Seth hurried out of the changing room, his footsteps echoing in the corridor as he cursed under his breath for chatting too much with Yline and Toren. Over his gray academy uniform—his best armor—he now sported his new combat gauntlets. The weight on his wrists was noticeable, but not enough to hinder his movements.

'You should've kept the daggers, just in case,' Nightmare grumbled from within his necklace. 'I won't be able to save your ass if you're in trouble.'

'I'll be fine,' Seth replied with a sigh. 'I've learned plenty of hand-to-hand techniques in Weapon Theory… not that you'd know, since you're always sleeping. Also, worst case, I use Shadow Step.'

The direwolf let out a growl. 'I hate you.'

Switching between Illusionary Emptiness and Shadow Step on the academy grounds would draw too much attention, so Seth'd been forced to choose between them. Given the nature of the tournament's one-on-one battles, the hiding ability of Illusionary Emptiness wouldn't offer much of an advantage, so he had switched Share's mysterious thread over to Shadow Step in the changing room. Plus, this would also be a good opportunity to test if the cooldown period was really twenty-four hours.

Stepping into the coliseum, Seth was met by a palpable buzz of excitement. Several hundred students looked at him from the stands, their chatter and laughter reverberating through the open space. He scanned the crowd for Devus, Elena, or Jenna but couldn't spot them among the sea of faces.

In the center of the ring stood Seth's Combat Theory instructor, Captain Michaelson, an air of impatience surrounding him. Next to him was Seth's opponent, a young man with long black hair clad in thick leather armor, firmly holding an imposing halberd.

"You're late," the captain said, scowling as he handed Seth a Protecting Belt. "One more minute and you'd have been disqualified."

"Sorry, sir," Seth replied and gave a slight bow before fastening the belt around his waist.

Moments later, shimmering blue words materialized above the ring, which announced the two participants of the fight.

Seth (Primalist Rank 24) vs Yann Geralt (Warrior Rank 20)

The coliseum fell into an abrupt, heavy silence. A chill rippled through Seth's chest hundreds of times, as if the students in the stands couldn't believe the glowing blue words and needed to verify themselves. Then, the whispers spread, small at first, quickly swelling into a rising tide of murmurs as students traded thoughts and speculations; Seth could catch fragments of conversations from those seated in the front rows.

"...the love of gods does he have a subclass?"

"Beastmaster? Must… because of his..."

"Even if… Iron… still a Primalist. There's no way he can win against Yann from the Geralt House!"

"His Rank... do you think he got a sponsor?"

"Give me back your belt," Captain Michaelson said, rummaging in his Endless Pouch before taking out another belt and channeling aether inside. "I gave you a Copper one."

'They're still underestimating you,' Nightmare said as Seth swapped his belt with the new one the captain proffered.

'That's fine. I prefer to be the underdog.'

"A Primalist is still a Primalist," Yann muttered as if trying to convince himself that even with the Tier gap he could win.

Ignoring the noble, Seth headed to his side of the ring. Stopping on the white cross painted on the ground, he took his stance and cast Identify on his opponent and his gear, mentally noting to learn Intermediate Identify later on.

Yann Geralt

 

Class: Warrior

Rank: 20 (Peak-Copper)

Subclass: -

 

Strength: 51

Arcane Power: 20

Toughness: 40

Well Capacity: 25

Agility: 35

Regeneration: 29

Blood-Steel Halberd

Weapon

Tier: Copper

Grade: Epic

Effects:

- Ignores 19% of Toughness.

- Reduces aether cost by 12% for any spells.

Rhinoceros-Leather Armor

Armor

Tier: Copper

Grade: Epic

Effects:

- Increases Toughness by 14%.

- Increases Agility by 9%.

How can he think he could win? Seth thought with a sigh. The noble's attributes were barely two thirds his own with Link—neither his equipment nor his spells would fully compensate for that gap. Nothing would.

Captain Michaelson raised his hand on the edge of the ring. "Activate your belts!"

Seth and Yann each infused their belts with aether, and within a second both were wrapped in shimmering shields of blue energy. Captain Michaelson eyed them both, then thrust his arm down.

"Fight!"

