The Azra-El Series Ch. 10

"Siofra", she muttered diffidently.

"Siofra. How have you been? I was placed in the first-year cause' I failed in social studies. I really didn't expect to see you today" Blaze replied cheerfully, trying to make her comfortable. He was a bit of an introvert himself, so he could somewhat relate.

"Blaze right? For your own sake, you should keep away from me" she said softly, glancing in the direction of the other students.

Her answer threw him off.

He followed her gaze and found Priscilla and her entourage eyeing them. Priscilla noticed his look and she started walking over. Her minions followed.

"Are you being bullied?" Blaze asked as his eyes narrowed at Priscilla. He hadn't tolerated it when he was in school on Earth and he wasn't going to do so now.

"Bullied? No. They avoid me like I am trash. You should get away before they punish you for talking to me" Siofra whispered softly as Priscilla swaggered up to them.

"You need to be careful about who you associate with, little Blaze. But it's alright. You're still young and you have a lot to learn" Priscilla cackled at them. The superciliousness and contempt that Blaze had witnessed in Varan, returned in full.

"Oh! Mum already taught me that. I choose Siofra" Blaze said in a mock tone of naivety, placing a hand on Siofra's shoulder.

Siofra's eyes widened in surprise and Priscilla's narrowed. Both were a little surprised by his attitude. His mockery was too obvious.

"You spurn your own kind for the likes of her?" Priscilla asked incredulously.

Blaze raised his brow in confusion.

"She doesn't know that I am a Pixie. I only met her once at the headmistress' office" Siofra said hurriedly, trying to get Blaze out of Priscilla's ire.

"Oh? I ..." Priscilla started, but Blaze cut her off.

"You're a pixie!? Do you guys really have four wings from hatching? I heard that they are quite colorful. Can I see them? Ooh, can I see your ears?" Blaze asked excitedly. He had noticed that there was something different about Siofra, but the fact that she was a pixie was quite a surprise.

All the angels near him looked at him confounded. None of them had expected such a reaction. Though the angels did not openly denounce the pixies, most had a certain level of mistrust towards them.

The pixies had always been known for their frivolousness and mischievousness but their role in the demon uprising had worsened their label and how angels treated them.

"Hmph. Let's go" Priscilla harrumphed to her followers and haughtily led them away.

"You shouldn't have done that" Siofra told him in a tone of admonishment. She didn't want him to suffer for her sake. She also didn't care about his help.

"I was just trying to help, you know?" Blaze replied with a smile.

"I didn't ask for it nor do I need it" Siofra replied dismissively.

"I don't need permission to defend someone being wronged" Blaze retorted, finally starting to get annoyed with her.

Siofra was once again surprised by his words. Being a diplomat's daughter and growing up in a land that disliked her kind, she had learnt to consider everyone with a bit of skepticism. Blaze's words left no room for it.

"I really hope you don't regret it" she finally sighed back.

Blaze chose not to reply and silently stood by her side, watching the arena and radiating defiance against anyone who tried to judge his attitude towards the little pixie.

The duels were short and were mainly performed to assess each other's improvement over the previous decade. Zoya had defeated Elina in a few moves but most of the other duels were stopped before a result could be achieved.

Blaze watched them with interest, assessing his classmates' skills. He was a better flyer than them, but most appeared to be more adept than him with their weapon of their choice. Blaze was confident about his physical strength, but he couldn't judge how they compared in energy manipulation.

He wanted to aske Siofra about her own strength, but he didn't want to be the one to restart the conversation.

"Min Uriel" Priscilla called out, after eight or nine duels. She glanced at Blaze and gave him a hostile sneer.

"I understand that the pixie is a diplomat's daughter and we have to show her some consideration. However, I am not entirely convinced that Blaze belongs in our class. She maybe a gifted angel but I find it hard to believe that she is strong enough to learn at our level? For her own sake, I think we should test her. If she isn't good enough, we should send her back to the second or third year"

"Now, now, Priscilla. Even if I do agree with you, Blaze is here on the headmistress' recommendation. Don't be too hard on her. I think we should allow her to watch and make the decision herself" Uriel responded with a smile. She didn't even look at Blaze and her attitude irked him.

