The Hidden Truth

Note: Hello my dear readers, this note is to inform you that there will be a name change, Instructor Leo will be renamed as Instructor Barion

***

As Auther was stepping out of the sparring ring suddenly he heard someone calling him from behind.

" Auther Wait!, sorry to interrupt you like this but We couldn't accurately measure your strength so we hope you can cooperate. So for your next test, you will be fighting me. To be fair I won't use any mana. We will be fighting head-to-head with raw strength. "

"Ayyoo! What."

[Wtf is wrong with this old man? Is he experiencing menopause at this age or what? I should somehow try to slip out of here. Maybe Uncle can help me with this].

...

"Son I know you can do it, Kick that mo*******rs a**, spank him till he cries like a baby HuHooo! That's my nephew there. Haiyaa!. "

"I think I am done for today, My days were full of hardship and fun and I don't regret anything, SAYONARA. "

Auther felt like beating his uncle more than he felt to fight old man Barion. Barion looked calm but Auther could see how annoyed he was by his Uncle's words. Auther knew that they were old buddies in the past but he didn't think that Neo would really mess this up. Auther almost felt like being pierced by his stares. 

Barion was a middle-aged man who was around 36 years happened to enter the tower 5 years ago. Some say that he was a part of yakuza and some say that he was the leader of some drug ring, but to Auther, Barion's eyes in the ring looked exhausted, It looked like he had been searching for something relentlessly. Barion was always cautious around people, he never smiled once and never took a rest, he was definitely over-exerting himself.

"Well Auther as I previously told to be fair I will not use my mana rather I will fight using my raw strength." 

[Hmmm Being Chivelerous, This old man has quite a build I guess, I don't think he practices martial arts but he has quite an experience of fighting monsters than me, well I have seen him fight during the monster waves, and he is quite adept with his hands, maybe I think I should aim for his legs or...."

Swish!

"Young man I think you should pay more attention over here."

While Auther was wandering in his own thoughts Barion suddenly rushed forward, he could easily cover a distance of 10 meters in just 3 seconds. Barion was almost at his neck ready to attack any moment, but just then Auther reflexively moved backward to distance himself from Barion.

" uh hu you are quite fast there young man, I didn't think you could've dodged that, I guess you didn't slack off during these 5 months."

As soon as Barion finished his words he dashed towards Auther without giving him a chance, But Auther was quite surprised himself, the attacks looked very slow which gave him a chance to dodge but just when he thought he had dodged he would get hit from all the directions. Auther tried his best to evade all the attacks.

The audience were astonished to see that Auther was on par with Barion's speed. It almost felt like both were of equal strength.

Their movements were quite hard to follow, it was like an endless dance between two artists. Their attacks looked swift without any unnecessary movements.

[Alex pov: What happened to Master today he was never this serious in any duel before, Is he truly having a hard time against Auther?]

Auther was indulged in dodging those attacks, just when Barion left his guard open Auther rushed forward to launch an attack.

"Do you think I am a fool to give up on my guard during the fight"

Just when Auther thought he had hit, Barion had already caught his leg, He sent him flying out onto the stage, After that suddenly Barion easily locked his body and tried to choke him using his legs This type of technique is also known as the Triangular Choke, It is one of the best submissive chokes to make the opponent give up. Auther struggled a lot to escape the grapple but he couldn't do anything but rather stay on the ground aimlessly. Auther was almost half conscious but he was never ready to give up, slowly his movements stopped.

After which only Barion gradually loosened his grip and tried to get back on his knees. 

As he thought the fight was over suddenly the Auther Flinged onto him he tightly gripped his hands locked in a perfect position and applied all his strength on that single choke. It was the perfect movement that he planned he knew that Barion would never give up on his guard so he acted like he was a naive little kid with no experience but that was all a bluff to gain a chance to land a hit.

While Auther was suddenly choking, Barion's thoughts were in a scramble, he just wanted to check Auther's strength he didn't know he would get caught up in his plan, he knew better than anyone that escaping this choke was near impossible if it was any other normal choke he could've simply won against it with his body weight and strength but he definitely had locked him in a difficult position. He felt powerless and desperate, He was ashamed of himself. Barion was a really hard worker, he climbed through the ranks with just his hard work, he didn't have any talents nor the resources, he painstakingly trained to achieve this status and now he was losing to a boy who didn't even know how to control the mana. He felt like his efforts were useless, he was trying his best and thought he had at least reached the ranks of Neo but the result was already in front of him. He was almost losing consciousness but suddenly his urge to use the mana exploded and he supplied a bit of the mana to his half-conscious brain.

He was in a desperate move. Barion was almost choked to death but he started hitting Auther's ribs using his elbows which exhibited a large amount of mana that could destroy a person's internal organs or severe Auther's bones, Slowly Auther lost the grip and within a fraction of a second Barion had already escaped his grasps. He quickly knocked down Auther and started to hit his face.

