Chapter 16. Cold Flashes

The older King looked down at Axelon who fell silent a few moments ago, just after he turned up the heat he was admitting from him. Lord Haco waited for the smoke to clear around Axelon, once he was able to clearly see the teen. He couldn't help but give the smoldering male that stood before him a look of admiration. Haco never expected anyone but his family to be able to withstand his hot aura. Yet before the Lord's very eyes stood someone who took the brunt of his aura head on with their own. He thought to himself while standing there.

"Perhaps there was more to you then I initially expected, but...if you were overwhelmed by a simple flexing of my aura. Then you certainly have a long way to go before even thinking about trying to invoke any kind of change. However the fact that you stand here before me, shows that there's great potential in you indeed."

King Haco sighed and took a deep breath before leaning back against the balcony, before he spoke.

"You, who were spurred onto this path at such a young age... Emboldened by the wills of those who have already passed on from this accursed world. You earned your rest for now. Sleep, knowing that this world will carry on just fine as it always had until you can bring about change."

The King looked back at the young man who still stood there despite the burns he suffered, Axelon's shirt was burned off completely, showing off his skin that now possessed burns of various degrees in a multitude of places on his back. This was to be expected when going up against the Lord of Sacred Flames, of course a normal person would've received far worse than this. Their skin would've come to a boil before popping like a bad blister, before being cooked by the intense heat. The intense pain made people submit and beg for the searing pain to end, before their bodies became charcoal. Yet Haco to top off Axelon's impressive feat of standing despite such pain, his Majesty noticed that the boy's hand was clenched in a fist. Showing that despite the pain he felt, he simply refused to back down and pushed through with his sheer will alone. He then noticed the fading blue light that the gem in Axelon's satchel was emitting.

" Heh, I'd expect nothing less from the Prince of Fortis Gelu..you used whatever properties that gem possesses to help bolster your aura...very clever young man, well done."

He turned around and started to walk away from the unconscious adolescent, wanting to let him rest for a bit. To his Majesty's surprise there was an eruption of frigid cold aura the burst forth from Axelon's body. His Majesty's back was met with a strong icy wind, making him look back at teenager. The Old Ruler was shocked by this intense chill that suddenly up his spine, however before he could turn back to look at the Prince. The teen had already leaped towards him, delivering a powerful round house kick that landed on the side of Haco's face. The blow sent the King back a few steps as he grabbed the side of his head that was struck and looked at the Prince who was knocked out a few moments prior.   

The teen stood there, slumped over before he then straightens his posture, remaining silent as his aura continued leak out of him. The sheer cold that his aura was outputting at that time made the area near him form ice onto of it. This outburst of power gained King Haco's full attention as the sky grew a bit cloudy in response to his said outburst. Haco then asked, what he perceived as the Prince of Fortis Gelu.

"Now that was quite an impressive display of power, got anymore to sh- ?"

Haco was shocked as he witnessed the icy aura over Axelon's body, start to heal his burns bit by bit. Haco then witnessed the Prince gaineda smirk with his hair covering his eyes and his power coming back down to a point where he was not erupting out of himself anymore. Axelon then took a deep breath and started to look down at himself before touching his chest. The teen gave a grin of satisfaction before he started to converse with himself aloud; his voice carried with it a sense of euphoria.

"So...this is what it's like to really be free, to breath, touch and to even be. Although it may be temporary, this is still nonetheless exhilarating."

The Ruler grew a bit confused and began to think about the Prince's words, as it seemed like the adolescent was finally unleashed from some kind of confinement.

"Perhaps he means his words in a metaphorical sense? Maybe something snapped inside of him, and  is now allowing him to take his first steps towards a new echelon of power?"

As Haco muddled over what the Prince said aloud, his attention was then caught by another eruption of power burst forth from the teen. Axelon then parts his hair to the side, revealing that amber irises now partly possessed an iridescence property to them. This King was surprised by this revaluation of the eyes, as he never met anyone with irises like those before.

 Axelon then looks at his right hand and starts to focus a bit of his energy into it. He then looked towards the Ruler of fire before suddenly vanishing and reappearing above the King with a long icy needle like weapon he conjured from the aura he gathered in his hand just a moment ago. The King jumped back from his position just as the Prince slammed the weapon down on the ground where he once stood. The Ruler watched the construct shattered upon impact with the ground.

"Heh, not a bad display of speed. However you're going to need more than ice to beat me young man!"

Haco said to Prince, who snarled and responded in an angry manner.

"Let's see if you can dodge these then?!"

