The thunder rippled louder just as she said her name. She looked like a Daisy.
The thunder rippled loudly again.
" Holy shit ", Daisy said flinching hard.
" You're scared of the lightning?" Theo asked calmly playing with the sand. Murmurs grew louder in the background as the sky grew dark.
" No, I'm scared of him ", Daisy said pointing at a silhouette flying a few metres in sight, suspended on air. Clearly a master in flight.
Theo's eyes went upwards and squinted at the figure.
" And who's that?".
Before Daisy could answer screams of excitement and joy erupted. Chanting his name loudly.
Theo got his answer.
Fray Orion Vallis, the son of the World guard and a system user.
" He's the son of Sir Orion ".
Theo's eyes blinked in quiet confusion. ' The Sir Orion '.
' A man who's defeated an abyss Fiend one on one. A world guard. A man already on the Superhero Mount Rushmore '.
When he came to he looked back up then turned back to Daisy. " No fucking way ".
" I'm serious. He's the son of a world guard. He's even a system user ", Daisy replied bluntly.
' Life just isn't fair is it? How can a person be born with world guard genetics and still be a system user. What are the chances?'. Fray was casually suspended there, his sword dangling behind him. Staring down at one person. Theodore Vaughn Gunes. The animosity was definitely not hidden.
" Yeah why is he looking at me like that?", Theo said, the first hint of nervousness revealing itself in his voice.
Daisy stood up smiling. " Maybe he wants to have a word ".
Then she walked away, giving Fray the perfect opening he so clearly wanted to start his business.
Or maybe he didn't want to talk.
Theodore just sat there, hands clapsing his knees watching as Fray lowered himself slowly onto the ground with perfect precision.
' Men I really need to learn how to fly '.
Fray eyes didn't deceive him. They never did. He was fiend, Theodore Vaughn Gunes, the fourth son of the Vaughn Gunes Family was a fiend.
The man had long brown hair and abnormally blue eyes. Pale skin decorated by beauty marks and light freckles.
The cursed beauty all human fiends shared with eachother.
Theodore was larger in person.
Theo on the other hand saw a tall boy with a sharp face and wide narrow set eyes. Like a predator. Now that Theo got an up close look, he saw the resemblance. Especially in that snow white hair.
His sword was long. Really long. Between 170 and 180cm.
The hilt was complex and looked like water drops going up to the sky, frozen in motion. A perpetual velvet colour.
It was made of a dark steel substance and pieces of it even floated on air.
Men this was a cool looking weapon.
It's sheath was long. And not tied to the side of his waist but kept in place by a strap behind him, so it dangled horizontally.
He could feel the Arcane emanating from the weapon, and it wasn't even drawn yet.
It was most likely a Runic ( weapons which are infused with Arcane )
' Those things were expensive as fuck '.
Theo gulped down hard as his attention moved up from the sword to those narrow hooded eyes.
" So you're Theodore?", Fray said coldly. Not a hint of comradry in his voice.
' men how old was this kid?'
" I am ". Theo replied, hiding his nervousness. Its a feeling of fear, a message. Your body trying to tell you not to move too fast.
Fray was a predator and his eyes said it all. He was clearly looking for a confrontation.
[ Fiend detected ]
[ Class....Unknown ].
That's the first time the system ever told Fray that the class was unknown.
" Tch ", Fray muttered clearly repulsed at seeing a fiend act human.
His hands twitched. If he moved fast enough he could decapitate Theodore before he realised it.
And Theodore knew it.
He'd been in enough fights and has died so many times to know when a person habored killing intent.
Instinctively his fists clenched and he realised a burst of his Archane will
It was a spherical black energy with small sparks of white lighting. It caused some of the other trainees who where watching the confrontation to go dizzy.
Some plants turned dead instantly.
It was ominous indeed.
Fray met the challenge and released his. It was even larger but not as concentrated.
He was standing over Theo and their eyes never moved from eachother. Frays Will was a bright purple.
The two Archaic will's collided.
They could be seen from the top of the mountain.
This was the first time Theo was releasing Arcane will, something only very few humans could do. He didn't even know how he was doing it but he wasn't backing down either.
Their collision released such bursts of winds that it pulled the neighbouring trees to their limit.
Anyone within 500 metres found it really hard not to get blown away by the wind.
" These guys are monsters ".
Not all the students could stand it so some of em just fainted on the spot.
