Nyx scurried over to the door of the training ground for his faction.
The past two weeks at the Legion had been hell for him since most candidates in his faction were talented.
He was constantly reminded of how terribly he was going to fail if he didn't come up with a strategy fast enough to counter whomever his opponent would be.
Jelakim Bavados, remained the standout champion of the Inferno Faction. His combat skills were perfectly polished and he followed a steady but evolving technique that became even more dangerous as the weeks passed.
Nyx was always lacking and behind. He spent more hours training his combat skills and reading about Essencity—the study of the physical and supernatural capabilities of the the nexus body. Though, he was instructed to do so by his Faction Master, Dremont Dragonspear.
Dremont didn't understand why Nyx seemed unproductive like the rest, but she did realise a rapid growth in his physical combat. As much as he was the slowest, weakest and certainly not the brightest, she knew there was something in him she hadn't seen yet.
That was why she had called him to the training ground that very day. Alone.
"Miss Dremont...?" Nyx opened the door to see his master seated right in the middle of the huge room. "You asked for me."
Dremont stood up. "You're aware the exams are simply a few days from now, yes?"
"Yes, master Dremont. I've been polishing my skills and been reading up just like you've instructed for the past two weeks."
"I know that.... The time given to train candidates are never enough. Do you know why?"
"Because there's too much to learn, master."
"Wrong. Because the Legion needs people who can adapt, not those who are waiting to learn completely. Two weeks isn't enough to learn new ways in which your powers could work, but it's enough to discover these ways. That is the point. After discovery, you must act on the go."
Nyx nodded.
His most of his arm and torso was covered in bandages from the injuries he got from sparring practices everyday. He was surprised as to how he wasn't dead already.
"Nyx," Dremont began to walk towards him, "you are powerless. And because of that, you're going to fail this exam. You haven't won a single battle since you joined this faction. You've been a huge liability and stress to my well being."
"I apologise, master Dremont," Nyx bowed.
"But you're here because of Atlas. That fool.... Nyx, what are you going to do when another candidate from another faction or even your own beats you to the ground?"
He rose up. "I'm not here because of Atlas. I'm here because I want to know what my powers are."
"That's not the answer to my question, kid."
"If my opponent beats me to the ground, I'll get up."
"Wrong again!" Dremont's voice echoed. "If your opponent beats you to the ground, your stay on the ground and yield!"
"What...? But master, that's not what you taught—"
"You're not the other nexuses. You're different. It's not worth throwing away your life for it."
Nyx kept quiet now. He knew he was a different case but he wasn't just going to let Dremont decide it was over for him.
"Then why am I here, Dremont?" He asked. "Because if you're here to turn me around and drop out of the exam, I'm not doing that. This is what I want, it's my decision and I'm aware what I'm getting into!" He took off his shirt. "All these injuries and bruises on my body is because of it so with all due respect, master, I'm fighting for myself here. That's what am doing. What are you?"
"You know..." Dremont smiled, "of all my candidates, you're the one who says things as you feel them. It's rash and stupid but it's authentic. And I must say I don't like that." She locked eyes with Fate Bender. "Since you've decided on this... there's only one more thing I can do for you as your master."
Nyx wore a confused look. "I don't think I follow, master..."
"I called you here to see if you'd change your mind about this exam, but it seems you're hell-bent on it. However, I decided that if you do still want to take this exam... You're going to have to fight me for it."
"What?!"
Nyx took a step back. "I can't win against..."
"You should've learned by now with how much you've been reading, Nyx. If you can't win, then survive those are your options. However, the outcome in battle is only one of those options and a loss.
"I'll let you have the first swing. Come now, my unyielding student."
Nyx clenched his fists and took a hard swallow. His breath became steady and his stance on point. Compared to himself from two weeks prior to this moment, he would be more on edge. Realising this gave him a sense of accomplishment.
Win or survive.
Nyx pushed off the ground and flew right at Dremont's face, cutting through the air like a whip. With a single hand, Dremont stopped his kick as he made contact with her. Nyx quickly retracted his foot before she could firmly grab onto it and immediately went for a descending blow with his right arm.
Dragonspear skipped back with complete balance, perfectly avoiding his attempt to attack her.
"Move like your life is on the line—"
She ducked mid-sentence to evade Nyxander's third attack. Though he was mid-air, Nyx was able to use his aether to strengthen his movements, propelling himself at her for a fourth punch.
Trained nexuses are taught to use their aether independent of their actual powers, to treat it as part of their body not a different entity. However for Nyx, this came easier which made him believe that Atlas's claim when it came to him having a decentralised core.
Finally touching the ground after his attack, he immediately took a defensive stance.
"Not bad, but you're too heavy," Dremont said. "Now defend against my attacks. Tighten up, kid. I'm not going to hold back."
