Akashic Arcana Genesis || A Battle of Wills

Jayden would be caught off guard by the thrown training weapon. It smacked into the side of his head with a loud "thwack!" He had to catch himself from faceplanting due to being caught by surprise.

Jayden stumbles back up straight, snarling at the princess as his mind replays the "thwack" sound repeatedly, stirring up memories. She doesnt have her enhencement magic in here he thinks. He picks up the weapon, which was in the form of a sword with a hand-and-half-grip. He swings it a few times, getting a feel for it. He then places the armor disk on his chest, paying it no mind as it forms around him. He continues to snarl at her, his rage growing with each repeat of the "thwack" sound. His empty left hand rubs over his right hand, grimacing each time the sound repeats.

After a few seconds, he cant take it anymore and rushes her with a blind rage. Despite his frail frame, there was a sense of strength behind his attacks, though they were slow and clumsy, lacking any finesse or technique.
 
Putting on an air of smugness and arrogance, Artoria beckoned for Jayden to come at her. Though he did so for other reasons she was unaware of. She wasn't expecting his attack to be so blatantly telegraphed.. or clumsy. While she didn't have her incredible strength to rely on, she was still trained by Sir Lancelot, one of the greatest fighters who has ever lived. The moment he got close, she easily sidestepped his first attack and, in a blur of motion, stepped inside of his guard, struck him hard across the belly with her sword, then spun counter clockwise and smacked him horizontally across the back.

Her second attack likely would have caused him to stagger forward. If it did, Artoria would plant a foot right onto his spine, and shove him forward. There was no hiding it. She was greatly enjoying finally having the opportunity to put Jayden in his place. "Come on! Is that the best you can do?! You're so frail and weak, I could kick your arse with one hand behind my back." To emphasize, she actually put her left hand behind her back, taking a fencing stance.
 
The hits to Jayden were absorbed by his armor, but they still stung a bit, causing him to become enraged further. Artoria's taunting did little, for Jayden's bloodlust was already taking over. After beind hit by the kick to the spine, he swun around wildy asnd instintively grips the sword in his left and attempts to snap with his right hand. Nothing happened, as the magic damphener was still active, but Artoria would know that if it wasnt.... she would be in severe pain at this point.

Jayden practically roars in rage and charges once more, his horizontal, cleave-like attack being even slower and clumsier than the previous ones, if possible.
 
The snap alerted Artoria to the fact that Jayden had essentially just tried to kill her with a point blank fireball. She flinched at first, but then she would remember the magic dampener of the room. Her right hand clenched tightly around the handle of her weapon, and once again easily dodged his incoming attack. Her next counter attack would be much more vicious and powerful.

Artoria, this time not waiting for his ineffectual attack to finish, lunged forward. Abandoning her one-handed challenge, she got in close, clamped her left hand around his sword hand's wrist, and shoved the tip of her training sword into his temple. Such a strike would have knocked him clean out, were it not for the protective sparring gear, but it would still stagger him. Not yet satisfied, the enraged Princess pressed her attack, gripped her sword handle with two hands, and struck him with a powerful strike at his left hip.
 
Jayden barely seemed to notice as she grabs his arm, futilly struggling against the stronger swordswoman, attempting to bring his weapon back around in vain. His head turns to face her, his eyes fiery hot and his rage even hotter, just as the tip of the sword smashes into the side of his face. As he stumbles backwards, her iron grip on his arm slides down and forces his right glove to come halfway off. As if on cue, he snaps out of his bloodlust and drops his sword to try and pull his glove back on. However, her follow up attack smashes into his hip with a loud THUMP, sending him tumbling down in pain.

As he tumbles, the glove flys off his hand. He grabs his left hip in pain with both hands, with his right subconciously on top. Artoria would be shocked to see the heavily scarred hand that was under the glove. The hand seemed to have a faint scar tissue, almost as if he had third degree burns on his hands at one point. But that wasnt the worst part, across the entirety of his hand there were scars on top of the burn marks. The scars ranged from what looked like small cuts to signs of huge gashes on it. From what she could see, the cuts went from his finger tips all the way down to his wrist, and likely covered his palm as well. The scars were clearly not from an explosion, as they were neat and perfectly parallel to each other, almost immaculately so. The level of pain they must have caused gave her the sense they were clearly not self inflicted.

After grabbing his hip in pain for a short moment, he snaps back to reality. He notices his hand was uncovered, and that the Princess was likely looking at it. He instantly tries to hide it, scrambling over to where to glove was. He grabs it and scrambles over to the corner of the room, sitting and struggling to get the glove on as his face starts to swell slightly, since they didnt put on the headgear part of the armor. Once he manages to get it on, he snaps at Artoria "You didn't see ANYTHING!!" he screams the last word as tears began to form on his face, his face fiercely defiant.

