CHAPTER 55: HUG.

"Now, ladies and gentlemen, only three combatants remain!" the anchor’s voice echoed, full of excitement.

"The Headmaster’s granddaughter, the Heart family’s second son, and an anonymous cadet known only as... Azhriel!"

The crowd roared.

On the big screen above the arena, two figures were shown facing each other. Azhriel stood with one hand calmly resting on his sword’s hilt.

Across from him, Kevin cracked his knuckles, his body brimming with controlled strength.

[Ten Minutes Until The Exam Ends]

Kevin gave a short smirk. "Looks like you’re my last opponent."

Azhriel didn’t reply right away. Instead, he raised his hand and pointed at Kevin’s wrist — at the glowing bracelet everyone wore during the exam.

His voice was quiet but firm, and his sapphire eyes glowed beneath the shadow of his hood.

"If you want to have even a chance at winning... take that off."

The crowd quieted slightly as those words echoed across the field. Kevin looked down at the bracelet, then back at the boy in front of him. His grin widened.

"Haha, you’re the first one to actually sense it," Kevin said with a chuckle. "Fine. I’ll take it off."

He removed the glowing bracelet from his wrist and tucked it into his space ring with a casual flick.

The moment the device was gone, a faint pulse of mana spread from his body — like a quiet storm being unshackled. His aura grew heavier, more grounded, and dangerous.

Azhriel didn’t flinch. He just adjusted his grip on the sword and stared.

For a heartbeat, nothing happened.

Then Kevin moved.

With a stomp of his foot, a stone spike shot up from the earth at Azhriel’s side, aiming to impale. Azhriel’s instincts were sharper. He twisted and leapt back, dodging in time.

While still in the air, his hands shimmered with a bluish-white light, cold and sharp. With a flick of his fingers, three arrows of ice formed and launched toward Kevin like speeding lances.

The battle had begun — and the entire arena stilled, watching.

On the giant screens above, everyone saw the final showdown unfold. Instructors leaned forward. Cadets stopped mid-rest to look up. Even the headmaster and Archons looked forward to it.

Kevin raised his eyes, slamming his foot again.

A wall of earth rose swiftly in front of him — thick and tall. The ice arrows hit the wall in an instant.

Thud.

Crack.

Thud.

One pierced halfway through. Another shattered on impact. The third split the wall with a thin fracture. Ice and stone collided in a burst of energy and debris.

Kevin grunted and lowered the wall. He didn’t get a second to rest.

Azhriel was already there.

Sword drawn, eyes glowing, cold swirling around his body. He slashed from the side, and Kevin barely raised his arm in time — his skin coated in a layer of hardened earth — to block the strike.

Clang!

The clash rang out like thunder. Sparks flew.

Kevin stepped back, then retaliated with a sweeping kick. The ground beneath him turned to shifting stone, and a small shockwave blasted toward Azhriel.

Azhriel skidded to the side, narrowly avoiding the quake. His boots slid across the dirt, frost forming under his feet as he halted his movement.

Then he disappeared again — blinking forward in a blur of movement, sword swinging.

This time, Kevin met the blow head-on.

The two collided. Blade against reinforced skin. Rock fists against frost-covered steel.

Then, Azhriel ducked low, slashing upward — his blade glowing faintly with ice magic.

Kevin raised a pillar of stone in response, using it to block and swing himself around, landing a heavy punch to Azhriel’s side.

Crash.

Azhriel flew back, landing hard, but rolling to his feet. His breathing grew heavier, but his expression remained unreadable beneath the hood.

Kevin grinned, his fists glowing with faint brownish-orange energy. "You’re tough. I like that."

Azhriel didn’t respond. He lifted his sword again. Mana danced around him. Cold. Sharp. Dangerous.

Then he ran forward again.

They clashed once more.

The arena trembled under their feet.

Ice met rock.

Speed met strength.

Kevin tried to trap Azhriel with rising earth spikes, but the boy danced around him — fast like a shadow.

Azhriel countered with a freezing mist, coating the ground in ice, trying to slow Kevin’s footwork.

"That ain’t gonna work."

Kevin spoke and shattered the frozen ground with a stomp, sending chunks of stone flying everywhere.

From the stands, the audience was in awe.

"This... this is insane...How can an initiate rank cadets how so much power. " one cadet muttered.

