level:43

Exp:5,860/11,000

HP:1218/1385

Aura Level:B8

Aura Capacity:1152/1749

STR:B3(A3)

DEX:A1

AGL:A2(S2)

END:B2(A2)

PER:A10

Stat Points:36

Alright, I'm still going strong. Climbing up to the finals was tough, and holding back was even tougher.

Ever since I've enrolled in Flag Academy in Vale, I couldn't help but notice that I was basically superior to many in, not only my grade, but many of the seniors as well.

Nearly perfect marks in weapon creation, combat, and team exercises were written in my report cards, thanks to earlier experience and knowledge. Even the more academic strands of work, I had little difficulty in because of my mental age.

Eventually, I started volunteering for the division tournament of Vale.

4 combat schools existed within Vale's city map. Flag, Astral, Luminous, and Signal.

The tournaments were held for the ages of 13 to 16, of which I was a young teen at the time.

The outcome was too clear, with only few giving me a challenge. This resulted in me thinking on something more… investing in the long run.

For 2 consecutive years, I trained my 13 year old body till I could reach this level, knowing who I was planning to face. And by that time, the title of 'Invincible Girl' was given to a certain redhead.

I KNEW that that would be messing with canon, but right now, the butterflies can flutter for all I care.

I didn't know if I was going to deal with someone who was at my league, but I trained more nonetheless.

I focused more on my aura, lengthening the time I can keep it active, and strengthening the quality of which I can keep it at. Without my physical training, I settled on just using the stat points I've saving up.

I asked my Mom if I could list myself on the Mistral regional tournament. She granted it, even though she was surprised I didn't decide on the one in Vale.

The seats in the preliminaries were much more filled up than what I expected it to be. The name "Pyrrha Nikos" or "Invincible Girl" was a common chant within the crowd.

Luckily, I never got to fight her until now, in the finals. Whether it be a work of fate or just pure luck, I found it funny that it happened the way it did.

"Ladies and gentlemen! For this year's final match, we have: the pride and joy of Mistral, the invincible girl with a two year winning streak and going for a third, the top notcher of the Oasis combat school- Pyrrha Nikos!"

The cheering I hear almost makes me cover my ears from the absolute avalanche inducing shouts. Doubt was figuratively non-existent as the announcer didn't bother to say "probably going for a third".

But I never really wanted to win that 200 thousand lien first place prize anyway.

I just wanted to give a spartan a good fight.

"And her challenger, coming from Vale, we have Grayson Heartvale!"

Hearing my short and more simplified description made me feel a bit two-sided. On one hand, I don't really plan to win first place. On the other hand, I kinda didn't want to get downplayed by the announcer.

As I walk to the arena, the cheering I hear gets significantly weaker and I could even hear a bit of booing as well.

I had an attire that I will almost always consider my go to huntsman outfit. The fabric they use in huntsmen clothing is surprisingly durable and hard to even scratch by normal means.

The red, short sleeved, button down. The light gray pants. The dust shoes disguised as ordinary rubber shoes. The two pouches on each side of my hip that are just for show, thanks to my inventory. And blue hand wraps.

Stopping at my side of the stage, I mentally use 'Observe' on the red and gold themed warrior.

[Name:Pyrrha Nikos]

[Status]

Level:28

HP:1625/1670

Aura Level:B7

Aura Capacity:622/718

STR:B7(A7)

DEX:B6

AGL:B6(A6)

END:B7(A7)

PER:B5

She was significantly lower leveled than me, and I had the advantages of knowing her semblance and being pretty agile, while her only advantage was better combat experience.

"Good luck, Achilles!" I exclaim the nickname, to which her eyes widened.

"You're calling me a hero?"

That was another thing. I remember the big G saying something about diversifying, but I think this was what he meant. Greek myths and legends were actually a thing, although they were renamed as Vacuan legend. And not only was Vacuo a haven of such stories, but everywhere else too. I could vaguely recall some Asian folk lore being centred in Mistral, while the more Western beliefs were mostly from Vacuo and some in Atlas.

"No, I'm telling you that you may be exceptionally powerful," I unsheath Polyfang, my cinquedea, from my back. If the blade were longer, trying to pull it from the sheath would look kinda awkward to watch. "But you're bound to have weaknesses that I can exploit."

For a split second, I could see the suprise leak out of her expression. She wasn't afraid. No. She seemed happy, actually. Excited even.

"Well, you'll just have to see if I have any."

"3!" The countdown started and we got to our stances. I kept low while Pyrrha settled with a guarding stance.

At this point, activating my aura was like second nature to me and I could already feel the warm blanket of my own soul cover my body.

My own was a sheet of light in light grey while hers was a bright red.

"2!" The way her legs were more than ready to dash made me switch to a wider stance.

"1!" I mean, it would've been clever.

