NOVEL NEXT Chapter 5: FIGHT
Awakened Rock stood before them, his voice steady and unwavering. "The rules are simple. Make your opponent's back touch the floor or force them out of the ring. Use whatever techniques or abilities you deem fit."
Nephis was the first to step forward. She moved with a quiet confidence. A few seconds later, her opponent followed—a broad-shouldered Sleeper with thick arms and legs like tree trunks. His muscles bulged as he advanced, wasting no time.
The tall guy attacked without wasting any time. His muscles bulged, threatening to tear the soft fabric of his white dobok. He advanced like an unstoppable mountain, sending a vicious kick flying.
… A second later, he was lying on the floor with a dumbstruck look on his face. Nephis didn't even change her stance.
The air in the room shifted as murmurs filled the space. Instructor Rock, oddly enough, grinned. He seemed… entertained. Maybe he was a psycho who like watching people get hurt.
It was a complete and utter humiliation, Nephis destroyed almost every Sleeper present, Until Valen stepped up.
Hand-to-hand combat, huh?
His specialty.
As he entered the ring, a weight seemed to settle in the air., Nephis felt his presence. A heavy, maddening aura surrounded him, pushing her down to the earth and throwing her thoughts into disarray. An oppressive, maddening aura that gnawed at her focus, whispered doubts into her mind.
Valen breathed in deeply, studying her. She was weaker than him physically, but her technique was sharp. Dangerous. He squared up, throwing a testing jab at her face.
She parried smoothly and snapped a counterstrike toward face.
Valen ducked under her arm, smiling. He pivoted on his foot, shifting his weight before unleashing a sharp uppercut toward her jaw. It was fast and brutal but Nephis caught it on her forearm, absorbing the impact before punishing him with a sharp knee to the body.
Oof!
The Crown stirred
Pathetic.
A searing pain pressed on his neck, like hot steel burning into his skin. It crawled up his spine, filling his bones with molten agony. His grip on himself loosened for a second, but he forced his body to move.
He feinted a jab before suddenly lowering his stance, shooting for her legs.
Nephis reacted instantly. Her arm looped over his, securing an overhook as she sprawled back. With a swift motion, she wrenched him upward, preventing the takedown entirely.
She had read the move like an open book, discovering her balance before he could capitalize.
The Crown roared.
Unacceptable.
Valen ground his teeth, ignoring the agony. Instead of resisting her pull, he went with it, twisting his hips sharply and stepping in. Using his arm, which was still behind her back, he controlled her center of mass.
Twisting his upper body, he shifted his hips and—
Nephis landed hard, but she wasn't pinned. Her silver eyes locked onto him, calculating.
Valen barely had time to speak before the Crown twisted its claws deeper into his mind.
Above..ALL
Valen loomed over her, blood pounding in his ears.
He exhaled sharply, trying to force the words down. The pain only deepened.
The Crown spurred him on.
He relented, A smirk tugging at his face,
"I'm better than you'll ever be."
He closed his eyes for a fraction of a second, but pain was the only answer to his regret.
[Your burden grows heavier.]
The murmurs in the crowd filled the training hall like a rising tide. Sleepers whispered, exchanging wide-eyed glances. Even Instructor Rock looked slightly intrigued.
A shadow, hidden in the corner, seemed to be shocked too.
Valen wiped sweat from his forehead, stepping back. "Who's next?"
Caster stepped forward.
"Me"
Unlike the others, he didn't seem too shocked or perturbed by Nephis's defeat. If anything, there was amusement in his eyes. With a wide smile on his lips, he stepped into the ring.
"Valen, right?"
"Yeah. What Custard?"
"Nothing," Caster mused, stretching his arms. "I'm just going to enjoy this."
He vanished.
Valen's eyes narrowed. Only a handful of people caught the hazy blur streaking through the air before Caster materialized again—this time inches from Valen, a fist already rocketing toward his face.
