Chapter 26 : The Cripple and the Prodigy

The crystalline arrow caused Adel's hair to stand up.

This wasn't a simple fight anymore. This was life and death if that arrow hit you.

Reading a magic bullet, Ajel poured all of his mana into perfecting the shape.

The size, he wanted it slimmer than a piece of hair.

the sharpness he wanted it to be like the sharpest dagger.

He couldn't doge in time, not with his leg.

Ashe's face was consumed by pure fury, embarrassment flooded her face as a voice was screamed out.

"/ You bastard! /"

Maybe it was the same sort of thing as an awakening? if so it just showed how powerful strong stimuli could be to achieve new power.

It was no different from when he conjured up his first magic bullet, out of range for that Illuminator woman.

But now.

He was on the receiving side.

He wasn't fast enough to dodge and couldn't face it head-on.

Grabbing and throwing the petricite spear, Ajel saw it whizz through the air.

"/That.... won't..... again!/

A shield of ice was conjured in front of the arrow, making Grena stand up in the tallest section of the stadium.

"THAT IS MY DAUGHTER!" Grena roared out, stunning those around her.

"Good riddance." Yvonne only gave a small snort, before shaking her head and closely observing the boy.

The ice shield cracked under the pressure of the spear, but Ajel noticed that it still hadn't broken.

And now, he had to deal with the brunt of the consequences.

The ice arrow spans around in a circle, as Ashe released it from her bow.

Using his fingers, Ajel aimed for the tip of the arrow, watching as his piercing magic bullet that had everything poured into it dug into the ice arrow that made the temperature in the Stadium drop negatively, even when it was knocking on may and starting to approach on the hotter, warmer seasons

The bullet had caused the arrow to make a dent in the tip, blunting it, but the force of it was still not stopping, and the density and power of the ice is too much!

luckily, it was quite slow compared to what he was thinking.

Ajel's brain whirled for a second before he looked down at his iron leg.

Plan B!

he wanted to test this hypothesis.

Taking it off and revealing a stump, Ajel masterfully placed a ritual circle with experience before pouring some magic water down the hole in the leg.

The arrow was not even 20 yards away as Ajel poured all of his mana into the magical circle, causing the leg to become a shield.

"It worked!"

Ajel had no time for joy, however, as he pulled up the shield with haste and made an effort to block the strong arrow.

The impact of the arrow sent him back, as he tumbled down the sand path, nearly outside the limits of the zone.

Looking over and examining his shield, Ajel breathed in relief.

Thank god it didn't break, or he would have to walk with a crutch again.

Why did I do that?

"/Leave, Battle/" Ajel didn't know how to use the word Forfeit, so he had to make a decision.

Ashe seemed to be torn with anger, as she slowly grabbed the bow that had recoiled out of her hands due to the impact with the ice arrow and slowly started to make herself over.

"/Freljord , no surrender./" He heard a sentence, but he only understood parts of it.

She approached him, before staring down at the person who managed to block her powerful move.

"/Do not mock me./" She hissed, as Ajel stared blankly into her eyes, no emotions present in them.

The apathetic stare causes Ashe to scream before Ajel blinked.

A punch was thrown in his face.

Then another.

Then another.

Ajel stared blankly as he looked at the incoming blows.

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"Grena. Stop." Yvonne used her stick to block Grena , who looked like she was going to jump down and stop her daughter.

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He felt no pain , no feeling , no emotion.

His eyes drifted from the girl's face to the edge of the stand, where a bird could be seen.

The eagle was strange , with the outlines and the eyes of the creature being blue.

It was.... beautiful.

Beautiful.....

beautiful.

Ｂｅａｕｔｉｆｕｌ.

The word reminded him of his sister, the laughs they had , the joy and emotions shared between the two.

that was truly Beautiful.

But beautiful fades.

And you become alone , nothing more than a empty shell. A soulless husk , one with nothing than your own thoughts ; pretending to be something you don't want to be.

He remembered when he killed that child , the name of which he had already forgot.

Torn in a bloody rage , the boundary between morals was broken , and he a part of himself that day.

A part of him he would never receive back.

The blows to his face stopped , as Ajel slowly started to finally get his head together.

His eyes were rid of the apathetic emotion before, as his eyes were cold and possessed a gleam of red.

"/ Are you finished?/"

Ajel saw that the hawk in the corner of the stadium slowly started to disintegrate , which wasn't in any of Ajel concerns right now.

Ashe seemed to snap out of her state , as she slowly looke dup to the rooms where her tribesman were , and all she saw was disappointed stares being thrown at her.

She quickly looked down , before seeing the bloody face of the boy that she was meant to be fighting.

"/You said it yourself./" Ajel muttered , crawling towards his leg in a manner that someone would look down on him. But Ashe just froze.

He was out of mana , tired and his face felt like it was going to explode.

Ajel watched as the shield returned to the foot , which he didnt expect to happen.

Ajel poured out of the water inside , before placing the damp leg on his stump and picking up his spear.

"Fight me , Ashe of Avarosa."