Chapter 14
“Do you really think you can avoid the same fate that your parents suffered? Having to die a needless death in an impossible battle!?” Tyrome had pulled his sword and was pointing straight at Antonio who was crying as he and his father continued to argue about Antonio’s fate.
“I can! And I will! I know my limits dad! And I know what my parents did was to give me a better chance at living a life free from the dark immortals control! I’m not serving them!” Antonio protested.
“But what makes you think you can avoid death? A needless death that will rob you of your life!” 
“Because I have my friends to lean on. They give me the strength I need to move forward! I know I’m not alone in this! I can fight! How can I sit by while my friends are out there fighting! I can’t abandon them like that! The way my parents choose to give up their lives for me I would gladly risk my life for the future they dreamed of!” Antonio said as he pushed the tip of the sword away.
“You think that you have the strength? You think that your friends have the strength!” Tyrome once again yelled.
“We do!” The two heard River scream out from the hallway. The otter was trying to get himself in between Antonio and his father. He needed to calm the situation.
“We have the strength. We can protect each other, the sacrifices that were made at dragon respire are the foundation for our future. And we can use it to free the dark bloods from their curse!”  River protested while getting between Antonio and Tyrome.
“And if you fail?” Jerome asked again but sheathing his sword.
“We won’t! We will use the path that all those how gave their lives for to make our future bright!” River said oozing confidence.
“Dad! I’m not going to run away from this. My parents gave their lives for this and so I will continue their fight!” Antonio added nearly in tears.
Jerome grunted but relented. “Then I guess I have no choice then. Antonio, you can continue fighting alongside your friends but with three conditions!” 
Antonio perked up hearing his father finally relent. “First if you should find a battle too dangerous you must retreat! Two you should always tell me what you are doing. And finally you should use this if you ever find yourself in too much trouble.” Jerome gave Antonio a charm with symbol of a gate on it.
Antonio gasped. “Dad is this?” 
“It is a Summoning charm. Use it when you find yourself overwhelmed and I shall come and save you. I was unable to help your mom and dad but I can be there for you!” Jerome Snatched UP Antonio into a hug.
“Of course dad!” Antonio let himself get caught up into the hug as his father held him tight.
River smiled. He expected a confrontation like this when he saw Jerome leave so he made sure to intervene. They would not be the same without Antonio. River walked off letting the two continue to enjoy each other’s embrace. River was about to fight in his battle and he had a tough battle ahead of him.
Once he entered the arena he saw Chivez already there waiting for him the otter was smiling as River approached.
“After those last two battles I can’t wait to see what you are capable of!” Chivez said clearly eager seeing that he had the opportunity to be the leader since Monroe had failed so badly.
“I can assure you that you won’t be disappointed by the loss you are about to get.” River taunted.
“Don’t mistake me for my teammates. They underestimated you guys severely. I already know now that you guys have some really strong powers and know just how to use them but that doesn’t mean you can beat me!” Chivez readied himself.
“You’re still not going to win!” River prepared himself as well
“The match between Chivez and River shall now begin!” Venom gave the starting signal.
Chivez made the first move he quickly charged at River but was so fast River barely had time to react before Chivez’s fist came barreling down from above him. River managed to move out of the way and Chive ended up punching the ground instead where his fist left a hole in the floor.
River smiled. He charged at Chivez with the same speed Chivez had just shown and threw a punch at him the same he had done. Chivez moved out of the way and just like Chivez River left a hole in the floor where his punch had missed.
“Looks like this will be interesting. A power that mimics my own?” Chivez said grinning.
River just smiled. ‘As long as you think that then I have won already.’
They both charged this time throwing punches at each other that were being blocked. They two were locked in struggle where they attacked, were blocked and the retaliated and were blocked again. So they continued until Chivez jumped back. River charged at him but Chivez was ready for him. Chivez charged at River but as he closed in ducked down and aimed at kick right at Rivers legs. River responded by jumping into the air just as Chivez expected. Chivez lunged up at River with another punch but River countered with a kick of his own. The two collided sending vibrations through the air as their super changed punches and kick’s collided. The two then fell back from each other and prepared the next plan of attack.
‘I hate doing this but I have to turn this into a long range battle! He has somehow managed to copy my physical abilities. Let’s hope he hasn’t copied my other powers.’ Chivez thought to himself as he assessed the situation.
‘He still hasn’t figured it out yet? Then I better show him what he is missing.’ River prepared himself to end the battle quickly this time.
Chivez and river both clasp their paws together gathering energy. Chivez was startled and disappointed by the energy that River was gathering. But he knew he could at least over power him since control of Light energy should be hard for a dark blood.Both stood in a stalemate while the charged the energy in their paws.
“Take this!” Chivez screamed as he felt himself finally reach the maximum amount of energy he could store. He fired a pure beam of light out his paws straight towards River. River just smirked. He fired his own beam of Light towards Chivez having them both collide in midair. The explosion they caused ripped through the air and a blinding light stunned everyone watching. All the spectators had to cover their eyes because of how much the light was hurting their eyes.
