Ancestral Lineage-Chapter 102: Subordinate Duels.

A month and some days have passed since Ethan and Trevor’s trials, Andriel’s attack and Carmen’s engagement with Ethan. They hadn’t done anything yet though. Just kisses and cuddling. They could only do that after they’d officially married. Ethan had officially started dating Lisa and Andriel too. But the most noticeable thing was Ethan and Trevor’s reputation in the academy. After their awakenings, true to Ethan’s words, they couldn’t change their height and statures anyhow they tried. They cut their hair short and hid the tattoos and also turned their skin pale. It was easy with their blood magic. They just had to infuse blood into their bodies in large margins so that their white skins gained a bit of color. Their red eyes or more like crimson eyes were also stuck. Ethan also managed to upgrade his Master of Auras ability, granting a skill like a mark which he can put his aura or another aura on someone. With this, they managed to find a normal vampire, copy his aura and tweak a little and applied it to turn off their auras. Being Blood Primogenitors, their aura was suffocating and dreadful to most people to say the least. The only people who weren’t affected were their partners, and Ethan’s subordinates.

The most significant change though was the ultimate reveal of their appearances. Already, Ethan and Trevor were seen to have similar appearances but that was baseless until they went through the Crimson Awakening. Whether Ethan wore his spectacles which he didn’t really need or not, their appearance was vivid. There were even rumors circulating that they were brothers, Ethan was a bastard son, among others plus their recent growth spurt had garnered attention from a lot of people. The sponsors of the academy, some Zodiacs situated in the city.

He only knew of one though, Leon’s bitchy sister, Pisces. He had even gotten a notice from the Mage Association to come and defend himself against accusations of him being a beast. He ignored it of course.

Trevor and the others had also leveled up to the mid of the Advanced level with Trevor being closer to him. He had taken in Carmen and Andriel as his subordinates too and one guy who was literally a fun of Ethan. His name was Reginald, one of the class monitors. The thing was, so far, Ethan hadn’t turned anyone into a vampire. Trevor had succeeded in turning Emily into a Vampire Progenitor, but they kept it a secret from her and even hid her natural aura to avoid the progenitor of Vampires from targeting her. They weren’t that strong enough to protect her from a being who had probably lived 100 or 1000s of years.

Today was the day Ethan would choose his subordinates and potential candidates for Tyrant positions. He wore his tracksuit as he led the second years into a huge building. It was an arena of some sorts used for mock battles and spars among students. He had secured it for three days so that he could choose his subordinates. The arena had low level energy suits available for duelists and other mechanisms in place so he wasn’t worried that someone would die unless of course, someone doesn’t hold back and by someone, his brother, Trevor. They were both physically stronger than all the first years because of their Primogenitor statuses and more so for Ethan who was already physically stronger thanks to the system. In fact, his physical abilities were almost on the 100 cap.

He would have crossed it by now if he had access to the Beast Plane, but the system said it will be available after the outing. So, he was just coping with the daily quests and other random quests in place. He also had spare stat points which he planned to use to break through the 100 cap. He figured something would happen if he crossed 100.

Entering the building, they came into a large space filled with seats on the walls and a huge open stage, the size of two football fields made from a mix of polished wood and soft steel, giving it a nice and futuristic look. A huge weapon rack stood by the side with different weapons of different shapes and sizes. Steel bots in green uniforms stood at vantage points in readiness, their robotic eyes glowing a dim blue.

The second years took seats close to the large stage while Ethan with his tall frame stood in front of them, his large frame overshadowing them.

"Alright listen up! You’ve all done your best these past few weeks and today is the day you will prove whether you really worked hard, or you were just lazing around. Duels will be conducted in the three days, today included to which I will choose my direct subordinates. And here’s a catch that you should all keep confidential. The subordinates I select will have the chance to become Tyrants, so good luck." Ethan said in a casual tone, but his words caused a torrent of ripples of reactions among the second years, especially the last part.

Ethan could see a lot of students’ reactions change from anticipation to outright surrender. They were the lazy bunch, and he had destroyed their hopes with a few words. Not like he cared. After all, among the 10 subordinates he would be choosing, more than half were already his subordinates with their positions cemented. They just needed to show their prowess to the crowd, and no one would deny their positions.

"First up! Godfred Tell and Timothy Opera!" Ethan mentioned the names of the first fighters. Two boys stood up with confident smirks on their faces. One had a huge build, standing at 6.3 feet with brown hair shaped in a bald fade, golden eyes and dark skin.

He was Godfred, at the Advanced level, low level. The other was a lean, athletic boy with violet hair tied in a short ponytail with deep blue eyes and tan skin. His ears were sharp with small, thin black horns on his forehead–Timothy. He was a demon. As stated earlier, Anbord was a free-range continent so you would find a multitude of races here. Demons were always seen as the archnemesis of all races, but they were still good, at least those who were born in Anbord. These demons weren’t fully fledged demons as they had no access to demonic mana, so they were basically angelic demons, the reason for there being a demon around.

Godfred and Timothy descended the seats and stepped onto the stage. Two bots quickly approached them with small silver balls with blue designs on them, the energy suits. They both equipped them as they were bath in silver glows. When the glows receded, they were donned in silver futuristic armor with blue glowing designs. Timothy headed towards the weapon rack where he took two black daggers with a silver glowing crystal just beneath the handle. Godfred just stood there; his muscular body defined in the energy suit.