Axelon started to conjure more of the long thin ice needles in rapid succession. Each weapon thrown by Axelon was masterfully dodged by the King who soon stood in a small melting pile of ice shards, after dodging approximately twenty of the icy constructs. Haco looked at the boy a bit disappointed as he expected Axelon to use more than ice. However what he heard next filled him with a bit of curiosity.

"I suppose I can't beat the King of Fire with just ice alone...I suppose it can't be helped then, although it's not genuine. A Moc Soul Forge should be enough."

The King couldn't help but ask the Prince what he meant.

"What do you mean a Moc Soul Forge? Do you mean to tell you that you are going to replicate your own soul? Impossible, a Soul Forge can only be forged from one's heart within a special summoning ritual, that only those in physical perfection can endure. You mean to tell me that you'll do all of that and still have strength left to fight? Even if it isn't genuine, it should still tax your strength."

Axelon raises his left hand to the cloudy and smirks confidently.

"Watch me then!"

Axelon said in defiance to the King, he summoned a spikes of darkened ice to form around him as a massive amount of power was collecting withing the teen. Haco simply watched, not believing in this phenomenon being even possible. Axelon raises his left hand slowly as if it was struggling to push something up. After his hand was completely raised, a block of darkened ice arose from the pillar he was standing on springing up right in front of him. as he began to speak the words of his composite soul.

"I call upon thou who art a part of my soul... I set thine self free for this temporary rampage. Now then, I set thyself free to join me!"

Before he finished summoning his weapon, he needed something from within. The dark reflection that was in control took a deep breath before slowly closing his eyes. Looking deep within himself and for this moment he was there standing in front of an unconscious Axelon who was just standing there in the snowy field that was their collective unconscious. 

"I know you're not going to like this but I need to see this.."

The dark reflection that was in control of their body slowly reached towards Axelon's chest. He then grunts has his hand seemingly started to melt into Aexlon's chest upon touching it. The dark reflection closed his eyes as he needed to see it for himself...he needed to see their soul. The moment he was able to do so, he smiled and stated.

"Oh yeah...I can do that.." 

At that moment back in reality, the corrupted Axelon opened his eyes and began to kick chunks out darkened ice, giving his weapon a more defined shape the more ice he kicked off. Finally when the block of ice had a long sword shape to it. He immediately grabbed ahold of it, and gave the piece of shaped ice a hard swing. To Haco's shock, the  ice was suddenly blown away, making it clear to see that the Prince was seen holding a longsword. 

The weapon possessed an extended handle that was about one foot long. The handle had a black cloth that wrapped around it, with the sword also having a flat guard with a small ice-like gem embedded within the center of it. The blade itself was about five and a half feet long with a blade two and a half inches in width. There were also three more ice-like gems even placed within the blade of the weapon. Besides those gems, nothing special was seen on this weapon except for it being all made of frosted iron.

However the King was right about one thing, the creation of this weapon did indeed take it's tole on the dark Prince. Due to the malnourishment their body was in, the Prince couldn't help but wretch up more. Wiping his face of the bile when he was done, panting heavily as he tried to regain his compose. King Haco smirked and complimented him, though their was a bit of sarcasm within his words as well. 

"So you were able to conjure a weapon like that in only a few mere moments without the need of actually putting your soul into it's creation. Color me impressed for now. However given your current state, are you even able to wield that?"

The King then laughed, making Axelon counter his statement with one of his own.

"If you have seconds thoughts about facing me after seeing this weapon despite my condition. I understand..."

This comment angered Haco as he remained silent and opened his arms with his fiery aura bursting around him, in a massive pillar of fire. The older man gets an excited smile on his face as he gathers power in his hands, channeling the fiery aura through himself before he stabs his hand into the ground. The old then slowly stood up as his hand was now holding the shaft of the spear.

The shaft was made out of brilliant gold, standing about six and half feet tall. On the end of the staff was a small blade that held up the bottom of the weapon. The top section was adorned with a long red colored tassel that was about seven inches in length. However, despite the fact that this weapon was made with a precious metal and topped with such fine quality tassel; the crown jewel of this weapon was its spear head. The spear head was made from silver, and had a red gem embedded in the center of it.

Axelon upon full inspection was able to see that this weapon, despite its ordinary look: possessed great power. He thought to himself that a weapon of such power had to be a Soul Forge of some kind. Why else would such power dwell within such simplistic design? The design was genius, perfect for fooling opponents into underestimating the weapon's capabilities. He looked at the King and boosted his confidence at the ruler.

