The Azra-El Series Ch. 14

"But remember, she can just as easily push you off the pedestal and you will make a louder noise when you fall," she warned him. His elation instantly died.

Why the Hela's butt did I have to display the Righteous Fury? He liked fame but he didn't care for it enough to be in constant fear of the infamy it may bring him from a single mistake. And he was sure he would mess up at some point. He could only hope that Astrid was right about Clio.

Sighing, he moved on to the next article.

The HU announces an Under Sixty Young Martial Arts Tournament

Everyone in Aranya is awaiting the upcoming Young Angel Martial Arts Tournament at D'Warka of The Holy Caledonian Empire. Our own Elyssa Marigold, despite being only 61, is one of the favorites to win the championship. But most were not even aware of a parallel tournament that had been in consideration for angels under 60.

The annual meeting of delegates of the Heavenly Union, held on the day of the Regnbage festival, has finalized the under-60 tournament to be held alongside the main event...

Some believe that this tournament is a direct result of the rising tensions with the Hela Empire...

The Blazing Fury has shown enough potential to have a go at the tournament. But is it a pipe dream to hope that Aranya wins both the championships?

- Vani Sulabha, HU correspondent.

oOo

The varsity Flyball matches between the various classes of Tir began on Sunday. There were three brackets: Classes 1-3, 4-6 & 7-9. The first bracket was the flightless.

Class 1A had their first match that morning, and Blaze sat in the dugout with Siofra. She was clearly not a fan of the sport but was happy enough with him there.

Aahna had appointed herself the team's manager and despite Blaze's complaints, she insisted they try and win without him. So, Blaze was reduced to watching the game from the sidelines.

The game ended with a score of 150-55 in Class 1A's favor. It wasn't even a competition.

After the match, a jubilant Rachel had accompanied Blaze and Siofra to watch Elyssa's 8^th year match. Ely wasn't the best player on her team, but she was a decent batter and doubled as the keeper.

The trio sat on the grass field around the ground and watched the game while munching on salted sunflower seeds. A few older angels were scattered around the ground and Blaze couldn't help but be distracted by an angel with a perfect hourglass body sitting a few yards away from them.

"Any ideas on how to get on the good side of a Pegasus?" he asked Rachel as he gazed at the voluptuous angel. She wore a loose baby pink top and a modest skirt, but the hang of her majestic mountains was quite evident.

"Jealousy works wonders," Rachel replied, her focus on the match.

"Umm. This Pegasus is kinda scared of me." While Badava was not as frightened of him as before, she still didn't let him ride her. His only consolation was that his actions had been enough to gain Claudis' complete forgiveness, and he had restarted her treatment.

Rachel looked at him surprised. "What did you do?"

"Never mind that. Any other ideas?"

"I am sorry Blaze. The only way to get to a scared Pegasus is to spend quality time with it. Feeding, brushing and taking her for walks," she replied shaking her head.

Unfortunately, Blaze had done all that. And as he was about to reply the same, the 8^th year suddenly spilled what looked like flavored milk down her top, making it stick to her skin. Two prominent nipples poked against the fabric, suddenly making Blaze feel thirsty.

"What's the matter, Big Bro? Jealous of her breasts?" Rachel asked impishly, leaning in and poking at his flat chest.

Siofra giggled and poked him from the other side. "Jealous? She doesn't even have any breasts to feel jealous. Maybe in a thousand years she can catch up to her," she said pointing at the angel in question.

Blaze put his arms around the two cheeky angels and pulled their heads under his shoulders. "Learn you must, my young padawans. Just because I don't have big breasts doesn't mean I can't like them."

The older girl, who had been furiously wiping at her top, heard their conversation and glanced at them.

"Nice shirt!" he shouted at her with a mischievous smile.

The angel raised a curious brow at him. "Thank you," she told him dryly and turned away.

The angel next to her leaned in to whisper in her ear. "You're the Blazing Fury?" the busty angel asked in surprise.

"Yep!" he gave her the charming smile he had been practicing.

"Can we get an autograph?" she asked him.

It was Blaze's turn to be surprised. Ah! The perks of being famous. He stood up and walked up to the older angel.

"Do you need a spare shift, big sis? I always carry one with me," he asked her.

