Destroyer of Ice and Fire

Chapter 207: Incomprehensible

"These guys are indeed a bunch of rascals. Regardless of where they are, they cause disturbances and attract everyone's full attention."

Starlight illuminated the athlete village as Morgan flipped through the newest magazine within Dragon Breath Academy's rest area. He couldn't help but laugh as he said, "It seems like even we have been forgotten. Everyone is just too busy talking about Ayrin and his group of friends."

"Hu… hu…"

At this same time within the largest room in Golden Stag Academy's rest area, Rinsyi was panting heavily. He currently was only wearing some light exercise clothes.

His purple hair was completely soaked with a sticky sweat and his face seemed to be abnormally pale. At the same time, however, the yellowish hue within his pupils seemed to have become concentrated to the point of overflowing, causing his eyes to strangely seem as if they were about to melt.

"Body of Vengeance…"

After panting heavily for a couple minutes, Rinsyi suddenly quietly mumbled several words to himself.

His forehead, center of his brows, chest, and lower abdomen abruptly shined with a pale white light as one pale white petal of light after another emerged atop his head.

The pale white light formed an increasingly corporeal image of two terrifyingly large hands carrying an enormous scripture above his body. Each hand was several meters in length.

Boom!

But right at this moment, the two giant and pale white hands reminiscent of a Death God's hands abruptly disappeared. The air within the entire room violently trembled.

Rinsyi's face, which was normally handsome, suddenly became incredibly twisted as an eye-catching trail of fresh blood dripped from the corner of his mouth. In a deep voice, he roared, "Could it be that in the end, these fellows have indeed caused me to feel some pressure… why can I still not succeed!"

"Ayrin, Ferguillo, I'm going to kill you all!"

……

"Come here Moss, drink another cup!"

"Okay. Drink! Haha, this fruit wine is really good!"

"Come eat another meat skewer."

"Alright. When we finish eating, let's go together to the dwarves' hot springs and take a dip. How about it?"

In a tavern famous for its smoked meats and fruit wine, Moss and a group of muscular boys from Iron Forest Academy were abnormally happy as they hugged each other in a half-drunken stupor.

"This…" Two Breith Trading Company members arrived. From their breathing, they seemed to have just run over after finally locating Moss's location. However, upon seeing the scene in front of them, befuddled expressions emerged on their faces.

"Haha! Ronald, Fez, the two of you have come again. Come drink with us!" Upon seeing the two Breith Trading Company members walking over, Moss waved at them and then shakily stood up. He laughed loudly as he said, "These days, you guys keep coming to interview me. Since everyone is now so familiar with each other, and considering how much we have helped out your Breith Trading Company with all of the information we give you, don't you think it is about time you guys return the favor and pay for us?"

……

At this same moment, Stingham was at a small street cluttered with food stalls not too far away from the tavern Moss was currently at.

He was currently facing a small stall selling desserts. The stall seemed to be very popular with girls, as there were always at least twenty people lined up in front of it and many girls sitting in chairs in the nearby flowerbed eating desserts while talking.

Stingham had already been there for quite a while. He was motionless as he focusedly watched a girl with brown hair.

This brown haired girl seemed to have come from one of the Kingdom of Eiche's northern schools as her uniform seemed to have been made with the leather and fur of giant beasts. The uniform itself looked very rugged, but the girl wearing it seemed very delicate and quiet, as if she was the kind of shy beauty who would blush if she spoke too loudly.

Stingham felt as if this girl perfectly fit his tastes. He was so charmed that he couldn't help but gulp from time to time as he watched her.

"For someone as handsome as me, a tender gaze is the best method for expressing my affection. She will absolutely take the initiative to approach me!"

These words repeatedly ran through Stingham's mind as he stared at the girl with eyes oozing tenderness and love.

"She's coming! Haha, I'm the most handsome!"

His eyes suddenly enlarged as a pleasant smile of surprise emerged on his face. The brown haired girl must have become aware of his existence a while ago, and now, she had finally built up enough courage. Head lowered, she began walking towards him.

"I'll give it to you."

The brown haired girl approached Stingham and then directly gave him the still uneaten dessert in her hands.

"What, you're giving your dessert to me?! Is this an expression of love?!"

Stingham immediately felt as if he had hit the jackpot as a wave of satisfaction spread through his body.

"What's your name?!" Stingham excitedly asked as he watched the brown haired girl turn around and being to walk back towards her friends. He had been completely charmed.

"There's no need to thank me." Upon hearing Stingham's shout, the pretty girl turned her head around and somewhat shyly replied, "If you enjoy eating it, then just take it and eat it. I will go buy another."

"What does this mean?" Stingham suddenly felt as if something was not quite right.

At this moment, upon seeing the odd expression on Stingham's face, the pretty girl quietly said, "There's no need to repay me. After all, one portion doesn't cost that much."

"What?" Stingham was stupefied as immediately blurted, "You thought I wanted to eat this?"

"Were you not looking at the dessert in her hand and drooling the entire time?" asked one of the pretty girl's several friends as they strangely looked at Stingham.

"What! Do I look like a beggar who can't even afford to buy a dessert?!" Stingham nearly fainted as he furiously shouted, "It wasn't this dessert that I wanted to eat!"

"Let's go. He might be feeling embarrassed…"

"Indeed. Our actions seemed to have made him feel embarrassed. Just too pitiful, to not even be able to afford a dessert."

The girls quietly conversed with each other for a moment before smiling apologetically towards Stingham and quickly leaving.

"Don't leave! It's not what you think!" Stingham shouted. He felt like crying as he looked at the dessert in his hand, but no tears came out.

"Truly pitiful. This is already the seventh in three days… he hasn't succeeded even a single time."

Not too far away, two Breith Trading Company members sympathetically watched Stingham with strange expressions. They couldn't help but shake their heads for him.

……

At a place not far from the entrance of the athlete village, a Breith Trading Company member greeted a medical master who had just exited the athlete village.

"Brother, how is it?" the Breith Trading Company member hastily asked.

The medicinal master, who looked about seventy to eighty percent like the Breith Trading Company member, shook his head as they replied, "Based on what I saw during today's changing of dressings, Rinloran and Chris's injuries will absolutely not be completely healed before the next round."

"So if Chris stepped onto the arena, she can only use one arm?" the Breith Trading Company member asked.

"Correct." The medicinal master confidently shook their head, "Otherwise, I'm afraid that her arm will be completely wasted beyond the point of repair, even if she doesn't use Dark Destruction Dragon."

……

"What? Moss didn't train today at all again and only ate and drank? And he's now on his way to the hot springs to soak together with people from Iron Forest Academy?"

"That crazy chatterbox Stingham hasn't trained at all these last few days, and has instead been wandering the streets and trying to flirt with pretty girls?"

"Rinloran and Chris's injuries will definitely not be healed before the next fight?"

In the Breith Trading Company, a bewildered expression emerged on the face of the Breith Magazine manager as they listened to the various reports. They couldn't understand what was happening.

After the quarterfinal drawing ceremony, everyone's focus had naturally turned towards the battle between Holy Dawn Academy and Golden Stag Academy.

After pulling an opponent like Golden Stag Academy, Holy Dawn Academy had not shown despair, but elation. As the makers of a magazine which specialized in producing hype, the Breith Trading Company naturally wanted to determine why Holy Dawn Academy would react in such a manner.

If they could dig out any first-hand information about some secret training session of Holy Dawn Academy, then the sales of their Breith Magazine would rise to another level.

But the results they had gained after expending so many resources to follow and interview the members of Holy Dawn Academy's team were just too mind-boggling.

The other academies, including Dragon Breath Academy, all seemed to be too busy training within their own areas to appear in public. However, these people from Holy Dawn Academy seemed to have completely forgotten about the tournament altogether.

Moss didn't train, and instead spent his days eating and drinking in a very relaxed manner.

Stingham also spent his days completely carefree as he wandered the streets of Eichemalar in search of beautiful girls to flirt with. He failed at least twice every day.

As for Rinloran and Chris, it had been confirmed that they would not be able to fully recover from their injuries before the fight. At most, the two of them would be able to demonstrate half their normal strength.

Meanwhile, the glasses-wearing Belo seemed to be spending every day visiting the various ancient beast museums and beast areas.

Only Ayrin had the possibility of being in the athlete village.

But even if Ayrin had indeed fully recovered and was currently undertaking some special training before the next round, it was only one person. It was impossible for him to take on all of the Golden Stag team by himself.

"Holy Dawn Academy. Just what are they trying to pull?!"

The manager of the Breith Magazine just could not understand what was happening. They couldn't help but grab their hair and loudly wail in frustration.

"Just what are those fellows doing? Why are they not planning and intensifying their training before the next round?"

A substitute of Golden Stag Academy dressed in casual clothes silently walked a block besides Stingham only to run into a drunken Moss around the corner a moment. They watched as Moss exited the tavern while walking shoulder to shoulder with several people of Iron Forest Academy. It was a completely incomprehensible scene.

Chapter 208: Details of a Mission Emerge Before the Match

"Teacher Donna, just what are those fellows from Holy Dawn Academy doing?"

In the residence of River Bend Academy, one of the mainstays of River Bend Academy's team, Alaina, the girl nicknamed "Girl of Flames," set down the magazines in her hands. She couldn't resist asking Donna, "If we encountered Golden Stag Academy's team, we would definitely formulate and enact a specialized and intense training routine before the fight. Do you think that Holy Dawn Academy's team can still win this without Rinloran and Chris and the the other members in their current states?"

"The outcome of a fight is never decided by simply the level of the participants." Donna looked at Alaina and the rest of the doubtful River Bend Academy team members as she continued with a smile, "Don't forget that before this national tournament, Chris, Ayrin, and Rinloran were completely ignored - everyone believed that Holy Dawn Academy's results would be the same whether they stepped onto the stage or not. Yet in the end, they have made to where they are now. A strong general has no weak soldiers. Carter, Liszt, and their other teachers are all peak existences in the Kingdom of Eiche. Thus, in all honesty, I believe anything can still happen."

……

"Come Ivan, cheers!"

"Charlotte, come eat some more cherry tomatoes. They are good for your complexion."

As if on a vacation, Moss continued to eat and drink. This time, however, he was in a different restaurant and eating with Ivan, Charlotte, and several others from Divine Shield Academy instead of people from Iron Forest Academy.

At this time outside the entrance of a training hall in the athlete village, several burly boys from Iron Forest Academy sat in an organized fashion, as if they were guarding the entrance.

Their expressions were all abnormally ugly and several of them even had cold sweat covering their foreheads.

"Jesus… I suffer an heavy blow every time I witness this guy's improvement speed. Sometimes I even feel the impulse to give up on becoming a battlemaster."

As Wilde wiped away some of the beads of sweat on his forehead, he couldn't help but shake his head an quietly say, "Even boss, with his bloodline and talents, can't keep up with his improvement speed."

"There are still four days until the match. Regardless of whether they win or lose against Golden Stag Academy, they will be shocking everyone once again." Several other boys couldn't resist any longer and also wiped away their sweat. They sighed deeply.

Within the training hall, both Ayrin and Ferguillo were both drenched in sweat as they stood bent over with their hands on their knees.

"How are you doing, do you still want to continue?" Ferguillo asked upon seeing Ayrin stand up once more.

"Of course. If I am to fight, then I must fight until I can no longer move a single muscle." Ayrin's eyes began to burn with fighting spirit once more as he continued, "Otherwise, how can I manage to defeat such a powerful enemy like Rinsyi?"

"Good, then come again."

Ferguillo took a deep breath as a strange sheen once again emerged in his pink left eye.

Whoosh!

In the next second, he and Ayrin turned into two streaks of rapidly moving light. Bursts of light erupted between the two as their arcane energies continuously collided.

……

"Where did all of these arcane teams come from?"

"Why does it seem like they all suddenly appeared out of nothingness?"

"Did they all race over here just to see the tournament? I feel like there weren't so many arcane teams in the past years."

"I don't know. But I heard that many of these arcane teams are actually from the Kingdom of Doa."

"Arcane teams from the Kingdom of Doa? No wonder some of them have accents when they speak and are dressed so differently from the arcane teams of our Kingdom of Eiche."