"Finally getting serious huh? My weapon must've sent chills down your spine if you're summoning your forge in response to me summoning my own."

The King chuckled as he got himself into his spear wielding stance, replying to the Prince in a sarcastic manner.

"Don't give yourself too much credit now. You, a meager icicle couldn't even hope to extinguish this inferno of a man."

The Prince held onto this weapon with a firm grip with right hand on the handle, before swinging the weapon up in front of him and grabbing the second handle with his left hand.

"I'll freeze you and crush you into bits old man!"

Axelon let out a roar as he began to tightly hold his weapon with the blade turning dark and a deep blue aura erupting from the hilt, covering the blade entirely. Immediately Haco knew this weapon was collecting power and proceeded to do the same with his spear, but instead of the weapon being coated in a fiery aura, the spearhead ignited into a fiery inferno. The old ruler watched as Axelon swung his weapon from right to left, then straight down. Each time he swung his weapon and proceeded to release a crescent arch of dark blue energy from it. The old King looked mildly impressed that his weapon was able to produce such an attack, but aimed his spear towards the two incoming attacks before throwing his weapon towards them. He watched as two arching slashes took the shape of a cross as his spear was pushing against the middle of them.

The colliding attacks exploded and created a bit of steam blocking Axelon's view of his Majesty. However, before he could scan the area, Haco had already retrieved his spear and launched it through the fading smoke. The spear nearly missed the Prince's head. The spear happened to be so hot that by just passing by the darkened ice spikes caused them to rapidly melt. Haco laughed as the spear  reappearing within the King's hand. The Prince, now standing in a dark puddle of his melted ice simply clenched his weapon and shouted.

"I'm not done yet!"

Axelon exclaimed before letting out a roar of power and charging towards the King. The old King just watched as Axelon swung his sword with the old Ruler simply deflecting the strike with his spear.  Unfortunately for the Prince of Gelu, despite Haco being an old man; he was more than strong enough to easily deflect the Prince's attack.  However right as Axelon was getting ready to plan his next attack, the King jumped back and spun his weapon around masterfully around his body in case Axelon tried anymore of this icy needle like projectiles. Watching this, Axelon grew curious and kept his guard up and focused in on Haco's movements while all the while asking himself.

"Why'd he step back?"

The answer soon came to him as man darted forward towards him, using his flames to boost his moments as swung towards the Prince's right. Haco smirked and watched as the teen struggled to block the strikes while barely managing to maneuver his weapon so that the spear head would bounce off the flat side of the blade. Due to the special nature of this golden staff, the weapon bends back. Only for Haco then switched arm stances to strike from the left. However he once again uses his flames to boost the speed of his swing with this ending in a similar manner. Axelon looked shocked as despite using his arm the reinforced body of the flat side of his blade, he was still propelled a couple feet back and had the wind knocked out of him in the process. This gave Haco the opening he needed as he ran towards the Prince, but instead of a conventional strike, he turned around and started to strike with both ends of his spear at an incredible speed.

The skillful handling of his elderly Ruler was indeed top notch, no doubt due to his many years of mastering the weapon. Said handling was further bolstered by how he used his flames, making the already fast striking speed of the weapon turn into golden blur. This was simply too much for Axelon's eyes to keep up with at this moment in time, forcing the adolescent to take steps back while struggling to block the King's onslaught; as each time he tried to block on one side, he was met with a flurry of attacks from the other. Finally the older combatant then side stepped as he struck from above with the spear head, making the now bloody teen block by raising the weapon and setting his arm behind the blade. This resulted in Haco the spear head hitting the back of his long flattened side of the sword, seriously draining both of the Prince's strength and stamina. Haco then spun back and swung upwards from below, with the attack knocking the weapon from the youngster's grasp and landing several feet behind his Majesty.

"Not bad for an old man, wouldn't you say? Hope I'm not moving too fast for you? Why don't you just give up and come back when you're stronger. I can see that you have potential but I'm still miles out of your paygrade kid. Maybe within Avorion, but right now our strengths are as distant as heaven and earth."

Haco told the Prince in a condescending tone, making the dark Prince hold the right side of his face in frustration, before speaking aloud to himself.

"I don't have much time...I can feel my grasp on this body slipping...A-Axelon is trying to take control, and if I want my plans to succeed. I need that old man out of the picture. So I'll dispense with this warm up and show what power is lurking beneath the surface of this body."

Haco looked surprised as he overheard the Prince's words, making him close his eyes while letting out a scratchy boisterous laugh.

