Chapter 45: Dominance
{It took every bit of nonexistent maturity in me, not to name this Chapter "Rule 1: Never duck a fade}
"No wonder you’re where you are." Sean said, finally deciding to humor the young man.
"You are as foolish as you’re untalented. Was it ass kissing or perhaps your parents that enabled you to come this far?"
Silence descended on the whole place, breaths left hanging.
Those who dwelled in Elysium, looking at Sean like he was a dead man. Who didn’t know the Crofts? To not only antagonize them, but to embarrass them in public?!
None of them would dare, even if they were given more balls than they had.
The Crofts were a noble family. One of the oldest family, alongside the five other noble families, the vampires and the military. With the others, they had formed Aegis, shielding humanity behind its walls from beasts and out-worlders alike.
Sean had not just slapped Julian on the face, but Julian’s parents, and the Croft family as a whole.
By accusing Julian of reaching his position due to ass kissing, he was entirely calling the system of the Crofts, trash. What were they if not trash, if they paid more attention to an idiot just because he knew how to tickle your soft spot?
Or perhaps because of his parents standing, he was given more training resources, even though he wasn’t worth it, nor did he merit it. Meanwhile, those who were even more talented but of the lower standing had to work twice as hard.
It was a bold thing to say. No single person, even from the other five families would say something like that, talk more of saying it in public.
What was ironic and likewise amusing to Sean, was that he was actually saying the truth.
From the book ’Evolution Is The Way To Mythic’, Julian had actually climbed to his level of social ladder within the family, not just from ass kissing, but equally because of his parents.
A family that had been around for 300 years, was incredibly large, and had several branches. A good portion of the inhabitants of Elysium, were Crofts by ancestry, the inner and outer sector too.
Competition was bound to be intense, and power struggles were a consistent thing. Julian’s case was not unique, and even the military had things like this within them.
Your social standing within the family was determined by who birthed you, your talent, and favoritism here and there.
A light chuckle tore through the the stunned silence, drawing attention to a young woman with black hair, and clad in black skin tight clothing that hugged her body like a second skin, outlining her blooming features of womanhood.
Just like with the Crofts and the Hiltons, she stood with those of her family, with their signature black hair, and green eyes.
"How bold!" she exclaimed, a light of amusement dancing in her eyes as she watched the show in earnest.
She, Seraphina Hemlock, had not expected this level of entertainment today, and from a no name pissing of the Crofts no less.
Julian who was stunned speechless by Sean’s words, snapped out of his daze, and his eyes blazed with lightning. Under the gaze of so many onlookers, he felt crippling shame crawl up his spine.
"How dare you?!" He roared as he threw a lightning infused punch to Sean’s face.
Sean advanced a step. With a raise of his hand, he parried the blow to the side, and gripped the arm, pulling Julian towards him with a considerable amount of force.
Julian felt himself pulled forward against his will, no amount of resistance seeming to hold against the force.
His hip slammed against Sean’s, and with the momentum of Sean’s pull, he felt his feet lift of the ground.
In no second, he felt the rush of the wind against his body as he was flipped through the air, and...
BAAAM!!!
His back slammed against the ground, causing people to gasp.
Sean straightened his posture, no longer concerned about the now dazed Julian. He turned his gaze to Emma again, from who he could now detect a very faint flutter of mana.
He could tell that she wasn’t concerned about what he did to Julian, but rather the fact that he kept antagonizing her family for no reason.
The faint wisps of mana she was emitting now, was like a warning, and if not for his enhanced senses, it would have been difficult to pick out, in the midst of other Crofts, whose auras were now completely unleashed on him.
The currents running through his body now was intense, and he was only acting normal by sheer will alone. He could even feeling his muscles twitch and spasming from the current.
"I think this has continued long enough," he said, his eyes trained on hers.
The moment he finished talking... The static field imposed on his body, shattered.
Emma’s pupils constricted into pinpricks.
However, before anything else could happen, the collosal black gates shuddered, and began to open.
The sound it gave off was like a the awakening of a slumbering beast, and the vibrations reverberated in the air, to the extent they even felt it in their stomach.
Slowly, a man wearing a military uniform approached the youths from behind the gates. He stood on a hoverboard that surfed through the air, and remained in the air above them.
His cold eyes scanned the surroundings, and he picked up the tension and everything else that had happened. But his face betrayed no expression.
"At ease." He said, and though he wasn’t shouting, his voice was heard by every and all of them.
Julian who was on the floor, felt humiliation burn deep in his soul, and he roared lightning coating his entire body as he shot for Sean.
Despite his focus being on the officer in the air, Sean had his senses on Julian and was already anticipating his reaction.
For fools like him, a word wasn’t enough.
Sean turned back, his leg snapping forward in a back heel kick too fast for normal eyes to follow, and impacting Julian’s stomach and knocking the wind out of him.
Before Julian could catch his breath, another kick came to his head, knocking him out cold.
Instantly, Sean’s leg buckled slightly as he felt a strong pressure pressing down on him.
Tilting his head upward with some difficulty, he saw the man staring down at him with a frown.
However, he sneered, and against the suffocating pressure, he straightened his posture, standing as straight as a spear.