Soon the effects faded and what was left was a stunned Chivez and a smiling River.
“HOW! A dark blood no matter what his powers do should not be able to store that large amount of light energy!” Chivez screamed out.
“Hmph! Well I guess it’s surprising. I only managed to start using light energy recently. In fact that was the first time I managed to use that technique using light energy.” River stated.
“Wait what?”Chivez said as he took a step back.
“You were under the wrong assumption. You thought my power was the ability to mimic yours. What you failed to realize is that my powers are the same as yours.” River prepared himself. “Let me show you what you are missing!”
River tightening his fist and started gathering dark energy this time. He focused hard and then threw punch into the air releasing the energy in the form of a tiger head. The energy went straight for Chivez who was caught off guard but still managed to jump out of the way in time. And just as the head of energy flew past him he realized his mistake.
“It’s over” River proclaimed as Chivez was caught up in the air stream that the tiger head produced. He was being sliced up by the air current bit by bit before it finally ended with him falling to the ground covered dozens of cuts and bruises.
River walked over to Chivez who was on the ground unable to move. “You should at least know one of your very own techniques. The Shredding Tiger fist. Shoots energy at the opponent but the real danger is the wind current it creates around it. The air around acts like hundreds of tiny blades slicing everything it comes into contact with. You dodged the energy but were still in range of the air stream. I thought you would have recognized it but you didn’t. You just let me win this one easy.”
Chivez struggled to look up at River. “How? How can you use warrior techniques that I am trying to master myself?”
“Hmph. You should probably find out for yourself. I would rather not give away secrets that are not mine in the first place.” River said to Chivez.
Chivez was struggling but Venom had not called the match yet. SO Chivez realized he still had a chance. Just one chance but he needed to take it. Chivez gathered what energy he could and focused it into his body to heal his wounds and give him some strength. Chivez struggled to his feet but eventually he managed to stand up.
“I’m not going to lose!” Chivez said determined to beat River.
“You can say that all you want but as you are, you have no way of beating me.” River said confidently as he waited for Chivez to attack.
“I’m not weak…” Chivez muttered under his breathe.
River jumped back a bit as he sensed a change in Chivez. Soon some embers could be seen around Chivez as he began to glow a bright orange light. Soon the light shrouded and started dancing like a brilliant flame. Chivez was covered in Bright flames and it was healing his wounds.
“Beast heart!” River said out loud. “The art of encompassing your body with the body in aura that behaves like a wild beast. The form the aura takes on depends on the person using it. But I can’t tell what animal your aura resembles which is quite strange.” River deducted.
Chivez roared out and charged at River with the aura now covering him River knew he could not block the attack and dodging would bring its own set of problems. He had only one choice take the hit head on.
River focused his energy in his fist to take on the power that Chivez was using but as the clash between drew near Chivez’s aura dispersed leaving him vulnerable. River just finished by punching Chivez using the energy he had gathered to counter him. Chivez was thrown across the room and hit the wall at full force before falling to the ground unconscious.
“You should learn your limits. If you can’t even tell when you are at them then you have no right to be in actual battle! Just because you are immortal doesn’t mean that you can take a battle lightly! If you do then those around will pay the price.” River raised his voice heavily and then grabbed Chivez and pulled him up to face him. “You don’t understand the situation that you are about to facing!”
Suddenly Venom grabbed River’s wrist. “Calm down. Let him go you already won the match and he still has not finished his training he will learn that in due time.”  River growled a bit but realized what he was doing.
“Sorry, it’s just that…. Never mind” River said and started walking off as the ranking appeared up and Chivez was ranked second behind Jacob in the team rankings and twenty first as expected. The room reset and the two warriors were returned to their form that entered with.
River continued walking but could be heard muttering something but it was under his breath so no one could hear it. However Kyle and Patrick already knew what had caused River to snap.
“Opal.” Kyle said out loud.
“Yea, he is still beating himself up about that.” Patrick added.
“Who is Opal?” Rin asked.
“Opal was someone special to River and well she died during a fight with a dark immortal convoy. That however is a tale for another time.” Patrick commented. However he did not realize that Aquas who was standing in hearing range had picked up on it.
River soon reached back to the observation deck where Kyle, Benjamin, Rin and Alex were waiting as Patrick had now entered the arena to face Shadow. River was still scowling under his breath and Rin and Alex had stepped away a feet steps.
“I‘m not crazy guys. It just that newbies like him should learn what battle really is.” River said sternly.
“But you were exactly like him once.” Kyle retorted.
“Don’t you DARE! Kyle some things need to remain private!” River yelled at Kyle making all the other groups around them turn to stare. When River noticed that he stepped down, and turned to see the match leaving Alex and Rin to wonder what happened to River.
Patrick and Shadow were preparing for their match. Shadow was still a bit shaken but he would still be a formidable foe for Patrick who was still reading his book.