"Is it because the level of our national tournament has been steadily rising these last few years? Is that why even arcane teams from the Kingdom of Doa are rushing over to watch?"

"……"

Atop plaza outside of the the Arena of Fire and Blood, several students wearing the uniform of Dragon Breath Academy conversed with each other out of curiosity whilst observing their surroundings.

Ever since three days ago, the number of arcane teams within Eichemalar had clearly surged.

Now, regardless of where one went, one would be able to see an arcane team which was clearly not made up of students.

Moreover, these arcane teams all wore very unique uniforms. Some wore extremely accessorized and luxurious arcane master clothes reminiscent of palace robes while others wore thick and heavy leather or metal armor and carried around giant metal weapons with exquisite engravings and inscriptions.

A group of four arcane masters wearing palace type attire was currently standing not too far in front of these Dragon Breath Academy students.

This four person arcane team consisted of only males and they all appeared to be about the same age as Ayrin and Moss. Each one of them had their hair up in a ponytail and wore a luxurious dark red arcane master uniform which was decorated in many spots with shells made from slices of crystals and mica. The collars of their uniforms were wide and tall, and covered about half of their faces.

The leader of this arcane team was a round faced boy with golden hair. A faint bluish glow came from the skin over his collarbones, but was hidden by his collar.

As he quietly eavesdropped on the conversation between the Dragon Breath Academy students, a ridiculing sneer emerged on the golden haired boy's face.

"I say you guys… when today's match between Deepwood Motte Academy and Dragon Breath Academy gets underway… Dragon Breath Academy has always been the strongest amongst all of the academies within the entire Kingdom of Eiche… you guys better watch very carefully… perhaps as we complete our mission this time, they will become our enemies."

In a very quiet voice, he said some incredibly stern and cold words to his nearby team members.

……

"What? A real mission? If one wishes to take part, they have to go register right now?"

At this moment, Ayrin's shocked voice rang through Holy Dawn Academy's residence within the athlete village.

"Teacher Carter, what kind of mission is it?" Ayrin asked while looking expectantly at Carter.

Today was already the first day of the quarterfinals. Originally, Ayrin had made plans to go watch the match with Charlotte and the others, but Carter had found him before he departed and told him of the possibility of taking on real missions following the national tournament. Ayrin needed to decide now if he wanted to participate. If so, then he would be placed onto the list.

"The missions will be directed against the Evil Dragon followers. Some of the specific details of the missions have not yet been published, but it has already been determined that this operation will be a very large-scale one," Carter explained while looking at Ayrin.

"A very large-scale operation?" Ayrin looked at Carter in surprise, "You mean there will be a very large number of arcane teams working together?"

"Yes." Carter nodded, "Of course, the Office of Special Affairs will make sure the entire operation is meticulously planned. They will arrange for countless arcane teams to perform different tasks based on the strength of the team. In the end, however, these are real missions so running into unexpected enemies is always a risk, regardless of what level of mission you are performing. Moreover, with the size of the operation, it is very easy for mishaps to occur. Thus, out of the students who comprise the many academy teams, only those who have shown good performances in this year's tournament, along with those who have reached the quarterfinals this year, are qualified to register and participate in this operation. But in the end, as the decision remains with the arcane master themselves, they can also decline."

"Based off of your words, only a small portion of participants who showed extraordinary performances are qualified to participate in this operation?" Ayrin's eyes brightened.

"Correct. If one receives this invitation from the Office of Special Affairs, it means that they have received the office's approval. You have already become a preliminary arcane master of the Office of Special Affairs." Carter looked at Ayrin, then said in a serious manner, "As it stands, as long as you complete a set number of missions in the future, you will become a battlemaster of the Office of Special Affairs like Donna and Liszt."

"A battlemaster who everyone looks up to and can complete the tasks which are too difficult for others? One who can defeat the most powerful enemies and protect the peace of the continent?" Ayrin's voice became filled with excitement as he continued, "Isn't this the kind of arcane master Moss wishes to become?! Of course I will participate in this kind of mission!"

"You brat, do you truly not know the slightest bit fear and dread?" Seeing Ayrin decide to participate in the missions with such excitement and confidence, Carter couldn't help but slightly shake his head. Even though he was already extremely familiar with Ayrin and his personality, he still couldn't help but remain speechless at times like this.

"That's right, Teacher Carter!"

Ayrin seemed to have suddenly thought of something else as he asked excitedly, "Will Chris, Moss, and the others also be participating in these missions?"

"Because you all have entered the quarterfinals, all of you have qualified to participate in these missions. Only, you are the first person I have asked, so I still don't know about their thoughts on this matter." Carter looked at Ayrin, then added, "Ferguillo, Ivan, and Charlotte have also gained qualifications due to their exceptional performances during the prior emergency."

"That's great! They will definitely decide to participate as well. Because we are all true brave warriors!" Ayrin became even more excited as he punched the air with his fist.

Ayrin's words caused Carter's expression to become serious and stern. Carter attentively watched Ayrin, who was flailing his fists in the air, and said to himself, "You are all indeed true brave warriors. Good luck."

……

"You all should have also received invitations from the Office of Special Affairs. I presume you all also decided to participate?"

On a street corner not too far from the athlete village, Ferguillo encountered Ivan, Charlotte, and some others. Upon seeing the expressions on Ivan and Charlotte's faces, Ferguillo calmly asked a single question.

"Of course."

Ivan nodded. Seeing several other arcane teams in the distance, he added, "The operation this time should be the largest in the last century. It absolutely cannot be passed up on."

"So many arcane teams from the Kingdom of Doa have come as well…" Ferguillo couldn't help but say as he too looked at the uniquely clothed arcane teams in the distance.

"We must have discovered the true location of the main encampment of the Evil Dragon followers." Ivan's voice was cold as he continued, "Otherwise, it would not require such a large number of arcane teams working in unison. Only, I wonder why the Office of Special Affairs spread the news so quickly."

"There are two possibilities. Either they didn't think they could hide it well enough, or they wanted it to be like so they could probe the enemy and test their response through strategic deployments," Ferguillo calmly said.

Chapter 209: The Headhunting Houses

"Ferguillo!"

"Charlotte!"

"Ivan!"

A voice full of enthusiasm and fighting spirit rang from behind them. Even without turning their heads, Charlotte, Ferguillo, and the rest knew that it was Ayrin who was approaching them.

"How's it going? Did you guys also receive news from the Office of Special Affairs?" Ayrin hurriedly blurted as soon as he reached the group of people, "You know, the news that we will be conducting missions to specifically deal with the Evil Dragon followers."

"We just received the news not too long ago. We have all decided to participate. I assume you are as well?" Ferguillo calmly asked as he looked at Ayrin.

"Haha, you all are indeed brave warriors." Ayrin excitedly looked at Charlotte, "We will be able to run missions together."

Charlotte slightly blushed.

"Man, can't you just hide your feelings, even a little bit? Don't forget that the rest of us are all single," Ivan said half-jokingly. He shook his head, "But it's still too early for you be happy. For such a large-scale operation involving so many arcane teams, you two might not be able to be on the same team even if you want to."

"Why?" Ayrin became dazed. "Are the teams going to be arranged by academy?"

"The teams will not be arranged by academy, but by the skillsets and fighting styles of each individual arcane master," Ferguillo calmly explained, "The Office of Special Affairs will thoroughly analyze every aspect of every arcane master before making any arrangements. For example, if you had strong offensive capabilities but a weak defense, they would probably pair you with a teammate who was really good at defending. Or if you were a relatively negligent individual without any scouting arcane skills, they would probably pair you with a teammate who was extremely meticulous and good at detecting ambushes. By doing this, the Office of Special Affairs can create synergized and well-balanced teams which allow each member to shine by utilizing their respective strengths as much as possible. This maximizes the battle power of each team and the arcane teams as a whole. Moreover, due to the special circumstances of this operation, it is also likely that they will not be especially assigning arcane masters with rich combat experience to act as team captains for us."

"So it's like this. But our coordination and performance last time seemed to be so good. Perhaps we will actually be grouped together." Ayrin scratched his head, then spontaneously exclaimed, as if he had discovered a new continent, "By the way, how come it seems like there are suddenly so many strange looking arcane teams all of a sudden? Moreover, they all seem really strong!"

"The majority of them are from the Kingdom of Doa." Ivan glanced towards Ayrin, then icily said, "You have remained within the athlete village and focused on training, so you wouldn't know that several hundred of the Kingdom of Doa's arcane teams have come to Eichemalar these last few days. They have probably come to cooperate with us in these missions."

"They are from the Kingdom of Doa?" Ayrin was greatly shocked, "How come we needed to invite over so many arcane teams from the Kingdom of Doa to cooperate with us in this mission? The strength of the arcane teams of our Kingdom of Eiche is not enough?"

"Thus, we predict that we are going to be moving against the main encampment of the Evil Dragon followers this time. It seems like we have finally determined its general location after searching for it so long. But it seems like the size of the main encampment has already surpassed their original predictions to the point where they are afraid of losing control of the situation with just the arcane teams of our Kingdom of Eiche." Ivan looked at the several arcane teams walking atop the street in the distance. He grimaced, "However, it is not good for us to have so many fellows from Doa here."

"What do you mean Ivan?" Ayrin turned his head and looked at Ivan. Ayrin seemed to be the only one who had heard the sudden increase of hostility in Ivan's voice.

"You have never been part of a corps, so you there are some things which you don't understand," Ferguillo gently explained in place of Ivan, "Although we are allies with the Kingdom of Doa, our two kingdoms naturally still harbour separate, selfish interests. The simplest example of this is what happens when two teams from different teams encounter each other. They will try to steal from each other, and this in turn often becomes a battle of life and death. Every year, there are a lot of battlemaster teams from our kingdom who enter the demon forests to hunt giant beasts and monsters. Some of them are killed upon encountering teams from the Kingdom of Doa, sometimes before they even see their killers. This is especially true in areas which neither kingdom has very much control. Furthermore, there are many a times where we end up being unable to locate the corpses of missing teams."

"The main reason arcane masters exist, other than defending against invasion by Evil Dragon followers, is to maintain the balance of power between the kingdoms." Seeing the look of astonishment on Ayrin's face, Ferguillo calmly added, "Forget about the two kingdoms, this kind of competitive relationship also exists between the various families. These battles of life and death frequently erupt between arcane teams from different families."

"You mean that some teams end up fighting against each other for selfish reasons even though they are all supposed to be working together to fight the Evil Dragon followers?" Ayrin asked, sucking a deep breath.

"That is just how the relationship between us and the Kingdom of Doa is. It's because neither side has the power to suppress the other. We just merely happen to have the same dangerous enemy." Ferguillo nodded, "As for the arcane teams of our Kingdom of Eiche, the Office of Special Affairs has specific rules disallowing internal killing. However, there are still some arcane teams which kill when the opportunity where they will not be discovered presents itself. Normally in these circumstances, they will kill the entire other team, making it very hard to find the culprits."

"Let me use another, simpler example which you might have an easier time understanding," Ivan said, looking at Ayrin. "Let's say we were to encounter Golden Stag Academy's team in the wilderness while doing our mission. Considering Rinsyi's character, he would probably try to kill all of us."

"If you put it this way, it actually makes sense." Ayrin thought for a while, then vigorously nodded, expressing his agreement.

"Anyway, moving on. Ayrin, just what exactly is Teacher Carter's plan? Moss has been spending every day just eating and drinking and hasn't trained at all. I've heard that Stingham's the same and is just spending every day chasing after and flirting with pretty girls.

"I don't know… I also don't know what plans Teacher Carter has come up with. However, regardless of what arrangements he's made, there are definitely reasons behind them."

"Seeing you so full of confidence, I feel like you believe that you can even defeat Dragon Breath Academy's team if you face them."

"Of course. To begin with, our goal was to become the champions of the national tournament."

"That wasn't just a motto?"

"Of course not. From the start, we planned on trying our hardest to defeat everyone and become the champions."

Ivan, Ferguillo, and the rest gossiped amongst themselves as they walked with Ayrin towards the arena.

"Eh?"