"That white-haired guy is insane fast," another said. "But Kevin’s earth magic is also solid—"

"Shut your yapping, I’m trying to watch!"

Meanwhile, the instructors exchanged glances. Headmaster Alaric and Solas leaned forward. Even Yedrilla and the Archons watched without blinking.

The duel continued. Azhriel’s ice arrows now moved faster, more refined — they moved straight, tracking Kevin’s movement.

Kevin, in return, stopped holding back. The earth shifted around him like a living creature, protecting and striking at the same time. With a punch, he launched a piece of stone the size of a boulder.

Azhriel sliced through it.

A spray of dust and shards filled the air.

Then he was gone.

Kevin’s eyes widened.

Azhriel appeared above — sword ready. For the correct order please visit

"Not bad!" Kevin shouted, slamming his fist down. A shield of stone burst upward from the ground just in time, taking the hit.

Crash!

The shield cracked but held.

Azhriel flipped back, his boots sliding again. Blood dripped from a cut on his cheek, but he didn’t mind. Kevin wiped his brow, breathing heavier now.

The countdown ticked.

[Four Minutes Remaining.]

They circled each other, slower now. Tired. Sweating. But not giving up.

Then, at the same moment, they charged.

Kevin, with his fists wrapped in rocky armor. Azhriel, sword glowing bright with frost and wind.

The attacks clashed again and again—ice and earth smashing into each other, breaking apart in loud bursts.

Dust filled the air, debris flew everywhere, but both fighters stayed focused. They didn’t slow down.

Then, they stepped back. They knew this next attack would be the last.

Kevin raised his hand, and thick earth gathered in front of him, shaping into a large lance. Small, sharp spikes grew from it, shining under the light.

Azhriel’s sword, Frostborn, began to glow brighter than ever. He poured all his remaining mana into it. Cold air wrapped around the blade, frost forming along the edge, making it razor sharp.

Both fighters bent low and rushed at each other at the same time.

Their attacks met—

Boom!

A huge shockwave blasted outward. The trees nearby bent from the force, and the ground broke apart like shattered glass.

When the dust cleared, Azhriel was still standing. His sword was pointed at Kevin’s throat.

Kevin was kneeling on the ground, covered in cuts, breathing hard and bleeding.

Smoke rose from the broken ground around them.

Then came the sound—

[Exam Over.]

Silence.

Then came the sound from the arena—cheers rising like a wave, the roar of the crowd echoing into the sky.

It was deafening. For the correct order please visit

Kevin let out a small laugh through his heavy breathing. "Damn dude, you are hella strong," he said, a tired smirk spreading on his bruised face.

Azhriel stood quiet for a second, then gave a small nod. "You’re not bad yourself. It was a good fight," he replied calmly, his sword lowering as the glow faded from its blade.

Their battle was over. But the respect between warriors had just begun.

"Huh... A-Azh?"

A shocked voice came from the side. Azhriel and Kevin turned their heads toward it.

There stood Elizabeth, eyes wide, frozen in place like she couldn’t believe what she was seeing.

She looked at Azhriel.

His eyes were of different colour, not the blank grey she had watched from her childhood, instead deep blue sapphire pupils replaced that blank gaze.

His hair also didn’t match the previous colour.

They were whiter, and longer.

His face was sharp as a sword yet at the same time so etheral that one could lost themselves in it.

But even with all those changes... she knew it was him.

She didn’t need time to be sure. No matter how different he looked, she recognized him.

He was Azhriel.

Her Childhood Friend.

Then, beneath their feet, a familiar magic circle rose again.

The same one that had brought them here. Symbols swirled around them in perfect patterns, glowing with blue, white, and violet light as it slowly activated.

The light grew brighter, shining like a small sun beneath their feet. It snapped Elizabeth out of her daze.

She blinked, eyes wide as she stared at the magic swirling under Azhriel. Her heart pounded, and before she could even think, her body moved on its own.

She ran—faster than she ever had before. Tears shimmered in her eyes, catching the light like tiny stars.

In a flash, she crossed the distance.

Azhriel turned toward her, the Frost Born fading from his hand, as this time his eyes widened in surprise.

Puff

She hugged him.

Her arms wrapped around him tightly, holding him like she was afraid he might disappear.

The light from the magic circle reached its peak, glowing all around them.

Behind them, Kevin stared, jaw hanging open.

"Holy fucking shit?" he muttered as they all were teleported again.

*****