DC: A New Beginning-Chapter 47: Sparing (Bonus - )

Initially, Atlanteans thought they were being attacked by outsiders.

Atlantis had always prided itself on its advanced technology, developed over thousands of years, but nothing they used worked.

Atlantis’s very blast, every spell, every weapon, only caused a little heat or smoke.

They couldn’t even scratch him.

Suddenly, Atlanteans rushed in waves wearing a mix of magical and technological armor.

It’s worth mentioning that Atlanteans typically possessed physical abilities far superior to those of ordinary humans on the surface.

Moreover, their powerful armor could amplify their physical strength by several times or even dozens of times.

However, this formidable "outsider" seemed not to notice them. It was as if their combined attack with a weight of tens of thousands of tons was no more than a gentle breeze.

After the consecutive attack, Viktor frowned and casually waved his hand. A hundred soldiers were sent flying in an instant.

This continued until the furious King Arthur and Queen Mera rushed out of the city.

The moment Aquaman saw who it was, his anger turned into surprise.

"Everyone, stand down!"

Aquaman commanded his people to retreat, handing his golden trident, which had been prepared for combat, to one of his guards. He then slowly approached Viktor who stood there with a cold expression.

"Why are you causing trouble in Atlantis?"

He calmly stared at Aquaman in silence before suddenly flashing a grin.

"I’ve been training a lot with Ms. Prince recently. Tonight, I just couldn’t sleep, and I thought I’d find someone to spar with and test what I’ve learned."

Aquaman seemed to understand instantly.

He probably wasn’t in a good mood and had come looking for a fight to blow off some steam.

Even though Arthur had been in Atlantis all day, managing his people and a highly dangerous seismic anomaly in the oceanic plates, Aquaman hadn’t been able to respond to the Justice League’s alert.

However, Aquaman had been keeping a close eye on the Watchtower through the communication system Batman helped build.

He probably understood what had happened.

The young man in front of him helped Superman retrieve a ’relative’ from the edge of the solar system.

After that, they completely ignored the "hero" of the day and gathered around Superman instead.

’After all, he’s just a kid. It’s normal to feel some resentment when you’re overlooked.’

Thinking about it, Aquaman let go of his anger from earlier and even let out a few hearty laughs.

"No problem, but this is my kingdom, and fighting here would affect my people. I know a place in the ocean. It’s deeper. And much wider."

Aquaman patted his chest.

"As long as we control our strength, we shouldn’t trigger any tectonic problems down there."

Viktor couldn’t help but twitch his mouth and nod, following Aquaman as they both exited the magical water bubble.

They swam together toward a deeper part of the ocean.

The Atlanteans soon realized that the visitor might be a friend of King Arthur. They lowered their weapons and slowly returned to Atlantis.

After half an hour, the ocean around Atlantis began to shake violently.

An hour later, the vibrations subsided.

Mera was waiting for Arthur to return so she could question him about the rude young man.

Suddenly, the golden trident rippled with faint golden waves and then flew out of Atlantis on its own, heading toward the dark deep sea.

Mera frowned. She knew her husband had enjoyed fighting in his younger years.

"He’s already a king, and yet he still hasn’t grown out of his youthful habits?"

The intense tremors grew stronger, but then quieted down for a while.

After a short quiet period, a much more violent series of shocks began to relentlessly shake the entire kingdom of Atlantis.

Atlanteans, who had just calmed down a massive underwater earthquake, had to use all their magic and technology to protect their city, preventing the ongoing, powerful tremors from destroying everything.

Mera furrowed her brow in frustration.

The entire night was spent running around, giving orders, and repairing the damage.

’He had been out there fighting a child for hours?’

’He had clearly gone too far.’

Not only had he caused such massive damage to Atlantis, but it had also left them physically and mentally exhausted.

Three hours later, Aquaman finally returned.

He looked like he had been through much worse than just a few bruises, and shakily swam back to Atlantis.

As soon as he passed through the magic bubble, Aquaman collapsed onto the ground, and the trident he barely held in his hand fell with a heavy thud.

Mera, who had originally planned to scold him, felt her anger dissipate the moment she saw him.

She rushed over, raising her hand to summon a stream of healing magic-infused water to lift him.

Looking down at Arthur with worry, Mera couldn’t help but scold him.

"You, of all people, should’ve known better. If you knew you couldn’t win, why did you fight for so long?"

Arthur shuddered at her words and struggled to lift his swollen face as tears trickled down.

"I... I couldn’t escape..."

Aquaman looked like he had suffered a huge injustice.

"That bastard... that kid is such a damn bastard!"

He wheezed and fainted.

However, as the healing magic continued to take effect, the swelling began to subside, and within seconds, Aquaman regained consciousness.

