The Humanoid Ice Spirit seemed taken aback that Sylas had actually managed to dodge.

This was why Humanoid Ice Spirits were so dangerous. Usually, Spirit Beasts had poor intelligence, and those that managed to awaken this intelligence were true monsters amongst them.

Humanoid Ice Spirits naturally started closer to this intelligence than their beast counterparts did. But this made Theron quite curious. How was it that a beast could take the shape of a humanoid… or was it that there wasn't as large a difference between beasts and humans as he thought? Or, maybe…

He was placing too much emphasis on the words Spirit Beast.

The Humanoid Ice Spirit recovered quickly and swiped a hand at the air. Its arm deformed into a long plate, lines of blades extending and then erupting from it in a rain.

Theron's expression didn't waver. He took a step forward, his spear moving in his hands as fluidly as though it was the weapon he had used from birth.

He struck at three blades deftly, each one deflecting off to the side and colliding with another, and then another. With three strikes, he took down nine blades and cut an opening right toward the Humanoid Ice Spirit.

Then, with a second step, [Shadow Step] rippled, his body appearing in three directions at once, leaving the Humanoid Ice Spirit confused. Three shadowy figures were approaching from three different directions, each one seemingly capable of snapping into the real Theron at any moment.

The Humanoid Spirit chose wrong.

It lunged out at one, only for it to vanish.

Theron appeared behind it, casually thrusting his spear with a single hand and ripping through the back of the base of its skull.

Chi.

The Humanoid Ice Spirit was buried into the ground, its body convulsing. However, a spurt of Theron's Mana put an end to that, blasting its head to pieces.

Reaching down, Theron plucked out the reflective blue crystal that was left behind, a beautiful jade of light with jagged, irregular edges.

'Cool to the touch, but not as cold as I was expecting. I feel refreshed, though, as though something is pouring into my soul, wrapping around it and nurturing it. But…'

It was the sort of feeling one might get after a long, hot day. You might initially enjoy a bit of a chill, but if you spent too long in that chill, your sweat from the hot day would become a nightmare, and soon that chill would become more uncomfortable than even the hot day had been.

That was how this crystal felt. His soul could be soothed for a short time, but if he kept holding onto it, he felt he would turn into an icicle.

Or, rather… a normal person would have.

He, with his four Mandates, two of which were somewhat tied to this path of chill and ice, was an exception.

He was highly resistant to this chill.

But those watching had no need to know this.

**

There was a dead silence in the spectator's arena. The words about Humanoid Ice Spirits, their difficulty, and how unlucky Theron was to run into such a thing from the very beginning all drifted into the wind.

Those who had spoken such words before were in too much of a daze to even be embarrassed.

That was a Silver Mancer. They were sure of it. They could feel it from his every movement, his every action.

In fact, the techniques Theron had used just now were so common that even non-Dark Mancers recognized them instantly. He didn't do anything special, and yet he had crushed the Humanoid Ice Spirit as though it was a toddler waddling into battle.

Lyrah's gaze flickered along with everyone else's.

She had never seen Theron display his strength personally. In fact, everything she was doing now was off of trust in her own gut. She had never tested him.

All she knew was that someone bold enough to play such games with her, and then come here dangling a bargaining chip like her own daughter right before her face, was someone who was either incredibly foolish, or incredibly confident in their own strength.

Theron was anything but foolish. So that only left one possible explanation.

However, even she couldn't help but be surprised.

It had to be remembered that there were three tiers of Hall of Ice and Heart disciples. The Pillar Disciple who fused together three Bronze Laws, the Star Disciple who was able to complete the middle form of the Mandate of Ice and Heart, fusing together three Bronze Laws and a Silver Law, and the God Disciples who had true access to the pinnacle of their Legacy, being able to fuse together six Bronze Laws and a Silver Law.

Of those disciples, only a Star Disciple would be able to handle that Humanoid Ice Spirit so easily. And that was under the assumption that they were at the same cultivation level. A God Disciple might be able to handle it so easily at the Quasi Cloud Realm, but that was still a world away from the Quasi Gold Realm that Theron was in.

Just what sort of monster was this child, exactly? It didn't even make any logical sense.

In this generation of disciples, there were only six God Disciples. Orin, Rose, Ailon—the top three Core Disciples ranked in order of strongest to weakest.

Then there was Little Third, the First Elder's grandson, along with Lilac and Violet, who had managed to reach this level thanks to Lyrah's diligent guidance before their betrayal.

That was all to say that in a single feat…

Theron had reached the same stage as all of them in a matter of seconds.

And they simply had no idea just how much of his strength he was really hiding.

No. He wasn't on the same level as them.

He had left them so impossibly far behind it was equally as impossible to fathom.

Just what chance did any of them stand against Theron if they too had been Quasi Gold Mancers?

It was when all of this settled in that Lyrah realized why Theron needed her. If he displayed this sort of talent while having the Nightingale Sect as his only backing, though he could likely find a way to needle his way through with this many spectators, it would ultimately become troublesome.

But if he was seen as someone she had taken a liking to, someone who would become a new pillar of the Hall of Ice and Heart in the future as the Third Elder's disciple…

Now that… that was completely different.

"What method did you use to allow this child to hide his cultivation?" First Elder Bertrum was the first to speak. He had to poke holes in this sort of momentum, or else everything he had done until now would become a joke.

Not only would Lyrah gain a disciple far better than the two she had lost, but her breakthrough meant that the First Elder could no longer suppress her as he once had.

This was unacceptable.

Lyrah looked over, her beautiful face completely indifferent.

"Let's say I did give him something to hide his cultivation. What difference would it make?"

Bertrum froze.

Indeed. It wasn't as though Theron was 40 years old. There were methods of hiding cultivation, but hiding age? Exuding such youthful exuberance? That was nigh impossible.

A 15-year-old with the strength of a Cloud Realm expert was simply unheard of.

However, Bertrum was quick to recover, sneering.

"It seems we'll have to ask the Nightingale Sect some questions. First their Patriarch has an unexpectedly long lifespan, and now this child comes out of nowhere—seemingly 'young'—and yet having such strength. Do you think that's a coincidence? This should be reported to the Matriarch as quickly as possible.

"In fact, I believe we should pull him out of the Forest of Ice lest he harm the other disciples. Once he is confirmed to be of appropriate age, then we can consider letting him back in—but only after understanding his origins first."

Lyrah's gaze flickered.

This was why the First Elder was so annoying to deal with. While he was a slimy bastard, he was also intelligent. He should have been backed into a corner, but he immediately found a weakness to hold onto.

The age of the Nightingale Patriarch was a bit of an open secret that no one had the answers to, but it was such a slow roll that no one pounced on the opportunity.

In retrospect, they should have long gone to find out the secrets to all of this. But hindsight was always 20/20.

Yet, even with this matter being an open secret of sorts, the First Elder was quickly able to use it to his advantage. These sorts of open secrets were the easiest to overlook, but the old bastard hadn't.

"You want to ruin the chances of my disciple based on your one-sided speculations?" Lyrah asked coldly.

"One-sided? I'm sure there are others here who have the same questions. How could a Silver Mancer possibly be so powerful? We'll have to make sure his cultivation is real, and that he hasn't consumed anything that would make him significantly older than he should be. The only rule we have for the gathering is that participants must be below the age of 27. You can't expect to flout that rule and get away with it, right?

"I think we also all know that you're not the best at raising disciples. Or else why would two of your own, raised practically from birth, possibly choose to leave you?"

The rat-like nose of the First Elder wiggled above his sneer.

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