When they were about a block away from the Arena of Fire and Blood, Ayrin, Ferguillo, and the rest simultaneously saw an arcane team exit from one of the hotels and head directly towards them. It looked like the team had been waiting for quite some time.

The arcane team was comprised of four people. Each of them wore an extremely peculiar hooded robe. The robes were dark-green, and the hoods covered their entire heads. Even more strange was that these robes seemed to have camouflaging abilities. As they approached, the colour of the outer layer of the robes began to continuously change to match the colour of their surroundings.

"Excuse me, you are Ayrin from Holy Dawn Academy's team, right?"

The four stopped just before Ayrin and the rest. Afterwards, the tallest amongst the four spoke towards Ayrin with some difficulty. Based on how he spoke, it seemed like he didn't speak the common language of Doraster very often, as he wasn't very proficient with it.

As he spoke, the four all raised their heads, allowing Ayrin and the rest to clearly see the masks they wore.

The team of four was comprised of three boys and one girl who seemed to be about the same age as Ayrin and his group. Their skin seemed to be quite rough, as if they all spent every day exposed to the wind and sun.

However, what caused shock to flash through the eyes of Ayrin and the rest was that while the skin of these four people were covered in strange dark brown splotches, there was a patch of natural, silvery white skin on their foreheads in the shape of a perfect crescent moon.

"I am Ayrin. Are you all an arcane team from the Kingdom of Doa?" Their unique appearance caused Ayrin to be dazed for several seconds before replying.

"We are not from Doa." The tallest boy, who seemed to be captain, shook his head. Afterwards, he slightly bowed out of politeness and introduced himself and his team, "We are an arcane team from House Eclipse Moon." As he bowed, the crescent moon-shaped mark on his head seemed to slightly glow.

"House Eclipse Moon's arcane team?" Ivan, Charlotte, and the others all trembled. Even Ferguillo's always calm expression changed.

"What is it?" Ayrin quietly asked Charlotte after feeling the atmosphere abruptly change.

"House Eclipse Moon is an ancient family from a forest at the westernmost edge of the Kingdom of Eiche. They are the mortal enemies of House Roland. Beginning from childhood, members of both houses will kill members of the other house. It's to the point where they consider each other's territories hunting grounds. For their coming of age ceremonies, they are required to acquire ten skulls of people from the other house. Thus, although both houses reproduce quite well, they have always maintained a population of less than one thousand," Charlotte quickly explained to Ayrin in an extremely miniscule voice. "The arcane masters which come out of these two houses are ones which have known killing since birth… they are killers with immense combat and killing experience. The girl called Megan on Golden Stag Academy's team is from House Roland. It is rumoured that her hands have been drenched in the blood of countless people."

"These two enemy houses require the skulls of ten people from the other house for their coming of age ceremony?" Ayrin couldn't help but gulp a breath of cold air as he suddenly felt the four people facing him become a little bit scarier.

"Correct. Moreover, House Eclipse Moon is mainly filled with male arcane masters. Female arcane masters usually don't have much status. For this arcane team to contain a female means that this female is incredibly strong," Charlotte continued. She couldn't help but also measure up the female arcane master, who was the shortest of the four.

As if the female arcane master had suddenly felt something, she looked at Charlotte. A silvery white light abruptly shot out from within her pupils, causing Charlotte's breathing to unconsciously stop.

"They are mortal enemies of Megan's house… that means they are here to deal with Megan then?" Ayrin looked at the extremely prudent female arcane master, then couldn't help but ask, "So why have you all come looking for me?"

Chapter 210: Old Enemies

"Your Holy Dawn Academy seems to have quite a poor relationship with Golden Stag Academy."

The leading House Eclipsed Moon arcane master spoke in a most respectful tone, albeit with some difficulty as he wasn't familiar with speaking the Doraster common language, "As our mortal enemies, House Roland, are also backed by House Baratheon, we currently share a common enemy."

"Are you going to help us train to defeat Golden Stag Academy?" Ayrin excitedly interrupted.

"……" Ivan, Charlotte, and the rest speechlessly exchanged looks.

Ayrin had an incredible sense when it came to fighting, but he was just too senseless when it came to other matters.

The hatred between the two houses had been brewing for countless generations. After all, the lifelong mission of the members of House Eclipsed Moon and House Roland was to kill and retrieve the heads of as many people from the other house as possible. For members of House Eclipsed Moon to appear before them now, their goal was obviously not something as simple as training Holy Dawn Academy to defeat Golden Stag Academy.

"We aren't here to help you train."

The leader of the House Eclipsed Moon arcane team immediately shook his head as he stiffly replied, "We hope to make a deal with you."

"A deal?" Ayrin asked in surprise. "What kind of deal?"

"Megan is the most powerful arcane master of House Roland's younger generation. As it stands, she has already killed many of my fellow house members. But as a result of all of the times we have fought against her, we are very familiar with the majority of her arcane skills and fighting styles." An appalling killing intent abruptly spread across the leader's face. "As long you agree to try and kill her during the match, we are willing to share her weaknesses with you."

"As long as you kill her, you will become friends of our House Eclipse Moon. From that day on, our hunting grounds and forests will all be open to you. Whenever you come, you will be welcomed by the warriors of our house," the leading arcane master added as he watched Ayrin.

"Kill her? Help you kill her?" Ayrin's eyes expanded in shock, "If you know her weaknesses and believe you have methods to deal with her, why are you asking us for help instead killing her yourselves?"

"……" Ayrin's response immediately caused black lines to emerge on the faces of Charlotte and the others.

According to the laws of the Kingdom of Eiche, it was strictly forbidden for an arcane master to kill another arcane master within the jurisdiction any of the kingdom's city-states. Only in certain areas where the law didn't reach was it possible to freely kill arcane masters without fear of being investigated and punished. As for within Eichemalar, where there were so many arcane teams patrolling, it went without saying. Unless one had the skills similar to Lotton, it was impossible to get away with murder. Furthermore, murder was punished extremely harshly, with the most severe punishment being decapitation atop the execution stage.

"Hmm?! We can murder arcane masters in Eichemalar like in our hunting grounds?" the House Eclipsed Moon arcane master blurted. It was clearly also his first time in Eichemalar, and so he wasn't very familiar with the laws. Ayrin's words had stupefied him.

"I don't know." Ayrin scratched his head in embarrassment, then asked Charlotte, "Charlotte, can you kill your personal enemies within the jurisdiction of Eichemalar?"

"Of course not!" Charlotte exclaimed, her face full of black lines.

"That being said, murder is allowed in the tournament, allowing you to kill Megan." The male arcane master interjected, releasing a breath of air.

Ayrin embarrassedly scratched his head again as he replied without hesitating, "Even so, I don't think I can help you kill Megan."

"Why?" The four House Eclipsed Moon arcane masters were shocked. They had never expected for Ayrin to reject their offer in such a straightforward manner.

"Although Rinsyi and his team are loathsome opponents, they are still arcane masters of our Kingdom of Eiche. As of right now, I just simply want to defeat them. There is no need to go so far as killing," Ayrin said warmly as he continued without hesitation, "Just because they are my opponents right now doesn't mean they can't become my friends in the future. Just like Silver Trout Academy's Nolan and the others, who are now all my friends."

"But from what I understand, Rinsyi and his team very much wish to kill you during the tournament," the House Eclipse Moon arcane master responded. It seemed like he couldn't understand Ayrin's thought process as a look of intrigue emerged on his face. "Do you really not wish to kill them?"

"Regardless, I will follow the rules of the tournament and try my best to defeat him. He can try to kill me if he wants. That said, if he tries to kill me in the future on arcane master missions, then I will not be so courteous." Ayrin shook his head again, "As for Megan, we are still strangers to each other. I haven't even met her before. How could I rashly promise to kill someone when I don't even know what kind of person they are? Also, if she truly is your enemy… and someone you believe you have to kill, then you should do it yourselves. Why do you look for someone else? Are you all not brave warriors?"

The four House Eclipsed Moon arcane masters were stunned speechless.

"What you say makes sense."

After thinking for several seconds, the leader turned around and left. "We will try to kill her ourselves. However, on this day, you have refused to become friends with my House Eclipsed Moon."

"Not necessarily."

Ayrin watched the four withdraw, "Although I didn't agree to help you kill her, if we are all true brave warriors, we can still be friends."

"……" Charlotte and the rest felt speechless once more. As for the four House Eclipsed Moon arcane masters, their figures suddenly stopped, as if they had been stunned by Ayrin's words.

……

"Even this fellow has come. It seems like quite a few people have been called in from the Demon Corps this time."

Liszt was leaning against a wall in the back of the Arena of Fire and Blood when he suddenly saw a tall man with short blonde hair who had hidden his hands within his sleeves.

"I wonder if Ayrin can learn his arcane skill."

As Liszt mumbled to himself, he began walking towards the man with short blonde hair.

"Leonardo!"

The man with short blonde hair and a habit of hiding his hands in his sleeves had just sat down in a corner of the stands when he heard his name shouted from behind him.

Upon hearing the laziness contained within the voice, the man's brows furrowed as he replied, "Liszt."

"It has been so long since we last met. I thought you had already died while with the Demon Corps." Before the blonde-haired man could rise, Liszt had already appeared beside him and sat down.

"Even if you died, I wouldn't," the blonde haired man called Leonardo unhappily replied.

"I heard that Deepwood Motte Academy has two strong members this year." Listz took no offence as he relaxedly laughed, "Your Dragon Breath Academy will not have an easy match today."

Leonardo snorted as he sneered, "I, personally, will never care about how strong their opponents are. I only came to see this fight to see just how much Morgan and the rest have improved."

"So you think that there is absolutely no one who can defeat your Dragon Breath team?" Liszt grinned.

"Naturally." Leonardo replied, his expression as nonchalant as ever.

"You are still just as prideful and arrogant as ever." Liszt laughed, "You were also like this in the past, but weren't you still beaten by me until your teammates couldn't even recognize you?"

"Liszt, don't think that just because I lost to you in the past means that I cannot defeat you now!" Leonardo angrily exclaimed, his face becoming a purplish red.

"Then let us go out and find a place to practice?" Liszt replied with a smirk, his eyes creasing into crescents.

"Very well! I want to see for myself just how much stronger you have become these last few years!" Leonardo immediately stood up and discontentedly walked out.

"Ayrin!"

Ayrin, along with Charlotte, Ferguillo, Ivan, and the rest, had just arrived at the arena's entrance when he suddenly heard a familiar voice calling his name.

"Teacher Liszt?"

Ayrin immediately saw Liszt walking towards him alongside a blonde haired man.

"What a coincidence."

Liszt nonchalantly laughed, then turned to Leonardo and said, "This is my Holy Dawn Academy team's Ayrin."

"This is the number one arcane team captain of the famed Demon Corps, Divine Left Hand Leonardo," Liszt introduced.

"Divine Left Hand Leonardo?! This is him?!" Ivan and the rest were all shocked into a daze. Their eyes became filled with awe and respect as they looked at Leonardo.

"Divine Left Hand. What does that mean? Is he really strong?" Ayrin couldn't help but ask after he saw everyone's expression undergo immense changes.

"He was once a celebrity fighter from Dragon Breath Academy's team… The Demon Corps is the most powerful corps in the northern part of Kingdom of Eiche's. The battle power of each of its arcane teams are no worse than the battle power of the Office of Special Affair's arcane teams. Each and every team captain is on the same level as your Teacher Liszt. They are all incredibly powerful monsters…" Charlotte quickly explained by whispering into Ayrin's ear.

"So strong?" Ayrin's eyes abruptly brightened as he sized up Leonardo.

"Ayrin, let the others go first to watch the match. You need to come with us. There is a matter." Liszt stuck out his arms and put his hands behind his head as he lazily stretched.

"I should go with you?" Ayrin, who had been excitedly looking forward to watching the match, was stunned for a moment.

"Liszt, what are you trying to pull?" Leonardo quietly asked as he became vigilant.

"I'm finding someone to help us keep watch and prevent us from being disturbed while we are fighting," Liszt nonchalantly replied. "It is also to keep others from coming and watching the famous Leonardo get beaten up by me."

"Liszt, you are too arrogant! Let's go!"