She had done the same at Varan. There seemed to be some sort of a relationship between her and Priscilla. She was too accommodating. Though her words sounded ameliorative, her attitude indicated otherwise.

"Who do you want me to fight? You?" Blaze spoke up. He had enough of the conceited angel.

"Hahaha" she cackled. "Good joke! You can fight with Nara, here" she said pointing towards one of her lackeys. "She isn't the weakest in our class, but if a genius such as yourself can't even put up a fight with her, you should probably go back to your foundations" Priscilla replied smugly.

"Don't. Priscilla seems to be one of the strongest angels in the fourth year and her lackey shouldn't be a weakling either" Siofra whispered from his side. She hadn't met any of them before, but she was a good judge of such things.

She held his arm to stop him from rushing in.

"I accept" Blaze proclaimed to Priscilla. He was going kick her minion's ass before he got around to hers.

"Min Uriel, do we have your permission?" Priscilla.

"Sure. Don't be too harsh on her, Nara. We don't want our latest genius to lose her confidence" Uriel replied. She seemed to have already decided the result.

Blaze was both surprised and not surprised by her assumption. No one besides his aunts and Elyssa knew how strong he was. Despite his premature development of wings, there was no reason to assume that his strength was extraordinary. However, why would anyone look down on someone who was recommended by the headmistress?

"Fine" Blaze replied curtly. Siofra's grip tightened.

"It's fine. I am really strong" he whispered to her with a grin and stepped forward.

A burly blonde angel, a little under six feet tall confidently stepped up. She was wearing a blue lace top and a short cream battle skirt.

She gave him a sneer and walked up to the weapons rack to pick up a blunted spear. She didn't even bother to go for a forearm shield which was the norm for spear wielders.

She twirled the spear around in a show of adroitness.

Blaze didn't even acknowledge her actions. To him, she was just a pawn of Priscilla.

He unfurled his wings and pulled out his Viridian bat. There was a short pause of awe before a wave of chuckles went around among the students. Siofra looked at him dismayed. She didn't think he'd pull out a toy.

"We aren't playing around" Nara mocked at him.

"This is more than enough for you" Blaze sneered back, trying to rile her up. He succeeded.

Nara manifested a pair of short & wide apricot colored wings and jumped into the arena. Blaze followed her without a fuss.

"You can't change your weapon during the fight. You can't fly out of the arena or more than a hundred and fifty feet high. You lose if you give up or if you're downed. I also maintain the right to stop the match and declare a winner" Uriel explained the rules. "I assume you've learned the basics of body reinforcement?" she asked him in the passing.

Blaze nodded and jumped up into the air. He had already started the process of reinforcing his skin, just to be safe. He hovered at a height of seventy-five feet and invited his opponent with a flick of his fingers. It only helped in further enraging her.

Nara shot up into the air and hovered fifty feet away from him.

"Are you ready?" she screamed, pointing her spear at him.

Blaze shot towards her without warning.

She's fast was the only thought that passed through the minds of the spectators before Blaze was upon a startled Nara.

The blonde minion hastily shoved her spear towards him. He used his viridian bat divert the incoming spear, wound up his free left arm and punched into her gut without holding back. She tried blocking it with her arm, but his fist went under it.

Nara reeled in pain and coughed up saliva. Despite reinforcing her skin, she was only fifty years old and her reinforcement blocked little more than forty percent of Blaze's power. It still hit harder than she could've imagined.

Blaze swung his shorter weapon towards her head and a flash of fear passed through her eyes.

"You lose" Blaze replied coolly, stopping the bat a few inches away from her face.

Nara wasn't as weak as the fight made her seem. She had severely underestimated her opponent and let him get through her defenses. If she had been prepared and used a forearm shield, Blaze wouldn't have been able to land such an easy blow. Moreover, her body reinforcement would've have been stronger.

However, the damage was done, and she was too rattled to continue. She lowered her gaze and nodded her head in defeat.

Blaze turned towards a fuming Priscilla and pointed his bat at her.

"Your turn!" he exclaimed softly. His voice filled the silence and made his words resound with clarity. He oozed of comfortable and natural confidence. It infuriated her.

"You think you can beat me?" Priscilla shrieked.

"Easily" Blaze replied arrogantly, casually hovering in midair. It was a bluff, but he was confident of defeating her. He had to do justice to Brija's defeat and he had trained quite a bit since their duel.