With that, Seth shot forward, channeling aether into Haste's grooves. His feet barely touched the ground as he darted across the ring, covering half the distance in a blink. Visualizing the Fishlord Lancer as his enemy instead of the noble, he let his inner beast take over, and his core flared in his chest, filling him with its liquified instinct.

Yann, though initially taken aback, reacted quickly and swung his halberd in a wide arc. The weapon's tip whistled through the air, unleashing a razor-sharp crescent of wind that flew straight toward Seth.

The crowd held its breath, expecting a direct hit, but Seth merely smiled. Dropping low, he slid under the attack, and the blade sliced the air mere inches above him. After springing onto his feet, he kept rushing forward, eyes locking onto Yann, analyzing every twitch of his body. Almost immediately, aether surged around the noble, flowing into his arms and legs.

Enrage, already? Desperate move.

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With a grunt, Yann charged, driving his halberd forward in a lethal thrust. Seth's instinct kicked in and he sidestepped, the blade grazing his hair. Instantly, he lunged closer, pouring aether into his arm, and rammed his gauntlet into the Warrior's chest. The barrier covering the noble bent under the blow and the force sent him flying back, crashing onto the ground a dozen feet away.

Coughing and gasping, the noble was still struggling to stand up when Seth closed the gap in a heartbeat and unleashed a flurry of quick, empowered punches. By some miracle, the Warrior managed to parry the first three, but Seth was too fast for him to keep up—the fourth one slipped through the noble's guard, slamming into his face and sending him reeling backward.

​​Yann roared in pain and fury, swinging his halberd with all his might. Seeing through the attack, Seth stepped into the weapon's reach. After blocking the wooden shaft with his gauntlet's reinforced padding, he then countered with a swift uppercut.

His fist, crackling with aether, struck Yann's chin and catapulted him into the air. Before the noble could even start to fall, Seth leapt like a beast above the noble and buried his new gauntlet into his chest mid-air. The Warrior slammed into the arena's floor, debris and jagged pieces of clay flying in all directions as the entire colosseum seemed to shake.

Seth landed on his feet, eyes locked on where Yann had crashed. Slowly the dust settled, and a shimmering barrier of golden aether came into view, enveloping the Warrior in a protective cocoon.

A suffocating hush fell over the coliseum as Seth stood tall, staring down at the noble. He had faced Fishlords after Fishlords, driving himself to the brink of madness by sleeping the bare minimum and hunting relentlessly. This moment—this victory—was the result of all the sweat and blood he had shed over the past month.

"Seth wins," Captain Michaelson shouted.

The crowd stayed silent. No cheers. No applause. Clearly, not a single one of them had expected such a one-sided fight. He was supposed to be a weak Primalist. A commoner that should kneel before nobles. And yet he'd effortlessly crushed one of them right before their eyes.

"Great freaking fight!" Devus' voice echoed in the coliseum.

Seth spun around and found the Guardian standing, Jenna alongside him, both of them whistling and shouting. Sitting next to them, Elena had her face buried in her hand, obviously not a fan of the attention the two were bringing.

Seth smiled at them and started to exit the ring, but paused for a moment when Yann pushed himself up, clutching his chest and wincing in pain. "You only won because I'm still Copper," he spatted through gritted teeth. "Next time, I'll crush you."

Unfazed, Seth shrugged and walked away. "Good luck with that."

After stopping by the changing room to grab his things, Seth headed straight for his friends' seats. As he weaved through the stands, the students' reactions caught his eye. Some watched him with awe, their eyes practically glowing, while others tried not looking his way, resentment and bitterness etched into their faces. Telling nobles and commoners apart had never been so easy even without their distinct scarlet and gray uniforms.

Upon Seth reaching Devus, the Guardian jumped up, clasping Seth's arm. "Mate, what a fight! You completely destroyed him! And that final punch? Incredible!"

"Thanks, Dev," Seth laughed, stepping in front of his friend so he could take a seat. "It felt pretty good."

The moment he passed in front of Jenna, the young woman jabbed him in the gut. "Dumbass."

"Ow!" Seth grimaced, rubbing his stomach. "What was that for?"