"Big Sis? Just call me Ria, and this is Clara. And thank you for the offer, but I don't think your top will fit," she said eyeing his chest.

"We could still try it..."

Ria gave him a sarcastic look.

"Well, it was worth a shot," he laughed. "Are you in Ely's class or the other one?" he asked, flopping down beside her.

"Elyssa's. We were really excited when she decided to attend our class this year. Is it true that she switched because of you?"

"Probably," Blaze replied and suddenly changed his tone to a whisper. "Ria, I will tell you a secret about Ely. Don't tell her I said it, but she secretly wants big breasts. I don't know if they'd get in the way, though. What do you think?" he said, eyeing her breasts from the side. They were large, and heaved heavily as she sat up listening to him.,

Ria didn't seem to care about his actions and simply laughed, before pulling out a piece of parchment and a quillpen. Blaze quickly jotted his signature, ending it with a small cartoon of a flame.

He handed it to her and leaned in on her breast, feeling the softness against his shoulder. Ria, thinking he was just a cute junior, pulled him into a hug.

"She really wants those breasts, doesn't she?" Rachel remarked to Siofra in a loud teasing voice.

"Yeah, but do you see the look on her face. I think we should be careful with our own breasts around her," she replied, not trying to keep her voice down.

"You guys have nothing to fear," he shouted back at them. "At least for another twenty years."

With a few laughs they sat together again and turned their attention back to the match.

Elyssa's team batted second and despite it being a close one, they managed to pull off a victory. Elyssa only managed to score fifteen and she wasn't happy with it.

"Need some lessons from me, Ely?" he quipped at her as she returned.

"You were benched in a match against the 1^st years. What am I supposed to learn from you? How not to get picked?"

"It's all tactics, little Ely. Let this pro teach you some tricks," he said, hooking her arm and pulling her to him.

oOo

Monday evening, Yulia greeted the class with an energy rifle, hefting its triangular barrel over her shoulder. In front of the trigger were three square polarizer blocks that were used to stabilize and direct energy. An energy sink hung underneath the lower block, between the barrel and the frame.

"Today, we shall begin training your external energy," spoke the teacher. "Can those of you who can already manifest external energy into physical forms please raise your hands!"

Almost the entire class, including Blaze and Siofra, raised their hands. They hadn't been using external energy in their training, but most of them could already draw and manifest it into small spheres.

"Are we going to practice external energy manipulation? Isn't that usually done in the fifth year when we have better control of it?" some girl from Siofra's class remarked.

"Yes, but with the under-60 tournament having been finalized, we want you all to be as well trained as possible," Yulia replied, her gaze flitting over Blaze and Siofra.

"Teach! I am not taking part in the tournament!" he protested.

"Nevertheless. Let's get started with the lesson. Who can tell me the difference between external and internal energy?"

Siofra put up her hand before Blaze. "Internal energy is the easy to use energy stored in our bodies. We use it in everyday life, like walking, sprinting, flying and fighting.

"External energy is the actively drawn energy from the surroundings and the Avast. It is not readily available to use for most things and needs to be converted to internal. We typically manifest energy weapons and fire energy weapons with it, but there are also certain techniques that allow it to be used in coordination with internal energy."

"Correct. Internal energy can be used in place of external energy, but not vice versa. But in battle, it is generally wise to preserve your internal energy for movement, while you use external energy for firing non-manifested energy weapons," Yulia said, aiming the rifle at one of the targets.

Her left hand on the barrel glowed with a silvery light and she fired a second later. A loud crack echoed through the field, leaving a fist sized smoking hole in the straw dummy.

"Or to condense your own energy weapons, like this." Yulia said, holding the rifle in one hand over her shoulder and concentrating on her open palm. A silvery ball of light formed and quickly took the shape of a small knife.

"Why bother with condensing energy weapons when you can just shoot rifles?" Blaze asked her.

"Have you ever fired a rifle, Ms. Blaze?" Yulia asked him with a raised brow.

Blaze shook his head.

"Has anyone else fired a rifle before?" she asked the class and several hands went up.

Yulia picked a student and handed her the weapon.

