Reborn As A Nephilim: The Rise of A Manaless Prince

Watching the wave of flame crash onto Arvell, Kaera's eyes narrowed into slits.

"There's no way something of this level should be enough to take him out, but this should do some damage or at least slow him down."

Having seen Arvell's fight against James firsthand, Kaera knew there was more to the silver-haired youth than he let on.

Moreover, he managed to take down a rank 2 beast, albeit with the help of two other students and a professor.

This alone was circumstantial proof that Arvell Silvanus wasn't a pushover.

That's why Kaera continued to furiously chant as fast as she could, furiously burning through her ample mana reserves to keep the pressure on Arvell.

As long as she could hold the advantage, she could push him into a corner and deal him the final blow.

However, this worked both ways.

Being an arcane mage, if she let Arvell come too close to her, it would spell her doom.

While she was more than capable of fighting at close range due to the ample training she received from her family, the element of fire wasn't exactly one of the best magic types to use as an arcane warrior.

Other than using the flame as a protective coat and pushing enemies away with the heat, it didn't offer the speed of wind magic nor the durability of earth magic.

She would be utterly useless if her enemy could get through the flames.

Using any of her magic at close range would also put her in danger since she wasn't immune to fire.

"Fall onto my enemy like a curtain of fire… Fire barrage!"

"...Fire barrage!"

"...Fire barrage!"

Continuing her barrage for another minute and hearing nothing, Kaera lept backwards and tried to observe the situation.

Having burned through almost 80% of her total mana, it wasn't an exaggeration to say that she had pulled out all the stops on this assault.

Arvell was known to use body-strengthening magic to heighten his physical strength and speed, but that was all.

He didn't have any means to cope with the high heat produced by Kaera's flames, nor did she give him any space to escape.

Meaning…

He was dead-center in the attack radius for more than a minute.

There was no way he would come out of that unscathed.

Since she didn't hear him screaming in pain from being burned alive, it probably meant that he had already lost consciousness.

Kaera's lips curved up at the thought of this.

"I don't like to put the cart before the horse, but it looks like this is my win. Even if Arvell has the strength to compete with James, it's useless if he doesn't have the chance to reach me. So, to be honest, the matchup was just bad for him."

Professor Lemin nodded at her statement.

He had also heard of the silver-haired boy's exploits and knew that Arvell was one of the strongest people among the new first years.

His sister even gave him a rundown of Arvell's fight with Marcus, so he knew that strength wasn't overexaggerated.

But the evidence made it clear, Arvell had probably lost.

Exhaling deeply, Professor Lemin felt a twinge of pity for the boy.

He did confidently bet 200 gold on this fight, after all.

It was pretty pitiful if he didn't even get a chance to fight and just had his small fortune taken from him.

'I guess this is what they call pride before the fall.' But, Professor Lemin thought, 'perhaps next time, he might show more prudence.'

Before he could conclude the end of the match, the Professor still had to properly check that Arvell had lost since that was still a part of his job.

He opened his mouth to call out to Arvell, but before any words came out, Professor Lemin heard a voice ring out from the cloud of dust where Arvell was attacked.

"Are you finished? That was barely even a drizzle, and you call it a barrage? You disappoint me, Kaera Brandel. I expected more from a ducal house."

A small gust of wind blew the dust away, revealing a silver-haired boy watching Kaera with a bored expression.

The most surprising thing, however, was that the boy appeared utterly devoid of any and all injuries.

In fact, he didn't even look like he had a drop of sweat on him.

He looked as fresh as someone who just woke up from a pleasant nap, not someone who had to brave through a sea of hellfire.

"H-how? How are you unharmed? It makes no sense!"

Kaera's thinking stopped as she stared blankly at the boy before her.

There should be no way this was happening.

She was the daughter of a duchess, not some random pushover.

There was no way someone her age would be able to brave through an attack of that level unharmed.

Arvell smiled lightly as if amused by her words.

