Destroyer of Ice and Fire

"The Heart of Fury… I think it is better for Moss to explain." Liszt said as he turned and looked at Moss, whose head was still swollen. "Moss, why don't you come and explain to everyone."

An awkward look emerged on Moss' face as he replied, "Teacher Liszt, I don't know what it is."

Liszt nearly tripped over his own feet as he responded, "Well then."

He quickly regained his calm and then rubbed his chin as he began, "For even the heir of a household of giant bloodline wielders to not know… I guess it has just been too long since it has last appeared. The Heart of Fury, sometimes also called the Resilience Fruit, is a treasure which can greatly increase the physical toughness of an arcane master's body. Prior to the Era of the War with Dragons, it was a treasure of the Giant Kingdom. Only the most powerful and courageous giant arcane masters were rewarded with it."

"Resilience Fruit? It can increase the body's toughness?" Ayrin exclaimed. "Is it really a fruit Teacher Liszt?"

"Correct. It is a green, heart shaped fruit roughly the size of two fists. Because of how one's skin begins to release heat and steam like a furious fire during battle following consumption, it is also called the Heart of Fury." Liszt smiled as he continued, "As you already know, increasing the body's toughness will not directly increase the body's strength. But as your body becomes tougher, it becomes more able to receive attacks. And more importantly, it becomes more able to endure the stress that comes from releasing arcane particles, increasing the strength of your skills."

"I need it," Stingham shouted. His entire body was still rather swollen as he sobbed, "Otherwise I will be beaten to death by Teacher Rui's big black stick."

"……" Everyone else felt a cold sweat emerge atop their backs.

Why did this sentence seem to contain an unspeakable evil?

"The power contained within the Heart of Fury is extremely fierce. If a single person were to eat an entire fruit, it is likely that their heart and stomach would immediately explode. Thus, if you obtain the fruit, all of you will be able to take a bite and experience its effects." Liszt stared into the distance as he added, "Our Kingdom of Eiche has lost too many talented arcane masters as a result of this war. We need you youths to grow and take their spots… otherwise, the Office of Special Affairs would not give out such a precious reward."

"Teacher Liszt, you mentioned that the name of the Golden Stag Academy master who saved us was Stone?" Rinloran quietly asked.

Over the course of the last dozen or so days, these youths had heard countless names of those who had perished during the war. Although they were not familiar with many of them, they still felt pain as Liszt said these words just now.

For someone like Liszt who had reached such a high level, many of those who had died in battle… must have been his friends?

As they remembered the sacrifice of Golden Stag Academy elite teacher to save them, this pain only became greater.

"Correct."

Liszt nodded as he quietly replied, "You youths must remember, there were originally no such things as academies or grudges between arcane masters. We were built on the concepts of justice, courage, and conviction. You all have done well until now, but you must continue to hold true. No matter what enemies you face in the future, you must continue to uphold justice and fight courageously for your convictions."

"As he said!" Minlur abruptly broke into raucous laughter as he said, "For us, it is only glorious if we die in battle like our fallen friends."

"Fight! Brave warrior! Without fear! Brave warrior…" Ayrin began to shout at the top of his lungs.

"Ayrin you weirdo, why did you suddenly start screaming?!" Stingham asked in annoyance.

"Eh?" Ayrin scratched the back of his head in awkwardness as he replied, "I don't really know… I just suddenly felt the urge…"

"Idiot!" Rinloran abruptly muttered at this moment as he glared at Stingham.

"……" Stingham felt extremely wronged as he cried out, "What is your problem Rinloran? He was person who randomly started shouting, so why are you cursing at me and not him?!"

Watching the scene before them, Ciaran and Carter couldn't help but smile as they were reminded of their younger selves.

"Teacher Liszt, what kind of place will be competing in?" Ayrin asked at this moment.

"The specific details will not be given before the competition," Liszt looked at Ayrin and the others, "but they mentioned just now that it will be held in a ruin of the Clockwork Corps from the Era of the War with Dragons. The Clockwork Corps were part of Evil Dragon King Ned's army."

"A ruin of the Clockwork Corps?" Light flickered through Rinloran's eyes as he asked, "Then there will probably be a lot of metal soul-linked war avatars present?"