Leonardo was so enraged his face contorted as he spat a curse and took the initiative to lead.

"Ayrin, I said you are coming to keep watch and prevent us from being disturbed, but I assume you will be secretly watching instead, right?" Liszt covertly winked at Ayrin as he spoke so that only the two of them could hear, "Our fight will be much more worth seeing than the match between Dragon Breath Academy and Deepwood Motte Academy."

"I understand!"

A bright golden light flashed through Ayrin's eyes as if he had suddenly seen a giant pile of chicken legs.

Chapter 211: Liszt vs. Leonardo! A Confrontation of Taboo Level Masters!

Whoosh… whoosh… whoosh…

A total of ten incomparably fast shadows emerged from all directions as two arcane teams from the Office of Special Affairs encircled a stone training room.

"Just what has gotten into Liszt and Leonardo. Even when we are already lacking in manpower, they are still here fighting each other."

Once everyone was in place, a lanky arcane master wearing strange spectacles made from green crystals exasperatedly sighed.

"Snook, there is already nothing left to say. Let's quickly work together and coordinate our skills before these two do anything too destructive and cause chaos," a seemingly young male arcane master emotionlessly replied. His hair was snow white, and his left eye was strangely almost two times larger than his right eye.

"Arcane Energy: Dampening Field!"

The lanky, strange spectacle wearing arcane master nodded and then stopped speaking as arcane particles simultaneously condensed atop his hands and back.

His arcane particles were not an ordinary magenta colour, but an abnormal dark green.

As his arcane particles flew out, countless dots of light abruptly appeared in the sky above the training room like flies before condensing together to completely cover the training room like a giant wing.

"Invisibility Barrier!"

The white haired arcane master with asymmetrical eyes quietly chanted as he precisely made several movements. A transparent layer of light quickly appeared and enveloped the wing covered room.

……

"Snook and Armand have both made their moves. It seems like we can start. There is no longer a need for us to hold any scruples." In the largest stone training room, Liszt nonchalantly smirked as he looked across at Leonardo.

Leonardo coldly grunted, then immediately stuck out his left hand as if beckoning for Liszt to make a move.

"It's about to start!"

"An arcane master who is on the same level as Teacher Liszt… the level of this fight will be on a completely different level than mine."

Ayrin was full of excitement as he held his breath and silently peeked out from where he stood at the doorway of the stone training room.

Liszt was not only the strongest arcane master in St. Lauren, but also someone with an extremely high position in the Office of Special Affairs. His strength undoubtedly surpassed the vast majority of the Office of Special Affairs' arcane team captains.

If Leonardo was truly on the same level as Liszt, then he was about to witness a clash of two true peak level arcane masters for the first time.

"This brat, he has already started watching, did he think that we are arcane masters on the same level as him?" Upon discovering that Ayrin had already come to peek, Liszt didn't know if he should laugh or cry.

"Hmph! Did you purposefully bring a student over to try and distract me? I will not fall for such tricks!"

Leonardo and Liszt were on completely different pages.

"Since it's like this… Liszt, I want to see for myself whether or not your close combat skills have improved after so many years!"

"Arcane Energy: Distortion Field!"

A spark flashed through Leonardo's eyes as arcane particles began to gather atop his hands, causing them to glow. The arcane particles condensed into numerous diamond shaped sheets before suddenly shooting out into the space in front of Leonardo.

"The power of these arcane particles!"

Ayrin barely managed to keep himself from exclaiming out loud, his eyes abruptly widening from surprise as he watched from his spot by the door.

The sound space being torn resonated from of condensed sheets of arcane particles. They were formed from only arcane particles, yet they looked to be as heavy as if they had been formed by using Materialization of arcane energy. This once again attested to how shockingly powerful Leonardo's arcane particles were.

Bang!

An explosive sound rang through the entire training room as all of the condensed arcane particle sheets abruptly turned into streaks of distorted light, forming a ring.

"I can't differentiate anything! I am completely unable to see their actions clearly!"

"Tears of the Dark Goddess!"

All Ayrin could see were the streaks of light. He couldn't even make out Leonardo and Liszt's figures, much less their current actions. Thus, he subconsciously used Tears of the Dark Goddess.

A sphere of black light emerged from the center of Ayrin's forehead.

"I can see it!"

"Both sides are temporarily unable to use arcane skills?"

As the scene in front of him became slower, Ayrin became able to barely watch the fight. By this time, Leonardo had already approached Liszt. He formed knife hands and continuously jabbed towards Liszt.

"So strong!"

Ayrin couldn't help but inhale a breath of cold air.

Even with Tears of the Dark Goddess active, Ayrin could see ten or so Leonardos surrounding Liszt and countless arms striking out.

Liszt was even more shocking. He seemed to have grown hundreds of arms as he stood right where he was and relaxedly blocked each of Leonardo's strikes. His nonchalant expression hadn't changed a single bit.

Prwar!

As if a giant monster suddenly howled in the distance, a sound abruptly rang through the room. Leonardo's body suddenly began to spin as he stopped attacking Liszt with his knife hands. Like a top, Leonardo kept spinning as he flew into the air. Strong, visible currents of wind began to coil around his body and then flew at Liszt's back.

"What's wrong, you couldn't beat me in speed, so you are going to try and compare brute strength?"

Even at a moment like this, Liszt was relaxed enough to speak.

As he spoke, his entire body inexplicably began to shake as muscles and bones across his entire body began to tear and crack.

With his palm, Liszt seemed to gently slap the fiercely spinning Leonardo.

"How can this be happening?!"

"How can it contain such strength when it's not even an arcane skill?!"

At where he stood by the door, Ayrin's expression completely changed.

A visible explosion could be seen in the air as Liszt's palm collided with Leonardo's body.

At the same time, a peculiar shockwave spread through the air, causing the hard stone floor to loudly shatter into countless pieces. Numerous stone fragments rose into the air.

Although Ayrin was quite a distance away from the two, he still felt feelings of weakness, nausea, and vomiting. He felt like his body was about to shatter from the shockwave.

"What an equal confrontation! And what a powerful shockwave!"

Leonardo snorted again. The countless, densely packed streaks of light within the stone training room abruptly disappeared. Afterwards, his figure flickered and he reappeared at a spot about ten meters or so opposite Liszt.

Liszt's expression was still as carefree and relaxed as ever as the sleeves around Leonardo's hands suddenly burst into countless fragments.

"Last time, it was close combat which ended in my victory. It seems like you have put a lot of effort into working on your close combat skills these last few years, only it still doesn't seem like you are able to defeat me in close combat." Liszt looked at Leonardo and then slightly smirked.

"Cursed Profound Scripture!"

Leonardo ignored Liszt's words as he began to chant in an abnormally composed manner.

His arms extended horizontally as his entire body slowly rose into the air.

An ancient, rosy-red coloured book about the size of his body appeared above his head.

"What a terrifying energy!"

The moment this giant rose red ancient book appeared, Ayrin immediately felt as if his body and soul had been wrapped in chains. He was completely unable to make any motions. Even the arcane particles in his body felt as if they were no longer under his control as they circulated in his body.

"Warlock Variation!"

At this moment, Leonardo composedly shouted once again.

His body released a rainbow coloured ring of light, filling the entire stone training room.

"This is?"

Ayrin couldn't help himself as his eyes once again widened to their limits.

In that instant, he could feel the arcane energy radiating from the giant rose-red ancient book suddenly change.

The rose-red ancient book abruptly turned a deep yellow colour as sparks of dark yellow light began to leap out of the book like flames from a fire.

This scene only lasted in Ayrin's mind for a single moment.

Because in the next moment, the ancient book had transformed into a monstrous being with the upper body of a beautiful female with dark yellow hair and a lower body of an enormous spider.

"The charm and immolation abilities of Arachne!"

The sound and tone of Liszt's voice suddenly became serious.

The ends of Liszt's hair had already begun burning as dark yellow flames appeared. However, the ashes produced by his incinerated hair didn't fall to the ground. Instead, they gathered to form strips of white silk and then quickly wrapped back around his body.

"Divine Blessing: Scatter!"

Liszt continuously made several seals with his hands as a layer of pure green light quickly surged over his body. When about half of his hair had burned away, the dark yellow flames and the strips of white silk on his body both completely disappeared.

"Spirit of the Abyss!"

"Warlock Variation!"

Leonardo's body continuously flickered in midair as he continued using his skill. Two loud shouts echoed through the room.

From under the ground of the stone room, a giant, dark grey figure slowly made its way out while a dark red line of light appeared. In the next moment, the deep red line of light and the giant, dark grey figure merged with the gradually blurring arachne in midair to form an image of a dark red female whose figure was constantly distorting.

Two small wings emerged from her back. As for her face, it was covered in terrifying dark yellow eyes of varying sizes. Various coloured lights flickered through all of these eyes.

"Just what kind of technique is this?"

"It's so terrifying!"

Ayrin felt himself get struck by an invisible energy as he was sent flying backwards. He felt an immense tearing pain from his heart and lungs as the taste of blood constantly surged up through his throat.

"Berserk Elemental Ghost!"

Liszt shouted once again as the carefree expression on his face completely disappeared.

"Arcane Replication!"

Countless mottled streaks of light shot out from within Liszt's two eyes as multicoloured layer of light appeared in front of him from out of nowhere. From within, another "Liszt" almost exactly the same as him emerged to stand in front of him. The only difference was that countless streaks of brilliant, motley light radiated from this "Liszt".

Chapter 212: The Birth of a Kaleidoscope Arcane Master

Zap!

Beams of light continuously shot out from the various eyes which dotted the Berserk Elemental Ghost's face. Each wave of beams contained at least ten, and they were all comprised of incredibly chaotic arcane energies of differing natures. They took all kinds of paths as they approached Liszt from various directions.

"Absolute Seal: Total Boundary!"

As Liszt's ten fingers danced through the air, the time and space around him seemed to freeze. However, of the numerous beams of differing colours with differing arcane energy properties, the lava-like orange-red beam was still flowing rapidly.

"The fight between these two has already intensified to such an extent. Liszt has been forced to use his Absolute Seal Boundaries!"

Outside of the training room, the members of the Office of Special Affairs' two arcane teams all felt the change at the same time.

"The arcane energy fluctuations are still so intense!"

"Liszt's skill actually wasn't able to completely seal all of the arcane energy! Leonardo is truly deserving of his title of 'Cocktail Grandmaster'. He can actually merge and create such chaotic arcane energy!"

Snook, the arcane master wearing the strange green crystallic spectacles, took a deep breath as he said, "It seems like he has improved greatly these last few years in the Demon Corps."

"It's the Berserk Elemental Ghost!" Armand, the white haired arcane master with asymmetrical eyes coldly said.

"Berserk Elemental Ghost?" The other members of the two arcane teams all sucked in a breath of cold air. "He actually managed to form such a strong arcane power!"

"Boundary Grandmaster against Cocktail Grandmaster. We can only wait to see who is a little stronger," Armand said slowly.

"This body… can move independently and also use strong arcane skills?"

From the doorway of the training room Liszt and Leonardo fought in, Ayrin's blood boiled as he watched the radiantly glowing "Liszt" in front of Liszt suddenly extend his hands and forcefully grab the orange-red beam of light.

It was clearly only an incarnation of himself which Liszt had created with some arcane skill, yet it seemed to be able to think and fight independently of Liszt. As the incarnation grabbed the orange-red beam, the countless mottled particles radiating from its hands began colliding with the orange-red beam.

"Whirlwind Art!"

The arcane energy fluctuations emanating from the Berserk Elemental Ghost were so strong that they had caused the expressions of the arcane masters from the Office of Special Affairs outside of the training room to change. Yet now, Leonardo seemed to have completely stopped caring about it as it fought Liszt's incarnation. Green whirlwinds abruptly appeared in front of him.

"Warlock Variation!"

"How can this be!" Ayrin shouted, unable to hold back.

Whirlwind Art was only an extremely ordinary skill. It was one which many arcane masters knew even though it was basically only ever used as a support skill for other movement arcane skills. However, the green whirlwinds Leonardo's Whirlwind Art created had a completely different appearance and gave off a completely different feeling.

The surface of these green whirlwinds were completely covered with golden flames.

