"Begin!"
Lucius heard the announcer's words cut through the crowd's murmuring. Yet, instead of making an attack, he stood and glared at his opponent. It had been quite some time since he had last seen Thomas.
If memory served him correctly, it was at his father's execution...
"So," Thomas called out. Clearly, he was using his tactic of taunting his opponent to try and goad Lucius into making a wrong move. "I hear you want to marry my cousin. You know, Rena von Petra?'
Lucius said nothing, standing still and watching every step Thomas took in his advance towards him. He gave nothing away and let Thomas choose to believe in his self-assuredness.
"You see. I happen to know a thing or two about her. Since you are from Eroa, you may not know this yet, but the girl is damaged goods." Thomas continued with a cruel laugh. "You see, a few years ago, she decided to get into a relationship with a Marked One, of all things!
"Not even just that, but it was also her bodyguard! She used the idea of becoming an adventurer so she could have her private honeymoon away from the house with her sweet little toy. Are you sure you want second-hand goods? With your abilities, I am sure so many other options are available to you."
Thomas continued to talk and attempted to goad him into attacking first, but while the boy made him angry, Lucius had no intention of falling into his petty tricks.
'I don't like him anymore. He hasn't grown at all from when he was a child.' A dark voice echoed in the back of Lucius' mind.
'Grimm... what do you want?' Lucius questioned.
'Nothing at all... I just think you need to make a show of this.' Grimm whispered, his voice dripping with temptation.
'No, I can't use my mark. Go away.' Lucius responded. He felt the presence give an annoying 'huff' of sorts before receding back into his mind to an area he could no longer sense it.
"Come on, why won't you do anything?" Thomas growled. "Fine. I'll move!"
"[Flamma: Fireball], [Flamma: Flame Javelin]"
Two spells hurdled towards him, the Flame Javelin being the quicker of the two. Lucius sidestepped that spell at the last moment, letting it sear into the stone instead. The fireball was directly behind it, so he kicked the ground and launched over both the explosion radius and the caster.
"[Aqua: Water Blade]"
Lucius began to feel the rage build up in his chest. A rage that he had nurtured for years started to boil over. It had been a long time since he let this anger out.
The mask he wore hid one's mana output. However, everything had a limit, and so mana beyond a certain threshold could not be held back. It was this excess of mana that started to pour off of Lucius that made Thomas' knees quake.
The air around them became thick with it, and a faint shimmer developed, not unlike what happens on a hot summer day on a stone road. Thomas looked like he was struggling to breathe from the intensity of the mana.
"Do you concede?" Lucius asked calmly. The air trembling as though his voice was the very thunder of a storm itself.
"Never." Thomas croaked.
Lucius let out a small sigh and held out his sword arm. His machete was pointed roughly in Thomas' direction but not quite at him. He carefully evaluated exactly where his weapon's tip was pointing and activated a very powerful skill.
"[Overcharge]"
All the mana that had gathered in the air around him, as well as every ounce of it throughout his entire body, gathered at the tip of his blade and formed a ball of electricity that crackled with barely contained destructive potential.
When he was satisfied, [Overcharge] activated. A beam of light shot towards Thomas. It was as bright as a thousand suns and created a sound similar to an entire orchestra of brass instruments playing out of tune. The beam reached the barrier around the arena, and for a moment, nothing happened.
However, as the beam continued to discharge, every citizen in the capital heard the sound of crunching glass.
In a mere moment, the 'unbreakable barrier' around the arena shattered and fizzled into nothingness. Satisfied with the completion of his spell, Lucius walked up to Thomas and asked once more. "Do you concede?"
Thomas simply responded with a nod. Satisfied with that answer, Lucius walked back to the center of the stage and waited for an extremely terrified announcer to approach him.
"W-w-well it s-s-seems we have a winner, folks... Give it up for Titan!" The announcer shouted.
"Actually, I have a few words." He said, interrupting the announcer's final speech.
"It seems our dear champion would like a few words with the audience! Please, by all means." The announcer said.
Lucius looked straight at one of the recording crystals. "I am Titan of Eroa. I entered this competition on behalf of the country of Eroa, which became my home. However, Eroa was not my first home."
Lucius lowered his hood and slowly removed his mask. The crowd collectively gasped at his shaggy, black hair and piercing eyes, one silver, and one gold. "My name Lucius, formerly of Pelith and servant of House Petra."