"Considering how long has passed, there will likely not be too many metal soul-linked war avatars left. But regardless, as a corps during that era, they likely created many strange defense mechanisms and traps to prevent powerful arcane teams from sneaking in and raiding." Liszt rubbed his chin as he added, "So I'm assuming that the Office of Special Affairs sent a team in to destroy several of the more difficult to cope with traps, and not set up ones of their own. Because if it is the ruin of a larger corp, there will likely be traps which could even kill a five gate arcane master."

"Traps which could even kill off a five gate arcane master? Then doesn't that mean even Teacher Liszt and the others…" Moss couldn't help but gasp.

Liszt paid no heed to Moss' gasp as he nodded and answered, "Correct. In that era with our strength, it would not be unlikely for us to die due to the defenses of some corp's base. After all, the average level of arcane masters during the Era of the War with Dragons was much higher. But that is how the world of arcane masters is, and always will be. There will always be a long prosperous period with countless powerful arcane masters followed by a time of great change and decline. During this decline, the number of arcane masters greatly diminishes, until there are only a handful of powerful ones left who hold all the wealth. But then powerful arcane masters begin to appear again, driving the era towards another golden age. With the end of this war, perhaps we will be ushering in a new era sometime in the near future."

"Does that mean we will all become legendary figures?" Stingham excitedly combed through his hair as he exclaimed, "Regardless of anything else, I will definitely be legendary for my handsomeness."

"You mean legendary for your idiocy," Rinloran rebutted, his face full of black lines.

"Teacher Liszt, we are still missing Belo. I wonder how he is doing right now," Ayrin abruptly chirped at this moment.

"Belo should be fine. I had Donna follow after him. Let us keep moving. We'll probably run into him soon." Liszt looked into the distance as he added, "Although I do not know what secrets he is keeping on his body, he sure is an impetuous youth… so by this time, he should have already ridded his body of the Poisonflame Emperor Egg's toxin."

……

Somewhere in the depths of the Southam Demon Forest, Berryn, the arcane master who had seemed even frostier than Rinloran, couldn't help but comment to Donna beside him, "Why is this fellow like this? The toxin of the Poisonflame Emperor Egg should not be this fierce!"

Not too far ahead of them, a shadow continuously flickered between the trees. It was none other than Belo.

Currently, Belo's appearance was rather terrible.

Unlike Ayrin, Rinloran, and Stingham, not only were his muscles twitching and his body covered in white grains of salt which had precipitated out from his sweat, his body's pores were also continuously releasing drops of a stinky, green, pus-like substance.

This green substance caused the area around Belo to faintly grow green.

As Belo's heavy breath landed on the leaves of several nearby trees, those leaves immediately turned yellow and withered.

At this moment, he was tightly clutching a massive, dark-red snake between his hands and vigorously sucking out its blood. It was a bloody spectacle to behold.

"There is only a single possibility."

Donna's expression was also grave as she took a deep breath and said, "This fellow's high rank beastman bloodline must have an innate resistance to poison… so instead of ingesting a single Poisonflame Emperor Egg and experiencing little effect, he must have ingested all of them at the same time."

"Even with the resistance of a beastman bloodline… his action is simply insanity. It's like he doesn't care for his life." Berryn's face paled slightly as he said, "These youths of Holy Dawn Academy… they are not just monsters, but madmen!"

"Regardless, his willpower is incredible. It is unimaginable how much pain he is enduring right now. And he can only keep consuming blood to stimulate his beastman bloodline's innate vitality to stay alive." Donna stared at Belo's back as she solemnly said, "As long as he survives, not only be his body, but also his bloodline will experience massive growth."

……

"The taste of this blood is truly disgusting… but if I cannot even endure this much, how can I possibly keep up with Ayrin and the others… and how will I be able to personally kill you, my dear father?!"

"I do not know what your blood tastes like… it will definitely be even more disgusting than this snake's… yet I am still willing to endure all of this so I can kill you and taste it. This pain is nothing!"

The twitching Belo abruptly threw away the now dry corpse as he roared towards the sky in a savage manner like a wild beast!