Dremont disappeared from Nyx's aight in an instant, only to slam Nyx from behind furiously. The impact sent the nexus flying across the room to plant him deep into the adjacent wall.
Nyx fell to the ground, landing on only one of his legs while the other fell to its knee. He sprung up but was not in time to block Dremont's next attack.
She wrapped his neck with her arm in a hook and took flight with her wings. Dremont grabbed his neck as soon as they got to the ceiling and looked into his eyes.
"You're going to lose, Nyx. Everyone else will leave you behind and you'll be forgotten," she said as he bleeded from the nose.
She flinged him to the ground after and waited for him to stand up again.
"I hope you can keep standing up..." She taunted.
Her wings spread even more to descend on him like a predator, but she hesitated as she noticed the aether that Nyxander began to emit from his body.
"Aether?" She looked in perplexion.
Nyx stared up at her, but this time, his arms were down. He wasn't defending.
She flew down to pin him to the ground but he moved out of the way, twice as fast she came down. Her pupils looked up at Nyx who was now above her, coming down with his fist to slam against her head.
I can block it.
She blinked and he was already centimetres away from her.
What?! How is he moving as fast as...no he's currently moving faster than I am.
Realising, she quickly used her wings to enclose her body and brace the impact of his fist.
His knuckles came down hard against her scaly wings and shattered what felt like the aether she used to cover her body to protect against his attack. His arm bounced off the block causing him to lose balance since he was mid-air.
Through the space in between her wings, Dremont noticed how familiar the colour of the aether looming from his body was. It was bright yellow in colour almost like...
"My aether?!" She said outloud.
Nyx rolled on the ground before standing on his two feet. The glow from his body was gone too and he retained a defensive position.
What is happening? It's almost like he becomes something else for just a few seconds before reverting back to his normal form... And why was my aether glowing around him?
"There's a reason why defenders aren't the ones who win the war, child," Dremont shook her head in disappointment. "How are you going to win like this?"
What was that just now? I was feeling like I could rip her wings off just now, Nyx realised as she stood up. Even he was aware of the feeling this time.
That feeling...that has to be it. It has to be my power! But how do I trigger is?!, he thought to himself.
"Amberys."
Nyx was rudely distracted by the aether that began to gather in the room above Dremont's head. The orange coloured aether swirled and bursted in flames revealing a fifteen feet long dragon.
Nyx's eyes widened at it, for it only appeared to be aether and not a real dragon in the flesh.
"Play with her a bit," Dremont extended her towards Nyx and immediately, Amberys flew at him at a deadly speed.
Nyx soon found himself at the mercy of the orange dragon and tightly clenched between it's jaws. He struggled to release the grip but was unable. Amberys folds her tongue round Nyx and swallows him whole.
Dremont watched closely at Amberys and she landed on the ground. Nyx wasn't coming out of the dragon's belly.
Dremont came to the ground and began to walk towards her dragon. "Amberys, swallowing him wasn't proper," she said to the dragon.
But before she could take another step, something burst through the dragon's belly and flew right towards Dremont.
Reacting preemptively, she blocked with only only of her wings because of how fast the attack came. As seconds passed, she noticed orange aether looming from what she was blocking. Before she could peek, her block was broken and she was grabbed by an arm.
It was Nyx.
Or was it?
He was moving too fast for her eyes to tell in this form. She felt pouches rapidly land on her torso, forcing her far back from him.
She rolled to the ground and steadied herself with her wings. That was when she had a proper look at him.
Orange aether from the injured dragon was emitting from his body.
"Nyxander Kenoma..." She muttered, "what are you...?"
"If I can't win, all I have to do is survive! All my life I've been beaten and never did I once have the power to retaliate and fight back. I'm powerless and I have nothing! Every mistreatment I took, every bully I couldn't beat; this is the one place I can give myself a chance to fight back," Nyx bit his lip,"I'm going prove that with this exam."
His whole body tensed up and in one go, he flew right at Dremont slamming deep into her torso.
The sound only came after the impact of the punch that planted Dragonspear in the ground. Nyx stood over her, breathing heavily as some of the bandages that were covering his wounds were ripped apart.
"That was a brilliant punch, kid..." Dremont smiled, "but you lost."
Before Nyx's face could react to her words, Ambrys' tail smacked him in the side and sent him flying back.
"If I didn't coat myself with aether, I would've been hit," Dremont got up.
I didn't hit her?! Nyx thought as he sat up and leaned against the wall, tired.
"That'll be enough," his master stretched out her hand to help him up.
"Well?" Nyx grabbed onto her hand and lifted himself up. "How did I do?"
Dremont smiled at Nyx. "I think you do have an ability, Nyx. And I think I know what it is."