As the chant ended, Vaan noticed all that strange energy rushing into Alaric’s body, with his blessing working, Alaric prepared to take a risk, rush towards Elara, and end the battle, But suddenly, "Krriiii!!!"
"Guurru!!"
"Skkiii!!" The three little spirits flying near Vaan flew towards Alaric. Vaan frowned in confusion, he wanted to stop the three of them, worried that they might get heard, but he soon recalled that the Spirits couldn’t interact with the entities of the world other than him and couldn’t be harmed by anything since all of this would simply pass through their bodies.
But suddenly, Vaan saw something surprising. The Spirits flew right next to the whirlpool of energy that was rushing into Alaric’s body and, "Krriiii!!" As the eldest Sister, Flamey stepped forward, opened her mouth wide open and…
Started devouring that Energy with an expression that made it look like she was eating the tastiest thing in the world.
And it wasn’t just the Flame Spirit either, Splashy and Breezy both opened their mouths as well, devouring the Whirlpool of energy at the same rate as Flamey. On the other hand, Alaric, who had his eyes set on Elara, didn’t waste even a single second, and expecting a 10% increase in his speed, he rushed towards Elara and jumped into the pool of flames with a fearless expression on his face.
The next moment, however, his expression changed and his eyes widened in absolute horror.
"Ah… Aah…AAaaAAaGggGgGHhhHHhHH!!" He screamed in agony, his body burning as the flames quickly passed through his clothes and armor and started burning his skin.
It didn’t take long for him to lose his balance.
"AAaaAGggGGhhHHHH!! SAVE ME!! SAVE ME I QUITT!!" The Swordsman started rolling on the ground, screaming without stopping.
Elara blinked in surprise, she couldn’t believe what was happening in front of her. There were question marks all over her face.
Why would you jump into flames knowing it is going to burn then cry about it when it actually burns? Like, what was he expecting? Everyone knows Elara wasn’t the type to laugh or mock others for their misfortune, rather, the girl was so na?ve that she would choose to hurt herself or compromise if it meant that others were happy, this time however, even someone like her was left speechless. Yes, she was feeling bad about how her flames were hurting her opponent, but… she couldn’t bring herself to pity this man no matter how hard she tried.
And if an angel like Elara had a reaction like this, then it was obvious that the crowd was even wilder. Heck, some even started laughing right on the spot.
"Hahaha! I didn’t think I would be coming here to see a little bitch crying!"
"Of course! What could you possibly expect from a bunch of commoners!? Were you expecting a Gallant display? They are not nobles like us, you fool! Hahaha!"
"Hahaha! You are right!" Some student even started spreading their own propaganda. The students who didn’t come from an influential family all turned silent until one of them finally spoke up, "What commoner? Don’t you know that he works under the Dawncrest Family? Why don’t you make fun of the Dawncrest Family for choosing such subordinates instead of targeting us? Ah right, you wouldn’t because you and your family only know how to bully the weak while being the strong’s bitch, no?" In an instant, this response was received well by other common students.
The students from the influential families bit their lips, however, the people from the Dawncrest Family weren’t happy. Their family name was used and it was thrashed to the ground and while the majority of them didn’t care about how the family would react… A certain man’s reaction horrified them.
"P-Professors… can any of you explain to me what happened…?" On the other hand, Finley questioned with a surprised look on his face. He knew what type of person Alaric was, after all, this wasn’t Alaric first battle.
For him to do something this foolish and embarrassing… normal Alaric would never do something like this. His confusion was shared by Professor Alistair, He had once taught Alaric for a year, he knew the man’s character.
He couldn’t believe what he was seeing in front of him and with a grim look on his face, he replied, "I believe he’s the only one who could answer us." And it wasn’t just Finley or Professor Alistair, many old students from the Swords Division and other Professors who knew Alaric, all had some questions in their heads and had turned towards Orion who already took Alaric out of the sea of flames and saved his life.
Orion, however, turned towards the judge and, "Announce the results." He ordered.
"Y-Yes!" The judge himself was looking forward to hearing Alaric’s side and momentarily forgot his duty, soon, he turned towards Elara and, "The winner of today’s battle, The team of Vaan Astra Vesta and Elara Flameheart!" He announced. However, not many cheers were heard.
Most of the attention was on Alaric, even Vaan’s. He wanted to know just what in the hell did those little spirits do.
Alaric, who could sense everyone’s piercing gaze trembled continuously, he had been through a traumatic experience and he was saved from being burned away, however, none of that mattered, the reason behind this condition was…
"M-My Blessing d-didn’t work…" And the moment Orion heard those words, a grim look appeared on his face, "What…?"
"M-My Blessing! It didn’t work! I wasn’t blessed even when I prayed to God of Speed!" Alaric shouted and, in an instant, the entire crowd turned silent. There were more than 20,000 people here, however, the silence was so loud that even a bird’s chirp could be heard properly.
Vaan was confused. He knew what Blessing was.
He had read about it. The people who believe in their Gods seek their blessing to gain additional strength, the God of Speed’s blessing would give you extra speed, the God of Strength would bless you with more Strength and more.
The main reason the Magic fell was because the God of Magic stopped blessing its believers. This event led to Wars, killings, and chaos all over the Agresia.
Therefore, the fact that the claims of another God not blessing its believers were made… It meant something big was about to happen in Agresia. Something that would affect the entire world’s structure.
But suddenly, "What the hell are you talking about!? How dare you point your fingers at our God! Our God is Magnanimous and Forgiving but that doesn’t mean we will stay silent if you disrespect him like this!" An angry shout was heard. It came from a Student who came to Agresia Academy as the representative of the Church of Haste, the Church that prayed to God of Speed.
"I just prayed to my God, and I was gifted me his Blessing! How dare you lie so blatantly and blame our God for your pathetic display of Skills!" The student shouted. And it wasn’t just him, other Students who prayed to the God of Speed did the same, invoking the God of Speed’s blessing and instantly flew into rage, pointing their fingers at Alaric for doubting their God and wasting their Blessing.
"W-What…?" Alaric, on the other hand, couldn’t believe what just happened. He clearly felt no changes in his body even after he invoked his God’s blessing… The blessing didn’t work! He was sure about this! He would never do something as foolish as doubting his God without thinking about it a thousand times!
However, no matter what he said or did, no one was willing to listen to his words, "Don’t think you would get away after doing this! Church of Haste would definitely take strict actions against you, be prepared for that!" The representative of the Church of Haste threatened before he turned around and left, fuming.
Other Students followed him out. Alaric, on the other hand, had the expression that his entire world had fallen apart.
There were many questions in his head. Why did his God not bless him but was blessing others? Has his God… abandoned him…? But why…? His Faith was dwindling.
In his broken state, not even a single person tried to approach him. There were too many complications that came together with that.
Even Orion, one who could be regarded as one of the finest Swordsmen in the world had the same reaction and quickly walked towards Vaan and Elara.
"Do you need any healing?" He questioned Elara, trying to act like nothing had happened.
Vaan had already received a treatment, the Cut on his chest was quite deep, however, for the Healing Mages, it was not a big deal.
He was back to full health without even needing to go to the Medic House.
Heck, even his wounds from last night were Gone. Elara, on the other hand, didn’t require any healing since the enemy couldn’t even get close to her let alone harm her.
Seeing the two children shaking their heads, Orion decided to take them away.
"Father…" Vaan however, had something to say as he pointed at Alaric but, "We will talk about it once we are alone Vaan.
Do not say anything for now." Orion spoke with a grim look on his face and seeing his expression, Vaan didn’t say anything else and nodded.
.