" So this is the Arcane of the King?", Daisy murmed from a safe distance unable to hide her horrifyingly gleeful expression. But she made sure no one was looking.
" How delightful ". She scratched her own cheeks till they bled. Seeing Theo's Archaic will fixed in her such a psychotic joy that her eyes moved to the back of her head.
It all regenerated instantly. No one noticed
But Fray wasn't content with testing the surface.
His hands slowly clapsed his sheath.
And his right leg went back. He lowered his stance further. One hand ready to shoot out and end it with one slash.
Never looking away from those blue eyes of Theodore.
[ Warning – Do not engage with Unknown Fiend ]
[ Warning – Caution ]
[ Warning – Caution ]
[ Warning – Do not engage with Unknown Fiend ]
[ Warning – Caution ]
This system was warning him again.
Why?
What was there to fear in this Theodore. This human wannabe. Fray was sure he could kill him if it came down to it. He was sure he was stronger.
Theodore's senses were going wild. He was certainly facing a powerful foe. No person this young should hold such killing prowess.
His hands clenched harder till they turned white. He realised just how capable a fighter Fray was when he saw
His low stance. The form was really really good.
It all made the forest space that surrounded them very small, felt like the walls that weren't even there were closing in. He could sense everything, that's how careful and conscious Theodore was.
His senses sky rocketed since he found out he was a fiend.
It was cool but kinda freaky.
He felt like if he stood up, that would be it for him. Like even if he breathed too loud, Fray would attack
But he was ready.
No one blinked.
[ 2nd Fiend Detected ]
[ 2nd Fiend Detected ]
[ Class – Behemoth ]
Frays eyes had a sudden white flash and his head spasmed up quickly, his face twisted to an annoyed yet concerned expression and he jumped far to the air. As if evading something.
' What?'
Theodore didn't know why he retreated so easily. Did he scare Sir Orion's son off.
It was then he noticed that everywhere turned dark. A massive shadow. Something was definitely above him. When he looked up he saw a massive grey fist, the size of a large house falling to him. It was too late to dodge.
The last thing he heard was a roar.
CRACK
The punch turned him to mush instantly. And cracked the ground for almost half a mile. Sending smoke, trees, debris and even some of the trainees flying.
Everyone started to go in the panic.
Was this part of the program?
" Raaaaaaaaaaaaa ", screamed the massive behemoth class Fiend. It was a humanoid gorilla looking Fiend but it was deformed.
It must have been at least 200 meters. It was hairless and only had fur at its back, neck and genitals.
It's mouth was gaped open with two large canines from its lower jaw coming up almost piercing its own flesh.
It's roar released a feral foul smell everywhere.
The trainees where scared. They couldn't lie, some of them were kind of glad that the first to die was the fiend who wanted to be a hero.
But still, the monster had clearly directed its attention to them.
The behemoth used those massive long hands of his to hit its chest rapidly in rage. It seemed beat up.
It had burns all over its gray skin.
" Trainees ",
That was the voice of the Fifth son. The rank 8 Sentinel. Their instructor. He was talking to all 500+ trainees telepathically.
His youthful voice reminded them he was only a bit older than they were. What a monster.
" Sooo. It's already begun. If you haven't noticed yet boys and girls, there are hundreds of captured fiends surrounding you ".
He giggled like a school girl.
" Kill as much as possible and have each other's back. Don't die cause well. Your parents are going to sue me and yes I don't want that ".
" Godspeed ".
Each of the trainees felt dispirited immediately.
He couldn't have at least tried to give a speech of encouragement.
But just staring at the massive ape like behemoth was even more discouraging.
It released a Fiendish Roar. It was so loud and caused such a shockwave that uprooted all the trees as if creating an arena. A circular space with no trees. Revealing positions of other fiends.
Some students were teleported instantly to another room.
It was Baran.
Though he joked about them to try not to dye. He wasn't going to give any chances. If he felt any of them were in mortal danger, he'd teleport them instantly.
He teleported 78 students already who would have died instantly if the shockwave from the Fiendish roar hit them.
But that meant those 78 failed the program.
Theo still hadn't regenerated.
The Behemoth fiend moved its massive hands up and cleaned off those remnants of bone and flesh from its knuckles.
It was staring at Fray.
In an instant it disappeared. It would be a dumb decision for any hero to ever underestimate the speed of a Behemoth class Fiend.
" Dear heavnes, Where'd it go?"
" Emm. I don't like this ".