"Your attacks are far too slow to ever hope to hit the likes of me. We can probably predict the outcome of this fight, so do you want to just surrender? You see, I only like to fight the strong and don't take any pleasure in bullying those weaker than me."

Veins bulged on Kaera's forehead as her face distorted in anger.

"Screw you! Oh flames, become a spher-"

Kaera began to chant another spell, but before she could finish it, Arvell disappeared from his position, appearing only just before her.

Without giving her another moment to think, Arvell aimed a punch at her gut.

(BANG)

"URGGH!"

Clutching her stomach with a pained expression, Kaera fell to her knees.

"Aghh… I'm not done yet..."

Arvell lifted his sword and aimed it at her neck, causing Kaera to freeze.

She could feel the cold metal prick her skin, and while she knew that Arvell wouldn't kill her on school grounds, in front of a professor, her brain was flooded with a rush of fear.

Turning to Professor Lemin, Arvell pointed to Kaera with his free hand.

"This counts as my win, right?"

Professor Lemin closed his eyes and inhaled deeply.

"Yes. As the Professor overseeing the duel, I deem Arvell Silvanus, the winner."

Nodding his head, Arvell pulled his sword away from Kaera's neck and turned away.

"W-wait! This isn't over yet!"

Shakingly pulling herself to her feet, She glared at Arvell with her usual look of anger, but now it seemed as if that look also carried a trace of fear.

Stopping for a moment, Arvell nodded his head.

"You're right. How could I forget? You owe me 200 gold, time to pay up."

Turning her direction, Arvell stuck out his hand as if some greedy money lender was asking for his loan to be paid back in full with interest.

Kaera nearly choked on her spit when she saw Arvell's shameless actions, which he definitely didn't pick up from his equally shameless mentor.

"That's not what I mean!"

"Oh, so you won't honour your word and pay up? To think that the great ducal house has fallen so low."

Arvell shook his head as if lamenting the current state of the world.

"That's not what I mean! I'll pay up, but I demand a rematch!"

Arvell gave Kaera a disinterested look and sighed audibly.

"Look. Like I said, I don't like fighting those who are weaker than me. I barely get stronger, nor is it any fun. Frankly, it's a waste of my time. If you want to fight me, get stronger. Anyways, I expect you to send me the money by tomorrow."

Without sparing her another glance, Arvell walked over to the Professor and returned the training sword he had borrowed for the fight.

"See you tomorrow, Mr. Silvanus."

"You too, Professor Lemin."

Bidding the professor farewell, Arvell made his way back to his dorm room.

Almost immediately after reaching his room, he collapsed onto his bed with an exasperated look.

'To think I had nearly burned through almost all of my Aether, this technique is way too scary.'

Pulling out his status, Arvell internally lamented the shortcoming of his new technique.

'Status'

[Status Information]

Name: Arvell Relas Vispia

Species: Nephilim

Age: 13 years old

HP: 150

STA: 101

DEF: 88

SPD: 89

PHYS ATK: 92

POWER STAGE: 1ST CIRCLE 3RD STAGE

BODY REFINING: 1ST REFINEMENT 2ND STAGE

AETHER: 3/160

NETHER: 120/120

Titles: 3rd Prince of Vispia (Exiled), Inheritor of the Nephilim's Legacy, Forever Alone?, Battle Maniac

Skills: God-Slaying Swordsmanship (SSS), Diplomacy (B-), Future Sight (SS), Inventory (S), Temporal Manipulation (SSS), Warp (SSS), Rejuvenation (S), Undead Summon (S), Vitality Drain (SS), Alchemy (C), Hide Presence (C), Night-Vision (C).

'I'm down to only 3 units of Aether. I really need to increase my Aether reserves more. But… the results from this fight were far better than I hoped!' Arvell inwardly exclaimed.

Lykos smiled lightly at Arvell's words.

'This is a mere fraction of the total power you will eventually amass. Just look forward to it.'