Elemental Zodiack

Chapter 14: Talent and Work

   --- The big day finally came, where probably the fate of Dinsfurd would be decided. Will Yoso overcome this final challenge, the Ice Zodiack of Aquarius: Shiro, or will he come to a regrettable defeat.

  Waiting in the middle of the training field, Yoso's expression was more emotionless than ever. He was just sitting there, not paying any attention to the environment, waiting for his final battle of this meaningless mission to come to an end.

 "I wonder if he'll be alright..." says Shouko, looking flustered.

"He is probably thinking that the future of the kingdom is upon his shoulders. He took the responsibility, so he is feeling uneasy about the possible outcome of this battle," says Shizuo, as flustered as Shouko.

"This will only be an impediment for him though. Feelings of uneasiness and such emotions might drag him down." quietly says Laure from behind the others.

 Coming forth onto the training field, a sole man in his early twenties was slowly approaching Yoso. His light blue hair and eyes looked so bright, and his scarf was beautifully fluttering in the wind. This person was the man that shall become Yoso's final opponent in this mission.

"You should be Yoso Edroch... Am I right?" asks the man with a bright smile on his face, then he extends his hand forward and says:

"I am Shiro, the Aquarius Zodiack. Hope we'll have a good battle!"

"I am Yoso... I am sorry to tell you this, but I won't be taking you easy. I have steeled my resolve and just found myself a new objective... So I can't be losing time anymore.

"I see... May I ask what this objective is?" says Shiro with a calm tone, not being offended by Yoso's cocky behaviour.

"The number one zodiack... I will have to be the one that makes up for this kingdom's mistake. So I will have you to acknowledge me, mister Shiro!"

"Ah, I see... So what Mister Laure told me beforehand is true... I hope that you can make up for the name you made til' now. The one without an affinity... Yoso Edroch."

 Looking straight at each other, the two noble fighters were taking up a fight stance, getting ready to show their strength.

"May the fight between Yoso Edroch and Shiro... Start!"

 With this signal, both fighters leapt backwards, as of being cautious of their opponent's powers.

"As I said... I am going to finish this fast! Blue Lightning!"

 Just from the start of the battle, Yoso attacked with one of his most potent skills, planning to finish things up before they even started.

"I actually took you lightly... You made quite a strong impression on me... mister Shiro," says Yoso while turning his back at the dust cloud the blue lightning created in its path.

"Tsk tsk tsk... Don't go underestimating others so easily... Yoso." says Shiro coming from the cloud of dust completely unharmed.

"How?!"

"Don't go asking things such as 'How are you still alive?' or 'How did you withstand that?'... There are very few skills that are impossible to miss. If I can't defend from one's power, I will dodge it instead."

 And after explaining this, Shiro created a sole, Ice spear with his ability.

"But how?! You don't even have a catalyst!"

"Don't I? Maybe you are true, but when did you realize that I am not holding any weapon? Just now... Did you really not realize earlier, or were you confident that it wouldn't matter what I do?"

"Stop joking!" shouts Yoso while charging towards Shiro with his lightning speed holding onto his sword.

 However... All of his attacks were beautifully blocked by Shiro's ice spear and agile movements. Even though Yoso's speed was unmatchable, no one said that he can't be predicted.

"You are really fast, not going to lie, but you are too predictable. You might be faster than my reflexes, but you are not faster than I can think..."

"Tsk... Earth style: Raising Spikes!" this time around using his newly achieved earth affinity, Yoso makes dozens of sharp spikes come out of the ground, restricting Shiro's moves. However... 

"Wow, it was a good idea trying to limit my movement, it would've been way greater if this was the steel affinity."

 He came unharmed, with a longsword made out of ice in his hands after just cutting through all the ground spikes Yoso created.

"You have wonderful potential... And talent to match it, almost like one guy I personally know..." says Shiro while taking a glimpse at Kein that was watching carefully from the side.

"But your emotion is taking control of you at the moment... I would've liked to fight you in better shape if possible," he continues

"I am sorry to disappoint you... But this is the best I can give you!" says Yoso before launching yet another wonderful attack at Shiro. He created a rock sphere around Shiro, then inserted his sword inside, filling it with water.