No one could sense it. That's when Fray turned back. No one could sense it because that was its ability.
It was stealth based. Camouflaged.
" What a pain ".
The system already found it. It was outlined and preparing to smash into the most concentrated gatherings of trainees.
BOOM.
Fray flew fast, zipping through the wind and drawing out his sword. A wave shaped double edged Flamberge. It had a purple hue.
" Fulgura ".
One of the 5 cursed Runics ( Runics not crafted by ancient human black smiths but by Fiends themselves. Only 5 have been discovered )
With one hand holding Fulgura, Fray zipped faster through the wind and swung his sword against the Behemoths fists.
Blocking it's powerful blow.
" Holy shit ".
The trainees didn't know they would have been killed or at least teleported and failed.
The behemoths camouflage wore off. It realised this human was powerful.
They were both suspended on air and neither was giving out in their collision. Its strength wasn't strong enough to break Fulgura yet Fray couldn't cut through. But he knew it was physically more powerful.
" Hmm ",
The Fiend pushed him upwards finally overpowering him. It sent him so high he almost reached the rain clouds.
Then as he fell he noticed he could see the top of the mountain
He saw Sentinel Baran.
It was some sort of small resort. Baran was shirtless and seemed to be having a pool party on the mountain.
What an asshole.
There were girls in bikinis everywhere basking in the rain.
" What the f... "
Fray was speechless. Was this really the rank 8 Sentinel. The more he allowed himself to fall back to the ground, the closer he got.
Baran was sipping a cocktail and was laying down, having a girl massage his feet.
He flicked up his sunglasses and smiled at Fray.
The smile disgusted Fray immensely.
Then Baran proceeded to wave at Fray.
Fray who was falling at probably 79 miles per hour, but managed to give a middle finger.
Back down the Fiend thought it had gotten rid of its foe. It turned its attention back to the students. It had this smile on its face as if saying.
' where were we?'.
" Raaaaaa ",
It roared as its fist descended on them.
The punch didn't land though. It's massive right hand was frozen in place
On the floor was a dark skinned student, hands in pocket wearing baggy black suit pants and a jacket clearly bigger than him. His hair was slicked with so much gel it was illegal. Like a mafia soldier.
His eyebrows were furled curving upwards and frowning at the same time, he had a tooth pick on his lips.
A real wise guy.
/ ICEEEYYYYYY
The mafia boy raised one hand up to the behemoth. His fingers made a gun sign.
/ ICE PILLAR
His fired the gun.
There came three massive cone shaped ice bergs that pierced its torso. They came out of nowhere and pushed the fiend far back. Leaving three holes.
It was bleeding profusely, wounded.
But it didn't fall.
It broke off the ice from its arm but its arm broke with it.
It screamed in pain. It used its hand holding onto the point where its right arm was broken off.
Screaming louder as it lost blood.
" My god do you ever shut up ya bum ", the boy said holding his ears, shielding himself from its sickening raw.
Suddenly.
He felt it. Raw menacing Arcane.
And down it fell in furious rage.
His attention went to the skies. He sensed it before the Fiend did.
The Fiend caught up and now noticed the concentrated blood lust and arcane descending down from the skies.
It was Fray.
He was falling down, like a black bird descending. Like judgement itself.
He used both hands to clasp his sword this time.
He could feel the breeze blowing at his hair and eyes. But it only seemed to sharpen his focus.
His breathing was one with his plummet.
The system showed him the perfect point to strike. He raised his sword up, vertically.
His eyes turned a pure glowing purple. His white hair bellowed with the rain.
His whole body twitched
Then time slowed down. He took a long deep breath
Total concentration.
...
....
...
/ FULGURA – HOUND.
...
....
.....
In aggression he slashed his sword down to the earth.
It's as if time paused and the cut phased through space itself. Through the thunder clouds.
A vertical purple slash. Hitting the Fiend with all his might and the might of his descent.
Even the wraith Fiends who hid in the trees looking for the perfect moments to strike, even they were shocked.
It shook even the mountain
" Ohhh ", Baran said as numerous women fell to him unable to stay balanced.
The shockwave from HOUND cracked Barans sunglasses.
" Tch ".
He smiled but didn't move. He merely put his hands on the glasses, erasing them to ash–revealing his deep void blue eyes.
" Oh their really going at it ". Said a girl next to him. June Avery.
" Pay them...", He pulled out a new sunglass and wore it, " no mind ". His gaze went to hers as he leaned off his chair and threw off the women on him.