Priscilla snarled at him and the beatific façade was swept away in her anger. She pulled out a jade green shield and a straight narrow longsword out of her space ring.

She unfurled a pair of brilliant white wings and leapt into the ring. Her wings were long and wide, and incredibly radiant. Despite her scowling face, the beauty of her wings was not lessened. They were almost as pretty as Jie Er's.

What a farce! If she is pure then I am freaking saint.

"Now, now, Priscilla. Be lenient. We don't want to offend the headmistress" Uriel chirped from outside the arena.

The teacher's obvious favoritism pissed off Blaze more than Priscilla's attitude.

"It's blunted" Priscilla replied brusquely.

Uriel nodded, apparently satisfied.

Priscilla flew up towards blaze in a lazy manner. "I suggest you use a proper weapon. I am not going to go easy on you. I will make you regret offending a Houri of the Malakim" she snarled at him.

"I may need a different weapon if you train for another hundred years" Blaze replied nonchalantly, putting a finger in his ear and pretending to clean it.

Priscilla gritted her teeth. "Whenever you're ready" she replied, bringing up her shield. She was arrogant, but she had seen enough of Blaze to be foolish.

However, instead of rushing at her like he did with Nara, he shot straight up. He stopped only when he reached a height of a hundred and fifty feet. He may have overshot a bit, but as he expected, the teacher did not disqualify him.

He grinned at Priscilla and she sneered back.

His plan was obvious and to her it seemed naive and inexperienced. A dive would increase his momentum but all she had to do was parry his first blow and Blaze would be wide open to a counter attack. She had a shield and a sword while he was wielding a stupid Flyball bat.

Blaze smiled at his opponent, hardened his wings using the Swift Wing style and dove at her.

Priscilla readied her shield, but she was once again surprised by his speed.

The speed of a dive was mostly due to gravity and one could not accelerate much more. However, Blaze's dive made it seem like air did not even bother to resist him or his wings. Moreover, the sheen over his wings concerned Priscilla.

She channeled a tremendous amount of world energy into her hand and held up her shield to receive the blow. She just needed to block the initial swing and victory would be hers. Blaze reached her and swung his bat using both of his hands and the built-up momentum.

CLANG!

The sound of his Viridian bat against the shield reverberated throughout the vast training field.

Priscilla hurtled to the ground and Blaze rebounded a little. She spread her wings and tried to slow her fall, but she still landed heavily on her feet and a cloud of dust mushroomed around her feet and spread outwards.

Blaze did not let up and instantly shot towards her again.

CLANG!

Priscilla once again blocked his blow. She felt the strain on her hand and on her legs. But she was on her feet and the ground provided enough support and leverage. She swiped her sword at Blaze's neck with enough force to potentially break it.

The rebound from his hit and a quick flap of his wings allowed him to escape within a hair's breadth.

A trace of trepidation flash through Priscilla's mind. Blaze didn't seem exceptionally skilled with his bat, but his strength was uncanny. She had to use most of her strength just to defend herself.

Blaze flapped his wings and put some distance between them, expecting Priscilla to follow. However, she held her ground and watched. It was easier to defend on the ground and all she needed was a single counter attack to land.

"Is that all you got?" Blaze taunted at her.

"I confess my surprise at your raw strength. It is higher than mine. But you've aligned yourself with the wrong sort. On behalf of the Malakim and your mother, I consider it my duty to make you see the light and to teach you how to judge the worthy" Priscilla proclaimed sanctimoniously.

Her minions and a few other classmates cheered for her.

"Judge? My mother? She taught me how to judge people by their actions. You are not even a fraction as worthy as Siofra" Blaze replied, referring mostly to his earth mother and little to Jie Er's words.

"Trash! You dare compare me with that filth?" Priscilla pointed at Siofra with her sword. "I thought you still had some hope. But I was wrong. You're trash, and your mother must be as well. Only trash can hatch an impure spawn like you" Priscilla scorned.

Blaze was enraged. He was usually quite forgiving in nature, but he hated people who treated other beings as trash. He dove at her and swung with all his rage.

CLANG!

Priscilla was pushed back from the force. Fury clouded his judgement and Blaze pressed his attack and swung at her again.