 After a few moments, the rock sphere broke, and what was left inside, was a sphere of ice in which was frozen Shiro, calmly waiting for Yoso's next move.

"How can...?"

 Soon after, the sphere of ice breaks into small snowflakes that fall slowly upon Shiro as he stands still, looking at Yoso.

"Anything else you want to try?" says Shiro

"Tsk... I didn't use this from the get-go, but you don't give me any other choice. Even you won't be able to dodge this one... Fire Style: Blast Burn... Blue!"

"Wait, Yoso! Using this skill on someone without the defensive capabilities of the likes of Geoff might even kill them!" shouts Laure from the side

However...

No fire appeared from the ground.

"How comes...?" asks Yoso while looking down at the ground where the blue flames should come out from.

"The answer is in the sky!"

"The... snowflakes?" asks Shouko

"Don't tell me..." quietly mutters Yoso

"Yep. Even though I used much more life force than I thought I would, I froze the ground to an extent that not even your blue flame can break free. Moreover, that skill consumed an awfully big amount of life force at your side, right?"

"Since when...? If you knew that I could just use Blast Burn, why didn't you do this from the beginning?"

"What do you mean? I already told you... You are predictable. Even if you were to use Blast Burn from the get-go, with its 100% accuracy and incredible power, if it can't come up it is no use... So I just froze the ground now with my snowflakes infused with life force. If you were to use it from the beginning, I would have taken measures at that time... Nothing would be able to stop me from throwing some snowflakes around." explains Shiro

"Tsk... Thunder affinity: Storm sword." Yoso covers his catalyst with his lightning magic and charges towards Shiro with his outstanding speed. He was really close to his limit after using Blast Burn, so he wanted to finish this fight with his next moves.

 Shiro made an Ice spade and took a position to take Yoso head-on, dodging all of his lightning speed attacks, and quickly retaliating with small cuts onto Yoso's body.

"You could change the pace of this fight with only one move, yet it is still a far-away dream for you at this stage," says Shiro while beautifully dodging all of Yoso's desperate attempts of cutting him.

"Don't talk... Just... Stand still!" shouts Yoso just before striking towards Shiro with a hit from above. However, like the other attacks, this one was also avoided leading to Yoso's catalyst getting stuck into the ground.

"Want me to help you over there?" asks Shiro while looking at the powerless Yoso, trying to get his sword unstuck.

 Yoso didn't answer, and just silently kept dragging onto his sword.

"No answer... Too bad. You were a good opponent, but you also didn't manage to put your talent to good use." says Shiro just before kicking Yoso in the ribs, throwing him away from his catalyst.

"Agh..." Yoso couldn't help but stay down, coughing hardly.

 And just before realizing it, his consciousness started...

To fade away...

 While Laure and Shizuo were taking Yoso back to his home, and the spectators started going on their paths, one single person confronted Shiro after the fight.

"Oh, Kein-kid! Didn't see you since the last Zodiack meeting!"

"Yeah... Why were you so rough against him?"

"You ask why... But you might already know the answer, don't you?"

"You were testing him... Weren't you?"

"More or less... It wouldn't have been too bad if he defeated me and took the responsibility of the next Number One, but I couldn't let someone blinded by emotion take that spot for the time being," says Shiro with a wry smile on his face

"You are the same as always..."

"And unfortunately, you as well... You didn't follow my advice after all those humiliating beatings you took from me, didn't you?"

"You should know already... You saw my fight with him, right?"

"Yes, I did. I wish he would have fought me as he did in the battle he had with you, too bad he got some troublesome emotions inside him at this time,"

"As humble as always... He wouldn't have been able to beat you even if he was in the best shape..."

"Maybe... But people evolve, and his evolution rate is the highest I've seen until now,"

"I see... Well, I hope that I can count on you from here on out..."

"So you knew?"

"About the deal you've made with Laure? More or less..."

"I see... You still haven't changed one bit. I hope you won't rely blindly on your talent in the future, but that might be too much to ask,"

"I am going to sue this talent to its peak. Nothing more or nothing less..."

"I see... You and Yoso are indeed different..." and after saying this, Shiro turned around and left slowly.