At that moment, Artoria could possibly piece together his frequent comments about his father's "strict rules" and how the scars on his hand work together.
 
Even though she had just struck Jayden down, she was already advancing upon him, ready to strike yet again. However, as she wound up an attack, she would halt her movements upon seeing Jayden's now exposed hand. The sight horrified her. She couldn't act or speak, the Princess was so shocked. The burns, the scars that were far too well-spaced and perfectly lined up to be self-mutilation or an accident. Someone else had done this to him intentionally. Torture? I never imagined he could have been hiding something like this, or keeping that pain bottled up.

Artoria lowered her weapon and strolled over to help him up, only to freeze in place again when he screamed at her. She took a step back, alarmed at the sudden change in tone, as this wasn't pure fury. He was feeling pain, pure and simple. And not in the physical sense. She couldn't fully understand why he was like this, unless the damage to his hand was that psychologically damaging. Who could be so cruel to do this?

She started forward again, her tone much gentler this time "Jayden..." She approached him again, offering a hand to help him up. Her expression was pained as well, as she was utterly ashamed of her actions towards the boy.
 
Jayden's right eye continued to swell up as he simply stares at Artoria. His hand slowly reaches up, almost looking like he was going to take it. However, he sees the pity in her eyes and his rage boils up once more. "I don't want your pity!" he yells, slapping her hand away.

He quickly stands up, pushing past her, opening the door and sprinting out. He stumbled a few times as he sprints towards the exit out of the gym due to his eye swelling shut. However, it barely slows him as he bursts out hte door and into the city. Seeing his group of loyal friends waiting for him, he quickly dodges into a nearby alleyway. Jayden takes the alley a few blocks, avoiding everyone he came across before ducking into a dark spot. He sits on a few steps leading to a backdoor so some building. He places his face in his hands, the held-back tears finally bursting forth like a waterfall. He sits there for a while, despite his ORB ringing an alert that the Disiplinary Committee Recruitment meeting was going to be happening soon.

Jayden reflects back on Artoria and the looks she gave him. Jayden thought about how she was looking at him with pity, just like all the others. "I dont need her pity." he mumbles out to no one in particular.

However, a small part of him tugged at his thoughts, bringing up the idea that she could actually care. Her big blue eyes seemed to tug at his mind, and the genuine compassion behind them made him smile at the thought of actually being able to talk to somone about his hands. He began to think of their similar, but vastly different experiances. Her loving father to his cold one, but both expecting great things from their offspring. The weight of Britannia on her shoulders while the weight of his father's influence and hte expectation of the military drags him down.

However, his pride, fear of rejection, and self doubt would not settle so easily. "I dont need help." he says aloud. "I am Jayden Williams, Grandson of Hughes Williams and Son of the greatest military commander in the world! I WILL beat that girl at her own game, and I WILL never EVER let someone look at me with pity again." He then stands up, his fists clinched and his body quavering in his rising anger. "Never again." He says once more, affirming his decision.

Jayden finally checks his ORB, sighing at his now-tardiness before he heads towards the nearest clinic. He would get healed up before he heads towards the DC building, where Christian's offices are.
 
Having her hand slapped away left Artoria speechless yet again. There was a look of shock and pain on her face, as though he had just directly insulted her honour. She didn't even try to stop him from leaving this time, no longer in any mood to help or entertain his antics. Bottling up her anger and frustration again, the Princess took a deep breath then exhaled, and collected up the practice gear before stowing it away.

She would likewise leave the Gym building, but in a much slower, despondent manner than Jayden had. She was still careful to avoid Uther, and found herself outside again, with the sun shining low in the sky. Sunset would come soon, and Artoria felt another wave of stress hit her. This was only her second day at the Academy, and the young knight already felt pressured by any kind of failure she faced, her terrible relationship with Jayden being one of them. She almost felt obligated to help him out of whatever issues he had, but she also had a feeling he wouldn't be so willing to accept her help, given how she's been treated so far, and the beating she had just delivered certainly wouldn't help matters.

Damn it, I let my emotions get the better of me again... Artoria just about punched a wall out of frustration, then realized that her enhanced strength was back, and refrained from doing so. Best not to add property damage to her list of problems. Breathe, Artoria. Get a grip. She took in another deep breath, and exhaled. Not feeling much better despite this, the Princess decided to find something to do to get her mind off things. Then her ORB notified her of the Disciplinary Committee's recruitment. That works, I suppose. Not one to miss a chance at proving herself, Artoria made her way to where Prince Christian's office was, heading off at a brisk jog.

FIN~
 
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