Who's Gonna Beat Who?

Ardor sat on the edge of a windowsill, staring at the tower from a distance as he sighed.

Beside him was a bed, with a pale thin man with the same white hair as Ardor laying motionless.

The only sounds in the room was the beeping of the life support, accompanied by the slow breathing of his father.

'What matters is he's alive Ardor,' God said, 'Once you gain enough strength, you'll be able to find the culprits responsible for this.'

'I know my lord, I was just meditating,' Ardor thought with his eyes gaining it's focus once more, 'I heard there was a new combat instructor.'

God chuckled, 'You're qualified enough to be a combat instructor yourself.'

'I know, but you know I'm quite excited to spar with this one. The combat instructor is apparently my age and a skilled one.' Ardor stood up before nearing his father beside the bed. 'If I can't even be the best in this place how could I hope to save my dad from whatever this is.'

'Why don't you go and spar with him right now then Ardor?'

'Classes have already ended, but I'm sure I'll get to spar with him whenever faith demands it.'

Thinking this, he gripped his father's hands tight before heading back to the tower. By the time he arrived the sun had already began to hide behind the horizon. The entrance to the tower was well guarded as usual, he passed by greeting the few guards present with a nod and a smile.

He'd been living here for many years now. Everyone knew of him and everyone respected him for the powers he wielded and the friendliness he displayed. Someday the students here will be his comrades, and being friendly with the staff would boost his reputation and grant him special privileges.

The one he'd been most friendly with were the people whom God recommended. Those with access to all kinds of information, people like Omni or the Commander of the Police force, whom he would visit from time to time. Having connections with them would help him find out more about the Cult of Sin and where exactly they could be.

He was itching to spill the blood of those cultists.

A few minutes passed before he reached Synthia's quarters. Ever since she had taken him in, Ardor treated her as his second mother.

Synthia who was sitting down turned to look at him just as he opened the door. Her eyes lit up but they quickly narrowed,

"Where have you been young man!?"

"I felt a bit somber" Ardor muttered, "So I visited my dad for a bit."

Hearing this Synthia's gaze softened, she couldn't help but sigh. She paced towards the boy and gave him a hug and a pat on the head.

"Stop that. I'm not a child anymore." Ardor said flatly, and yet a red blush started to appear on his ears.

"I know you aren't." Synthia said, "but even adults need affection from time to time."

Ardor argued no more. "Thank you," He said.

"There is no such thing as thank you between family members. This is what I should do." Synthia chuckled,

'You know, connections like this will be used against you someday.' The voice of God echoed in Ardor's mind.

'I know, I plan to leave her.' Ardor thought, 'I'm just enjoying these last moments.'

God stayed silent after that, and Ardor continued to be comforted for a minute in silence before they continued the conversation.

"Have you been waiting for me all this time, aunt?" Ardor asked as he slumped on a couch.

"Yes I was." Synthia said as she paced back to her seat. "I have very good news for you."

Ardor peered over at her and sees a notebook at her table. Synthia writes multiple lines before speaking again,

"You will be going to Vision." Synthia muttered,

"Go where now?"

"Vision!" Synthia said louder, "It's a place where you can get much much stronger than you are now. I'm writing you notes on what to do when you get there so you can use your time there efficiently."

"How come I'm getting to go?" Ardor asked, lounging about as he put out his phone from his pockets. "Is it my birthday or something?"

"Well technically you're supposed to fight someone first and only if you win will you go." Synthia said, "But I don't think the battle will be much of a problem for you."

Ardor raised an eyebrow ,"I'll fight someone? A member of the staff? Because I can't recall any student who even has a chance against me."

Syntia laughed, "Such arrogance!"

"You know it's true. Why else would you be writing notes already when the battle isn't even over yet."

Synthia shook her her head with a smile as she kept writing. "Do you want to know who you're going to fight?"

"No one important I guess?" Ardor yawned as he fidgeted with his phone. A message seemed to pop up on the screen, Ardor read it for a second before speaking out "Prince is telling me about how hectic today was. The new combat instructor was apparently wack."

"You should go and meet him yourself." Synthia said, "He's the one you're going to fight after all."

"Seriously?" Ardor smiled, he sprung up from the chair and stretched, "Now that's pretty interesting. Where do you think he would be?"

"Check the training grounds. If you're lucky he'd be there, if not, then he's probably hiding at the founder's place again." Synthia said with an expression that seemed displeased at the very thought of the combat instructor.

Ardor took note of this, before pacing out the door, "I'll see you later Aunt Synthia."

Synthia smiled before waving her hand. The door slammed shut and Ardor went on to his way towards the training grounds. The whole walk towards the training grounds was pleasant as students would smile at him as he passed and he would smile and give a nod in return.

The destination however was not as pleasant as the journey. The training grounds were much more livelier than Ardor had ever seen before. The smell of sweat and the noise of multiple students sparring was quite overwhelming to the senses.

He had to get on top of the bleachers to even get a glimpse of where his friends were. There in the center were Prince, Emilia, Layla, and Crock. They had sweat dripping down the entirety of their bodies, and their eyes seemed to have this fiery gaze as they trained with each other. For some reason, Crock and Layla's eyes burned the most, it was as if they were training to beat someone to a pulp.

Ardor jogged towards them, waving his hands as he yelled, "Hey guys!"

Prince and Emilia waved back and Ardor got closer, he noticed the shoe mark on Layla's face, and the peculiar silence of Crock.

"What happened here?" Ardor asked as he arrived beside them. "There's a lot of people here for some reason, and why is Layla actually training to fight?"

Prince chuckled wryly before speaking, "Well, the answer to all your questions is basically the combat instructor. He taught classes for one day and caused all this."

Prince moved closer and whispered, "You see that shoemark on Layla's face? Yeah the combat instructor caused that."

"He kicked her?" Ardor whispered back,

"No, the combat instructor threw his shoe at her face." Prince said and finally moved back to his original position, unfortunately he was met with a glare from Layla.

"I swear when I get my hands on that barbarian I'll crush him with the bottom of my boot." Layla seethed, with a fist clenched so hard Ardor could see her veins popping out. "This stupid shoemark won't disappear for some reason too! I already healed but why's it still red!

Chuckling nervously, Ardor decided to place his attention toward Crock who had been doing nothing but rest in silence as his sparring with Emilia had been interrupted by Ardor's arrival.

"Man this is weird as hell. Why is Layla so aggressive and why is Crock so quiet." Ardor asked,

"About that..." Prince started, however he remained silent as Crock eyed him with a piercing stare.

"It wasn't a moment I'd like to share Pretty boy." Crock growled,

Ardor could only scratch his head as Prince chuckled like he was going to cry.

"Emilia, let's go at it again." Crock muttered after a few minutes of awkward silence.

Emilia responded with a nod. Crock and Emilia entered a battle stance, followed by the activation of both of their powers.

"I don't know what that guy did to you guys, but just so you know, when I fight him I'll pay him back tenfold." Ardor said, "Aunt Synthia said we'll have an official match or something."

Hearing this his friends turned to look at him. Not only his friends but even the ones in the vicinity turned their attention to Ardor.

"An official match?" Prince asked to which Ardor replied with a nod.

"You better beat him to a pulp," Layla said with anticipation behind her voice, "but save some for me."

"I have the same worries as Layla, don't cripple him. It would feel better if I beat that bastard." Crock said,

"Did you hear what Ardor said?" A random student nearby whispered,

"Yeah man, I think he said he'll be fighting the combat instructor for some reason."

"Yeah that's what I heard too."

And so even without the announcement, a rumor had circulated that Ardor would beat Sicarius senseless for beating his friends.