Inside the arena, stone stretched wide; it had been carefully carved all over. Today, Zylus's class had this all to themselves.
"Using the information I just taught earlier, I'll now select the individuals and their opponents." Mr Cruz started calling them out one by one.
"Firstly: Zylus will be up against Eldra."
"Secondly, Fred will be up against Lucas."
He continued calling out names as Zylus and Eldra prepared.
"Everyone, simply watch them fight. This can be deemed helpful in your future battles," the teacher said.
Mr Cruz then pointed his right arm upwards, "A barrier will surround the arena, so go all out. But firstly, shake each other's hands!"
Eldra stood shorter than Zylus, calm and composed. She had long black hair, dark brown eyes, and pale skin. Her presence felt warm rather than provocative, making almost every person in the academy fall for her, including Lucas.
They walked up to one another, both of them smiling.
Both shook hands, firmly, uncomfortably so. He felt it then, a challenge passing through his skin. It felt as though Eldra had something to prove.
As she started walking back, Eldra made sure to let Zylus know one more thing: "Don't underestimate me because I'm a girl."
"How much I hate fighting women..." Zylus whispered.
"Ready?!" Mr Cruz yelled, his voice echoed across the arena, "Begin!"
Green particles surrounded her as Eldra whispered, "Elemental Affinity: Activate!" Her eyes' glow had now changed to the colour green, "Technique: Strands of Grass, order one!" She left with a slight pause, "Rapid Strands!"
And just then, green spiky shards started flowing rapidly towards Zylus, when he finally realised what he had forgotten to do before entering this realm...
"Fuck! I forgot, I don't know how to use this elemental crap! And these limitations basically make me a human again!"
With that, he started running around the arena, dodging every crystal thrown at him. His face seemed completely nervous, but finally, a ray of hope reached him as Eldra grinned.
"Is this all you have to offer? A pity, really. I expected more from a person who would come off as cocky as you did." She said, as Lucas seemed intrigued, while Fred cast himself aside to the very back.
"Listen, Zylus!" Clare's voice came back, "Just activate it the same way she did; it will display which techniques you're allowed to use. However, to unlock more techniques and orders, you have to go to the principal to sign a contract."
"Here goes nothing!" Zylus yelled out, now feeling slightly dizzy from the constant circles, "Elemental Affinity: Activate." Messages started to appear on his system, and it was all adding up.
It felt as if, not only did he become similar to a human with the limitations bestowed upon him by the relic, but his system had followed suit. It seemed as if Zylus's system adjusted to his new human ability.
A sign that Zylus is not only Transcending Realms, but now he's connecting with them.
[Elemental Affinity: Blood Oath]
[Class: Unknown]
[Usable Technique: BloodLoss]
[Usable Order: 1]
[Order 1: Piercing Blood]
[Description: Accumulate from a future predicted attack that will deal less than 10% bloodloss towards the User, which then allows the user to use that lost blood against his opponent]
[Restriction: If it surpasses that blood count, the use of that ability will not succeed]
[Limit: 2 Uses Every 24 Hours]
[Unlock Other Techniques/Orders by Signing a Contract]
[Click here to sign the contract]
"Fuck it," Zylus whispered, "Technique: BloodLoss!" As Zylus said this, everything around him seemed to slow down, as each grass shard slowly aimed towards him.
"Why," Zylus whispered, nervously, "Why can't I move!" As soon as he said those words, time reset once more.
Stab!
Zylus's right hand got pierced through by one of the shards, but for some reason, he didn't feel any pain…
Eldra arrogantly started walking towards him, "And this is-"
But as she said that, red strings seeped around Zylus's body; his vision seemed dark, almost as if losing this battle would mean the end of his journey.
"It's not over," Zylus whispered, "Go back in place."
BloodLoss. This technique allows the user to manipulate all of the blood that seeped through his injury in the process.
Orders. Every Technique comes with three orders; the rarest can come up to five, but the higher the order, the more advanced the technique becomes.
The Drawback. Every elemental technique has a drawback, and BloodLoss makes it so the user must be met with a suffering injury, as payment to use such power.
With that, Eldra paused, her gaze shaken; she couldn't utter another technique at the fierce sight of Zylus.
"W-Who are you?" She frighteningly asked, "I-I refuse to believe you're a human."
Zylus continued walking towards her, blood spikes surrounded his body, "I don't know really, I'll let that decision fall into your hands." His calm tone shifted as he put his right palm into the air.
"Order one." He called out, "Piercing blood."
And with that, piercing red lines started to rapidly spread towards Eldra, as all she did was stand there and watch. Zylus smiled, but as they reached just in front of where she was standing, he put his right arm down.
"Stop." He whispered, as the red blood that shaped around him disappeared, but he still held his consciousness.
"H-hm-h." Eldra continued to stutter, from the mere pressure of Zylus's presence, she fell onto the hard concrete floor. But nothing felt even more hurtful than the near-death experience she just faced.
Zylus raised both his hands up, smiling. "I wasn't going to actually kill you."
Even though this was his first time using an elemental affinity, it felt like he was a master at it already, and this would simply turn into a new addiction in his growth.
Amidst this chaos, Mr Cruz never once decided to stop the fight, which was strange, because if Zylus truly had the intent to kill, he believed he could have easily done so.
"You win?" Clare asked.
"Forgot you can't see my situation." Zylus responded, "Of course I won."
Clare relieved herself, muting her mic from her end once more.
So what happened with my system? Zylus wondered, confused about how the two connected.
[Human System!]
[Welcome User, To Your Human System!]
[This System Is Not Part of Your Demonic Weapon System]
[This Cannot Be Levelled Up By Simple Quests]
[Only Contracts Can Let You Evolve Using This]
"Contracts, huh? Interesting…" Zylus whispered.
[User Can Only Use One System At a time]
[Human System → Human]
[Demon System → Demon]
"I kind of figured I was part human too," Zylus glared at the text boxes, "But didn't know I could get gifted both."
So if I use my human capabilities, they can't tell I'm a demon, that'll do. But I thought Spirits had passed down elemental affinities; this isn't adding up. So why is my elemental affinity connected to my human system?
Zylus thought for a second, then decided to figure that all out later.
But now, two fierce warriors stood tall, prepared to battle. Well, one fierce warrior.
"I declare the winner as," Mr Cruz pointed his hand at the undisputed victor, "Zylus."
Once again, inappropriate chatter started evolving inside the colosseum from Zylus's classmates.
"He's hot and strong? My future husband." One girl begged the Lord above.
"No! He's mine! I called him out first!"
Eldra finally stable, walked up towards them both, smiling, "No, you're both wrong. I call firsties." She giggled, looking back at Zylus with a purified glance right after.
"With that, the first battle comes to a close!" Mr Cruz called out, "Now, if we may have Fred and Lucas step up, to begin your duel!"
The teacher then walked up to Zylus, who had a terrible, bloodied injury on his right arm. But Zylus didn't pay much attention to it, because for some reason, he didn't feel any pain from it.
"Heed my word, affinity of miracles." Mr Cruz calmly called out, pointing towards Zylus, "Technique: Enhanced Healing."
With that, the teacher started walking back to his original position, healing Zylus's injury completely, as if the battle never happened.
"Thank you, teach," Zylus called out with a smile.
"Time I show these girls what an SSS-Class ability can really do," Lucas whispered, his eyes narrowed.