Valen twisted, barely avoiding the strike. But Caster disappeared once more, reappearing at another angle, his movements erratic and impossible to follow. He was overwhelmingly fast.
Valen couldn't go for a takedown—Caster's speed would counter it. Nor could he land a direct strike. So, he waited. And when the opportunity presented itself, he struck.
But speed meant nothing if you couldn't move.
Valen tracked his steps. He waited. Studied the rhythm of his movement. When the moment came, he struck.
A heavy punch flew toward Caster, easy to dodge. Caster leaned back, effortlessly slipping past it. But Valen wasn't aiming for his head.
"Got you bastard"
His fingers shot out, tangling into Caster's hair. In a single brutal motion, Valen yanked him forward trapping him in a clinch
Both hands clamped down like a vice, locking Caster in place. His thoughts barely had time to register before—
The first elbow smashed into his chin.
A concussive shockwave spread through his skull. His vision exploded into white, and before he could react, another strike followed. Then another. The last thing Caster saw before everything went black was Valen's unreadable expression as yet another vicious elbow came crashing down.
Even after Caster collapsed, Valen didn't stop.
His fists slammed into the fallen Sleeper, brutal and ugly. Blood sprayed across the mat as he rained down blows, his expression unreadable—empty. It took Instructor Rock himself stepping in and physically restraining him to put an end to it.
The room was silent.
No one cheered. No one moved.
He spat.
"Fucking nobody from a no-name clan."
The crown hummed in agreement.
***
Sunny was in disbelief. Valen had just destroyed Nephis, the one with a True Name and Caster, the legacy in a single day. Not just destroyed but he had humiliated them. ( Stop dick riding bro.)
Sunny had watched Nephis massacre all the Sleepers present, until Valen had risen up to the challenge. His technique wasn't like Nephis's, whose movements were clean and graceful.
It was more like a rabid dog. Wild, cruel, and angry—especially against Caster. But in some way, it was efficient, delivering pain and damage exactly where it hurt most.
After watching Caster vanish into thin air he was absolutely stunned and complained about the unfairness of an Ascended aspect while having a Divine aspect himself.
('So that's an Ascended Aspect? That's… that's cheating!')
Until Valen crushed Caster's jaw. Maybe now the annoying Legacy would look a little less handsome.
After combat class, Sleepers swarmed Valen, clamoring for his attention.
"That was insane, Valen!"
"What's your Aspect?"
"You absolutely destroyed Nephis!"
"If you ever need anything, just let me know—"
Sunny watched as Valen's face grew darker.
Thin golden veins began to spiderweb across his neck, pulsing faintly under his skin like molten cracks. The crown's presence hummed, silent but searing.
Then the weight in the air shifted. Something cold crept into the space between them. The crowd hesitated as Valen's face twisted, his patience unraveling. The pressure around him thickened, his presence growing suffocating. The veins spread further, clawing up his jawline and temple, glowing brighter with every ragged breath.
Then he snapped.
"Shut the fuck up!" His voice cut through the air like a whip. "You no-name fucks don't get to talk to me. I don't need your help. I don't need anything from you."
"Leave me the fuck alone. Fucking peasants."
Silence.
With that, he turned on his heel and stormed off, huffing on his way to the showers.
The crowd froze, their admiration turning to fear. Valen's presence was suffocating,
One Sleeper stepped back, muttering,
"What's his problem? I was just offering help…"
Sunny, well, not exactly him, but his shadow, remained in the corner, stunned. He knew Valen had a foul mouth, but damn. Maybe the guy had a disorder?
***
Valen was a prideful person to begin with. Even without the Crown, he had a tendency to get into trouble.
But this time, he had really landed in the shit hole.
Making everyone his enemy just before going into the Nightmare?
Damnation.
***
Author here guys,
If you wanna see what was being done in the fight, search up double leg take down and a muay thai clinch. Plus Ogoshi judo for the throw after the double leg takedown get nullified.
ps is the chapter good?