The arena fell into a sudden and terrifying silence…
Rin Evelyn stared at Ion as if he were a monster,
while Professor Elara could barely hold herself back from laughing.
Cyril's roar suddenly echoed,
"You damned bastard, my ancestors are the ones who said that!"
Ion was surprised by Cyril's sudden anger,
then said angrily, "What the hell does that have to do with me if your ancestors were blind?"
The spectators drew in a cold breath at Ion's bold statement.
Cyril growled, "You brat, do you even know who I am?!"
"How the hell would I know who you are, brown-haired boy? Do I have to know the name of every dog I meet?"
Cyril choked when Ion called him a brown-haired boy and a dog,
and replied sharply,
"I am Cyril, you bastard… Cyril Valerian, you—"
He was just about to curse when Ion spoke again in a voice full of doubt,
"Valerian? One of the three ruling families of the empire? Isn't it said that all members of the Valerian bloodline have silver hair and black eyes?
What the hell, tell a lie that isn't exaggerated and I might believe you. Look at yourself—you're not a Valerian talent. I've already fought their third prince, and he's only in his first year…
Man, do you realize that if the ruling bloodline hears about someone borrowing their name to bully first-year students, I'm sure death would be more merciful for you…
Well, how about this—pay me a thousand mana crystals and I won't report you."
A look of shock appeared on Cyril's face as he heard Ion say that… Was he really unaware of who he was, or was he just an idiot??
He snapped out of it and roared madly,
"You bastard! I've only used 50% of my power! I haven't used the Heaven and Earth Blessing, and I haven't even activated my bloodline! How the hell are you calling me weak?!
And how the hell are you blackmailing me, a Valerian from the branch family… No, you pay me a million mana crystals and I won't report that you called the ancestors of the Valerians dogs!"
Ion replied angrily despite his exhaustion, refusing to lose this verbal battle after losing the physical one earlier…
"I've only used 10% of my power, otherwise I would've dug your dog's grave today…"
Words he himself didn't even believe, but he didn't care—he had already reached his limit and wouldn't start another fight; it was just an attempt to provoke Cyril.
Then he said,
"What the hell, if you're from a branch family then that's even worse. How about I report you to the ruling family and say that one of their descendants tried to buy the Valerian name for just a million mana crystals… If you don't give me a billion mana crystals, I'll make sure you get executed, you bastard who sells out his ancestors for a million mana crystals."
Cyril's mind could only freeze upon hearing Ion's words.
How the hell… how the hell does such a shameless bastard even exist in this world?!
He could only laugh angrily,
"Hahaha, 10%? Look at yourself, panting like a dog on the ground… And what the hell, if you report me, you'll just be executed with me."
Ion replied with the same angry laugh,
"As for being executed alongside a great Valerian descendant, that's not a loss at all. And I'm sure the ruling family isn't foolish enough to execute someone who didn't even know that their ancestors said that…
Even though I'm not wrong in the end—and your shoulder is proof."
Shameless… utterly shameless. Everyone in the training arena—students, Rin, Elara, and Cyril—thought the same.
Cyril couldn't find anything to respond with. Ion wasn't wrong, even though he knew Ion was just saying this to provoke him… Just as he was about to reply—
Elara's voice intervened as she stepped toward them with a smile she could barely stop from turning into laughter,
"Well now, why are you all acting like dogs fighting each other? This was just a small spar… Ah, you kids really cause trouble for this beautiful lady… Come on, let's stop here." She said this while placing her hand on her forehead.
Ion muttered quietly,
"You mean a beautiful old lady…"
Ion's eyes widened suddenly when he realized what he had said, and his instincts screamed at him to dodge… He barely managed to command his body to move when a fist slammed into the back of his head, knocking him to the ground and cracking the earth beneath him… He didn't need to lift his head to know who it was… it was Elara…
Just how the hell did those words come out of my mouth… do I want to die?... damn my mouth.
"You bastard! How dare you call me old?! I'm only 76 years old! Real old people live over 500 years!!" Elara's voice rang out with a hint of anger.
Cyril muttered,
"You deserved that."
He didn't finish his sentence when Professor Elara's gaze fell on him, sending a chill down his spine…
"Cyril, how could you be provoked by a first-year student like that? Do I need to send a report to your grandfather? He has high expectations for you. I only agreed to this duel to make you realize that the new generation is full of talent, and you shouldn't be arrogant just because you awakened a fifth-rank Heaven and Earth Rune."
Cyril lowered his head and could only feel anger toward himself…
Elara's expression softened as she looked at him. She stepped closer and placed her hand on his shoulder,
"Well… I was a bit harsh. A little pride and arrogance is natural at your age… Even I wasn't any better than you at your age—actually, I was worse…" She couldn't help but laugh a little as she remembered something.
