Seeing the generation that would lead their future into new heights made him feel alive; A sense that made him want to keep pushing past his limits.
Alex hummed to himself before retaliating, "Is my class not up to your expectations?" Disappointment laced in his tone.
Jason shook his head instantly, "Oh god no, they are far past my expectations. That's why I'm asking. Is there more?" Alex carried a confused expression as he stared at Jason before shaking his head to shrug off the weirdness. "Uhh, yeah. There's something. Depends on whether you mean disbelief in a good or bad way, but there is someone here to pique your desire."
Jason's ears perked as he heard the words, "Go ahead." Alex nodded and stepped forward, just before the next student in line was going to take their turn. "Agnus Whitestar, move onto the platform."
Hushed whispers resounded through the area, and Jason heard all of them.
"That freak?"
"Why is he making him go up?"
"Won't this just be a one-sided battle? I mean, c'mon now. We've seen it a dozen times."
The momentary rush of vigor that brushed throughout Jason's body dimmed out, replaced by a sense of letdown. 'So he's weak. Alex isn't wrong for calling him out, though. If anyone else were here in my place, they'd be startled from his last name alone.'
Jason glanced over and watched as Agnus slowly stepped up his gaze, devoid of life, as he stepped up and walked over to the rack of weapons, his eyes scanning over each one.
"Shortsword, please, Agnus," Alex called out.
Agnus peered back, his stare lingering for a second longer than usual. Agnus turned his head back around and grabbed the shortsword off the rack, calmly holding it at his side before standing in front of Ena, merely 10 meters apart.
'Shortsword? Why? There's no real advantage to that.' Jason questioned in his mind, his eyes narrowing as the answers to the mystery couldn't be solved in his mind.
'A shortsword only offers the luxury of faster movements, but if you need that against an opponent, chances are you are out-strengthed. Because of the short sword's smaller area, it distributes less force, causing the strength of an attack to reach the body more fully than a normal sword. Although a short-sword helps you keep up, as strength isn't everything, it won't do anything.' Jason scanned over Agnus again, and he made sure to completely confirm the fact that he was not an awakened. 'Without Mana naturally empowering his body, there is no chance he wins. Even the students who have awakened are still beaten effortlessly by Ena.'
Jason exhaled in disappointment.
But he didn't want to walk away from Agnus.
Agnus was the sole blood relative of Lorus, and he didn't dare disregard him for his lack of talent.
Jason moved his eyes towards Ena, yet the expression on her face acted in an opposite contrast with what he was thinking.
It wasn't annoyance, as if she fought and beat him countless times. It wasn't the feeling of doing something you already done multiple times, and there was no benefit from it.
Her eyebrows curled downwards, a slight frown forming on her lips.
It was nervousness.
Jason's mind halted. 'She's nervous?'
His eyes fell back onto Agnus, who was already peering at him.
They stared at each other before Agnus's eyes drifted back onto Ena.
It was a short interaction, yet Jason's stomach fluttered.
An excitement boiled in his body, and a rush of adrenaline coursed through his veins.
Was he truly hiding his aura?
Was he a savant?
What was it? What was it in that gaze that made a flurry of emotions brew in Jason's heart?
Jason felt alive. Truly alive. The most he's ever been since Fortress Kupali.
Something whispered at him, the words inaudible, but the feeling behind it so clear.
He wanted to see it.
He needed to see this fight.
Alex stepped forward, his arm in the middle of the arena. He peered at Ena, who returned a worried look, "I'm sorry." He mouthed, no audible words, but Ena understood perfectly.
Jason's index finger tapped his shoulder as his arms were crossed, barely withholding the urge to yell at Alex to start the fight.
Alex turned his head to Agnus, who stared back.
Emptiness.
An abyss stared back, a chill coursing down Alex's spine as he gulped and looked directly forward.
"Go!" His arm swept up, and he quickly retreated to the elevated ground Jason was standing on.
Anticipation brewed into excitement, and Jason was awaiting the apex of the feeling.
Agnus stood still.
Not a step.
Not a finger twitch.
He stood perfectly still, only his pristine white hair fluttering as the wind brushed past it.
Ena cautiously circled around, the mana construct on her arm flaring to life immediately. Mana emanated from her pores, blanketing her body as she neared Agnus.
'Physical enhancement? For someone who can't even use mana?' Jason's eyes widened as the mysteries enlarged in depth, but his adrenaline grew violent.
Ena dashed forward, her figure blurring as her speed transcended what she displayed before, causing a slight reaction from Jason.
In an instant, she appeared in front of Agnus, her hand already swiping across his head.
Jason observed as Agnus's eyes cleanly tracked her movements, from the slightest twitch to the full-blown attack aimed to cleave his head in two.
In the blink of an eye, far too fast for the other students to follow besides a few, Agnus dipped his body, his right leg extended deep behind him, his entire body following along as the attack swept across above him.
His upper body torqued, his shoulders swinging, his head pointing in the direction Ena was... His eyes facing her from below.
Flexibility was a core aspect in battle.
If you were flexible, some positions that would be disadvantageous for others would be on equal footing for you. Yet, Jason's eyes widened.
He was too flexible.
Following the natural laws of physics, his arms swung along with his shoulders, his wooden shortsword smacking into the thigh of Ena with speed far beyond the human limit of an Aspirant.
His posture resembled a circus actor, twisted in weird ways where movement should be immensely difficult to pull off unless you were trained to be one. But Agnus did it flawlessly.
His torso was parallel with the ground, legs spread wide, as his stance was unbelievably firm and kept his body balanced.
Eyes viewing the world upside-down, yet executed the swing Jason saw him execute before in an upright position, but now in this bizarre stance.
'What the fuck...' His excitement stilled, and his mind paused.
This wasn't a master of combat.
It wasn't some great spectacle.
It was beyond that.
Jason was sure even Lorus couldn't pull that stance off. Anyone who tried to recreate that would lose their balance easily. The counter-acting forces would cause one to put too much weight on one foot, causing them to stumble.
But Agnus did it.
He did it like he's done it hundreds of times.
Ena yelped helplessly as she jumped on one foot, slowly lowering herself to the ground as she clasped her thigh with both hands.
The shortsword wasn't to try to help him keep up with the speed of someone a tier above him.
It wasn't meant to help him.
It was meant to limit him.
HEUK!
A child choked on their own breath, with countless others following afterwards. Even Ena, who groaned in pain on the floor, went silent as a cold sweat emerged on her hairline.
A suffocating pressure enveloped the area.
Jason stepped forward, his aura flaring outward.
It was too much.
His excitement.
Too much to withhold.
It flared out into the world, the sheer size of it enveloping the entire training area and the surrounding classrooms. Children began wheezing, the air thickening as Jason's aura tainted it with excruciating strength, far above what the children could handle.
He stepped down, lowering himself to the ground Agnus stood on. Jason looked at him, letting his aura run wild to illicit a reaction.
Yet, Agnus stared back.
No sweat.
No disturbances in his breathing.
He just stood there.
A smile that reached his ears was seen on Jason's face as he reached his arm out, extending an invisible thread of mana onto a training sword.
It flew back, smacking into his grip with a loud thump, boisterous enough to be heard by everyone present.
Jason called back his aura, withholding it in his body as his mana nodes devolved temporarily, limiting his power to a mere Awakened. His current speed and strength are mere atoms compared to his original prowess.
He couldn't stop himself from chuckling.
"Come at me, or I'll come at you."