She crossed her arms. "I don't know. Not giving us news for a whole month? Not telling us about your subclass? Almost missing your fight?"

"I was in a Rift!" Seth exclaimed. "If you pay for my Escape scrolls, I'll gladly get out every week to use that orb next time."

"You're Iron," Jenna retorted. "Don't you have enough coins to pay for them on your own? Don't you care about our stress?"

Seth threw his hands up. "Your stress. Not mine."

"I'll pay for them," Elena chimed in with a sigh.

Seth and Jenna glared at each other for a brief moment as he sat down beside Elena. Two iron coins a week might be insignificant compared to what he'd made from the Black Hounds' loot, but if he hadn't had that windfall, the situation would be very different—it would've amounted to about nearly a fourth of what he'd earned through beaststones in the past weeks. And that was without taking into account the cost of the Healing Potions.

"Why didn't you tell me about your breakthrough, or that subclass?" Elena asked as two new students entered the ring for the next fight.

"Didn't want to brag," Seth answered. "It's mostly thanks to Nightmare, anyway."

Devus leaned forward and turned to him. "What spell did you get from your Revelation? And what's its grade?"

"It's called Temporary Share," Seth said, coming up with a variant of the spell name while trying to look as indifferent as possible, "and it's Epic."

"Epic?!" Jenna gasped, squeezing her face with both hands. "First, the Silver-potential beast as a pet, and now an Epic Revelation!"

'I'm not a pet,' Nightmare growled inside the necklace.

'I know, I know,' Seth answered to the direwolf. 'Just practice speaking. Soon, you'll be able to tell her that yourself.'

'Or I can bite her tongue, shut her up forever.'

'Nope.'

"What does it do?" Devus asked, practically bouncing in his seat.

"It lets me borrow one of Nightmare's spells for a short period of time," Seth said, keeping it vague on purpose.

"What?!" Devus exclaimed. "That's insane!"

Jenna pinched her lips together in a hard line. "Seriously, that's just ridiculous at this point."

"Be happy for him," Elena said, padding Jenna's back before turning to Seth. "Can you switch between Nightmare's spells, or is it always the same?"

"I don't think so," Seth lied, scratching the back of his neck. "At least, not for now. I've tried a few times this past week, and it didn't work."

"Do you have Intermediate Identify?" the noblewoman asked. "If you focus on your spells, it gives you an exact description and their cooldown."

"What?" Seth immediately made a mental note to test that out on Phantom Punch, Link, and Share. "I'll check it out later."

Devus raised an eyebrow. "You already bought it?"

"Yeah, with some of the coins I made in the Rift. I haven't learned it yet, though."

"Seriously, mate, you've gotta bring me along in one of those Rift," the tanned Guardian said, exasperated. "I'm the only one here who's still broke—and Copper."

Seth chuckled. "Nightmare and I hunt in an… unique way. I doubt you'd fit in."

"I'll be the bait!" Devus protested, throwing his hands up. "You can just swoop in and punch them to death with those weird gloves."

"I'll think about it," Seth answered, letting out a loud sigh. "And they're called combat gauntlets. Apparently, they're used by a lot of Primalists in some countries on the west continent, according to the Champions of Chaos' blacksmith."

"Man, you should ask her to craft you some better ones," Devus retorted with a chuckle. "You won't win later on with Common gear."

"Yeah, I'll see about that when I have the coins," Seth answered with a smile before looking around at the floor of new students arriving. He then turned back to Elena. "Are we required to watch everyone's fights?"

The crimson-haired noble shook her head. "No, but most people come to scout future opponents or watch the more-interesting matches."

"Half these people are probably here for the noon-thirty fight," Devus added. "Brandon versus Drack, another Iron."

Seth feigned disappointment. "So you guys came for Brandon's match?"

"Oh, stop it," Jenna said, rolling her eyes. "We came for yours too."

"Maybe a little more for Brandon's," Devus retorted with a broad smile. "It's the only first-round fight between two Irons."

Seth frowned. "How many first years have reached Iron?"

"Thirty-one, last time I checked."

That's more than I expected, Seth thought.

As the fight went on seamlessly in the ring, they kept chatting and Seth learned that the midterms of the spring semester would be in one month and a half—six weeks to catch up on everything he had missed.

