The intention to make One with the spear efficient is holding him back. He hasn't found the answers to the questions he wants to solve and every attempt to solve them is being foiled by SQUARESKULL's overwhelming prowess. No matter what he tried, it all ended in failure. SQUARESKULL was a superior enemy and Soverick couldn't let his body act recklessly against one. That never ends well.
He wasn't angry at SQUARESKULL. His body might be broken and in pain but his mind has never been better. He had learned a lot from their fights. So he wasn't angry at SQUARESKULL, even though he knew that SQUARESKULL cheated to beat him. He won't whine about the defeat. Instead, he will learn from it and beat up SQUARESKULL one day.
"Maybe you're right. You need an opponent that you can beat. Go to the arena and fight someone. That's after you have healed your wounds."
Then SQUARESKULL turned to leave.
"I'll beat you someday. I'll beat you up badly and I'll enjoy it." Soverick said to him.
SQUARESKULL chuckled. "I don't doubt it. I'll prepare myself for it even though I know that I'll lose. That's what it means to always go forward."
'Then that's just stupid. I'll run away, avoid the battle, ambush, trick, or plan my way ahead to victory. That's how those that deserve victory win. They don't rely on luck. They live to survive another day. He who laughs last laughs best."
Soverick began to ruminate about the battle while his prodigious vitality got to work on healing him. His injuries might look heavy but it isn't too much for him to heal on his own. When he becomes a transcendent then he will be able to regrow limbs. Even an injury to his head will be just as serious as an injury to his leg. Organs don't matter at that level, only energy. But for now, he will have to make do with his slow healing.
The slow healing affords him more time to visualize his recent duels more. He had realized early on that the first step of spear mastery couldn't win against SQUARESKULL. So he asked SQUARESKULL for videos and information about the second step. SQUARESKULL had refused and instead lectured him about trying to run when he couldn't walk. He had attempted to figure it out himself when SQUARESKULL refused to provide more information but SQUARESKULL increased his spear mastery to the 3rd step or something definitely above the 2nd stage.
He doesn't know exactly what SQUARESKULL did but he could tell that something strange happened when SQUARESKULL twirled his spear. The spear attack that destabilized him wasn't normal. SQUARESKULL's spear accelerated beyond what was possible for someone a little stronger and faster than Soverick. Either SQUARESKULL cheated in skill or in raw power.
SQUARESKULL had promised to use only the first step but he started using the third step against someone that hasn't even mastered the first. The problem with the third step is that it is the direct counter to the second. The good news is that he had already figured out some things about the third step but it is currently impossible for him to master.
The third step needs a very strong and resilient mana body. His current body is already burdened by the gate he is carrying. But he will be able to master the third step easily as soon as he becomes a mana entity. He will also be able to fulfill the other requirement for the third step, which is basic world harmonization.
"It will be good to fight someone of my size." He said as he stood up and stretched.
Fighting SQUARESKULL and been extremely helpful. Soverick's mind had been exposed to the various combinations and transitions between the basic spear skills. He realized one very important thing about basic skills. Cut, thrust, deflect, block, and bash can be turned into one another on the fly. It is a nice revelation but he would like to actually try out some of the things he learned on someone that it might work against.
It had taken a few hours but his body was back as new. He picked up his still-heavy spear and walked out of the training room into SQUARESKULL's central room. SQUARESKULL was sitting on his spear in that pretentious manner of his and meditating. Soverick took one look at him and turned towards the door.
He never thought the display was impressive from the first time he saw it. But now that he knew more about the spear mastery, he realized the display was even less impressive. SQUARESKULL was just taking advantage of the innate perfect control of transcendents and the first step of spear mastery to do it.
It might be difficult for a mana entity or impossible for a vitality core stage to do but it is normal for a transcendent. If it is normal for a transcendent, then it is subpar for Soverick. He has a much higher standard.
Soverick ignored SQUARESKULL and walked out of the central room into the school hall. He has already been given permission to challenge someone on the ranking list, so he accessed his wrist logger for challenge options.
He found out that he could challenge any person for his first ranking battle and the person he chooses must accept. If he wins then he will take the ranking of that person while the person falls a rank. If he loses then his options for challenges will be limited to 1000th rank, the 1st milestone fight, and below.
"Only someone at the 13th milestone and above can be a challenge to me. They will have acquired one with the spear. Anything beneath that is a waste of time." He thought to himself.
His foundational fighting proficiency and basic spear skills have been polished to the extreme. He just needs a little push to bring it all together. Someone that has already achieved one with the spear might be able to give him that push.
He felt someone ahead of him as he was considering how to challenge someone in the 10th and above ranking for his first ranking battle. He didn't need to look to know that it was SLEEP DEPRIVED DEMON. She just rubbed him the wrong way.
"You have finally come out of your turtle shell." She said to him.
There was a smile of derision on her face that irked him more than the strange feeling he was getting from her. And it was getting him angry, yet it didn't show on his face or in his demeanor.
"Do you think I was hiding from you?" He asked calmly.
"What else would you be doing in there all along? You dishonored my heritage and you're scared of the consequences. So you stayed cooped up and tried to gather strength. You didn't even come out once to rest. Too bad for you that you're unlucky. You just happened to encounter me."
Soverick remained silent as she droned on. He continued to examine her. He wanted to figure out what was wrong with her but he couldn't use the full power of his divine sense in the battle academy. That will just get him in trouble. He had a feeling that he was being watched but couldn't pinpoint where or how.
"So now, will you face the consequences of your action and duel me as a rival in a ranking battle?" She asked him.
Soverick didn't find anything out of place about her with his surface scan but he frowned at her wording. Maybe it was his innate pride but he hated the word rival. How can such a person be his rival when he is trying to reach the realm lord? No one is his rival apart from the realm lord. He has yet to meet someone of that caliber outside of the realm lord. But there was no need to bicker with her. There's only one way to prove his worth.
"Sure, let's fight." He agreed.
She had progressed farther than him in the vitality core stage but what that means is that she should have more mana within her than him which is not the case. He has a larger vitality core so he has more of everything than her. His spear mastery might not have reached the 20th rank but she was below the 300th rank, So he outclassed her in every way.
SLEEP DEPRIVED DEMON smiled at his reply then she frowned. She did not feel the acknowledgment of being a rival from her bloodline. That means that Soverick did not consider her worthy of being a rival. He might have agreed to the challenge but he was still looking down at her. She would only be able to steal his talent if he acknowledges her as his rival himself.
Soverick noticed her frown. "What's wrong? Did you just realize the foolishness of your actions? If you want to back out now do so. I have better things to do. If you enter that arena with me, I won't hold back at all." He warned her and he meant it.