Silence permeated the arena. One could probably hear a pin drop in the center of the coliseum. After Titan's impressive display of power, no one even cared about the result of Thomas' battle against Desmond.
Even though the announcer continued trying to incite excitement in the crowd over the final competitors, no one wanted to take their eyes off the back of the mysterious figure known to them all as Titan. Many of those who were highly talented in the ability, recognized Titan's feat for what it was.
He used Channeling. A very rare skill that takes extreme practice and an understanding of the limits of one's body and mana. It required a user to know their limits and be able to push beyond that point.
When Channeling is used, they can push mana around their bodies, like Mana Manipulation, but beyond that, they can even use it to create spell effects, use arts, and use spells themselves, all without using an activation phrase.
In essence, fighting a Channeling user was akin to fighting the blind. You could never know what to expect and when. In a typical battle between warriors, activation phrases indicated their next move, whether it was a spell or Art. This left little room for interpretation of how those spells or Arts would be used, as they were usually straightforward.
The result of the world developing fighting styles reliant on this behavior was that warriors and mages alike simply relied on being powerful enough to break through their opponents. However, this resulted in a lack of fine control which was antithetical to the concept of Channeling and Mana Manipulation.
To everyone else who had no idea about the impressiveness of the technique, they simply saw someone use some sort of magical effect without speaking. They began to wonder if Titan may have had enchantments that silenced his voice, or if his armor was enchanted with those magical effects.
A flurry of rumors overtook the capital in a matter of minutes as people made assumptions as to how this feat occurred.
Kalivas knew this better than anyone since he was the one who spent so many months and years training his son. In their first fight, he knew that his son was close to a breakthrough. His Mana Manipulation had almost completely passed into the realm of Channeling. All it took was one, large push. He was happy to be that push. .net
With each battle of the tournament, Titan, or rather Lucius, showed his power little by little. Now that he had shown his ace... what was he going to do in the final match?
"What are you planning, boy?"
Rena stumbled forward to the railing of the viewing box, tears streaming down her face. Her chest heaved with ragged breaths and her heart threatened to beat out of her chest.
Lyrah stepped up beside her and rested a gentle hand on top of her own. Natali also joined them, but seeing as Rena had her other hand in a fist in front of her mouth, the maid settled for resting her hand on Rena's shoulder.
"What's wrong?" Natali asked.
"We are here for you. No matter what comes next." Lyrah whispered.
"If you do not wish to marry him, you do not have to." Natali continued. "I'm sure that if Lady Adellia and Lady Lyrah, both request it, they can shield you from that man's request. You do not have to marry anyone you do not wish to."
"She's right you know,`" Adellia said, stepping forward. "Your life is what you make of it. As someone with the freedom to choose, I do not want to see it taken from you. We will be with you should you choose to run."
Rena continued to sob, staring purely at the masked figure projected in front of her. "That's... not it." Rena managed between sobs.
The other girls looked at each other curiously, unsure what the matter was if it was not the likelihood of being married off to this stranger. They also knew that if Thomas won, then the same fate might befall her when he took over the position as the head of their house.
"I think we should let Rena make the choice she wants to make," Lyrah said finally.
Natali and Adellia started to speak up but found themselves unable to as they paid closer attention to the girl's sobs.
Rena blinked away some of the tears, still intently staring at the figure. She had started to ignore the conversation around her and it felt like the world faded away. In a plea to the world itself and the gods above it, she whispered, "Please... don't give me hope..."