Mera’s eyes slowly started to show some anger as well.

"This is unacceptable! How could he do this?! I’m going to contact the Justice League and report him!"

"Wait!"

Aquaman suddenly grabbed Mera’s arm.

"Honestly, I’m not that badly hurt. See? I’m almost healed already, and besides... there’s something I need to check first."

Initially, Aquaman was no match for Viktor in a fight with his bare hands.

But since Aquaman didn’t feel his life was in danger, and because of his pride as a man and a king, Arthur refused to back down.

He managed to take a beating for the first hour. After that, Aquaman couldn’t hold on any longer.

He wasn’t sure if it was because of Wonder Woman’s training or if he was just naturally talented, but this kid actually knew how to fight without leaving serious injuries.

After feeling helpless and unable to endure the pain any longer, Aquaman gritted his teeth and created a pocket of air using trace oxygen from the plankton around them.

He called for a pause and, swallowing his pride, asked to summon his golden trident before continuing.

Viktor agreed without hesitation.

After a few moments, Aquaman summoned his weapon, and the energy around him became so powerful that it even surprised Viktor slightly.

Aquaman regained his confidence and slammed his trident heavily to the side.

"I am the King of the Seven Seas. This weapon can command the full power of the oceans and harness the power of the seas themselves."

In the following exchanges, Viktor found himself being thoroughly overpowered by Aquaman in direct combat for a while.

The total mass of all the oceans on Earth is about 1.4×10¹⁸ tons.

Aquaman didn’t use the full power of the trident that could give him, or else their battle would have gone beyond just a friendly spar.

What frustrated him was that Aquaman seemed to be using a strange kind of authority. The pressure around him kept increasing with no clear limit.

Even though Viktor was immune to magic, the magic was being manifested in a purely physical way which he couldn’t escape.

After being slammed dozens of times by the heavy end of the trident and crushed under a force far greater than the real ocean depth, Vioktor found it hard to move.

Eventually, Viktor simply raised his hand in surrender.

He had only come to release some frustration, not to kill anyone, but he also refused to just stand there and keep taking the hits.

Viktor politely pointed at his mouth, and Aquaman opened another bubble of air for him.

Then, Viktor began asking questions.

He found it quite strange that while he wasn’t completely unable to use more speed and power under the pressure of the water, Viktor’s every punch and kick had to be restrained and cautious.

Otherwise, one wrong move might trigger massive tectonic damage beneath the ocean.

Yet, Aquaman could move freely at speeds far beyond dangerous limits without causing any destructive explosions or massive shockwaves in the water.

Seeing him being so polite, Aquaman directly explained to him with enthusiasm.

"This isn’t magic, nor divine authority. In theory, most superpowered individuals can master this technique from their own abilities. You just have to learn to embrace the ocean instead of fighting against it."

Viktor’s eyes lit up as he pointed at himself.

"I can learn this too?"

"Of course. Atlanteans are naturally born with this ability, but I can teach you."

Aquaman spent several minutes explaining the technique to him.

He quickly mastered the technique.

Aquaman even praised him for his talent.

Then, the sparring resumed.

This time, Aquaman couldn’t even think about running away because Viktor could now swim as fast as he could.

After three full hours of releasing frustration, Viktor paused.

He looked at Aquaman, whose face was swollen again, and quickly made a small air bubble, and was shaking his head wildly to show he was done.

Viktor frowned and pondered for a moment.

Arthur was simply too straightforward.

Viktor began to wonder if the pink pearl incident hadn’t been some scheme between Aquaman and Batman after all.

"The two pearls you gave me before... Where did you get them?"

"I just grabbed them from the treasury before leaving. Why? Batman told me you really needed money. I figured I’d help with your financial struggles for a bit."

Aquaman lay in the wet seabed sand, gasping for breath, looking at him with a mixture of admiration and a hint of fear.

Viktor glanced at Aquaman with some pity.

However, Viktor didn’t come right out and say anything to stir up trouble between them.

Even though Batman’s behavior was bound to backfire sooner or later, Viktor didn’t directly challenge it.

"This is tens of thousands of meters under the sea. How exactly did Batman manage that?"

After a brief remark, Viktor sincerely apologized and thanked Aquaman for his selfless guidance.

He left it there.

Viktor gave Aquaman a sincere apology and thanked him deeply for the lesson, and left.

Aquaman was left completely confused.

It wasn’t until Aquaman returned to Atlantis and regained his senses under Mera’s healing magic that Aquaman started to piece things together.

The next day, Aquaman stood in the royal treasury.

He stared at the spread out of tiny listening devices from different corners of the palace.

Aquaman’s expression slowly darkened to the point where even those closest to him felt chill.

...

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