“You really should put that away. But I have feeling that the book in your hand might be very dangerous.” Shadow commented.
“Well of course. You know how dark blood powers work. So shall we start with his façade?” Patrick closed his book and put it in his pocket before summon a black book to replace it.
“Hmm.” Shadow responded by summoning a coin attached by a chain. He hung it around his neck.
“Begin!” Venom said starting the match.
Patrick responded by turning the book into a black sword. The sword had some swirling energy around it that made Shadow step back.
‘What the heck is that sword? And why did it form from that book?’ Shadow thought to himself as he created his shadow pockets in both fists.
Shadow made the first move. He punched the air and sent his the force of his fist into a shadow dimension but nothing happened. Patrick was a bit taken but he knew to be on guard.
Patrick swung his sword and the energy around it dispersed and the blade of the sword caught on fire but the fire was burning blue. Shadow smirked his attack finally activated. Below Patrick two shadow fists manifested out his shadow and hit him square in the stomach as they rose up knocking Patrick back. 
Shadow then charged but fell for Patrick’s trap. Patrick’s sword had risen up independent of Patrick’s will and flung its self towards Shadow while covered in blue flames. Shadow intercepted by opening one of his shadow portals and send the sword into it. As he closed the portal he saw a book appear in front of his face and then shatter like glass around him.
Patrick was suddenly behind him and he realized that somehow in that short period of him focusing on the sword that Patrick had he had somehow gotten behind him.
“You are a very interesting opponent Crimson. I shall enjoying beating you!” Those watching were surprised by the mistake of calling Patrick by his brother’s name but Kyle and the other knew that the match was over. After all Patrick was the most dangerous of all of them if you weren’t able to figure out his power.
Shadow started throwing his shadow punches towards Patrick this time though they were coming from his fists. Patrick summoned another book and it started glowing. Suddenly it absorbed the Shadow punches and then disappeared once Shadow realized his assault had failed and was preparing to change his plans.
Patrick summoned another book and used it to blast the shadow punches that he had just absorbed back towards Shadow. The white wolf instead of dodging charged right in and took all the punches head on. Shadow was being beaten to a pulp by his own power and he was not even defending himself.
Soon shadow fell to the ground and then one of his own pocket dimensions opened up and sent the flaming sword piercing straight through his own heart.
Everyone was surprised by the outcome of the battle as even Venom had trouble believing that Shadow who survived the massacre at Dragon respire was so easily defeated. 
“Man, it has been a while since we last saw Patrick be that serious. He borrowed a ton of books.” Benjamin remarked.
“What is his power?” Aquas asked directing the question to anyone in the group.
“It’s called Dark Library. He gets to borrow a book from a ‘Library’ of them. The books have many different effects ranging from just turning into a weapon or forcing an effect on someone. However he can only borrow the book once a day. If he uses a book he has to wait another day to use it again that is why he normally never uses more than one or two books during a battle.” Kyle responded.
“That is a very complex ability and judging by what he pulled out.” Aquas commented.
“It is very complex, it’s such a difficult power to grasp that Patrick himself is afraid to borrow books that he has not read yet. He has access to thousands of books in his library but to fully utilize them he has to read the book fully. If he hasn’t read the book and tries to use it he might not know what it will do.” Benjamin responded.
“You mean he still has not even fully grasped most of his power? But he beat my brother like it was nothing!” Rin interjected.
“He has only read a fraction of the books he has at his disposal and does not include the restricted books that he has access too. They are ones he can only borrow once in a long time. One of them he has told us about can only be borrow once every six months. Patrick has the most dangerous power out of all of us because he doesn’t even know what it can do.” Kyle commented.
Aquas didn’t let it show but he was a bit taken by the potential of this particular dark blood. His powers would easily make him a member of the seven swords if he mastered them. Atlantic was getting a bit suspicious of the dark bloods seeing that they seemed to be quite ready for battle. The way the acted was if they had been in some hard battles before.
“Aquas I believe we have some investigating to do.” Atlantic addressed his partner.
“I agree these kids have combat experience and a decent amount. They are nothing like the new guardians who have yet to see real battle.”
The two turned back to see Shadow shaking hands with Patrick who was staring at him oddly.
 “Man how did you manage to make me attack myself? That was an awesome move!” Shadow said with some excitement.
“I used an ability to confuse you to my advantage, it called the book of mental confusion and I used it to confuse your powers so that when you tried sending the sword at me it would go attack you instead. But it doesn’t work well on a strong minded person such as yourself. So why you are weak mentally Shadow? What happened today that put you in such a sorry state? My book worked way too well!” Patrick questioned Shadow.
Shadow soon lost his excitement and fell back into his solemn state. “I would rather not talk about that.” Shadow just walked off leaving Patrick a bit stunned and the others stunned at the way he walked off.
Alex in particular figured out that whatever happened to his brother also happened to Shadow. And now he was determined to find out what exactly happened.