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Part Twenty-One

Everything that transpired did so in almost an instant. From Frank swinging his Warhammer to Nick’s quick roll.

Before Frank’s hammer even began to swing Nick already rolled forward. Using that same momentum, he shot up like a spring. His two feet landed against Frank’s chin propelling him in the air.

Due to Nick’s agility, Frank did not have any time to respond. He didn’t even know what hit him!

Back at the stands, Nick’s classmates congratulated him on his win. During the first week in class Nick only really hung out with two people. He asked questions during lessons, and he was polite if you spoke to him. No one had any problem with him, and some girls even liked the way he presented himself.

“That’s our ‘Silent Prince’ for you! Showing off even though it’s the first match.”

Freya spoke as she watched Nick stroll back to his seat.

“Can you stop calling me that? I’m not any type of prince or royalty Freya, i’m just so-so.”

“I doubt the average support user could what you did.”

She clicked her teeth making a sound as she looked disappointed.

“The Arena Prince and Silent Prince, it’s not fair. I want a title too!”

She protested.

Matthew who was leaning back in his seat laughed at her. When they first met up no one knew who they were. Now him and Nick were widely known in their class, but she was not. Their classmates were giving them their own personal titles, he bet she felt left out since she was the only one in their group who did not have a title.

“Just call yourself ‘Annoying Princess’ that suits you just fine.”

Freya kicked Matthew in the leg, causing Matthew to get upset.

“Just calling it like I see it.”

“Just shut up, you… ugh, I can’t even find the word i’m trying to use.”

The matches went by smoothly; the longest one took ten minutes and the shortest only a dozen seconds. As the number of people who climbed up the brackets shortened, it finally reached the final four.

Everyone was talking about who they thought would win and become vice president. No one talked about who would become the president because in their minds they already knew Matthew was more than likely going to take that spot.

He had a record in the arena as a freshman student. He was known to beat offensive and defensive EXO users in a duel. No one had any doubt that he was the strongest support user in their year.

So far everyone knew what the top four EXO abilities were, as for what they did they knew two of them. Nick’s was the most mysterious as his had something to do with his eyesight so unless he told them no one would be able to guess its actual use. The other was Isabel’s whose ability also had something do to with eyesight. They’ve seen her use it in her fights but no one could figure out what it exactly did.

Freya was upset that she was not in the final four, but she did make it high on the list. Making an appearance in the top ten, but once again her two friends left her behind.

She was sulking in her seat with her legs tucked up to her chest.

“It is not that bad Freya; you were just at a disadvantage. Next time things will be different.”

“Ya, if the field would have been different you would have easily won.”

Nick and Matthew tried to cheer her up, but they failed. She could accept it if one of the freshman four royals beat her, but she lost to someone who had a self-enhancement type EXO. She only lost that not due to her skills, but because of the environment.

Choosing a sniper rifle was not a good choice in a spacious field with no hiding spots. No high ground was available either. She was doomed to lose unless she was able to quick scope. Sadly she was not able to do that.

Freya was able to fight in close quarters, but fight barehanded against someone who had an ax? She was skilled, but so was her opponent. It was not likely she would be able to detach the weapon from his hand and win.

Darius called up the next two. The winner would make it to the finals, and they would become president or vice president.

“Lance and Nick, you two are up.”

Once more Nick took the field. Across from him was a black haired male with a mirror in his hand.

Lance was different from the rest of the people in his class as he did not use the same form of support skills. He was gifted with a control type EXO which allowed him to manipulate objects.

The surroundings changed from plain white into an abandoned factory. With parts of machines scattered all over the place this was a perfect setting for Lance to show off. He could not help but smirk.

“Nick I'll admit you are good, but this field was practically made for me. Look around; I can control anything here. If this was a different field I know I would lose, but god has blessed me! Give up now.”

“No thanks. I’ve never given up anything in my life, and I don’t plan on starting now.”

“You’re loss. Let the best man win.”

Lance opened his arms wide as if he was looking for a hug. The shattered glass that laid on the concrete floor rose in the air along with metal bolts.

If these hit Nick, he would not be damaged by them, but he would still feel them. If the field deemed Nick took enough damage to actually cause harm to him, then Lance would win.

All Lance had to do was shoot these objects towards Nick. Dodging one or two was possible, but dodging them all? Lance did not believe Nick was capable of doing so. He just had to launch these, and once they hit, he would be crowned victorious.

Lance moved his left hand forward causing all the objects on his left to shoot forward.

Blasting off into the oncoming attack, Nick skillfully dodged each object that came his way. Some nicked his clothing causing a slight tear but no harm was done to him.

He did not keep a straight course; he changed directions several times.

Each piece had a small amount of light blue essence surrounding it. He was able to see which direction he should go in to dodge the various pieces. If they did not have a little bit of essence flowing through them, Nick would not be capable of doing what he is doing now.

Because he is able to track the flow of essence he can determine where the attack is headed and dodge beforehand. He made the impossible, possible.

His speed was quick, but that did not mean he was superior to others.

What made it seem as if he was moving at an accelerated pace was the fact that he was dodging with the slightest movement. To others, his speed looked like it could compare to agility type EXO users.

Lance was taken back by Nick’s movements. He was getting closer and closer; he had to do something to stop him.

His right hand moved, and all the objects on the right side flew at under his control.

Lance did not think it was possible to dodge every single object. In his mind he was going to win this with one move, so he did not need to hold back on controlling the amount of essence he used.

The first attack used about a quarter of his total essence up. Now that he launched another attack, he was left with half the amount he started with.

Even if he won this duel, without a proper rest, he would not win the next one.

Nick was already dodging the objects flying at him directly; now there were more coming at him from the right side.

As soon as his right foot hit the ground, it was like everything stopped. His eyes moved at a rapid pace determining what path the objects would fly in. Multiple faint images of him appeared.

Each one of those images were in a different location in a different pose. The figures lead up to Lance.

Nick moved his body to match himself up with each image.

At times he would spin in the air, other times he would quickly remove his sword slightly from its sheath to deflect one of the small objects coming his way.

Darius who was up in the stands was watching with wide eyes. Those movements, the way he controlled his speed. Everything was nearly perfect. If this was a test he would give Nick seven out of ten.

Darius saw many types of EXO abilities and he was quickly able to detect what kind of ability Nick was using. It did not boost his body's strength. He could not manipulate objects, gravity or wield any type of element. He could not even heal himself or others. He was only able to ‘see’ it.

There was no doubt in his mind that this was a strong ability, but just as quick as he caught on to the strength of such a skill. He also found out the weakness as well.

“I wonder how he will overcome it…”

Behind Darius all the students were amazed at what they were seeing. They just could not believe what their eyes was telling them.

“Insane, i’ve never seen anyone move so fast.”

“Handsome, silent but cool, and he has skill. I think I'm in love.”

“Back off, my eyes were on him first!”

Even Matthew was in a slight daze.

‘I can’t believe it, his natural ability… i’ve never seen anything like it. This is nothing like his previous fights, but even moving like that he isn’t even breaking a sweat.’

Lance was in trouble, and his plan was a bust. He gritted his teeth as he did not want to lose this match. Above him were steel pipes held together by chains. He used all the essence in his body to make them fall.

The chains started to vibrate, but it was already too late.

Nick was in front of him. Body lowered, legs spread apart in a strong stance.

His palm was placed on Lance’s abdomen.

“Erupt!”

Lance felt all the essence in his body explode causing him to lose his balance as well as the control of his essence.

He lost, he knew it. Everything was over for him. At least he gave it his all… right?

The students in the stands exploded with cheers and praises. What they saw was something people would see in movies!