Dawn quickly approached and the lights from the Lion's Den illuminated the surrounding forest. People who have the slightest blood of Regulus came one by one with their invitation cards and lion brooch.
"Kayne," his grandfather called.
Kayne stood on his side and watched the people flood the hall.
"Remember their faces. They are your family and at the same time... foes."
Since no one knows him well yet, Kayne decided to mingle with the crowd wearing only a plain set of clothes. Unlike the school gathering, their guests show the elegance and proper etiquette of a high class family. But greeting and gossiping are still there like a cancerous episode. Also, his theory regarding the hair color is denied by the assembly since he saw some Regulus who have other hair colors.
Though he's in informal attire, Kayne still gathered attention due to his hair color and expensive jewelry. People who saw him begin to speculate who he is despite wearing no brooch at all. In addition, maids are greeting him formally as well as the other residents of Lion's Den.
Going around the place, he reached the esteemed "safe wall" of the den. Like what the name implies, the wall surrounds a huge arena where two teenage Regulus are fighting. Runes are imprinted on the wall and attacks reaching the boundary are nullified. What made it special than the one they are using in underground fights is the level of magic the barrier can withstand. Considering that the fighters are mostly skilled Neos.
"Why are they fighting?" Kayne asked the person standing next to him.
"It's a business feud. The other party is trying to claim the lands from the business of another one, saying that it is not generating enough income," answers the child standing on his other side.
Kayne looked at the child and patted his head.
"What?!" The child brushed his hand and growled at him.
He laughed at this attitude in favor of the child's information. Now he has a vague idea on how the assembly and the "safe wall" work together. He'll use this to gain an upper hand to his dealings later.
Without further ado, he waltzed in the safe wall and attacked both of the competing parties, kicking them to the edge. Noticing that the spectators fell silent, he voiced out his proposition. "Anyone who has spare money can come here and bet with it. If I lose, I, Kayne will be your slave." He pointed to the butler assisting the match and told him, "You, take all of their gambling money and keep it in a safe place." This is the simplest way around he could think of. By copying the rules in the underground arena, he could fight as many as his family could offer.
Kayne sneered and taunted the people in front of him. His goal isn't the money but the fear he'll instill on them.
The first challenger gave up his arm bracers made out of dragon scale and onyx. He looked like a martial artist in spite of his small stature. "I only need my palms to silence an audacious brat like you," he declared.
"If those arm bracers are helpful in your fights, you can wear them. I will just take it after this round," Kayne said, stifling a yawn.
The comment did not reach the challenger's ears positively. He attacked Kayne in a frenzy rather than adhering to his words.
Kayne expected this reaction. He waited patiently for the opponent to land a hit on him before he swayed his hand. The moment the challenger's palm reached him, he moved his hand upward and froze the entirety of the challenger.
"What a precious statue," Kayne commented.
Luke and Reene Regulus watched Kayne's every move carefully from the highest seat in the safe wall. Especially Luke who noticed Kayne's shift of tone. He's enjoying it, Luke noted. Contrary to Luke's critical observation, Reene appears to be enjoying the show. She has this prideful air surrounding her and her eyes twinkle as soon as Kayne defeats the challenger.
"He reminds me of my dear Rigel," Reene expressed.
Luke agreed on her and focused on Kayne's performance once more when the new challenger came in.
The second challenger laughed viciously and broke the frozen figure in front of Kayne. This way of death made the wife of the first challenger scream her lungs out and faint.
Kayne, too, did not approve of the second challenger's action. "I will not take anything from you." he said, removing one of his gloves. He's not in for the kill and will thaw the man after he proved himself as the strongest. Even the first two he kicked are still breathing fine.
"I'll make you regret stepping on inside the wall," Kayne warned on the man who is still laughing on his murder. He took out his jambiya and walked slowly around his opponent like a predator measuring his prey.
"My name's Cello. Remember that."
"Well, Cello," Kayne repeated. "I'll kill you."
The second challenger named Cello leaped on Kayne.
Kayne dodged the attack but Cello is already on his back waiting to cut him with a poisonous knife.
"You're good at dodging." Cello mumbled when Kayne successfully evaded his trap attack.
Equally, Kayne felt exhilarated on their exchange. "Thanks for making this one a bit more interesting," he said.
Cello grinned widely at Kayne's praise and attacked him again. He changed the knife into a long stick and swung it into Kayne's direction.
Kayne held high regard to his skill but after grasping what's happening and the sudden change of weapon, he made a conclusion on what his opponent's skill is.
Bend reality. A ferocious skill to have specifically if the Neo is adept on handling weapons and taking control of the opponent's blindspots. But this won't work against Kayne for a long run.
Learning the skill of others let him strategize a special way to defeat an opponent. First, Kayne split his reality into two and separated the bended reality created by Cello, acting accordingly to Cello's intended movements while being aware of the true reality.
After this, Kayne created a higher level of bended reality and copied Cello's movements and weapon. "Can you see me?," he asked the original Cello.