"Firstly, non-manifested energy weapons are not allowed in the tournament. But the practical reason is that rifles are neither as efficient nor as powerful as a manifested energy weapon. They are good in the hands of a regular soldier, but not in the hands of the elite, which I presume all of you would become," Yulia explained before turning to the student holding the rifle. "Can you fire the rifle at me?"

The girl immediately pointed the weapon at Yulia. Pale yellow energy gathered around at the base of the barrel in the energy sink, before the girl fired. Yellow energy zipped toward Yulia, leaving a yellow comet like trail in its wake.

The teacher's hand flashed into the path of the energy sphere and it collided against her hand with a small bang. It fizzled out with no effect. Blaze couldn't tell whether the shot was weak or Yulia was that much stronger than the younger angel.

"Body reinforcement," Yulia stated the obvious. "I could've used my body to block the shot, but using a hand is more efficient. Consumes less energy. Does that answer your question Ms. Blaze?"

Blaze nodded. He had more questions, but he was satisfied for now.

"Good. Getting back to the lesson, external energy manipulation is something that improves with practice. Today, I will teach you some of the common methods that make it easy. They will be useful throughout your lives, so make sure you pay attention. Tell me, how many of you have manifested stable energy weapons before?"

Only four girls including Siofra raised their hands. Blaze knew he could draw more external energy than normal for someone his age, but he had yet to manifest an energy weapon or even shape his external energy. Jie Er had deemed it better to improve his other skills first.

For the next half an hour, Yulia went over the various techniques of energy manifestation. Blaze chose the most intuitive one, bringing his hands together and focusing on forming a sphere in his hands. It was a bright reddish white ball, with flares of energy spilling out like a miniature sun.

Noticing the big ball of energy in Blaze's hands, Yulia walked up to him. "Now imagine a weapon and mold the energy. You must visualize it in your mind. The strength of the image in your head will help you in the physical manifestation. The stronger the visualization, the stronger the material," she spoke out for everyone to hear.

Blaze's obvious choice was the viridian bat. He knew its material, its weight, the feel of it in his hand, and the arrangement of its molecules. Using the information, he slowly started molding the energy sphere to his will.

The sphere began morphing, almost like clay putty, and soon he was holding a decent replica of his viridian. He had lost track of time in his concentration and Yulia had moved away from him at some point.

He looked around and found the students still struggling with their forms. Only Siofra seemed to be having some success with her epee, but it didn't seem as stable as his bat. Even the other three students who had claimed to have manifested physical weapons before were struggling to maintain a stable form of their weapons.

Slowly, students started noticing his bat, and their own manifestations disintegrated as their focus diverted towards Blaze's weapon.

"Very good, Ms. Blaze!" Yulia exclaimed. "Try moving it around."

Blaze swung it and instantly the form wavered. Before he could control it, it collapsed into a sphere. Disappointment flashed across his face, but Yulia gave him an encouraging smile before turning to the other students.

"You should emulate Ms. Blaze and try manifesting the weapon you are most familiar with. Keep up with the practice, Ms. Blaze. I think by the end of the year, you may have a stable weapon!"

The rest of the session was spent with students trying to manifest a solid shape and stabilize its form.

"What's the point of this? Aren't we better off using normal weapons in the tournament?" Blaze asked Yulia after class. However, it was Siofra who answered him.

"You're only allowed to bring one physical weapon to a match. But, imagine having an infinite arsenal of manifested weapons, even if they only last for one hit," she told him, and her answer sent his imagination wild with possibilities.

Yulia gave him a knowing grin and patted him on his back.

oOo

The week flew by quickly, and when Saturday came around, Blaze was longing to get back to Varan. He invited Siofra, but her mother had finally decided to have her back.

"Remember what I said!" he told her the day before.

"I know Blaze. I am my own person. I won't change my opinion in a couple of days because of something my mother says," she replied.Noticing the unsure expression on his face, she gave him a hug.

The journey to Varan went as usual with the excitable girl from Varan keeping their conversation going. When they landed at Varan, Blaze was in for a small surprise.

A small crowd of angles awaited his arrival along with Jie Er. He gave them a sheepish smile and hurried to Jie Er, pretending to be a shy child. It was obvious why they were there. He gave a wave as the angels approached and congratulated him.

