Did Azzy really possess the ability to control time? Or Qridus had done age manipulation and continued to lie about it? Velez wanted to solve this mystery and confirm the truth. Of course, he also had other intentions.
Since Qridus went his way of helping his rival and even forgave Azzy despite the fact that the latter offended the other clan heads in the meeting, Velez wanted to get back at him.
And without any surprise, Azzy responded before anyone else to clear everyone's doubt as he was supposed to do it eventually anyways. "I'll clear your confusion right away, Prince Velez."
Everyone's attention turned to Azzy.
Without any warning, he summoned the Death scythe in his left hand and the Hourglass in his right hand.
"Woah, Lord Qridus is really telling the truth," thought all the sub-clan leaders who didn't believe their monarch completely.
Meanwhile, Velez's eyes widened in surprise and he fell into thoughts.
But, before he came out of them, Azzy turned the hourglass upside down and unleashed the seventh soul skill that he never had the opportunity to use before.
"Soul skill: Age manipulation"
As the white sand started flowing down to the empty bulb at a slow pace, a translucent barrier captured Velez.
Azzy put his entire concentration on the surprised clan heir and did exactly what the Reaper instructed him during the afternoon.
After getting to know Qridus' plan, he asked the Reaper's help to instantly acquire the knowledge of the soul skill.
Because it is urgent, the Deity of Death and Time also assisted him but in Chronos' words, Azzy can only learn how to unleash the soul skills through knowledge transfer. But, if he wanted to master them, he had to practice and practice just like everyone else.
Azzy is still young and there's enough life for him to focus on mastering the soul skills. He didn't want to think much at the moment and just put his concentration on how to teach Velez, a lesson.
"Maybe, I could put mental pressure on this clan heir before his big battle with dad?" thought Azzy as he stared at the captured target.
As a slightly evil idea popped up in his head, Azzy decided to mess with Velez and controlled the skill to the extent as far as he can, "Reverse."
The barrier around Velez glowed brightly and Velez shouted within that blinding flash of light, "What the hell is going on…"
Within a few seconds, the blinding flash of light disappeared while the barrier is still alive. However, Velez looked differently. There was a baby sitting on the ground in place of him in oversized clothes. It appeared scared and tried to get up but to no avail.
Everyone was stunned by what they have seen with their eyes. For a second, Azzy didn't appear like a genius child. Instead, he appeared like a monster that can play with their lives as he wishes.
Meanwhile, the pace of the white sand increased rapidly. It didn't last even ten seconds before all the sand was in the other bulb of the hourglass, and once again, the blinding flash of light covered the baby.
This time, the barrier disappeared and the flash of light was only for a second before Velez returned to his adult form.
"You…" Velez took a step back in a bit of fear with a pale face.
Azzy calmly looked at him as he dismissed his Arcanas, "well, this is what I can do. I guess I proved my worth. If it is not enough, then, you can wait for a few days. On the day of New Year, after your battle with my dad is over, if you are still in a condition to stay awake, then, you can watch my battle. I'm going to challenge one of them." He pointed his finger at the five of the seven pavilion masters who made it to the party, startling them.
Clenching his fist to control his anger, Velez replied, "On the day of New Year, you and your dad will also see my true strength, Azrael."
Once he was done with his warning, he turned his head to look at the old man, "Lord Qridus, seeing Lord Vesyrn in the legendary realm, I'm feeling like I need to spend more on training. May I be excused?"
Seeing Velez in the form of a baby, even a person like Qridus felt a bit of pity for the prince and gave a nod to save his face. Like it or not, Velez is still the current clan heir and an important figure.
Velez thanked him and gave a deep bow before leaving the place in a hurry. While walking away, he saw a few of them trying to suppress their laughter. And this made him only angrier.
After storming out of the Crescent clan compound, Velez gritted his teeth as he looked back, "Just you wait, Azrael. I'll pay you back a hundred folds for this humiliation. I'll start with destroying your father's life as an Arcana Master."
A few days later;
January 1st, 2022;
Arena, Red pavilion, Death clan village;
It was the day of New Year, the time when 8-year-olds belonging to the Death clan will try their luck to awaken their Arcana while the 12-year-olds will try for the second awakening.
Once an 8-year-old fails to awaken a soul card in the awakening ceremony, they can only try to buy awakening scrolls privately.
Until a person turns 9, he/she had an opportunity to awaken. But, these awakening scrolls that are sold in the outside world are quite expensive. Hence, unless one has too much wealth, the family couldn't afford to purchase them over and over.
It is why, just like every family out there in hundreds of cities and thousands of towns in the real world, the families living in the death clan also hoped for their kids to awaken during the first try itself as it wouldn't cost anything.
Sitting in the VIP row where the other sub-clan leaders and prominent individuals of the clan, Azzy kept his eyes on the field.
He momentarily put his attention on a familiar-looking stone slab placed in the center and shifted to the kids lined up.
There weren't as many participants as in 2020 when he participated in the second awakening in this very stadium. Eight-year-old are about 7 in number while twelve-year-olds were just 5 in number.
Albin Ash, the new Red pavilion master who succeeded Truman Ash, became the host of this event.
Showing great enthusiasm, he called upon the names of individuals one after another.
Apart from one kid who belonged to the Smoke clan, the others weren't that talented. Only one 8-year-old had awakened a purple-grade Arcana and had the potential of a 7-star realm.
Adding on top of that, none of the 12-year-olds managed to awaken for a second time either, giving great disappointment to the spectators as well as the clan leaders.
But still, everyone stuck to their seats to watch the main event, well, in their opinion.
Once the kids left and the stone slab was removed from the field, Albin Ash spoke, "Now, before we get onto challenge matches for the positions of pavilion masters, a battle is going to take place between the former clan heir, Vesyrn Garcia and current clan heir, Velez Garcia.
Give it up for both of the individuals…"
Amid the cheering and applauses from the audience, two figures entered the arena with serious looks on their faces.
"Hmm? 8-star realm?" Qridus raised his eyebrow as he stared at Velez. Suddenly, he felt worried.
This content is taken from fr(e)ewebn(o)vel.𝓬𝓸𝓶