Asher's Battle

"A Celestial Emperor leaking tears. If those sovereigns from back then would see this, they would mock me for a thousand years non-stop." Asher smiled.

"What are you talking about?" Mischael frowned.

First, he noticed Asher staring around despite the officiating mage calling the start of the round. After that, he noticed that Asher was crying before the latter finally said those words. Mischael couldn't help but be confused about them, but he was starting to lose his patience maintaining his fighting stance.

While it was true that many of the students of the First Dawn Academy believed that Asher got his tenth place rating based on books alone, and Mischael was in fact one of them, this presumption was eventually eliminated after the failed practical test. Being the direct son of a marquis, Mischael was quite close to Ethan, who was also a direct descendant of a marquis. As such, he knew about what took place in the Manchurian forest and had since then, raised his impression of Asher.

Although he refused to believe that Asher was on the same level as the twin godsouls, Mischael believed that he was at the level of Ethan or even above that but just below the princesses. If he had to be specific, Mischael believed that Asher was on par with Wendel at most.

Wendel might be a character who was weaker than the twin princesses, but if not for their presence and that of Emma's, he would have undoubtedly been the strongest in the division. In other words, he wasn't someone Mischael could take on. Putting Asher on the same level meant that Mischael wasn't his match. However, he refused to believe this which was why Mischael presumed that if he were overestimating Asher, the latter would be on par with Wendel, otherwise, Asher was just better than Ethan, which was acceptable.

Even though he wasn't stronger than Ethan, with the right strategy and proper focus, Mischael believed he could beat him. As such, he believed that he had a shot against Asher. Since this was the first time he was facing Asher or even seeing him in action, Mischael believed that the key was not to move first, but to read his opponent properly and understand him. However, since he had done so, Asher had yet to make his move, irritating Mischael.

The young mage didn't want to go for a draw unless he had no choice. With the crowd support and leaked information from his family that Asher was a null, Mischael believed that he had a shot at winning. Since he already had a shot at doing so, why not aim for it?

"Oh, that's true. I almost forgot where I am." Asher recovered and wiped his face.

Asher then glanced at his opponent and studied him, head to toe. With just that look, Asher identified the major weaknesses and strength in his opponent's physical structure, and used that to assess his major focus.

'A weak body, for a student that is, so I guess he favours magic more. However, it isn't augmented magic as most do, but true casting and long-range spells. For a kid though, he has an 'okay' physical structure but the lack of proper training would make him weak in frontal combat. Ah, I see why. He has an internal injury on his right arm.' Asher thought.

'But that's weird, shouldn't a marquis family be able to fix this with ease? I wonder what could be the real cause though or am I overrating marquis families?' Asher confused stared at Mischael's right arm, sending chills down his spine.

'Did, did he notice?' Mischael was shocked but he refused to believe it.

The injury wasn't obvious and would be hard to spot, even for a fourth-stage Guardian mage. There was no way a young child his age who had yet to trade blows with him would notice it just with one glance.

'The easiest way to beat him would be to overwhelm him. The smartest way would be to close the gap and then aim for him arm, heavily injuring it and forcing him to surrender. It's smart because I don't need to show off much except my observation skills.' Asher seemed to be coming to a decision.

Just then, Mischael decided to make his move as he felt that so much time was being wasted. If he didn't attack now, he would have less time to beat Asher and things might end in a draw. Since that was the case, he decided to forego his previous strategy and make the first move. Mischael presumed that Asher was too scared to face him or something, which was why he was killing time by just standing there.

'But I'm not a coward like you.' Mischael thought as he made some hand gestures and cast a special with a chant.

Surprisingly, Mischael controlled a rare element, a natural combination between earth and fire, Lava.

'But the smartest way is quite boring.' Asher remained in thought even as a lava ball shot towards him.

"I have to make my people happy, but simply winning wouldn't cut it."

Just as the lava ball, with its intense heat, approached Asher, he stretched a hand towards it.

The spectators were shocked by his actions but the next occurrence stunned them more.

Crack. Crack.

The very second Asher's hand touched the lava ball, a layer of ice covered it and spread to take root on the ground. The lava ball, despite its heat, was now covered in four inches thick ice that was rooted to the ground. Its force was dispersed as well as its heat, all by a single touch of Asher's hand.

Asher then retracted a finger and released it, almost as if he was firing a 'shot' at the frozen ball.

Bang.

The ice shattered and with it, what was formerly the lava ball. As the sun was still up, its rays were reflected and refracted by the shattered ice crystals that were still in mid-air. This creates a beautiful scene on the stage with Asher standing coolly -his hand still extended- while Mischael was stunned at the sight that had just occurred before him.

"Will you surrender now or do I have to beat your ass?"

Asher asked with a devilishly charming smile.