She inclined her shield and diverted his bat downwards. Blaze slightly lost his balance and Priscilla swiped her sword over her shield and at his head.

Blaze ducked down on instinct, and Priscilla's swipe swept through his hair. He planted his bat into the ground to her left and used his forward momentum to pivot around the bat and swipe his left foot at Priscilla's ankles.

Priscilla widened her stance and leaned forward to take his sweep with her left shin, without losing balance. She rotated over her hips and swung her shield and sword at him in a semicircular arc.

Shing Cling

He blocked her with the hardened tips of his feathers. He pushed off against the ground with his bat and flapped his wings to put some distance between them.

"You can harden your feathers?" Priscilla asked in astonishment.

Blaze simply smiled at her. Despite his rapidly thumping heart and the piercing pain of broken feathers, he felt exhilarated. This was his first true duel in Azra-El. There were no handicaps and he didn't have to resort to his guile and trickery. He was still extremely pissed off at his opponent, but he couldn't deny the rush he felt from the fight.

Priscilla took a moment to steady her breath and rushed towards Blaze. It was her time to counter attack. She didn't want him to regain his momentum.

Blaze, however, shot up into the sky and she followed him. If she could maintain the distance between, she felt she could still take his blows and leave enough room to counter.

Blaze rose up to the maximum height allowed and dive bombed towards his opponent. Priscilla stopped her ascent and readied her shield. However, Blaze swerved away, and dive glided to the other end of the field; instantly increasing the distance between them to around two hundred feet.

Priscilla did not hesitate to drop to the ground and put up her shield in defense. She waved her sword at him in challenge and Blaze took it. However, contrary to her expectations, he swooped down at her and swung his sword as he passed over her. She blocked his blow and Blaze ricocheted. He reached the other end of the field and dived again.

Clang

Clang

Clang

Clang.

The noise of steel against steel echoed throughout the arena as Blaze dive bombed Priscilla like a WWI airplane.

Priscilla couldn't help feeling elated at Blaze's choice of attack. He was spending way more energy than she was and would soon tire out. She could then easily defeat him and make it seem like she was toying with him all along. She really wanted to humiliate him.

However, she made two severe but warranted miscalculations. She thought that Blaze's extraordinary strength mainly stemmed from his usage of world energy and that his world energy reserves were not too different from hers, if not lower. Both her assumptions were incorrect. Blaze's strength was innate, and his world energy reserves were not far from a fully-grown angel.

Blaze's barrage continued for a few minutes before Priscilla started feeling the strain in her shield hand. It was growing numb and would soon become useless if things continued in the current fashion. She glanced at Blaze and found him no more tired than herself.

So, when he swept past her, she sprang up and followed him. She decided to finally trust her skill over stamina. Blaze turned back and dove at her almost as soon as he felt her following him. He understood his weakness and knew that he needed room to maneuver.

Jie Er and Rebecca had drilled into his head that the skill gap with his strongest opponents would only increase as he became more powerful. They would have had more time to practice. So, if he could, he would never take an opponent in a match of pure skill.

Priscilla slashed her sword as he approached. Blaze swung his bat early, hoping to catch her sword with the tip of his bat. Years of playing baseball had given him an excellent hand eye coordination and he managed to hit the sword away.

Priscilla raised her shield to defend and Blaze used his momentum to kick downwards into her shield. She careened backwards under the force of his kick and he followed her without letting up his pressure.

He swung and kicked rapidly and randomly without giving her freedom to think or counter attack. He turned a fight of skill into a street fight, where power trumped skill.

Clang Bang Thump Schling.

Every hit was heard loudly by the audience, as steel against steel, skin against skin, and skin against steel collided in a flurry of blows and counter blows.

Each swing and blow that Blaze dished out, increased not only the rush he was feeling but also the rage he felt against he girl. Normally, he would have considered it to be excessive, but the fight uncontrollably charged his emotions.

Finally, a particularly strong swing from his bat sent Priscilla to the ground. She landed on her feet and thrusted her sword upwards to intercept a rapidly descending Blaze.

Blaze was in the zone and working on pure instinct. He forcefully threw his bat at Priscilla's face. Taken by surprise, she hastily put up her shield to protect her face.