" You just keep having fun ".
" Oh Baran you're so mean ", said some of the girls.
He walked to the edge of the mountain, hands on waist. Only wearing swimming pants.
He had the sort of body that Leonardo imagined when he drew the perfect man
He was Watching.
Sipping his cocktail.
Yet none of the Fiends noticed. None of the wraiths.
They were much too engaged in what they were seeing.
One second ago the behemoth was alive and bleeding.
The next it was cut down in half.
In that moment the rain glitched skipping a few water drops because they themselves were cut down
It was such a powerful attack that the boy in the suite had to protect some of the other trainees with an ice barricade.
Is this the power of a Cursed Runic?
No, this is the power of Fray Orion Valis.
Its massive body left blood everywhere.
Drenching the battle field it created.
Fray emerged from its carcass covered with Fiend blood.
His eyes unblinking. He expected it.
He was holding Fulgura with one hand.
[ Fiend eliminated ]
[ Remaining Fiends – 113 ]
He stared down all the other trainees.
Yep he was the strongest here.
" Dear god ". The trainees knew they couldn't stand on the same plane with him.
" What in the world was that?"
" He killed it with one attack ", Maud said excitedly.
There was a blonde girl by her side. Daisy.
She turned to Maud.
" Wait a minute, I know you ".
Maud turned to the voice.
" You're Captain Ghazul's daughter ".
Maud nodded in affirmation.
" I'm really sorry about your father ", She said feigning sympathy.
In truth, in the mind of the abyss Fiend, she had a twisted of knowing how Daimiur made the captain suffer till his last breath.
What a creepy man he was. He kept on smiling.
" Thank you ", Maud replied a bit coldly. Like she'd heard those condolences way too much.
They both watched the show.
Fray swung Fulgura towards the Behemoths carcass. Its 'purple hue grew brighter. Purple waves of Arcane went from the carcass to Fulgura. Then when it was over, Frays body jerked hard. Like he was in pain. His eyes grew a bit red and veins appeared all through his body.
They could hear his heart beat.
" Wtf ".
The students didn't know who was the real monster.
In their very presence his power increased at such a quick rate. Then the pain subsided and Fray jumped down to the floor. He used his hands to clean off the blood from his face.
It's like this was all in a day's work.
Killing a behemoth so easily.
That was the power of Fulgura. The ability to absorb life force Arcane from the dead and boost both the user and the sword's physical power.
But with a catch, absorb more than your body could take, Fulgura would absorb your own life force on the spot. For it must have decided you weren't a capable master.
Frays dark eyes turned to a boy. The boy with a suite. He was dressed....funny.
But Fray could tell the black suit wasn't just a twisted poor fashion choice for a wannabe gangster. It was a Superhero Suit meant to resist the extremely low temperatures the boy's body would emit mid battle.
Fray was so observant most of the time he didn't even need his system.
The boy was average height and he had chocolate glass skin. His eyebrows had this upward smug curve and his nose was a Roman nose. Made him look tough.
" And you are?", Fray asked. Showing a bit of acknowledgement to the boys power.
The boy's eyes watched Fray up and down. Not an ayota of intimidation in his eyes.
" Mornn ' The Iceman ' Pete ".
He said with a new Yorker accent. Those of the old days.
His hands went to his pocket. A cocky smirk placed on his youthful face.
" How does it feel to be taking my scraps?".
Fray closed his eyes and smiled.
" You make good support ", Fray shot back.
Mornn flared. " Fuck you say?"
Fray hid his laugh and flew up to the sky. To kill even more Fiends
Theo fully regenerated.
" Oh fuck ".
He didn't scream from the pain, it was worse.
How far his Arcane deteriorated after regeneration. A chilling fatigue ran through him.
He wasn't butt naked. He still had his suit, it's made to regenerate after being torn, just like him.
' how expensive is this thing?'
The pain was less with this new form but now how was he supposed to go through the rest of the competition?
" Kiiiiiiiii!!!". It was the grunt of a fiend behind him.
Theodore shook immediately and retreated high to the top of a tree. A few months ago he used to be so scared or these things.
" Ohhhh shit ".
It was clear he still had a bit of that fear in him.
But then he saw his hands. Hands that didn't seem his. He wasn't weak anymore.
His stamina and arcane returned to him. A powerful force invigorating his very atoms.
" I guess, I'm not the same man they knew ".
It was time to test it out.