Jie Er let him revel in the adulation for a little while before she readied her wings. Blaze manifested his own and the crowd let out a collective ooh of awe. He hadn't revealed his wings in Varan before, so he decided to show off, performing a mid-air barrel roll as he shot towards their home. The crowd cheered at his departure.

"Why don't you want to take part in the competition? It will be a good experience, even if you don't do well. Besides, you seem to enjoy the attention," Jie Er said as they soared across the hillocks and the golden grasslands.

"Meh. Don't I have time later, aunty? I can technically attend three more under sixty tournaments. I've learned enough at school to know that I'm not as strong as I thought."

"That is true."

"But if there was some wager involved, maybe I'd be more motivated," he continued with a lewd grin.

"Wager?"

"I dunno... Maybe the loser has to listen to the winner for a day or something," he mused.

Jie Er wryly shook her head at him. "Blaze Er... You've already attracted a lot of attention. You have to be more careful."

"I know, aunty. It was just a joke." Or is it?

When they reached home, he found more surprises. A large wooden shed as big as Blaze's room had replaced Sky's coop, and an exuberant little otter was running and playing with Sky. The twins Rin and Lin stood watching with smiles pasted on their faces.

"You guys are raising an otter?" Blaze asked, landing beside them. He expected Sky to rush at him like the previous time, but the bird turned his back on him. He pecked at the ground like a chicken searching for a worm.

"No, Splash is yours. Rebecca adopted her last week," Lin told him. Her short hair was now a pale green, but Blaze was now used to the twins switching their hair colors on a regular basis.

The otter curiously approached him, sniffing and taking in his scent. Though it was her first time meeting him, she had noticed his smell around the house.

"She is just like a little dog and very smart too. She also seems to be able to use the world energy to augment her running speed," Lin finished happily. She was the dog lover, and otters seemed to come under the same category for her.

"Splash?" Blaze acknowledged, picking up the otter under her forelegs and looking at her cute chubby face. Yip yip she barked while studying him with beady brown eyes.

Squawk! Sky reminded Blaze of his presence, eyeing him from the corner of his eye.

With a ladle in hand, Rebecca came out to greet them.

"What's up with him?" Blaze asked pointing at the pouting Sky, still pretending to ignore him.

"I think he is throwing a fit at you," Rin answered.

Blaze set the otter down, who excitedly ran around the angels' legs as Blaze walked up to Sky. He knelt beside the bird and poked at his tail feathers, noticing a neat sheen over his plumage. Owing to another growth spurt, Sky's head now stood well above his knees.

The bird clucked at him disapprovingly as Splash hopped to Sky's front and jumped up and down curiously. Blaze laughed and pulled at Sky's wing, feeling its soft cyan feathers. Sky snapped his beak at his fingers, making him hastily withdraw his hand.

Sky snorted and turned away, and Blaze once again reached forward. The Quetzal snapped at him again, but Blaze didn't move this time, though keenly aware that Sky could draw blood. The fast snapping beak slowed before closing on his hand, and Blaze felt only a small amount of pressure.

Sky gave him a muffled cry of annoyance before Blaze drew him into his arms.

Squaa Squaa Sqauaaawk! the bird cried out, finally unable to control his emotions. He clambered onto Blaze's chest, spreading apart his wings to wrap them around him, and prodding with his beak and peppering him with licks of his dry, sticky tongue.

"This little twerp! He didn't even notice it when I left for the weekend!" Rebecca laughed. "Let's go inside. Lunch is ready!"

The group feasted on lamb roast and potatoes. There was also a gnawed leg of a small deer for Sky and Splash.

"Where did you get that?" Blaze asked Rebecca. The leg was obviously hunted by an animal. Was Sky already hunting?

"It's not what you think. Splash and Sky stole it from the pack of wild dogs to the north east. They head out every morning to steal from the pack and they've gotten quite good at it over the past week. You should watch them tomorrow!!" Rebecca explained.

The rest of the afternoon flew by in a blur. Blaze didn't have the equipment or the stamina to keep up with four angels but with Rebecca's help, he had turned them into a mess of moans, squeals, and screams.

By the time evening rolled around, Blaze was signing copies of the Aranya Weekly for everyone on the twin's team. After he was done, the twins departed, but not before giving Blaze a goodbye kiss.

oOo

The next morning, Blaze accompanied Sky and the otter on their daily excursion.