Ayrin was quite certain that he wouldn't be able to deal with these golden flames even if he mastered Fire Embers.

"Space Rendering Boundary!"

Liszt suddenly reached out with his two hands and pushed his incarnation before him.

In the space in front of his incarnation, a chaotic arcane energy suddenly began spreading forward, forming a void tunnel.

In complete silence, Liszt's incarnation passed through the burning whirlwinds and appeared before Leonardo. Each of his ten fingers glowed a different color and contained an image of a different giant beast, such as the nine-headed bird, fire-eating beast, and giant lion condor, as his fingers moved towards Leonardo.

"Bastard!"

Leonardo shouted in a weird voice as he hastily stepped into a giant black door which had abruptly appeared behind him.

A giant explosion occurred the moment ten images of differing giant beasts touched the giant black door. Everything simultaneously shattered as Leonardo's figure reappeared right where he had been before. Only now, there were several holes on his body and his hair had become messily scattered.

At the same time, the several whirlwinds struck Liszt's real body and exploded, enveloping Liszt in a layer of crackling golden flames.

Liszt's clothes were completely fine, but the surface of his skin had been burnt black and was beginning to crack in several places.

"Teacher Liszt!"

Ayrin nervously clenched both of his hands so hard that his knuckles cracked.

As he watched, he couldn't help but feel like Liszt had been burned to death by the weird flames.

But it was only for a single moment as a warm and gentle breeze began to swirl around Liszt's body in the next instant. Flakes of burnt skin began to slowly fall from Liszt's body as new, healthy skin quickly regrew in its place. Liszt was like a snake shedding its scales.

"You bastard! How can you seem so fine and composed after experiencing such pain? To think you actually used this kind of method to deal with me!"

As Liszt grew new skin, Leonardo became even more irritated. Even though he was in pain and short of breath, he continued to loudly curse at Liszt.

"Is it really necessary for you to even complain about how your opponent fights against you?" Liszt casually threw his head back and laughed.

"This is Materialization? How come the fluctuations of arcane energy are so strange?!"

Ayrin subconsciously gulped as he felt his throat dry up.

Two exquisite longswords releasing a mottled glow, as if covered in crystals, materialized in Liszt's hands.

The two longswords seemed incredibly heavy, and reminded Ayrin of a permanent materialization skill. As the two longswords traced a path through the air towards Leonardo, they seemed to be dragging the space within the entire training room with them as the air within the room began to surge and recede like the tide.

"What kind of materialization is this… it seems like two domains have been compressed into the form of two physical swords!"

Leonardo's expression became ugly.

"Ghost Layers!"

"Warlock Variation!"

Countless black shadows appeared in front of Leonardo. Immediately afterwards, the shadows burst, releasing a ring of light, as they suddenly transformed into countless blood red eyeballs.

Liszt, who had yet to move a single step from his original position this entire fight, suddenly accelerated as he quickly approached Leonardo.

"Boom boom boom…" The sound of explosions constantly rang through the room.

The two longswords in Liszt's hands constantly danced. A blood red eyeball disappeared with every casual swing of his longsword.

"Ring of Flames!"

"Warlock Variation!"

Upon seeing Liszt break through his defenses so easily, Leonardo hastily made several more movements. Two rings of flames abruptly blossomed from his body in succession.

"Ah!"

But in the next instant, it was Leonardo who let out a wretched scream.

Raging white flames and smoke suddenly began to spurt out from under Leonardo's skin over his entire body as his figure swelled up, making him look like a white fire giant.

"Haha!"

Liszt abruptly stopped attacking for a moment as he waved his swords to clear away the clouds of white smoke before him, "Leonardo, this secret skill of yours is truly too unpredictable at times."

"Bastard!"

Upon hearing Liszt's laughter, Leonardo's face became a purplish red as he swore loudly. His hair began wildly flying behind him as his eyes suddenly turned a dark purple.

"Book of Evil Spirits!"

The entire stone training room rumbled and began to show signs of collapse as a black gas spread across the ceiling. From within the gas, a giant black book descended.

As the book opened, an evil spirit with a horned skull and wielding a giant, two-handed sword emerged from within.

At the same time, the veins on Leonardo's body all bulged and began to contort and tremble under his skin. It seemed like his body was about to explode due to the sudden intense surge of arcane particles.

"Stop!"

"I'll accept it as my loss alright?"

"We are only sparring, there is no need for mutual destruction!"

At this moment, the two longswords in Liszt's hands abruptly disappeared as he hurriedly waved his hands and appeared behind Ayrin.

"You bastard!"

Leonardo angrily roared as his whole body abruptly froze. Several seconds later, he seemed to have finally abandoned any remaining thoughts of acting as the arcane energy fluctuations atop his body began to calm and the black gas and book above his head disappeared.

"Have you finally recognized my power and accepted your loss?"

After completely returning to normal, a heavily panting Leonardo fiercely glared at Liszt with an expression full of vengeance and joy.

"Helloooo?… I said I accepted my defeat, but it was only because I didn't want both sides to grievously wound each other." Liszt nonchalantly pinched his nose as he said, "I didn't even use my secret skill, Gate of Life. You don't really believe that I can't defeat you, right?"

"You!" Leonardo hadn't expected Liszt to act this way. His face immediately stiffened once again as it became slightly tinged with blue. It seemed like he was on the brink of going berserk again.

"Alright, since both sides have already seen pretty much everything the other side has to offer, let's just consider this one a draw. I don't wish to waste my energy by fighting another round, and it's also not a good time for us to become exhausted." List nonchalantly chuckled, "In all honesty, you have indeed improved greatly through your years in the Demon Corps. As long as you are careful and don't get killed, I'm fairly certain that the position of Demon Corps Commander will fall to you.

"Hmph!"

Leonardo coldly sneered.

"You should spend more time caring about yourself."

After saying this, Leonardo no longer paid any attention to Liszt as he directly walked past Liszt and Ayrin and exited the stone training room.

"This guy, he actually managed to learn the Demon Corps Commander Custer's Book of Evil Spirits."

As he looked at Leonardo's back, Liszt let out a quiet sigh and shook his head.

"Teacher Liszt, what kind of arcane skill is Book of Evil Spirits? It can actually cause mutual destruction?" Ayrin couldn't help but ask as he watched Leonardo slowly disappear.

As images of Liszt and Leonardo's fight flashed through his mind again and he remembered his the terrifying arcane energy fluctuations once more, Ayrin felt his whole body shaking.

"The arcane skill is like an eternal curse. Even if you kill the caster, the arcane energy of this arcane skill will continue to plague your body, producing pain and abnormalities which will follow you forever. You will become neither human nor ghost, but a monster eternally tortured by ailments," Liszt responded as he glanced at Ayrin.

"It's so powerful!" Ayrin's face paled as he shakily asked, "Can this kind of arcane skill be blocked?"

"Of course it can be blocked. But if even a single part of your body becomes invaded by this kind of arcane energy, then your doom is certain. Moreover, the caster also experiences this risk. I assuming that you don't wish for your hand to suddenly become filled with tumours like a giant monster or for two horns to suddenly sprout from your head, right?" Liszt shook his head as he casually gave an explanation. Then, he suddenly became serious as he said, "Ayrin, you've been watching since the start. Did you manage to learn any arcane skills?"

"Teacher Liszt, your skills were all to fast. Moreover, you only used each of them once. I was completely unable to sense the flow of arcane particles within you, so how could I learn anything?" Ayrin shook his head.

Liszt's expression abruptly darkened, "Ayrin, I intended for you to secretly learn his arcane skills. You didn't just focus on mine, did you?"

"His Book of Evil Spirits is too complex. Moreover, he only showed half of it. There's no way I could learn it. But if I can watch it a couple more times, then it should be okay," Ayrin felt some regret as he shook his head again.

"I…" Liszt's face darkened a little bit more.

"But his Warlock Variation seemed to be quite simple," Ayrin suddenly added at this time.

"What did you just say?" Liszt's face suddenly froze as his eyes widened.

"The Warlock Variation that he used so many times, it seems pretty simple," Ayrin obediently repeated before looking at Liszt and asking, "Teacher Liszt, this Warlock Variation actually transforms the arcane power of the arcane skill used prior to it?"

"Since he sensed it… perhaps he can indeed learn it? Truly a terrifying Kaleidoscope arcane master… indeed worth spending all of that energy." Liszt breathed a sigh of relief as his usual nonchalant smile once again emerged on his face.

"Ayrin, this arcane skill of his doesn't simply change the arcane power of a skill, but instead mixes and matches different portions of previously used skills to create a new skill and effect, kind of like mixing a cocktail. Even portions of the opponent's arcane skills can be mixed in." Liszt watched Ayrin as he continued explaining, "This is why Leonardo is nicknamed the Cocktail Grandmaster."

Ayrin sucked in a breath of cold air. "So strong! But I remember there was one time where he used it and seemingly ended up harming himself?" Ayrin couldn't help but ask.

"That was because the arcane energies of my arcane skills always differed since I didn't want his skill to always demonstrate the same effects. As a result, even he, the person using the arcane skill, had no way of knowing just what kind of cocktail skill would come out or what kind of power it would have. Thus, while the caster is guaranteed to have affinity with the chaotic arcane energy produced by this skill, there are still times where self-immolation occurs due to the chaotic energies, inflicting self-damage on the caster." Liszt laughed and continued, "Even the caster cannot predict what kind of result will be produced. That is the greatest weakness of this arcane skill. The only certainty is that this skill will create results which cause more powerful effects and damage to the opponent as the arcane energy it condenses is more powerful and chaotic."

"Even the caster cannot predict what kind of power will come out, this arcane skill is so interesting!" Ayrin's eyes suddenly became filled with countless little stars.

"Why do I have a bad feeling about this?" As he observed Ayrin's excited state, Liszt couldn't help but shake his head while a chill ran through his heart. "As his cultivation and insight improve, this fellow's learning abilities will only become even more terrifying."

Chapter 213: Terrifying Improvement and Growth of a Blank Slate

"In the end, the world of arcane masters is a youngster's world." — The first line of the first page of A Warlock's Memoir.

"Don't waste any time, child. Become a Lord before you are thirty, or it is very likely you will never accomplish anything." - Volume One, Road to Lordship.

For some reason he couldn't comprehend, these two phrases emerged in Liszt's mind as he watched Ayrin' back.

"Indeed, when I am with a little monster like you who has such monstrous learning abilities, even someone like me feels old." Liszt helplessly shook his head, then lazily stretched.

……

"It's already four to three?"

Charlotte, Ivan, and the rest were concentrating on watching the match atop the arena when Ayrin's voice suddenly rang from behind them.

"What did Liszt call you over for?"

"Deepwood Motte Academy is quite strong this year. The first two participants that Dragon Breath Academy sent up, Angeles and Audrey, were both unable to continue and forced to withdraw after winning their fights due to injury and exhaustion of arcane particles."

"Right now, Dragon Breath Academy's Gaskin is fighting against Deepwood Motte Academy's 'Mountain Splitting Lord' Stanford. However, Gaskin has already fought a battle and expended a lot of arcane particles.

Within the group, some asked questions while others quickly explained the current situation.

"Teacher Liszt brought me to watch him spar with Leonardo." Ayrin was already concentrating on watching the match atop the area as he excitedly said, "Heavy-Fisted King Gaskin is fighting against Deepwood Motte Academy's captain, Mountain Splitting Lord Stanford?"

"What? Liszt and Leonardo fought? Charlotte, Ivan, and the rest were shocked. "What was the result?"

"Teacher Liszt called it a draw, and Leonardo agreed. But I think Teacher Liszt should still be a little stronger," Ayrin honestly replied.

"To think not even Cocktail Grandmaster Leonardo could defeat Liszt. Liszt must truly be an existence who surpasses the vast majority of Office of Special Affairs arcane team captains." As Charlotte, Ivan, Ferguillo, and the others all exchanged looks, they could see that the others were all thinking the same thing as them - Liszt had to be very strong.

"So this is Mountain Splitting Lord Stanford, who has already been inducted into the House Stark? The one considered to be the strongest Deepwood Motte Academy student in the last ten years?"

