"Rank 2!" Reed's voice boomed. William stood up and stepped out calmly, ignoring the whispers in the air. He reached the stage with a slight smile and confidently said, "Rank 1."
Ember stood up without any change in expression, calmly walking to the stage and positioning herself across from William.
William maintained his smile and attempted some light banter, intending to elicit a laugh from her, "Lady Ember, please take it easy with me."
However, Ember continued to stare at him without any change in expression, simply bringing out her spear. William's smile faltered when he received no response from her. He thought, 'Stupid bitch!' He proceeded to draw his weapon, a sword, and got into a stance.
"Begin!" As soon as Reed's voice rang out, they dashed toward each other with incomparable speed to what the third years had shown so far, engaging in a flurry of strikes and parries.
Ember's movements were calculated, swift, and cold, each strike aimed at a weak point on William's body.
It was clear she wasn't treating this as a simple challenge; she was genuinely trying to kill him. William struggled to keep up, thinking, 'Fuck! How is she so strong?'
Ember showed no mercy, countering every block with two strikes, and immediately appearing wherever William tried to evade. He found himself being pushed back continuously and decided to utilize his art. "Earth Cleaver!" he shouted, swiftly impaling his sword into the ground.
The floor suddenly split open toward Ember, but her face remained unchanged. In a barely audible whisper, she muttered, "Zen Leap."
In an instant, she vanished from William's view, closing the distance at an extraordinary speed, her spear's tip pointed upwards towards his throat.
Panicking, William swiftly manipulated the earth below him to pull himself away from the spear just in time. However, his relief was short-lived. Suddenly, the tip of Ember's spear took on an icy appearance, and an ice spike formed on its tip, hurtling toward his throat with great speed.
The spike tore through the air, intending on completely impaling William's throat, but the runes on the stage swiftly lit up and protected him in time.
"Winner, Rank 1!" Reed declared.
In the booth, the air seemed to grow even colder than before. Rowan wore a frown on his face, clearly displeased at this development.
Finn, sitting beside him, couldn't help but think, 'Two monsters in the main family, sigh. Sorry Aurora, looks like there's more trouble coming your way.'
After the battles had concluded, Atticus went to meet Ember, who was waiting for him at the entrance of the arena. Immediately after the end of the battles, Nate had promptly left, not talking to anyone, and Lucas followed him. .
"Hey," Atticus greeted with a warm smile as he reached her, to which Ember replied with her characteristic, barely audible "hey."
They immediately started heading toward the cafeteria to grab something to eat. They were both feeling hungry, especially given how eventful their morning had been. As they walked, Atticus couldn't help but ask, "When did you level up your bloodline?"
They had trained together occasionally, and he had never known that she had advanced her bloodline. Unlike normal ranks, determining the rank of a person's bloodline was challenging, especially as they advanced their bloodline ranks.
Their connection to the elements grew stronger, enabling them to become more adept at manipulating the elements, making it more difficult to detect the elemental cues they emitted. He was genuinely surprised to learn of Ember's progress.
"Four days," she replied, her gaze slightly worried, fearing Atticus might be angry that she hadn't informed him earlier. Atticus noticed her concern and offered a reassuring smile.
"I'm not angry, Ember. I was just shocked by how strong our Silent Beauty has become," he said teasingly. Ember smiled, relieved that he wasn't upset with her. She couldn't help but shake her head, if she was strong, what should she call him?
Upon reaching the cafeteria, they got some food and continued chatting for a while before parting ways.
During the last two months, Atticus had amassed a significant number of Raven Points. Since he often went hunting alone, he could hoard the points for himself, plus he went hunting at least four times a week.
He decided to buy another art. While there were limits on the number of arts intermediate-rank individuals could learn, Atticus never felt those restrictions applied to him.
He wasn't sure why, but he sensed no impediment to his ability to learn more arts. Currently, with his Katana's first move, Arcane Barrier, and Elemental Mimicry, he had already reached the limit of three arts that an intermediate-ranked trainee could learn, but he felt he could learn more if he wanted.
Heading toward the south side of the camp, Atticus entered the Emporium. The intensity of the stares directed at him had increased significantly since this morning's display of strength. People were now even more determined to approach him and earn his favor. But as usual, a cold stare from him was enough to send them away, especially when they know how strong he was.
Approaching the clerk, Atticus requested a list similar to the one he had received earlier. He made his way to the section containing the available arts and began perusing the list.
The Raven Points he had gathered in two months were substantial, and he couldn't help but smile upon checking his device:
Raven Points: 20,500
However, that smile quickly faded when he saw the prices of transcendent potential arts. Each art's potential was categorized, and Atticus had previously saw the Elemental Mimicry art in the unlocked potential category, this was his first time exploring the transcendent potential category. The prices he saw were staggering, with the lowest one being 100,000 Raven Points.
Atticus wisely decided to change categories and, after some searching, settled on an art that he believed would be useful.
He made the purchase and then returned to his room to continue his training.