Then, about fifteen minutes later, the much-anticipated Brandon-versus-Drack fight was about to begin, and both of the students entered the ring, their names materializing above the ring.

Brandon Surani (Guardian Rank 25) vs Drack Crestor (Warrior Rank 22)

Suddenly, Seth felt a breeze of aether brushing his hair. Turning and looking around, curious, he saw Professor Reat nodding at him to come over.

"I'll be right back," Seth said, standing up.

"You're gonna miss the best one!" Devus replied as Seth passed by, though he didn't respond.

Making his way through the stands, Seth approached Professor Reat. The man had his arms crossed, leaning against a corridor wall. Later on, I should tell him about the Black Hounds. When no one's around. He could probably help me find their whereabouts… and maybe even take them out.

"Hello, Professor."

"Welcome back," the man said, pushing himself off the wall while looking at Brandon and Drack going to each side of the ring. "I listened to most of your conversation with them, so no need to repeat yourself. Which of your direwolf's spells did you choose for Temporary Share?"

Seth hesitated for a moment, stepping beside the professor to also see the fight. Hopefully, the man wouldn't ask too many questions. "The one he got from his Revelation, Shadow Step."

Professor Reat's eyes widened, and his head snapped toward Seth. A smile then crept on the man's face, and he turned back to the arena as the fight began. "Great."

In the arena, Brandon fended off Drack's large claymore strikes with his massive gray shield. Each successful block was followed by a swift shield bash, steadily pushing the Warrior back. Red flames of aether surged around Drack's giant weapon as he repeatedly tried to break through the Guardian's defense.

"You should consider putting those combat gauntlets aside," Professor Reat said, repeating something Seth had heard far too many times already. "With a teleportation spell like Shadow Step, daggers would be more effective."

Seth briefly shook his head. "I like this style, professor. It lets me focus a little more on dodging and countering without having to think about sword or dagger techniques. And I kinda like hand-to-hand combat."

"Suit yourself, then," the professor answered with a shrug.

The moment Seth returned his focus to the ring, he saw Brandon stepped back and cast a spell that shrouded his hammer with crackling lightning. Drack, undeterred, lunged again and swung his claymore, but the Guardian blocked the attack and countered with his electrified weapon, hurtling Drack across the arena.

Not wasting a second, Elena's brother charged, purple aether spiraling around his hammer like a small cyclone. Drack was just starting to push himself up when Brandon reached him.

With a deafening shout, the Guardian lifted his weapon, and dark, unnatural clouds suddenly appeared dozens of feet above the ring. A second later, thunder roared, and lightning started raining down from the sky, smiting everything in a small radius around Brandon. Caught in the barrage, Drack tried to dodge, but the purple bolts struck him one after another—once, twice, then a third time—each hit depleting chunks of aether from his belt's barrier.

Dropping to one knee, the Warrior winced in pain. Just as a fourth lightning strike was about to hit, Captain Michaelson stepped in and cast his golden barrier around Drack to shield him from the relentless storm.

Lightning Tribulation, Seth thought, looking at all the charred spots on the arena's floor. The Two-Tiered Iron and Silver spell had elevated the Surani from a modest noble family to one of the nation's top five Houses. Somehow, their leading Scholar had miraculously deciphered its intricacies and could now replicate it—for a modest price—providing every Guardian, Crusader, and Paladin in the House's ranks with its devastating power.

It's aether intensive, but practically guarantees the victory, Seth thought with a sigh. "No way I can win against him without Nightmare. The board really did me dirty."

"Actually," Professor Reat began, "I was the one who suggested banning beasts from the competition."

Seth spun to face the man, eyes widening. "Why would you do that, professor?"

"If you had crushed everyone with your direwolf, words would've spread to Oskon," Professor Reat explained. "And they would've banned beasts before you ever had a chance to use him during Kastal Rising Stars Tournament."

Seth paused for a moment, then pressed his lips together. "And what if they still do that later in the competition?"

Professor Reat rubbed his chin theatrically before cracking an awkward smile. "Then you'll have to show them what that blood of yours can do instead."

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