Then she looked at Cyril again. Despite his status and talent, Cyril was genuinely a good person and trained far more seriously than the other students, even though he surpassed them in both resources and talent… That's why she had high hopes for him to reach Rank S—the realm of true monsters…
"Cyril… you needed this. Even though I didn't expect you to struggle like this, it's for the best. You should thank Ion… I can already see that you respect and admire him. I was worried you would remain arrogant, otherwise you would've suffered a severe blow from the new generation—one you might not recover from…"
Cyril looked at his teacher with a complicated expression of gratitude… He could only nod and sigh. He had truly been impressed by Ion… How could someone from a remote kingdom who couldn't even use mana reach this level of strength… He had even helped him solidify his foundations, even if it was in an irritating way he never wanted to experience again.
Elara looked at Cyril with relief as she saw him nod.
She didn't want her good student to be consumed by pride and arrogance, standing still, blinded by his strength, without realizing that his peers were already catching up to him at a frightening pace… It was good that Ion had put some pressure on him today—it would benefit him greatly in the future…
Speaking of Ion—
She turned toward him.
He was rubbing the bump on his head with a frown on his face.
She couldn't help but let out a muffled laugh as she looked at him. She had never expected someone like this to exist in the academy.
Someone who could defeat Cyril even if he used his full power without holding back.
Her smile slowly faded as she remembered a scene from the entrance exams…
Ion stood there, hesitation visible in his eyes as he raised his left hand to grasp the middle of his right arm just below the elbow. His aura slowly rose, glowing from beneath his feet up to his right hand, which was open and pointing toward another person—a young man with short black hair streaked with white and deep crimson eyes… Arthur Grimlock.
Arthur, who stood more than twenty meters away, could barely stand as he felt Ion's aura lock pressing in on him from all sides, forcing him into a direct confrontation without any chance of escape. When he saw a white sphere slowly forming in Ion's palm, a chill ran down his spine…
If he took that hit, he didn't even know if he would survive. And if he did, he was certain he would suffer severe injuries that wouldn't heal anytime soon…
He could only grit his teeth, cursing himself for not waiting for Aria and Selene on the ninth floor before heading to the tenth to chase Ion.
He had been certain he could defeat Ion if he used his full power, and that Ion wouldn't be able to escape like before on the fifth floor when he fought Eleanor Rofilion—he had justified it to himself as carelessness that led to Eleanor being seriously injured by Ion before he left without giving him a chance for revenge.
But when he faced him, he realized that Ion hadn't even used his full power in their previous fight… He was absurdly strong—undeniably so.
They fought for ten minutes—long-range and close combat—and he was never able to land a decisive blow, even after exhausting all his tricks.
If the fight had continued for another minute, he was sure Ion would have won… but it seemed Ion had changed his mind and decided to end the match quickly when he noticed something in the distance, even at the cost of revealing his trump card—which he had clearly been hesitant to use, despite victory being within reach.
Arthur had an idea why Ion suddenly changed his approach—Selene and Aria were coming. But he couldn't understand how Ion noticed them from beyond sight or how he knew they would arrive in less than a minute at their speed.
But since Ion decided to use his trump card, it meant he was certain it could defeat him in less than half a minute at most and allow him to leave the battlefield without fighting Aria and Selene.
Arthur could only grit his teeth and spit between them harshly,
"I surrender."
A pillar of light enveloped him and transported him away.
As he was about to leave the battlefield, he saw Ion sigh in relief as he slowly retracted his power.
Arthur sighed in regret for not being able to uncover Ion's trump card or its full strength, but he couldn't risk suffering serious injuries that might leave him bedridden for at least two weeks.
Flash—
Arthur disappeared from the battlefield with deep regret.
When Professor Elara witnessed that scene, she could only take a deep breath as the hairs on the back of her neck stood up from a chill—
Not because Ion's move could threaten her. No… there were two reasons.
The first was—how the hell could such a terrifying move be in the hands of a sixteen-year-old boy… a move she had never seen before.
The second reason was far more terrifying—
Ion's sheer ruthlessness and cruelty.
Arthur and most of the instructors might not have noticed it… but she did.
Inside the sphere itself, there were three white spheres compressing together, their pressure far more terrifying than the outer one.
The outer sphere was just a decoy.
The first sphere was aimed at Arthur…
And the other two were secretly aimed at Aria and Selene.
He intended to take them all down in a single move—even before they entered the battlefield. He had already planned it.
He hesitated to use his ultimate move, but when he decided to use it, he didn't want to waste it on Arthur alone—he wanted all three of them and to finish the test quietly.
A monster.
That was the conclusion Professor Elara reached when she saw Ion back then.
A terrifying level of mental control that would require decades of constant training.
Yet this monster was destined to be like fireworks—lighting up the sky with a dazzling flash… only to disappear just as quickly as it appeared.
(Leave a comment if you've made it this far)
17
Index