Awakening My Sovereign Authority

Chapter 8

A drunk man standing next to Julian heard him and laughed. "You don't know the Cursed Valkyrie? Her magic is broken, kid! The Blood Valkyrie class is supposed to use the energy of her teammates to make her stronger. But her core is twisted. If she swings that sword, she completely drains the life force of whoever is attached to her! She sucks them dry until they die! She’s killed three of her own teammates before!"

Julian’s eyes widened. He understood immediately. 

Aria had a class that made her a god of war, but it required human batteries. She was a pariah. A cursed outcast. No team would ever take her because fighting beside her meant dying. 

"And tonight," the Arena Master laughed into the microphone, "she is facing five of our best elite gladiators! If she wants to live, she has to fight! And if she fights, she will drain those five slaves to death! Let’s see what she chooses!"

The crowd went completely wild. They loved this sick game. 

On the opposite side of the arena, five massive, heavily armored gladiators stepped out. They carried giant axes, hammers, and spiked chains. The leader of the gladiators, a huge man named Victor Kelly, spun a giant battleaxe in his hands and smiled cruelly at Aria. 

"Come on, little bird," Victor taunted her. "Draw your sword! Let's see you suck those slaves dry! Give us a show!"

Aria stood in the middle of the ring. She looked at the five massive killers walking toward her. Then, she looked over her shoulder. The five slaves attached to her by the green chains were crying, begging her not to kill them. 

Aria's hands shook. She looked down at her rusty sword. 

She gritted her teeth, tears of absolute frustration mixing with the dirt on her face. 

"No," Aria whispered. 

Then, to the shock of the entire arena, Aria dropped her sword into the dirt. She let go of her weapon. She refused to fight. She refused to be a monster. 

The crowd erupted in angry boos. They wanted blood. 

Victor Kelly laughed. "Suit yourself, little bird! More fun for me!"

Victor charged forward. He swung the flat side of his giant axe, smashing it directly into Aria’s ribs. 

Aria flew through the air, crashing hard into the sand. She coughed up blood, holding her side. She tried to stand up, using only her bare hands to protect herself, but another gladiator ran up and kicked her in the face. 

The five men surrounded her. They didn't use the sharp edges of their weapons. They wanted to make it hurt. They wanted to beat her to death slowly. 

Aria took hit after hit. Her armor cracked. Her lip split open. She curled into a ball, taking terrible punishment. But she never reached for her sword. She never pulled the energy from the slaves. She was completely willing to die just to keep five innocent strangers alive. 

Up in the stands, Julian’s heart beat loudly in his ears. 

“She is perfectly strong,” Julian thought, staring at the bleeding girl. “She has a legendary power, but an even stronger heart. The world threw her away because she didn't fit their perfect rules. Just like me.”

Julian didn't need to see anymore. He had found his first team member. 

Down in the pit, Victor Kelly raised his giant, sharp battleaxe high into the air. He was done playing. 

"Goodnight, you cursed freak!" Victor yelled, aiming the sharp blade directly at Aria's neck. 

Julian placed his hand flat against the thick, magical glass barrier protecting the audience. He called upon his new, shattered core. The black and gold energy rushed into his palm. 

"Shatter," Julian commanded. 

The massive, unbreakable magical barrier exploded into a million tiny pieces of falling glass. The loud noise shocked the entire arena. The crowd screamed and covered their heads. 

Before anyone could understand what was happening, Julian jumped off the balcony. 

He fell thirty feet, landing gracefully into the bloody dirt of the fighting pit, right between Aria and Victor Kelly. 

Victor froze, staring at the boy who had just dropped from the sky. "Who the hell are you?" Victor demanded, swinging his axe down toward Julian instead. 

Julian didn’t even look at Victor. He just raised one finger. "Gravity Multiplier," Julian whispered. 

A wave of crushing, invisible force slammed into Victor. The giant gladiator’s eyes rolled back in his head. His heavy armor suddenly weighed five thousand pounds. Victor crashed face-first into the dirt, entirely unable to move a single muscle, the ground cracking beneath him. 

The other four gladiators backed away in pure terror. 

Julian ignored them. He turned around and looked at the five slaves. He waved his hand, using his Sovereign's Authority to effortlessly snap the green magical chains that connected them to Aria. The slaves gasped and scrambled away to safety. 

Then, Julian looked down. 

Aria was lying in the dirt, covered in blood, staring up at him with wide, shocked eyes. She looked at his clean jacket, and then at the terrifying golden glow in his eyes. 

Julian slowly reached down, picking up her rusty, heavy broadsword with one hand. He stabbed it into the dirt right next to her. 

Then, he reached out his other hand toward her. 

"Who... who are you?" Aria gasped, spitting blood from her mouth. "Don't touch me! If I fight, I will kill you!"

Julian did not pull his hand back. Instead, a thick, beautiful chain of pure gold and black light shot out of his chest, connecting directly to Aria’s heart. 

Julian smiled. It was a confident, dangerous smile. "I am someone who is very good at taking pain," Julian said softly, his voice echoing with power. "Take my life force, Aria Price. Take as much as you want. I have plenty to share."

Aria stared at his hand. 

"Now," Julian commanded, his eyes burning bright. "Stand up. And show these garbage men what a true Valkyrie looks like."