Ayrin had met and talked before with Morgan, Gaskin, and the others of Dragon Breath Academy, so at this moment, his attention naturally gravitated towards Stanford, Deepwood Motte's most famous celebrity fighter.

Stanford was a lanky male representative of the north. His attire differed greatly from the standard attire worn by males in the southern and midwestern regions of the Kingdom of Eiche.

His long brown hair was tied into many small braids. The stiffness of his hair, however, caused it to become a frizzy mess atop his head.

Stanford currently wielded a black sabre about the same size as him in his left hand and wore a spiky bronze colored glove on his right hand.

Both the black sabre and the bronze glove were clearly weapons condensed through permanent materialization. They were heavier and harder than the majority of ordinary metal weapons, yet Stanford seemed to wield the two weapons with relative ease.

"What great strength. Considering how depleted Gaskin's arcane particles are, he shouldn't be able to win right?"

Ayrin couldn't help but blurt out his opinion the moment his eyes swept across Gaskin.

Gaskin's previous match had clearly been incredibly intense as the sleeves covering his right arm were already in tatters. There were still arcane particle fluctuations emanating from his body, but they were disorderly and clearly weakened.

"Gaskin is not one of those arcane masters who can no longer fight after exhausting too many arcane particles," Ferguillo responded beside Ayrin. He quickly shook his head and calmly continued, "It is still too early to decide on a victor."

"It's still anyone's game?" Ayrin said in surprise as he looked at the abnormally brawny Gaskin.

"You are hoping to reserve enough strength to deal with our next competitor, so you are trying to conserve your arcane particles as much as possible. But are you confident in defeating me with just your permanent manifestations?"

The silent standstill was broken by Gaskin as he glared at Stanford.

"Activate: Fist of the War God!"

A strange tremor suddenly passed under the surface of Gaskin's skin as if his body was decomposing into countless energetic particles.

"What kind of arcane skill is this?!"

Ayrin was immediately stunned. Even though he was quite far away, he could still feel Gaskin's strength suddenly skyrocket - and it was by an extent even greater than when he activated Holy Body Ignition.

Bang!

Before anyone could even react, Gaskin had already charged forward, leaving a deep pit in the ground where he had been standing. His right fist viciously slammed into side of Stanford's giant black sabre.

The two seemed to have suddenly become deadlocked.

Stanford immediately realized that he couldn't deal with Gaskin's powerful punch with just one arm so he turned his sabre horizontally and then pressed his glove wearing right hand on the inner face of the blade for more support.

"What! His Materializations can contain arcane skills?!"

Ayrin watched as green flames suddenly began to continuously surge out from both of Standford's hands like a tidal wave and attack Gaskin.

"What!"

But in the next moment, cries of surprise erupted across the entire stands like a volcano.

Gaskin's fist was still moving forward! Stanford's giant black sabre and the waves of raging green flames had both been smashed apart by Gaskin's single punch!

Stanford's entire body was sent flying backwards like an arrow.

"This strength… how can it surpass the combined strength of his opponent's Materialization and arcane skill?!" Ayrin couldn't believe what he was seeing.

"This is because of the relation between his bloodline and talents." Charlotte took a deep breath, then quickly explained into Ayrin's ear, "Gaskin's blood consists of both Yellow Dragon and barbarian blood. Thus, he is an existence whose physical strength surpasses the strength of arcane particles and arcane skills. During the Era of the War with Dragons, peak experts amongst the Yellow Dragons and barbarians were unable to sense any arcane energy or use arcane skills, yet they were still able to defeat peak arcane masters of other races with just their physical strength alone."

"Surpassing arcane skills with pure strength?" Ayrin couldn't help but repeat.

"Your school's Teacher Minlur is also this kind of existence." Ferguillo nodded, "But I'm afraid that the Gaskin's body is even stronger than Minlur's body. If Gaskin manages to reach Minlur's current age, he will probably have a strength which surpasses Minlur's current strength."

"Activate: Fist of the War God!"

Another one of Gaskin's thunderous punches headed towards Stanford's body.

As his fist travelled, it compressed the surrounding air, resulting in the formation of a shield-like ring of bright blue flames around his fist. His fist once again smashed into Stanford's body, which was still reeling backwards.

"This arcane skill… it is stimulating each and every particle within his body so that they are all activated for use!

Ayrin thought to himself.

For some inexplicable reason, he felt like Gaskin's arcane skill was mimicking the effect of a magus stimulant from the Magus Era. By using a small number of arcane particles, he was greatly stimulating every single particle to suddenly explode with a terrifying strength.

It was clear that this arcane skill would result in a state of extreme weakness after the battle.

But in a real battle, no one cared about after-effects. As long as it allowed you to explode with power and defeat the opponent, nothing else mattered!

"Perhaps I can learn it!"

A lightbulb flashed in Ayrin's mind. Afterwards, he held his breath and began to observe and perceive Gaskin's actions even more closely and attentive than before.

"Pillar of Execution!"

Ayrin watched as Stanford, who was suspended in midair by compressed particles and unable to move, suddenly raised his right hand. A terrifying fluctuation of arcane energy was released.

A giant black pillar suddenly appeared behind him. Seven huge chains condensed from arcane energy shot out from the pillar and immediately wound around Gaskin's body, binding him to the pillar.

"This is Deepwood Motte Academy's taboo skill! It is known as the Five Meter Cage because as long as one is within five meters of the caster, they will become sealed by this skill!"

"To think Stanford was able to comprehend this taboo skill in the last year!"

The spectators who recognized this skill all began to shout from the stands.

"Dragon's Blood, Awaken! Second Rank Transformation!"

Gaskin seemed to be unable to deal with the taboo skill with his current strength. But right as he was being chained up, another explosion came from within his body.

"This an innate ability of his dragon blood?!"

Ayrin could almost instantly sense every single particle within Gaskin's body suddenly undergo a transformation.

Every drop of blood and every single fibre of muscle in Gaskin's body suddenly transformed into completely different substances, becoming even more powerful than before.

A tint of yellow spread across the surface of Gaskin's body as a draconic aura billowed outwards from his muscles.

Stanford's body violently trembled as an expression of great shock emerged on his face.

"Activate: Fist of the War God!"

Gaskin roared once more.

"So strong!"

Ayrin immediately felt Gaskin's transformed body become stimulated and reactivated.

Bang!

The giant black pillar was shattered.

Boom!

Seven black curtains of light consecutively emerged in front of Stanford, but they were instantly broken through by Gaskin's single punch!

Crack!

The sound of bones breaking rang out from Stanford's crossed arms as Gaskin's punch slammed into them, sending Stanford soaring backwards through the sky and directly off of the stage.

"Dragon Breath Academy wins!"

With his ribcage completely shattered, every single spectator was certain that Stanford was absolutely unable to continue fighting.

……

Several minutes later, before the crowd had even fully recovered from Gaskin's memorable heavy punch, Ayrin and Charlotte had already moved to a stone training room.

"Holy Body Ignition? What are you trying to do?"

Charlotte abruptly realized that Ayrin was breathing extremely violently like someone about to pass out.

But in the next moment, while she was still confused, she suddenly felt a change rush through Ayrin's body as every particle within his body seemed to have become completely activated.

"This is…?"

Charlotte's eyes widened.

"Crown of Ice and Snow!"

Ayrin suddenly cried out at this moment as a giant sphere of white ice appeared before him.

Bang!

Ayrin's right hand curled into a fist and firmly struck the giant sphere of ice.

Charlotte felt her entire body become numb from the vibrations in the air as an alarm went off in her head.

She silently watched as Ayrin completely and thoroughly shattered the sphere of ice before him.

Boom!

The wall before the two of them suddenly froze over and then shattered.

The remaining fragments of ice and snow continued forward, forming a sword-like streak of ice and snow around twenty meters long before them.

Crack crack crack…

The path of ice and snow remained for several seconds before abruptly shattering and covering the ground in shards and flakes of ice and snow.

"Activate: Fist of the War God! You've managed to teach yourself Gaskin's body stimulation method!"

"Just what kind of perception and talent does he have to be able to learn this kind of arcane skill which can only be learned by sensing the flow of arcane particles within the body?"

"Activate: Fist of the War God along with Holy Body Ignition… this is a combination skill that he created himself… this strength, I wouldn't be able to defend against it!"

"For him to be able to learn just from watching… this improvement speed is simply like throwing things in an empty box to fill it up!"

Although she was extremely familiar with Ayrin at this point, Charlotte could still feel her body trembling and tingling after witnessing what had just happened.

Chapter 214: A Night of Anticipation

"Such intense arcane energy fluctuations, even I can't help but tremble. It seems like this year, Rinsyi has mastered an even more powerful taboo skill of House Baratheon."

It was evening. In the residence of Golden Stag Academy's team, the team's vice-captain, "Warlock" Hill muttered to himself as he suddenly stopped gathering arcane particles. An ugly expression emerged on his face.

At the same time, a charming smile emerged on Megan's face as she playfully juggled five small balls of condensed arcane particles between her fingers. Feeling the strong fluctuations of arcane energy emanating from Rinsyi's room, she said to herself, "Such terrifying fluctuations, it seems like it is the first of Baratheon's five taboo arts… I can't believe you have already become so strong. Ferguillo and Ayrin's group really must have put a lot of pressure on you eh, for you to remain constantly training in your room. You didn't even go and watch yesterday's match containing Dragon Breath Academy or today's match containing Abel Academy."

Remnants of the terrifying arcane energy fluctuations lingered within Rinsyi's room.

Within the darkness, these remnants of arcane energy glowed faintly, causing the room to appear as if it was filled with many yellow demonic eyes which were flickering in and out of existence.

However, Hill and Megan would not recognize the current Rinsyi. Compared to two days prior, Rinsyi had become much more thin and pallid, as if he had suddenly aged several years. Even his purple hair had shrivelled in places.

His cheeks had slimmed a lot and were now sunken in places. He was currently making an extremely hideous expression.

"Why… why am I still lacking and unable to use this secret skill! Just what the hell have these fellows from Holy Dawn Academy done to me… it's obvious that they cannot possibly defeat us, so why am I still feeling pressure? Why do I feel like I have been constrained by invisible shackles?!"

Rinsyi was a little hysteric as he screamed into the darkness. Due to his mood swing, arcane particles flowed between his fingertips, causing minor explosions.

……

"Who would have expected that the competitors of this year's national tournament would be so strong…"

"They are students just like us. Ignoring the differences in talent, I wonder how much time they spend training?"

Under the starry night sky, countless groups of young people chatted about the tournament as they walked through the streets of Eichemalar.

Following Deepwood Motte Academy's defeat at the hands of Dragon Breath Academy yesterday, the second round of the quarterfinals had occurred today between Abel Academy and Winterfell Academy.

In the end, Abel Academy was able to barely eke out a victory as they won five to four over the north's most powerful Winterfell Academy. But it was not without a price, as two of their mainstays were severely injured.

A large number of the students chattering about the tournament in the various corners of Eichemalar came from St. Lauren. For many, it was their first time coming to the national tournament and encountering the students from other academies.

These high level fights impacted both their world views and mentalities, causing them to become more hardened.

Many of them originally thought that fights between the members of arcane teams would only consist of mutually displaying arcane skills - you throw out a streak of flames, then I create a pillar of flames - and seeing whose arcane skill was more powerful. But after personally seeing the battles between academies, they finally learned that what they thought was been completely wrong and realized the massive gap between them and the powerhouses of the various academies.

"Chris also has an ordinary human bloodline, yet by expending more effort, she is able to compete with, and even defeat, these people. We cannot give ourselves up to despair and must also put more effort in towards chasing after their footsteps!"

An originally misguided student who thought they were only just slightly lazier than others became truly motivated by his experiences as he made the decision to begin training as if his life depended on it to try and shorten the distance between him and the peak students.

"Draconic spells and strange boundaries defeat the kings of the North! Barbarian King Rekai is unable to ascend to the skies as Abel Academy slaughters its way into the semi-finals for the thirteenth straight time.

On a street not far from the athlete village, a young man with a splinted, bandage covered arm gently set down several copies of the newest Breith Magazine and then continued walking towards the athlete village.

"Rinloran! That's Holy Dawn Academy's Rinloran!"

