Will of a Prince

Lidia brought everyone from the Rose Clan out to the lake to start setting up. All the members of the Katra Clan were already lined up by the edge of the lake and patiently waiting for the matches to start. Lidia started talking to one of the older gentlemen about building an arena on the water for the battles to take place on.

"Hey Peter, do you mind creating a massive raft to float on the lake?"

"Certainly, Miss Lidia. Please stand back a moment."

A strong tremble started shaking the ground. Suddenly, a massive wooden platform slowly started appearing out of thin air above the water. It was able to almost completely cover the lake. The true scale of it was breathtaking. Even some of the members of the Katra clan were shocked.

"W-what the hell? There are monsters in the Rose Clan too?"

A tall, red-haired woman scoffed upon hearing this.

"Why are you wondering, Gabriel? Are you scared?"

"Scared?! Ha! Of course I’m scared, Zoey! Look at my legs shaking!"

A skinny man with black hair decided to join the conversation.

"... I don’t think you were supposed to admit that. Hopefully this raft can handle our fights. I can’t even begin to imagine the destruction we’re about to witness from round one."

Zoey started chuckling and stretching her arms out.

"Who’s even fighting these first rounds? And are they going to know our powers?"

"They will. I believe Miss Lidia will announce the names from each side fighting, followed by their power. I believe it’s to make the fight as fair as possible for the Rose Clan since they aren’t experienced fighters."

"Ugh... How annoying. I like seeing the look on my opponents faces when I surprise them."

"Let’s just listen to what Miss Lidia has to say. She’s walking towards the water right now."

Lidia got as close to the raft as she could, then jumped on it to ensure it was sturdy enough. After that, she turned around to face the Noble Clans.

"Attention everyone! I want to start this off by reminding you that this is just a spar! Try not hurt your opponent too badly! One team wins when every person on the other team is no longer able to fight! I will now announce who will be representing the Rose Clan in this first spar!"

Everyone tensed up, waiting for their name to be called.

"William. His power is Light Manipulation. Peter. His power is wood creation. Caleb. His power is duplication of physical objects. Lucy. Her power is iron creation. And lastly, Bart. His ability is to strengthen physical objects."

All of the people whose names were called stepped forward and jumped on the raft. William and Lucy looked to be around Maria’s age. Peter, Bart, and Caleb were all older gentleman who seemed to be in their forties.

"Now, I will call their opponents of the Katra Clan."

Gabriel started shaking fiercely, hoping his name wouldn’t be called first.

"First up, we have Gabriel... huh? Since when is there somebody named Gabriel in the Katra Clan?"

"You’re saying that on purpose!!"

"Anyway. His power is size manipulation of the self. In other words, he can just turn really large or small if he wants. Wow, that’s an awful power... wait, did I say that out loud?"

"Why am I getting picked on before the fight?!"

"Next up, we have Sydney. Her power is the ability to harden her body."

"Why didn’t you say anything about that one?!"

"Moving on, we have Harold and Slade. They can both manipulate speed, but Harold can only increase his own speed while Slade can increase the speed of others. Lastly, we have Bryce. His power allows him to manipulate dirt. So, I guess he’s like a human shovel. "

Bryce shouted angerly back at Lidia.

"Stop making fun of our powers! You didn’t do that with your clan!"

"That’s because my clan is awesome pipsqueak. Now pipe down and get on the damn raft."

While jumping over to the raft, Bryce started mumbling to himself.

"Pipsqueak? I’m almost the same age as her!"

The ten people walked towards the center of the raft to face each other and shake hands. Sydney recognized William from all the classes they had together.

"William."

"Sydney."

"How fun that we were just sharing a classroom and now we’ll be at each other’s throats."

"Indeed. I’m taking full advantage of this to show you I’m strong too."

"You’re just a fancy flashlight."

William started laughing.

"And you’re just a really beautiful statue that no one can break."

Sydney started to blush severely.

’Did... he just call me beautiful?! Am I beautiful?! I guess I have to be. I mean, he’s cute too, I guess. Wait, did he say that on purpose to distract me?! Because it’s working!’

Lucy remained quiet and kept staring at her opponents with no emotion portrayed on her face. Harold and Slade took note of it and pointed at her.

"Be careful about that one. She looks scary brother."

"Just stick to the plan. There’s no way they can beat you with our power combined."

Peter and Bryce were standing off at the end of their lines.

"Fancy power you got here, Peter. I wonder how much energy you got left after creating it."

"Enough to beat all five of you with hardly any effort, that’s for sure."

"You can maybe take down a few of us, but I’m telling you right now, there’s no way you’re catching Harold. No one’s ever been able to beat him when he works with Slade."

"I’ll keep that in mind. Where’s the dirt you’re going to use?"

"I can feel plenty at the bottom of the lake begging for me to pick it up."

"Eww. Stay the hell away from me with that. I’d rather just resign."

"What the hell’s that supposed to mean?! What is it with you people in the Rose Clan?!"

Peter ignored him and looked away at Lidia who was raising one of her hands above her head. Her voice shouted over the people standing on the raft.

"Everyone, please back up and spread out to use as much of the raft as possible. I’m going to count to three and once I put my hand down, you may all begin the fight! Is everyone ready?"

Gabriel was the first to shout out of all of them.

"Ready to win!"

"Hello? Did anyone hear me? I said are any of you ready?!"

"Damn you!"

"We’re ready!"

"I agree, I’m ready too!"

"Me too!"

"All good over here!"

"Alright. I’m going to begin the countdown. Begin battle in one... THREE!"

Lidia skipped counting to two and immediately threw her hand down. It took no time for the Rose Clan to immediately react and push off the raft towards their stunned opponents.