Neo was really shocked to see Barion in that state, he didn't expect Auther to win but he intended this to be an experience for him.

"Hey Barry now you showing your true colors, get back to your senses m*******er he's still a kid who doesn't even know how to use the mana."

"Neo you are here to give me your crap again, don't you think that you have done enough by saving this boy. He's got such a talent which I desire but could not even get. Sheesh!."

Barion's vision was almost blurry, he couldn't distinguish what was going on. He suddenly fell unconscious near Auther.

The fact that this duel happened was known to only less than 10 people who were present at the ring. Most of the hunters and the audience had already gone home.

***

{Evening}

Auther had just sparring in the duel a few hours ago but now he was unknowingly in an empty space, everything was black around him. He started to aimlessly walk around the space.

"Hello!, Is anybody here? Hello!."

[I definitely was sparring with Barion and almost lost the match after which Barion started to use his mana to inflict damage, but I don't remember what happened after that. Why am I here? There's literally nothing in here.]

Auther walked in the empty space for hours without seeing the end, but he never found out where he was or where he was going.

Suddenly he bumped across something, He went a few steps back to see what it was. It was a huge piece of metal chunks, it was black and had little ancient carvings on it, Auther reached out to it and noticed it was the tower entrance door which never opened. Not even heavy metal bombs or any kind of magic could destroy those invincible metal chunks. As he touched it some weird voices began to echo in his brain, there were drum beats all around him, there were noises that sounded like some tribal language. Auther was unconditionally scared he tried running backward, but the sounds never seemed to stop. As he was running he bumped into the door again, the noises started to increase as if something was approaching him, The drum rolls echoed in his ears and then suddenly he heard a faint little whisper "I am waiting for you Auther." after that phrase a he also heard a weird little laughter which totally freaked him out.

Due to shock Auther finally woke up from his bed. He was in the infirmary as he was admitted due to the sparring incident.

"Instructor Barion!."

"Hey! Auther, Firstly I would like to say sorry to you, I know I am shameless to even speak about it. I will talk with the academy about your compensation, but you really have worked hard and I know that you have the talent to advance further than anyone else you could even beat Alex at this rate."

"Instructor Barion Thank you very much for your consideration, I really had fun sparring with you, to be honest, It helped me overcome the wall that had become a hurdle in my training."

" I see you are a smooth talker just like your uncle, Also please call me Barion no need to use the honorifics."

There was a moment of silence after their first interaction nobody was willing to say anything. They both understood the silence, The silence that echoed throughout the whole room

***

"She was around your age, My daughter. Her mother passed away just after she was born. I was always busy with my work, I had no time to take care of her. Sometimes she just stayed in the house all by herself watching cartoons, and sometimes I would come home late but she never complained or cried, She was a strong girl just like her mother. I wanted to be a better dad for her so I thought that going on a trip would make her happy. We traveled a long distance to see the snow which she always adored watching on the television. After reaching there we set out to go see the scenery but suddenly I don't know how I was transported into this hell hole never to meet my daughter again. She must have been scared, I can't even imagine how she would've felt, A lonely child roaming around the streets. I tried so hard even participated in the final battle to get out of here but it's no use. I don't think I can hold out anymore. I need to find a way out faster. I don't even know how she is, or where she is. I don't know why I am sharing this with you but all I can see ahead is darkness. Please help me Auther! Someone said you will be able to help me out."

"Barion! I never once met my parents as of my earliest memories and I never blamed them for leaving too early. The past is the only thing that crafts a perfect future, and the perfect future is the result of that unfinished past. A past with no regrets does not always lead to success. We will all get out of here together, For now, I have already thought of a plan but I just need your support and this should be a secret from my Uncle."

After hearing those words of hope from a child Barion couldn't control himself. He slowly leaned forward and started to tear up, His body was shaking with fear and exhaustion. He never had once taken rest, he exerted his body to get the best outcomes. His hands had become rough from practicing swordsmanship all day. He wore the same dress for many days without having to waste his money on buying useless cotton chunks. His life was indeed a very tough one.

"Instruc....Barion My Uncle always used to say the Past is like those bitches always fucking our lives we just have to aim for our goals and never look back that is what makes us strong."

"Haha, nice one. your uncle used to joke around like that during our prime days. Even though he looks quite young, he's truly an admirable comrade until that incident."

"That Incident?"

"Didn't your Uncle tell you about it?"

[He never mentioned about himself, I just know that he was one of the Generations 1 captains. His strength is truly noteworthy but I don't think he is any stronger than Barion, did something happen in the past? Let me just play along]

"He never opened the topic again after once mistakingly saying it out aloud when he was drunk. He warned me not to tell it about others. Can you tell in particular what happened that day?"

"You know Auther Neo was actually ....."

***

To be continued...