Vile Evil Hides Under The Veil

"Bro! You were just awesome. Winning two matches of this calibre shouldn't be underestimated. And the fact that it was only the first day of the ranking war has added to your achievement."

Jake couldn't help praising his roommate after their party met up. Unlike Eren, others in his current party had decided to quit after their first compulsory ranking war. They were all waiting for Eren to finish up his second match.

Eren had been given first-aid by the academy staff after he got out of the battle ring. The caretaker used a simple F-Rank potion to close all his wounds and turn them into a bruise. Of course, the potion was diluted so that many students could be treated with it. Otherwise, it would have taken care of the injuries completely.

Rankers had supernatural healing ability laying dormant anyway. A night's sleep would be enough for them to get over most normal injuries. And practising their ranking technique would further expedite that process. So it was natural that LA would cut corners in mass battle events like these.

Eren looked at his party mates as they made their way towards the nearest canteen. They were also looking a little worn down. But nobody looked as beat up like him.

"What about you guys? Sorry, I couldn't pay attention to your battles. Jakey, at least you must have won, right?"

"Hahaha! That's right. It was a little tough but I managed to beat my opponent fair and square."

Jake subtly self-praised himself while stating his battle results. Becky scoffed at Sullivan Jr. as a result:

"Little difficult, you say! Fatty, you just barely managed to win over a girl because she didn't have a flexible spell like yours. That too after taking so much of her beating. That caretaker had to use twice the amount of healing potion on you than usual to treat you. And you are still trying to brag about your win! Unbelievable!"

"Win is a win. No matter how you do it, against whom you do it. And I'm a firm believer in gender equality. I'm sure Eren is with me on this as well considering his performance with Renita. Hehe!"

Jake wasn't disheartened by Becky's rebuttal. He was just glad he could win at all. Especially after looking at a certain person in their team. Eren followed his gaze and soon asked away:

"Steve, what happened?"

"I… I lost. *Sigh. My worst fear came to haunt me in real life. I couldn't activate the only spell I had on the time. And my opponent was a close combat expert. He saw that I was busy activating my spell and immediately got into an attacking range.

I tried to get away from him but my movement spell couldn't overcome the movement spell the guy had. It was a one-sided beating. I had to admit defeat to save myself from the embarrassment of falling unconscious."

Steve and his explanation on a sad note. He was sad that he lost. And sadder because he was the only one in their current team that had lost their first match.

"Oh! Never mind, Stevey. At least you now know the shortcoming of your spell. Becky, you won your match I take it."

"Hmph! Why do you even need to ask? Of course, I won. Although I must admit, my opponent was no pushover. The worst was that she was a mage like me. Our match was dragged longer because of that. Thankfully, I only showed my defensive spell at a crucial time just before launching my counter. That caught her off guard and got her incapacitated."

Becky tilted her neck upwards saying that. She was now more confident in her path as a mage because of this well-earned victory. Contrary to popular belief, she wasn't bragging at all. Her opponent really was a tough nut to crack. It was Becky's presence of mind that had tilted the match in her favour.

"That's good, Becky. See? I told you, you are better off as a mage than a healer. There will be a day off from ranking war tomorrow. Let's organize a party practice. I might be able to guide you guys in some areas. I'll send a message to Renita. She will join us as well."

Eren concluded their chat and hinted that they should have their fill now. The group was disbanded for the day soon afterwards.

*********

Eren needed a rest!

He had sent his mana circuits on hyperdrive to accommodate two spells. The very definition of hyperdrive is someone or something delivering more output than they are supposed to.

During Eren's battle with Renita, the execution of primary Sedated Perception was autonomous and handled by the gem. So he didn't need to worry about that front. But he still needed to execute two spells while ensuring their enhanced output to keep up with the stacked spell. This overwork had affected his mana circuit. He needed a day's rest to recuperate from it.

Using two spells simultaneously is called dual casting. And the triple casting is when three spells are being executed by a ranker at the same time. If the dual or triple cast involved the execution of the same spell in iteration, then it was called spell stacking.

The spell combo involves the usage of the dual or triple casting of any variety and form. Any type of spell combo can put a substantial burden on the Novice ranker's primary mana circuit. Because it was not ready yet to sustain the prolonged usage of spell combos.

Only a few talented individuals among Novice rankers could make use of their respective spell combos effectively while ensuring a consistent execution.

And sending your mana circuit into hyperdrive without muscles imploding required even more expertise. It was something a ranker would only be able to develop over time.

Eren was no genius. He too wouldn't have been able to pull this off had he not had his experiences from the previous timeline. That very experience had given him the edge he needed to beat Renita, a genuine genius.

Renita was among those talented individuals who would seldom appear in their generation. She was self-aware of her talent as well. That's why she was confident in winning against Eren.

But she would have never thought that a guy her age could manage to send his mana circuits into hyperdrive to defeat her today. That too with the advantage of the ranger's class on her side.

Renita could use spell combos too. She could dual cast and had used the same to keep her movement type spell and attack type spell active at the same time.

But she couldn't stack her spells yet. It meant she couldn't enhance a single spell type's effect twice or thrice its original delivery.

Nor could she raise the output of her spell executions than their default values. That's why she only ran out of mana and was slightly exhausted but wasn't suffering as much as Eren did after their match.

Apart from suffering stacked Sedated Perception's side effects, the butcher's mana circuits were also affected severely. Due to that, he wasn't in a position to execute spells for the day. Otherwise, he would have continued his winning streak after using the healing spell and some potions.

********

The next day!

Around 9 AM.

Eren met up with his new party at an open space surrounded by dense vegetation. These spots were created by students over the years just by practising their combat abilities.

Jake Sullivan, Becky White, and Steve Austin were the usual faces among those gathered. But they were accompanied by three more faces.

Renita Diabreo was there as well. She was standing alongside Becky who was telling her about some stuff.

Then there were two rankless students. They had been invited to be here by Steve and Becky on Eren's direction.

The butcher wanted Steve to handle their recruitment at first to cement his leadership. But he lost his ranking battle yesterday. That certainly wasn't going to improve the party's image in the recruits' eyes if he were to go alone.

That's why Eren sent Becky along with Steve. She had won spectacularly in her match against a strong opponent. Her presence with Steve would be enough to neutralize the negative psych impact.

Of course, by now everyone had understood that Steve was only going to be used as a front face. Eren was going to be their real leader in the dark. His performance was enough to assert his dominance over them. They just couldn't figure out why he insisted on Steve being the leader on paper.

Eren and Jake were the last pair to arrive at the meeting. The former straight up sat on the ground and hinted to others to do the same. The ladies were a little reluctant to dirty their clothes this early in the morning. But they subconsciously obliged at once after seeing Eren's emotionless eyes.

The crowd was now seated in a circle. The butcher started his speech after ensuring everyone was paying attention to him:

"So hi there! I'll tell you why we are meeting today."

======================

Author Note: It's the holiday season that one would find themselves to be the busiest they've ever been in the entire year. These days are supposed to be relaxing but end up giving you the most work. I aimed to finish writing 100 chapters by the end of today. But so far, I've only managed to outline upcoming releases.

Anywho! Happy Diwali, guys. Stay blessed and enjoy life outdoors with your family and friends. Too much reading in isolation isn't good for your mental health. ;)