"Really? A Warm up is what you call getting your weapon knocked out of your hand? I can see you have the power to invoke change. However that same power is undisciplined and quite sloppy. So why not just do us both a favor and give up?"

Haco said, feeling he proved his point enough. However his young adversary still had enough determination to stand before him, with the old man seeing a flare up of the teen's aura. The two intense auras that radiated off them both made the air feel heavier. It would've practically suffocated those who weren't skilled in the art of battle. Nonetheless, the Prince's icy aura began to make ice form on the ground around him, with the flare up of this aura causing the snow fall getting heavier. This made the old King sigh and get back into his fighting stance, before reluctantly saying.

"Fine, if you're this set on trying to prove something. Then I'll indulge you this last time. So please do your best to impress."

The teen looked at him before forming a fine sleet of ice under himself before running on it towards the older King, using the lack of friction as a kind of boost to his speed. Haco tried thrusting his spear towards Axelon as he rushed him, but the adolescent masterfully spun around the attack as if he predicted that attack and countered with his movement. The old man was impressed that such graceful maneuvering came from a kid so bent towards violence, nonetheless. Haco spun back a step to perform a wide sweeping swipe to counter the angry teen's movements. However the old King was surprised to see his movements be countered again. As Axelon not only was creating the then sheet of ice with every step he took, but was also able to create contracts from said sheet of ice; although said constructs won't be very effective. Knowing that though, he lifts his arm up to conjure a small block of ice up from the sheet of ice by his feet. Axelon then focused his energy into his feet and proceeded to use said block as a step to propel himself into the air while jumping over Haco's sweep attack.

"That's a bit impressive but, I'm afraid you're still out of depth boy."

The King said as he threw his spear behind him, with it landing next to the sword that he knocked away earlier. Haco prepared himself as he made sure his feet were shoulder length apart and began to wind up his right hand putting a bit of power into his fist. This was evident as his right hand ignited into a small but controlled flame. He looked up towards Prince who was still midair but getting ready to throw a punch as well, winding up his left hand.

"Time to extinguish those embers, old man!"

The Prince shouted as they're now both fired up, with their auras covering them and took the shape of their own just as their fists collided. However unbenounced to the two of them a man watched in great delight from a distance. The sight that unfolding in front of him filled him with glee as two aura's looked as if a gray dragon was descending upon an ascending phoenix.

"Fire versus ice, light versus dark. Even I have to admit this is poetic, however my dear descending dragon. You're strength is at it's limit for you are not whole and this this battle draws its conclusion."

The man's worries carried a tone of disappointment as he expected much more from this Prince of Fortis Gelu. Yet the battle went just as he had foreseen with the King's first breaking the stalemate and delivering a powerful blow to Axelon's stomach. The punch was enough to make the Prince vomit what little food he had earlier in the day. The Prince then struggled to raise his head towards the old Ruler, with the old man looking unimpressed by this display the Prince gave' looking the Prince dead in shaky eyes. The Prince just grit his teeth and gave the old man a look of sheer frustration, with the King taking notice of discolored pupils. However before anything could be said Axelon fell onto the ground; knocked unconscious by the mighty blow as he laid in his vomit.

Out of nowhere though, Avorion and the others came rushing up to the roof area where they were; with several guards following him. Although he was too late to put a stop to what happened up here, seeing his Prince lying down in his own retch made Avorion flare up his power to the point where the guards who followed him up, now trying to frantically back away. towards the old King as he simply asked one thing.

"What happened up here?"

Avorion said in a very serious tone, with Haco feeling a dragging sensation on his body. He figured this was due to the unknown nature of Avorion's power and proceeded to explain that the two of them were just having a sparring session.

"A bit much don't you think, what were you even thinking?"

Haco gave a stern reply to Avorion as if he were his own subordinate.

"What happened up here is has I stated Avorion, now do us both a favor cease the questions. Axelon is just knocked out and will probably need a day to recover at best."

Avorion took a breath and simmered down with his power becoming much more focused again as he collected Prince Axelon's body and gently set it over his shoulder. However before Avorion went to go put Axelon in his room something caught his attention; sensing someone else was watching over this area, he scanned along the castle wall until he saw him. The masked individual who was looking back at him before disappearing in a passing cloud of sand.

Avorion eyes widened in disbelief as he witnessed the man disappearing. Avorion knew this man well, but it was impossible. It just couldn't be after so long. Yet he had to ask himself one thing.

"E-Edward...was that really you?"