"Fighters ready?" Ethan asked to which they responded with a nod.

"Fight!" Ethan gave the command as both fighters got into stances. Dark purple scales formed on Timothy’s face as his eyes took on a demonic hue of violet. His hands turned to claws, with dark purple scales all over it. The audience heard different sounds resonating around him as he prepared to clash with Godfred.

Godfred rather squatted on the ground as a brown mud-like substance streamed from his hands, forming a hard, stone gauntlet with sharp and pointy spikes around them. With a resounding bang, both fighters vanished from their positions and met with a boom in the middle of the arena. The intensity of their clash caused a shockwave which spread for about 6 meters. Luckily, a barrier was in place to prevent unwanted accidents from stray attacks.

Timothy was obviously a Sound affinity user while Godfred used Earth affinity.

With a swift duck, Timothy dodged a fierce punch from Godfred who was fast a contrast to his massive frame. A ripping sound echoed around both fighters as Timothy vanished from his position, appearing behind Godfred, daggers at the ready to slash at him but Godfred responded by conjuring a massive rock shield on his back.

Timothy’s daggers screeched against Godfred’s conjured rock shield, sparks flying as his attack was thwarted. Without hesitation, Timothy somersaulted backward, landing gracefully as the air around him hummed with an eerie resonance. His sharp, violet eyes scanned Godfred for any openings, but the towering Earth user was already countering.

With a guttural growl, Godfred slammed his stone-covered fists into the ground. The arena trembled as sharp, jagged spikes erupted from beneath Timothy’s feet, forcing him to leap and twist midair. The second years gasped as Timothy narrowly avoided impalement, flipping and landing precariously on one of the spikes.

"Come on, Timothy! You can do better than running!" Godfred taunted, his deep voice booming across the arena.

Timothy smirked, his demonic features glowing faintly under the arena lights. "Who said I was running?" he replied, his voice laced with a mischievous edge. The vibrations in the air intensified as he raised one clawed hand. A piercing, oscillating sound emanated from him, forming visible sound waves that distorted the air. With a sharp motion, Timothy hurled the soundwaves toward Godfred.

Godfred raised his gauntlets, but the sound waves struck with force, shattering parts of his rocky armor and causing him to stumble. He growled, retaliating by launching a series of boulder-sized projectiles at Timothy with an almost effortless motion.

Timothy darted between the projectiles; his speed amplified by his Sound affinity. Each step resonated, leaving ripples in the ground as he closed the distance. He weaved through the onslaught, flipping and dodging, his daggers spinning deftly in his hands. Finally, he dashed toward Godfred, his daggers aimed at the exposed joints of the Earth-user’s armor.

Godfred anticipated the attack and slammed his gauntlets together, creating a shockwave of debris and dust. The force sent Timothy skidding back, but he dug his claws into the ground to stabilize himself. The audience held their breath as the two combatants locked eyes through the dust cloud.

"You’re persistent," Timothy admitted, wiping a trickle of blood from his lip.

"You’re annoying," Godfred shot back, charging forward like a human tank.

Godfred’s speed caught Timothy off guard. With a heavy swing, the Earth user’s spiked gauntlet grazed Timothy’s ribs, sending him tumbling across the stage. Timothy groaned, clutching his side, but he quickly forced himself to his feet. His scales had absorbed most of the impact, but it was clear he wouldn’t withstand another direct hit.

"Alright, no more playing around," Timothy muttered under his breath, his voice reverberating oddly.

The vibrations in the air grew deafening as Timothy amplified his Sound affinity to its peak. The frequency of the soundwaves resonated with the arena itself, causing even the steel bots to falter slightly. Timothy’s daggers began to glow, charged with pure sonic energy.

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Godfred braced himself, slamming his gauntlets into the ground to anchor himself. "Whatever you’re planning, it won’t work!" he roared.

With a burst of speed, Timothy vanished, leaving only a sonic boom in his wake. He reappeared in a blur, his daggers striking Godfred’s armor at precise points. Each strike released a concentrated blast of sound, cracking and destabilizing the stone.

Godfred roared in frustration, swinging wildly, but Timothy was too fast. The demon darted around him; his movements almost imperceptible as he delivered rapid, precise strikes. Finally, Timothy leapt high into the air, flipping over Godfred. As he descended, he crossed his daggers and unleashed a concentrated sonic slash.

The slash hit Godfred squarely on his back, shattering his armor entirely and forcing him to his knees. The Earth user let out a defeated groan as his gauntlets crumbled into dust. Breathing heavily, Timothy landed gracefully in front of him, daggers still glowing.

The arena fell silent as Ethan stepped forward, his crimson eyes glinting with approval. "Winner: Timothy Opera," he declared.

The second years erupted in applause and cheers, some clearly impressed by Timothy’s resilience and skill. Godfred, still kneeling, let out a chuckle and raised a hand in surrender.

"Good fight, man," Timothy said, extending a hand to help Godfred up.

Godfred took it, grinning despite his loss. "You got me this time, but next time, I’m not holding back."

Timothy smirked. "Looking forward to it."

As the two fighters stepped off the stage, Ethan nodded subtly, a faint smile tugging at his lips. The battle had set the tone for the day, and everyone knew the competition had only just begun.