"He's really so cool and handsome!"

As he passed by, many people quickly recognized him. Especially girls, as they all shrilly screamed his name.

"Rinloran is still in such an injured state and Chris's state is even worse. Even if Chris had recovered as quickly as Rinloran, I'm afraid she still wouldn't be able to take part tomorrow."

"Deepwood Motte Academy and Winterfall Academy were both so strong, but they were unable to defeat Dragon Breath Academy and Abel Academy, which were ranked as monster-level teams… Golden Stag Academy is another monster-level team, can Holy Dawn Academy somehow produce a miracle?"

"Tomorrow is the day of Holy Dawn Academy and Golden Stag Academy's match…"

Although Dragon Breath and Abel Academy's matches had both concluded, the majority of people felt like they were about to experience yet another sleepless night.

The most anticipated match of the quarterfinals between Holy Dawn Academy and Golden Stag Academy had finally arrived!

Chris was still injured.

Rinloran was still injured.

Ayrin had only just recovered.

Moss had spent the past days relaxing and resting, and hadn't trained at all.

Stingham had been spending his days wandering the streets of Eichemalar and shouting about his handsomeness.

No one could think of a way for Holy Dawn Academy to defeat Golden Stag Academy, yet many still couldn't say that Holy Dawn Academy would definitely lose.

……

"Tomorrow is their match against Golden Stag Academy. Although I don't know what tricks Carter is hiding up his sleeve, with how fast Ayrin's speed of improvement is, perhaps they can actually win."

Standing in her room, Charlotte had just finished a round of training and was about to condense arcane particles when she suddenly looked in the direction of the athlete village. She couldn't help but mutter a few words to herself.

"Others might not know well just how strong Rinsyi and his team are, but you do." In a tavern not far away, Ivan looked at the calm Ferguillo, "Ignoring Carter's plans, do you believe Holy Dawn Academy has any chance of defeating Golden Stag Academy?"

"I cannot predict how likely Holy Dawn Academy will defeat Golden Stag Academy," Ferguillo looked at Ivan eye to eye, then calmly continued, "But I can guarantee that Ayrin has a good chance of winning if he manages to fight against Rinsyi."

Ivan's body violently trembled. He opened his mouth to speak again, but no words would come out.

……

"Morgan."

Dragon Breath Academy team captain Morgan had just exited the athlete village under the cover of darkness when he suddenly heard someone call his name.

"Jean Camus?"

Upon seeing a boy from behind him, Morgan was stunned. "You actually came?" The boy was feminine-looking like Rinloran, with black hair falling all the way past his waist and an extremely reserved character. He had a confident smirk on his face.

Jean Camus didn't respond to his question and instead continued to observe Morgan with a smile. "Not bad, you have yet to fall behind… The Kingdom of Eiche still has an existence who can threaten me."

"This fellow…" Morgan weakly laughed. Afterwards, a thought popped into his head as he turned and looked at the boy called Jean Camus and said, "Jean Camus, even though you don't put Rinsyi and the others in your eyes, I am still no longer your only opponent in the Kingdom of Eiche."

"Eh?" Jean Camus looked down at his two white hands out of habit, "Another genius like you has appeared in the national tournament this year? Which team?"

"You should be able to see him tomorrow," Morgan laughingly replied.

"Is that so? Then I shall wait and see," Jean Camus replied with a smirk.

……

Ayrin's ten fingers constantly danced as he used quickly executed Logic Fingers to gather his spirit.

Countless particles were continuously being compressed and transformed into gem-like arcane particles within his body. He had stopped all other training and focused on condensing arcane particles ever since watching Dragon Breath Academy's match the prior day.

At this time, he could feel that his two opened arcane gates were nearly filled with arcane particles.

As for the other five unopened gates which he hadn't opened yet, they were also almost full of arcane particles. This was because the secret skill Gate of Life allowed him to equally spread compressed arcane particles across all of his arcane gates.

"Not good, so painful. My body has surpassed its limits… I'm cramping!"

Ayrin's fingers stopped their fast and supple movements and suddenly stiffened as they cramped up, turning his hands into chicken claws. Ayrin's entire body began twitching as he let out a miserable scream and fell onto the ground.

"Ah…"

After convulsing on the ground for a full minute, Ayrin was finally able to let out breath of relief as his body completely relaxed and flattened against the ground.

"Tomorrow is the day we fight against Rinsyi and his team…"

"Only a short amount of time has passed since I encountered this fellow in St Lauren, but it feels like it has been so long. Is it because of all of the people I've met and all of the things which have happened since then?"

"Regardless, to be fighting against such a powerful opponent, just thinking about it makes me energized… We must win tomorrow!"

After continuously condensing arcane particles for so long, Ayrin had long since surpassed the limit of his body. Thus, he was currently in an extremely weak state. He didn't even have the strength to get up. But as he sensed the full arcane gates within his body and thought about the arcane skills which he had mastered these last few days, Ayrin was certain that after resting tonight, he would be exhibiting a new level of power tomorrow."

"Rinsyi, tomorrow we will see just how strong you and your team are!"

"Time feels like it has been passing so slowly… but it's because I can't wait to defeat you and your team!"

Although Ayrin was currently so weak that he couldn't sit up, he still cried out as he became filled with battle spirit.

At this same moment in Moss's room, Carter asked Moss, "How is it? It feels pretty good, right?" These last few days, Moss had clearly gained weight.

"It doesn't feel good…" Moss's hands suddenly clenched into fists as the sound of bones cracking rang through the room. "Because I already can't hold back anymore. I really want to fight." Blood vessels bulged on Moss's forehead as he looked at Carter.

"Very good." Carter smirked, then patted Moss's shoulder. "I trust that you will not let us down."

Chapter 215: An Assembly of Powerful Spectators (And the Symptoms of Face Blindness)

"So many people! There are even more people here today than during yesterday's match between Abel and Winterfall Academy."

"At this rate, we might not be able to get any of the closer seats!"

At the crack of dawn, Wilde and the rest arrived at the plaza outside of the Arena of Fire and Blood. Looks of astonishment filled their faces.

There was still quite a while before the start of the match between Holy Dawn Academy and Golden Stag Academy, yet the entire plaza was already teeming with people. Each and every entrance into the arena was congested with people.

"Let's go."

But just as Ferguillo calmly spoke and motioned for the rest to prepare to enter, he suddenly turned his head.

Charlotte, Wilde, and the others subconsciously followed his action. They watched as a large group of girls from Agate Lake Academy approached.

"Sophia! You have recovered from your injuries?"

Charlotte immediately cried out in surprise the moment she saw the face of one of the taller girls.

"I haven't completely recovered, but for a fight like this, we have to at least send people out to show our support and cheer for Ayrin and his team, right?" Sophia said with a smile. She had slimmed considerably, but she still seemed to be in high spirits as she walked to the front of her group.

Ivan nodded his head at Sophia. Just as he was about to ask about how Nikita and the rest were recovering, he had a premonition and raised his head and looked forward.

Not far away, a handsome young man with a cynical expression on his face and wearing a crumpled, moon white arcane master robe tried to inconspicuously move forward through the crowd.

"It's Maurice!" Ivan said in astonishment.

"Maurice?" Charlotte was slow on the uptake as she subconsciously repeated the name. The next moment, she had a sudden realization as she said, "The old captain of the River Bend Academy's championship winning team! The strongest wanderer, Maurice?!"

"It is him." Ferguillo's voice was a bit more respectful as he said, "An existence on the same level as Liszt. He is a solitary wandering arcane master who refuses to let anything chain him down, and even refused the Office of Special Affair's invitation to join. He spends his days traversing across the entire Doraster Continent."

……

……

At the same time, Joyce, the captain of Sea God Academy's team, had just taken a seat atop the stands within the arena when his entire body suddenly froze.

"Captain, what's wrong?" Several nearby teammates asked upon noticing his abnormal condition.

"Jean Camus! Even he has come," Joyce said in a trembling voice as he stared at a reserved looking boy with long and jumbled hair in the stands.

"What! You mean that fellow called the number one genius of the Kingdom of Doa who has never lost a fight and uses extremely strange and terrifying arcane skills? Is it really that Jean Camus?

The present members of Sea God Academy all sucked in a breath of cold air.

Outside of his long, out of control hair, Jean Camus had no other special characteristics. But as they began observing him closely, they suddenly felt as if the entire stands had been seemingly frozen by his invisible reserved aura. It was as if he could attack any person in this part of the stands at any time. There was even a feeling that the audience members around him were being manipulated by him.

The most frightening and chilling thing was that none of the audience members around him seemed to sense any abnormalities or his strength.

"Caesar has also come."

At this time, Morgan, Audrey, and the rest of their teammates had just walked into the arena. As their gazes swept across the stands, Morgan quietly whispered to his teammates.

"Then those around him should be the other members of the Death God team, the team considered the strongest academy team in all of the Kingdom of Doa?"

Following Morgan's gaze, Audrey immediately saw five young people wearing various styles of worn-out looking armours. The five of them all seemed extremely rugged, as if they were primitive hunters of the wilderness.

"These fellows are all killing machines…" Morgan began quietly speaking, then suddenly stopped as a group of arcane masters consisting of three boys and a girl all wearing dark green camouflage robes suddenly appeared in his line of sight. Morgan suddenly felt his nose assaulted by the faint scent of blood.

"Members of House Eclipsed Moon?"

Traces of shock flashed through Audrey's eyes as she saw the group of four, "Members of the Headhunter Houses who begin learning to kill the moment they learn how to walk… Mortal enemies of Megan's House Roland. How come they are appearing so openly?"

"This should be a demonstration towards Megan." Morgan quietly exhaled, "Appearing so publicly like this expresses that they aren't afraid of death and shows their resolve to fight to the death against their mortal enemies."

……

……

"That's Rowan, the captain of the number one arcane team of the Southern Devil Corps!

"It's House Lannister's Lord Martin!"

"That's Commander Morton of the Northern Holy Land's Snow Wolf Corps!"

At the same time on the other side of the arena, the stands suddenly erupted in chaos.

Three legendary figures whose names were only ever heard in the news had suddenly made their appearance in the stands.

"Rowan and Morton are both responsible for selecting arcane masters for their respective corps. For them to both appear here, could they already have their eyes on someone?"

As people speculated, Rowan, who was wearing ordinary blue coloured clothes, had already greeted Morton, who was wearing furry leather clothing, with a smile and a wave, "Morton, I didn't expect to see you here as well."

"It was indeed a bit of a sudden decision," Morton replied, revealing a smirk. Standing side by side, the tall and burly Morton was a full half a head taller than the skinny Rowan. After congregating, Morton directly asked Rowan, "So who do you have your eyes on?"

"It seems like none of these fellows from Holy Dawn Academy are going anywhere yet, so I have my eyes on all of them," Rowan replied, still smiling.

Morton was taken by surprise after which he roared back, "Shameless!"

"Then what about you, old friend?" Rowan chortled as if he wasn't angry at all.

"All of them!" Morton snorted.

"Indeed. As it is the first time the mainstays of this Holy Dawn Academy team have entered the national tournament, they were all relatively unknown before. Thus, they have yet to be invited into any corps or houses. It's no surprise that so many famous figures of the various corps and houses have personally come. Ayrin, Chris, and Rinloran have all shown strength completely surpassing those celebrity fighters."

Right as many people were recovering from the shock of seeing so many legends and drawing a conclusion to their speculations, a huge commotion occurred in the plaza outside of the arena.

"Is it Holy Dawn Academy or Golden Stag Academy's team that has arrived?"

Just from hearing the cheers, the audience members within the arena immediately guessed that one of the teams had arrived. Indeed, it was Holy Dawn Academy's team.

"Golden Stag Academy's team has actually come so early today as well?"

Cries of shock rang out atop the plaza as Golden Stag Academy's team emerged from the other side not too long after.

"So many people!"

"Rinsyi and his team are also here?"

Ayrin, who had been admiring the size of the crowd from amongst a cluster of Holy Dawn Academy students, also immediately saw the arrival of the Golden Stag Academy team.

"Faster!"

Before Ayrin and the others could even react, Stingham had already squeezed out from the group and quickly run towards Golden Stag Academy's team.

