Despite the situation, Horis didn't do anything. Still, if a glare could kill… Horis turned around and then moved away. However, he stopped and then looked at Aion.
"Tomorrow, a dirt race will vanish from the face of this world," Horis said.
The blood rushed to Aion's head, and he almost summoned his spiritual weapon to attack that piece of shit. Several veins were bulging in his forehead due to the anger… Horis declared that he was going to kill Aion and his mother. That piece of shit was going to ask the king to kill Aion's mother… he had never felt such mind-numbing rage before. He never felt like killing someone like that before.
"Hey, asshole," Aion said to Horis. "Do you have a god to pray to? Don't bother praying to them anymore. You will visit them tomorrow. You are wasting your time glaring at me, I am not like the little girls you try to beat or scare. Make your peace with your ancestors, you piece of shit."
Horis left the area without saying anything… Aion truly wanted to punch something, but he didn't want to wound his fists doing something so stupid.
"You did well in controlling your rage," Lexus said. "One of the reasons I told you to win this tournament is because you will need this kind of strength to protect your mother."
"Protect her from whom?" Aion asked.
"In due time, you will come to know," Lexus said. "Also, you shouldn't tell your mother about him. She has a bad history with Horis."
"Another reason that will make me kill him…" Aion said. "Sorry, father. I will end up fighting you while I am pretty pissed."
"It is fine, controlling your anger and turn it into a weapon," Lexus said. "We might have your mother in our territory, but a lot of people hate her, a lot of people that are willing to do stupid things to have their revenge. Unless you scare them with your Name alone, they will never leave her alone."
After saying that, Lexus left. It seemed that in his own way, Lexus was on Aion's side, but he couldn't do things directly because of his position in the kingdom. Aion was glad that his father wasn't someone who would stay bitter and resentful for ten years to a single person. Still, now he had to fight his father, and he knew that he wouldn't go easy on him.
"Fate sure is a merciless bitch…" Aion thought.
In any case, after not long, Horis and another guy were called to fight. Aion didn't know who the second guy was, but he chose a greatsword, and he sure looked like a master while holding the weapon… still, much to Aion's headache, as soon as he heard the referee giving the sign to the start of the battle, he heard a powerful impact… Aion wanted to concentrate before the fight, but his curiosity got the better of him. The second guy had been thrown toward the wall of the arena in a single hit and made it collapse.
"The obstacles in my path seem much bigger up close…" Aion thought.
It will be difficult, but not impossible… Defeating that man was possible as long as Aion used everything he had. He won't have to worry about his pride… His pride in the final will be to kill him no matter what.
In the end, Aion had the chance to concentrate for half an hour while some people were fixing the walls. Eventually, Aion and his father were called, and then they chose their weapons. This time, Aion chose a longsword, and once he entered the arena, everyone frowned. It seemed like he was copying his father, but it would be too much to expect that he would be skilled as him.
Regardless, the arena grew silent once they assumed their stances. Lexus moved his sword to his right side while he put his left foot forward. It was a fine example of an offensive stance of someone who was planning to go all out from the beginning…
As for Aion, he assumed a basic stance that seemed similar to the sword fighting style of Japan. Naturally, he never studied or tried the things he saw in movies and shows. However, during his years of training, he learned that putting his left foot forward and his right foot slightly behind while holding the sword toward the enemy was very comfortable. Not to mention, it was the perfect stance to prepare for a quick but powerful downward swing…
Lexus could tell what his son was planning, but it was too much to hope for that such a simple strategy would work that well. Lexus had fought enemies that tried something similar, and while downward strikes had more power, they left the user wide open if they missed, while horizontal attacks gave the users some leeway for them to use evasive maneuvers.
Lexus knew that people might think that he let his son win if he didn't go all out from the beginning, so he decided to do exactly that. He didn't know if Aion was strong enough to defeat him, the kid had talent and had a good brain for fighting, but that wasn't enough… The difference in power between him and Horis was that massive. He couldn't let him fight that monster if their difference in power was small…
When the referee gave the sign to the start of the battle, Lexus used Inner Force and covered the distance between them in an instant. Despite that, Aion managed to swing down his sword, and both weapons collided. A powerful sound of metal spread across the area, and sparks flew around like flames. Despite their difference in size and experience… Lexus was blown away.