"Begin!" If I didn't have Dust in my shoes.

The stance she used was abandoned as I hear the combination of gears clicking and grinding.

I dodged the next moment, quickly sidestepping to the left, several rounds of gunfire shoot past my previous position and the place where I was going to be.

Her eyes narrowed in focus as I kept dodging more gunfire while getting closer to her range.

By the point where I was about 4 paces away, I hear another series of metallic shifting. The red and gold rifle in her hands then switched back to it's spear form.

With the superior reach she had, I was forced to back away from the several stabs she sent while dashing at my direction.

I resolved myself to restrict the amount of stat points I would use until I would attend a huntsman school, specifically Beacon of course. And as desperate I am for power, I feel like I need more actual combat experience when going against opponents as strong or stronger than me.

I grabbed a palm sized Fire Dust crystal from my pouch/inventory and threw it at the feet of the advancing redhead with more than enough force to trigger the effect.

She backed away the moment the explosion went off and I created the chance for myself to engage in melee.

She was unsurprisingly unperturbed by the grenade-like blast and was already sprinting ahead at me with Miló in it's short sword form.

I dashed to her as well, adding Wind Dust to my steps. We met with a brief clash, before exchanging several attacks and parries in quick succession.

She met and retaliated my attacks with the grace of an acrobat and the ferocity of a boxer in their prime. How she balanced those two qualities was mesmerising to witness, even from an opponent's perspective.

I met hers with fluidity and a certain amount of caution. I wouldn't have noticed the occasional glints of dark grey on my weapon, redirecting and sometimes slowing down my blows, if I wasn't looking for it.

This short but stamina consuming trading of slashes and stabs was won by her, as I escaped to the opposite direction, evading more of her timely and accurate thrusts.

I gripped the handle of Polyfang tighter, controlling the freezing property of the Dust inside it to the tip of the blade.

Her stabby assault was stopped when I slashed the ground in her direction. The Ice Dust in my short sword was able to conjure a small wave shaped iceberg to appear and distract the spartan.

The sudden existence of the large body of ice was enough to make her eyes blink rapidly from the frosty temperature directed at her, and it was enough of an opening for me to use.

For all the good combatant she was, Pyrrha never really utilized Dust in combat, which was a slight flaw in my opinion. The power of nature at your fingertips and all you need to know how to use it is through learning a bit of life bending(Aura). The offer seemed too great to pass up.

As she quickly backed away from the iceberg, I was already propelling myself at her with a bit of Wind Dust in the soles of my shoes.

Right when my weapon was just a split second away from chipping away a large chunk of her aura, a very distinct dark grey energy envelopes it and makes me slash at her shield.

I widened my eyes in a mock act of suprise and back away from her. The semblance was almost obvious enough to be seen in camera, if not for the fraction of a second it took for her to guard and use it in a short burst. If they did manage to get it on camera, I still bet that someone would say that my aura control slipped due to it being almost the same color.

"Oh." I simply say, in a manner of realization.

"Oh, indeed." Oh good, she seemed to be in a talking mood.

"Ever tried controlling metalloids? I bet those would be harder to move." I jokingly comment.

A smirk appeared on her face after that.

"Now that you know, I wonder how you're going to plan around it. The weapon IS an extension of our bodies after all."

This was not the same kind mannered and subtly cheery Pyrrha I watched from the show; this was still an unbeaten champion that had pride and a face to keep up. Sure, the similarities with her personality were still quite prominent, but she still wasn't there yet, I suppose.

"I just have question before we… you know, fight for honor and a butt load of lien." I say.

"What is it?"

A pause and a heartbeat.

"Do you believe in destiny?"

It took her a few moments to collect an answer for herself. The unspoken temporary truce we established confused the crowd.

"I'm… not quite sure. I was planning on letting the chips fall where they may."

I smirked at that. Looks like some things never do change.

"Alright then, I hope you're ready for what comes next."

I raised my fist with my sword in its grip… and drop it.

This doesn't faze her a bit, but she proceeded to back away.

Good choice.

I put both my hands in my pouches, looking as if I was getting something from it when I was actually fishing my inventory for a small Wind Dust crystal and a handful of it's powdered version in my left hand.

Fun thing about Dust- you can choose whether or not to trigger it when your aura come into contact with it. Granted, it took some practice, but the variety of special moves I could execute expanded.

I sprinkle the Wind Dust in a trail as I dash at high speeds to my target. My aura was spread out and my body lost most of it's glow.

She was immediately in a defensive stance that will very soon prove useless.

With another burst of Wind Dust, I stop myself just a few feet in front of her in a readying stance.

"Dance of the Four Guardian Beasts…"

As I grip the Dust crystal in my clenched hand, I crush it and let the hurricane of force direct itself to my right forearm and hand.

"Fist of the Black Turtle!"