"Just what does this fellow want to accomplish?"

Afraid that Stingham would cause some kind of trouble before the start of the match and get disqualified again, Ayrin, Chris, and the rest exchanged looks before hurriedly following behind him.

But they could only watch Stingham stopped directly in between Golden Stag Academy's team and the arena entrance and blocked their path with his hands on his hips.

"What are you doing?" Ayrin couldn't help but ask after catching up to Stingham.

"Before a fight, don't we have to lower the opponent's morale?"

Stingham loudly laughed after replying to Ayrin as he combed his hair and made a pose which he considered handsome before shouting at Rinsyi and his team, "How is it? Today, my wise and godly, and most importantly most handsome, self will be fighting at the second position. Are you all afraid yet?"

"……." Black lines immediately emerged on the faces of Ayrin and the others.

Many of them nearly stuck their heads in the ground in shame.

Today, Rinsyi was in the center of the Golden Stag Academy team members. His eyes were already narrowed into slits, and he seemed even colder and quiet than usual. Sophia had characterized him as someone who spouted a lot of shit, yet today, he didn't make a single sound when facing Stingham's cries.

"Interesting." A grin appeared on Megan's alluring face as she observed Stingham.

"Dumbass," Warlock Hill sneered from the front of the group.

"Before a match, it is forbidden to taunt opponents to try and cause an incident."

A referee responsible for making sure that the participating teams entered in an orderly fashion immediately walked over and reprimanded Stingham. Afterwards, he motioned towards Chris, "You all will enter first."

"I apologize Rinsyi. Our teammate was wrong for taunting you. Let us decide everything on the arena!" As captain, Chris gave an apology.

As she spoke, her eyes were fixed on Hill, who was standing at the forefront.

"Is she apologizing to Hill or Rinsyi?" The nearby crowd was confused.

"Does she actually not know who is Rinsyi? This must be on purpose. It must… she must be acting like she doesn't know who Rinsyi is to humiliate him."

"Are you not Rinsyi?" Hearing the crowd around her whispering, Chris felt like something wasn't right. She apologetically explained to Hill, "My face blindness is a bit serious."

"I am Hill!" Chris's look of embarrassment and innocence caused Hill to feel like he was going crazy. He couldn't help but violently nod his head towards Rinsyi behind him as he shouted, "That is Rinsyi!"

"It wasn't on purpose."

Chris apologized. Afterwards, she entered into one of the participant's halls behind her alongside Ayrin and the rest of her team.

"If you are able to step upon the arena, I will make you remember me." At this time, Rinsyi raised his head as he finally couldn't resist speaking.

"Hill, I will not be fighting today. However, if there are opportunities in the future, I would be more than willing to have a fight," Chris turned her head and sincerely replied towards Rinsyi.

"… Hill?"

"Just what kind of face blindness is this? Just a blink of the eye and she is already calling Rinsyi Hill. It must be on purpose!"

The surrounding crowd all nearly slammed their heads into the ground.

Chapter 216: Storming Out of the Gates, A Changed Moss

The team preparation rooms were quite close to the stands, resulting in a continuous din.

A calm Carter stood in front of the members of the Holy Dawn Academy team, who had varying expressions on their faces.

"Chris will not be participating today. Our lineup against Golden Stag Academy will be as follows, Moss, then Stingham, Belo, Ayrin, and finally Rinloran."

There wasn't a single unnecessary word as Carter went straight to the point.

"Chris won't be fighting?"

"Belo?"

Although they already knew Chris wouldn't be participating, the old Holy Dawn Academy team members still couldn't help but feel shocked upon hearing Carter's words.

"Also, while I have placed Rinloran as fifth on our roster, I would like for you all to try and end the match between the four of you," Not waiting for more cries of shock to ring out, Carter held everyone in his gaze and calmly explained, "Although Rinloran's speed and agility far surpasses ordinary people and will pose a threat to the members of Golden Stag Academy, he will become injured even more severely if he has to fight against any one of their mainstays."

"What!" Gerrin, who was still acting as Holy Dawn Academy's vice-captain, didn't dare believe his ears as his mouth dropped in disbelief.

Their opponents were Golden Stag Academy!

One of the three monster-level teams!

Yet Carter had requested that they defeat them amongst the four of them!

Gerrin was certain that if any of the other teams participating in the national tournament heard Carter's words, they would think he had gone crazy.

"Perhaps…"

Gerrin couldn't help but turn and look at Ayrin, Belo, and the others. His breathing became laboured as he saw their calm and confident expressions even after hearing Carter's words.

"Whether it is a one versus one fight or a team battle, the winner is determined not by the number of arcane particles and the strength of arcane skills, but by true fearlessness and willingness to sacrifice."

"Only true brave warriors can achieve victory in battle. This is the true meaning of this tournament."

"Show me what you are!"

Carter's voice echoed amidst the preparation room.

"We are brave warriors!" Ayrin shouted. He was the first to respond.

Afterwards, Chris, Moss, and the rest also followed suit as their blood began to boil.

"Fight, brave warrior. Strive for victory and win honour for yourself!"

Carter powerfully pumped his fist in the air as he felt as if he had returned to a time when he was competing as part of the Evil Six.

"It's finally time. As long as I can kill that fellow, these miserable days will be no longer and I will become even stronger."

Rinsyi broke the dead silence within Golden Stag Academy team's preparation room as he slowly raised his head and spoke cold words.

There wasn't an accompanying teacher present.

Ever since he had become captain of Golden Stag Academy's team, he had always been the one with the final say in selecting and arranging members for competition.

"Our goal for this match is not only to defeat them, but to kill them all."

After raising his head, Rinsyi coldly swept his gaze across everyone else as he said, "Is that clear?"

Hill remained silent as he licked his lips, a bloodthirsty smile emerging on his face.

"What a shame." Megan sighed, as she said in a voice dripping with honey, "They were truly interesting people."

"Megan, it seems like the appearance of those fellows from House Eclipse Moon haven't brought you any pressure," Hellball Master Tyrin, a silly looking boy with short hair, said from beside her whilst looking her in the eye.

"Since they have dared to appear so openly in Eichemalar, you guys will help me kill them after this competition ends, right?" Megan grinned as she continued, "So I have nothing to worry about."

"Can we go out yet?" Plague Disseminator Zouchen, a boy with long gray hair, sneered, "I already can't wait to see the looks on the faces of those audience members from St Lauren after this match is over."

……

"They are coming out!"

"Both teams are emerging!"

It was gradually approaching the starting time when the audience began to holler and shout, causing the stands to suddenly become a chaotic mess.

They watched as Holy Dawn Academy's team and Golden Stag Academy's team emerged and sat down on benches beside the stage.

"Their fighting spirits are all so strong."

In the stands, Morgan couldn't help but shake his head as he observed Ayrin and the others. Not a single trace of fear could be seen within the excitement burning within their eyes like flames.

"Golden Stag Academy's lineup…"

Upon seeing the members beside the stage for Golden Stag Academy, Morgan couldn't help but feel some envy.

Rinsyi's pride and arrogance was not unreasonable by any means.

Golden Stag Academy's team was indeed the most powerful team in the tournament in terms of overall fighting abilities and team depth.

In the prior rounds, Golden Stag Academy had been able to rely on their substitutes to smoothly cruise forward, with only Rinsyi suffering some light injuries. But now, their other four mainstays had finally appeared after not having to move a finger in the previous rounds.

If not for such an unpredictable variable in Holy Dawn Academy, Morgan was certain that Golden Stag Academy would have been one of the final contenders for the position of this year's champion.

"There are actually people who believe that this bunch are our opponents?"

"Never mind our mainstays, any random substitute from our school team already has the strength of a celebrity fighter. This team of injured soldiers wouldn't even be able deal with our substitutes."

In the stands, countless Golden Stag Academy students loudly taunted and ridiculed Holy Dawn Academy.

"It seems like Holy Dawn Academy is indeed missing its general. With just those five… how are they going to fight this battle?"

The supporters of Holy Dawn Academy all suddenly became tongue tied as they realized that they couldn't refute those words.

The difference between the two benches was just too great.

These thoughts emerged within almost everyone's minds as they saw the two teams walk onto the stage.

"Indeed… this increasing tension… I feel even more nervous than when I am personally competing."

As she watched from atop the stands, Charlotte's palms became clammy.

"The strong person Morgan was talking about, he should be in this team?"

His long hair scattered around his waist, a very quiet Jean Camus observed Holy Dawn Academy's team with some surprise.

……

Charlotte's thoughts were the same as the vast majority of the audience. Slowly but surely, the arena quieted down until only the sound of breathing remained.

"Please submit your lineups!"

"The match is about to begin."

As they watched the teams hand in their respective lineups, many of the students from Holy Dawn Academy became even more nervous.

"Golden Stag Academy versus Holy Dawn Academy!"

Finally, the sound of referee Clancy cut through the tense and oppressive atmosphere.

"Hill versus Moss!"

"Warlock Hill! It's Golden Stag Academy's vice captain, Warlock Hill!"

"The vanguard for Golden Stag Academy's team this time is actually Warlock Hill!"

"Spiritual genius Hill is officially making his appearance!"

"The first person from Holy Dawn Academy is actually that red headed boy again? Does Holy Dawn Academy really not have any secret weapons up their sleeve?"

Clancy's announcement caused the entire audience to erupt in pandemonium like a volcano as the silence was completely shattered.

"It's actually this fellow again. Just what is Holy Dawn Academy planning?"

Golden Stag Academy's team members also couldn't help but speculate amongst themselves.

"Haha, for this red haired boy to go up against Hill, is he not just looking for his own death?"

Loud taunts and laughter abruptly resounded from Golden Stag Academy's portion of the stand.

"Hill has actually stepped out. It seems like they are actually using their full strength this time."

Within the stands, Ivan, Charlotte, and the others glanced at each other.

No one knew what kind of strange bloodline Warlock Hill had, but his spiritual strength was abnormally high. Moreover, the arcane skills the used were so strange that people called it black magic.

If it was purely one on one, neither Ivan or Charlotte was confident in being an opponent for Hill.

Almost no one in the audience was optimistic about Moss's chances.

Amidst the loud taunts and laughter, Moss was calm as he turned his head back and forth and looked at the stands.

He finally saw a familiar face within the crowd.

"Mother…"

Moss inwardly whispered to himself before taking a deep breath and stepping foot onto the stage and moving towards the centre.

At this moment, there wasn't much fear in his mind even though he was facing such a powerful opponent in Warlock Hill.

"Moss seems to be a little different today."

Ayrin didn't hoist his fist and encourage Moss today like he usually did. Instead, as he watched Moss's back, he strangely muttered, "His legs actually aren't trembling in fear today."

"Everything has proceeded smoothly so far. Now it all depends on your own performance." Carter took a deep breath, but his hands wouldn't stop shaking with excitement.

……

The entire arena quieted down once more.

Moss and Hill stood facing each other at the centre of the stage.

"It seems like this battle will be ending without any suspense."

Hill made a gesture towards Clancy signalling that he was ready while shaking his head, a look of disdain on his face as he sneered in ridicule, "This is just a waste of time to begin with."

"Ready!"

Moss didn't even raise his head to look at Hill as he shouted at the referee.

"Ready to die," Hill silently sneered in his mind.

"Start!"

Clancy waved the flag in his hand.

"Hiss……"

The sound of air being compressed rang through the stage like a tsunami.

No one could see any of Hill's motions as an image of a snow white skeleton condensed behind Moss. Afterwards, the white bones turned into countless particles which attached onto Moss's body.

Simultaneously, an invisible shockwave inexplicably spread across the stage and into the stands, causing many audience members to feel dizzy and lightheaded.

"Not good!"

The expressions of Clancy and the other referees simultaneously changed as their bodies began to release fluctuations of arcane energy. They were about to stop Hill's arcane skill.

But right at this moment, they abruptly stopped breathing as Moss's body began to enlarge at a speed which was hard to imagine while a golden ring of light spread out from his body and instantly struck Hill's body.

"Sacrificial Halo!"

In the stands, Morgan and Jean Camus's eyes simultaneously widened as they whispered the same name under their breaths.