Villain Retirement

Themarian Sanctioned Duel.

A custom that has existed for eons. There are really no accounts to when this contest of strength between two themarians started, as one would have to dig through a history long gone—they just know it exists, and all of Theran honor it.

The duels are as fair as fair could be. One could refuse, and there was no dishonor in doing so. Anyone can challenge anyone—be it a child, be it an elder…be it royalty.

As a race of warriors, this is one of the themarians' most welcomed entertainment. Just raw, unfiltered violence where one could be sent to eternal death. And when one does meet their death in duel, they are treated with respect, dignity, and glory.

But of course, the duels are not all glory. There have been, as always is the case for sentient and intelligent species, people that would use the duel for petty reasons. Be it coveting one's spouse, jealousy, envy—and most of the times, especially with the newer generations of themarians, they would use it to impress those they wish to court.

And now here, inside a hall filled with themarian teenagers, oozing out all sorts of pheromones—a boy tries his luck. Surrounded by his peers, Alain from the house of Leiz approaches his opponent, filled with arrogance and pride.

Of course, they are called teenagers on their planet. But for those that are outside their territory, some would already consider them elderly. Alain, in particular, is already 126 years old.

Themarians, you see, age like most humanoid species out there. Their bones, their muscles all develop quickly—that is until they passed through puberty. And there, they spend at least 300 more years to be considered an adult; their growth, almost halted.

Themarians can spend thousands and thousands of years, and their physical appearance would remain unchanged. It is not until their energies become weaker that their body will start showing signs of aging.

As for Alain, his body is still filled with vitality expected of someone his age; of course, with that vitality, comes rash decisions.

Alain was now in front of his classmates, and in front of him was his opponent. Unbeknownst to Alain and the rest of the younglings in the classroom, Alain's opponent was not the same as them; he was not even the same species, no.

As a race of warriors, themarians are able to detect energy in living things—that is how they gauge their opponents' strength. And Alain's opponent, in particular, was barely producing any energy; making him utterly confident of his decision to challenge him to a duel.

But alas, the white-skinned, white-haired creature in front of him was a vicious animal. The Apex predator of his own planet, unmatched in both strength and violence.

Alain continues to size up his opponent, not knowing all of his judgments would be wrong. As for his opponent, Riley Ross, he just stood there—biding his time and letting Alain make the first move.

Riley was wary, of course—as even young, Alain belonged to the strongest species in the entire Known Universe; capable of destroying normal planets with ease. But still, Riley was as relaxed as he could be. After all, he had already fought several themarians stronger than the cub in front of him.

"This will be quick!" Alain bumped his knuckles together—a salute reserved for duels. The young themarian then stretched his arms to the side as he looked at his audience, showing that he was the bigger contender.

Unfortunately for Alain, however, the themarian female he was trying to impress, Claudyne, was not even looking at her—only at his opponent.

Unlike him who needed to stretch his arms to the side, Riley's long white hair was enough to attract the attention of the females; his complexity and difference from the rest of the pack made him an outcast, but it also made him noticeable without even trying.

Alain was becoming furious because of this, as one could see his nose flare up. Unfortunately for Alain, however, misunderstood Claudyne's stares as one of longing for his opponent; as one would expect from a young themarian driven by his hormones.

And so, after looking at his opponent one last time—he rushed toward him. If one wanted to make an impression as a themarian worthy of partnership, one needed to dominate his or her opponent, and that is exactly what Alain wanted to do.

His fist, filled with all the unnecessary rage that was boiling inside him, shot straight to the face of his opponent. A smile was already appearing on the young themarian's face, as his opponent could not even react to his speed.

"You're dead!" Alain once again let out a battle cry as he felt his fist touch his opponent's face. His battle cry, however, quickly became that of a sharp cry for pain.

"Krah!"

"!!!"

The other young themarians all squinted their eyes from the noise; their friend's screams of pain, not yet fully registering in their minds. All of them were expecting the white-haired man's head to explode, but what came next was truly something none of them had ever seen before.

Riley had his palm up; but instead of catching Alain's fist, the edge of his palm was facing his face… the other edge, splitting and completely opening Alain's fist in half.

Riley is physically weaker than the average themarian, and he was fully aware of this even before landing his feet on the planet. But Riley, this particular creature, has never truly relied solely on his physical abilities.

Instead of raw, unstoppable force—he had with him a sophisticated onslaught of abilities stacked on top of each other, creating something even more sinister. His raw strength, his telekinetic abilities, his ability to harden his skin and flesh, his ability to manipulate the size of his body, his ability to create pocket explosions out of thin air; all working together like an orchestra to create a singular show of force that almost mimics a themarian's raw strength.

This creature, Riley Ross, had more than a hundred abilities inside of him; lying dormant and just waiting to be unleashed. Back in his world, he did not need even a fraction of them—but now, in a world filled with creatures that could kill him, Riley Ross was very slowly removing the limit he set upon himself.

"You… were you concealing your energy?" Alain, of course, could not understand what he just experienced. His hand has already fully regenerated, but the arrogance it carried was no more,

"Where is your honor!?"

Honor, yes. It is considered dishonorable amongst themarians to hide one's true strength. After all, for them, to hide one's power is considered cowardice, that one is not proud to possess the gift given to them by their lineage.

"Where's your hand?"

"Wh—"

And before Alain could react to Riley's weird response, he heard a weird sound whisper in the air—a pulse.

And all of a sudden, his vision was covered with Riley's long white hair. He saw him moving, of course, but the suddenness of it all made him freeze. But of course, a species carrying with him the instinct of an eon's worth of battle, Alain was able to step back—pulling his arm away before Riley could grab it.

But as Alain looked down to check, Riley's hands were already on their way to his face; his nails, longer and sharper than how they were before.

"!!!" Alain quickly raised his arms to cover his face—perhaps a mistake, as Riley grabbed his left wrist, pulling it away and dragging him closer. And as soon as Alain's left arm was fully stretched, Riley quickly stabbed his elbows with his long and sharp nails, completely dislocating it before literally pulling and tearing it away.

"You!" Alain wanted to grab Riley's neck; before he could do so, however, Riley suddenly and literally slid away on the floor.

And out of nowhere, Riley started flailing Alain's dismembered arm like it was a weapon; causing the blood to spray everywhere in the classroom.

"W—"

And as soon as Alain lost focus from his weird movements, Riley disappeared from his spot, only to appear behind Alain with his own dismembered arm already threatening to smack him straight at the back of his head.

Alain was able to react, of course, as he quickly turned around and leaned back. Riley, however, already expected this as he let the arm swivel around his neck; using the added momentum to that to slap Alain's face with his own hand.

"..." Alain was not really hurt by this, of course. But still, he fell to his butt. His healing arm was probably the most painful out of everything—but that is not what he was feeling at the moment.

To be slapped by your own dismembered arm in front of your friends, as well as the girl you are courting? This kind of humiliation was enough to make a grown man cry, let alone a creature controlled by his emotions.

And so, with his emotions running wild enough to cause his head to shake—the corners of Alain's mouth began to lower; his eyes, starting to moist as he saw his friends all whispering to each other and looking down on him.

But most importantly, Claudyne, the apple of his eye, was now covering her face in shame and shaking her head.

"I…" Alain no longer knew what to do; the eon of instincts that have been ingrained in his blood, overpowered by his emotions as he looked everywhere. And soon, his eyes landed on the door.

And without even thinking about anything else, he ran towards it. But alas, the companion of his opponent, Zac, blocked the door.

"Alain'Leiz, you are currently in a Sanctioned Duel. Either surrender…

…or let the battle decide your fate."