Ashton with his eyes closed, still recalling his training with Chamberlain Olaf was a sight to behold.
Within the arena although death was unlikely, he could still face permanent injury before a rescue could happen. The danger before him was real, it was imminent and unforgiving, yet Ashton with steady breath was standing blind and with his weapon undrawn.
To Ashton and the magic beast, they were the only two things in the arena. Once the battle within starts, multiple protection formations separate the combative and spectating. Among the formations is one particular formation that tints those inside from seeing outside.
To the beast, Ashton was the only thing there, its dinner it had been deprived of for too long. To the beast, killing Ashton wasn't sport any more, while he sensed no threat, it was not going to be careless.
Outside of the arena, speculation was running in full swing. Ashtons actions were unusual but so was the Air Striding Lions. Its signature aggression was buried under what seemed to be caution.
"What is the young count doing?"
"Is this a real Air Striding Lion?"
"This isn't a battle, it's a starring contest."
The impatience of the crowd was becoming audible, but those with keener perspective were enthralled in the standoff.
"It's like a dance..." Aaron Raine states, being allowed back into his father's booth but made to stand in the back.
"Yes, he is imagining it." Duke Raine responds, resting his head on his hand on top the table as he leans in.
"Hm hm hm." Isebell's soft chuckle followed by her own observation. "I bet he doesn't know how he wants to kill the kitty yet."
The ducal family were enticed with the tension others fell blind to. They are not the only ones who notice the battle of nerves before them, the count and his house are too engrossed to blink. The mages and knights responsible for security, forget their duty like a charming spell has washed over them.
The entire arena aware or not was witnessing something natural. Like two apex predators meeting within the jungle, a small calm before a large storm.
The calculated silence from both man and beast reached its peak, Ashton had sharpened his sword and opened his eyes to the charging of the beast.
The momentum in front of him, still undeserving of his sword. As the beast meets his eyes, it stops in its tracks.
It hesitated. Grew weary of its opponent.
To the crowd, it seemed as if Ashton was the one who blinked. As if he froze.
The Air Striding Lion was not passive by nature, cunning, and intelligent, yet still unable to completely deny what's engraved inside of it.
Its hesitation vanished almost as soon as it happened, planting its front paws into the dirt, the back side of it body launches in the air. As if the lion was performing gymnastics, it spun like a coiled spring, bones and muscles snapped forward, revealing its fiery tail in descent.
[So honest] Ashton thought as he looked up. [There is no trick involved. It is physicality and magic in cohesion]
The attack from the beast inspired Ashton. He saw his goal within the majesty of his opponent.
Not magic that supports physicality, but physicality that enables magic.
[You are worthy] His last thought before drawing his sword.
His heart raced with mana flooding his body, like a second heartbeat pulsing from head to toe, resonating a warding spell which the tail of the beast smashes upon.
The spell was small, calculated only to stop the force of the attack and not its magic. This wasn't arrogance, it was all Ashton could do with the spell.
Dodging was the best option, the cut and clear decision most warriors would make.
However, Ashton wanted to return the sincerity of the beasts straightforwardness.
His mana capacity was elite as it was dense, yet under the superior strength of his opponent he had limited options.
Dodge, block its magic, or its force.
Unwilling to dodge. Incapable of blocking both. His calculations went beyond just defense and counterattacking.
The tail of the beast as it met the defensive magic, bounced off slightly. The momentum shattered the ward like glass, as if it was never there, the mana within returned to the earth.
Yet the attack was only half beaten, the magic within had carried its motion.
The blue flame cold to the touch but scorching to mana.
Like a wave the fire engulfed Ashton, swallowing his image whole. From the moment the fire had touched the right side of his body, the crowd was already shuttering. By the time it reached his left side, they could no longer watch.
Sick from the sight, the fire which children are told horror stories about. The fire that earned the Air Striding Lion its second name - it's true name.
Demonic Incinerator.
A name that is dreadful, a name that most humans will never understand.
The crowd was sure the young count was finished, some even stand for the exit, fleeing the fire.
Then it appeared. A faint yellow light piercing the inferno where Ashton once stood.
The fire of the Demonic Incinerator, the reason it was a rare creature. The reason mana enabled creatures regardless of race and difference hunted them to near extinction.
Its fire was evil. It was not magical ability meant for combat, its purpose was destruction. It vanquished mana, stripped it from the earth never to return.
Not anti-magic. Magic eroding.
With his mana continuously eaten from the cool air on his skin, he continues his focus. Focused on the beast, Ashton doesn't notice the light or notification of the Aether System.
The flickering of his mana was the only reason his father hadn't stopped his trial. It was hope and his unwillingness to believe what the atmosphere suggested. Ashtons family along with every guest still watching were on the edge of their seats, all but Isebell.
As if she knew, like she could foresee what the world was deaf to. No sooner than her lips rose in a smile, Ashton's sword rose from the inferno.
Glowing blue with a thin and refined amount of mana along its edge.
Like a cleaver at work, Ashton continuously cut through the fire being thrown at him.