Ion sat cross-legged on his bed for about a quarter of an hour before opening his eyes with excitement at what he had seen within those memories.
"If these events truly happen… then there is hope," he could only mutter as he clenched his fists tightly, expressing his excitement.
That hope was the hope that he could use mana. Ion had already lost hope in awakening his bloodlines—so what about using mana?
First, you must know that for a human to use mana, they need to awaken their bloodline, then use the energy of their soul as a catalyst for the bloodline to become a channel that connects the body with mana and stores it within the meridian lines.
There are 7 main meridian lines, and each time a person opens a meridian, they rise in rank (Yellow, Green, Blue, White, Red, then the highest—Purple). You must know that opening each meridian and purifying it first doubles the strength of the body and multiplies the amount of mana stored within the body several times over, reaching tens or even hundreds of times for some talented individuals.
And when a person reaches the Purple rank? At that point, the person achieves complete connection between the meridians in a perfect cycle. The difference between Red rank and Purple rank is like the difference between heaven and earth—a quantitative and qualitative difference.
Then comes the role of this cycle within the body, continuously attacking the dantian to open it. When a person succeeds, they reach the Dantian Opening rank, and only then can they truly look down upon the rest of humanity. And then there are even higher ranks…
But Ion? He had not even broken the threshold of the mortal body, nor connected with the mana of the world, which is a threshold even before the Yellow rank…
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And all of this was due to one thing—his inability to awaken his bloodline.
Not because he hadn't worked hard—on the contrary, for 8 years he pushed himself to the absolute limit, but he never succeeded. Why?
The matter is somewhat simple… the energy required to awaken his bloodline had not even reached the initial saturation state. Duke Drakis, Ion's father, searched throughout the Kingdom of Olivan and other kingdoms for anything that could awaken Ion's bloodline, but it was useless, even after spending a vast fortune…
The problem was that Ion had 3 bloodlines.
Two of them in particular required an amount of energy equal to an ocean. They were like starving whales, and Ion could never satisfy them…
But Ion turned his attention to his third bloodline, which was a neutral one.
It was rare because it was innate, yes—but not that rare. Its purpose was to absorb a bloodline from another person or even from monsters, and then it would become a bloodline similar to the one absorbed… and he had already tried.
But…
The other bloodlines did not accept it.
Every time Ion tried to absorb another bloodline, the other bloodlines refused to share his body with any other bloodline. Even though they were not awakened, they instinctively rejected any other bloodline with extreme arrogance and pride…
This nearly drove Ion insane, to the point where he almost hanged himself to end this miserable fate.
He even fell into a stagnant period for about a year until he found his teacher, who opened another path for him—even though it was a path no one had ever reached the end of, Ion did not hesitate… he had already lost hope in using mana.
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Until…
He went to Arkan Academy for the entrance exam. He heard about the rewards that the top ten ranks would receive.
What caught his attention specifically was the first-place reward—a fourth-rank beast crystal! A beast whose power is comparable to someone at the Soul Fusion rank!!
If Ion absorbed the power within the crystal and fed it to his blood, maybe… just maybe, he could awaken his bloodline.
And so Ion became like a rabid dog during the exam, chasing anything that moved within his sight. It didn't matter who they were—commoners, werewolves, a duke's son, a king's son—none of that mattered in Ion's eyes. Even if the king of the world himself was there, he would beat him like a dog and take first place no matter the cost…
He was even prepared to reveal his trump card if necessary…
And he succeeded. He took first place.
The moment he received the reward, he didn't care about the new students' reception ceremony or anything else. He quickly went to one of the training rooms and began absorbing the energy of the crystal…
It was vast like the sea, endless. Ion continued for about a day and a half.
With every passing hour, he told himself this was the moment he had been waiting for. One hour passed, then another, then another… but his blood was never satisfied. It was like the bottom of an endless abyss…
Until the crystal was depleted and cracked…
The sound of it cracking was like a mocking laughter echoing in Ion's ears.
It drove him completely insane. He barely managed to suppress his killing intent from spreading and began destroying the training dummies like a madman. His outburst lasted half a day before he regained his senses…
That had been his last glimmer of hope—and he lost it.
He couldn't even gather the mental strength to think of another solution. Then he completely surrendered and immersed himself in training.
---
This continued for a month… until now, when he regained Alfred's memories.
After going through them, he saw hope again—and this time, it was real. In fact, Ion was certain that this time it was guaranteed.
In Alfred's memories, he first saw the upcoming test after two weeks. He even saw its contents, but nothing particularly special happened in it.
What surprised him was that he saw Arthur ranked first—not himself. He didn't even see himself among the top ten.
This was strange… had he died? Or become weak? Or had they all become much stronger within two weeks?
---
Then he saw the academy event when the Fountain of Heaven and Earth was opened. He saw several main characters seemingly obtaining runes of the seventh and eighth ranks…
But he couldn't see what Arthur obtained. However, the shocked expressions of the instructors appeared in the memories, which meant he had obtained the highest rank—perhaps the ninth?
A storm of thoughts filled Ion's mind…
But it faded when he saw another wave of memories…
It seemed that after 3 weeks from the opening of the Fountain of Heaven and Earth, another world would connect with theirs—a world called the World of the 6,000 Islands. First- and second-year students from their academy and three other academies, as well as some smaller academies, would enter it… along with the evil path.
---
Then he saw what truly mattered…
It seemed Arthur would meet a mysterious woman who would ask for his help to enter the land of her ancestors. There, the inheritance of the Dragon race existed…
Mythical beings that suddenly appeared in their world, controlling nearly a quarter of it. No one dared approach them or even think badly of them… they lived peacefully in lands they claimed for themselves for hundreds of thousands of years.
---
Ion saw that Arthur obtained a bloodline from one of the dragons, and it caused his power to grow to a terrifying extent.
This caught Ion's interest… but it quickly disappeared when he thought of something.
What if…
What if he was the one who went to that land of dragon inheritance and tried to obtain a dragon bloodline?
Dragons, known for their immense pride and endless arrogance… perhaps they could suppress his other bloodlines. And then, he could finally use mana!!
This possibility ignited an overwhelming surge of excitement within Ion.
If he could use mana, his power would leap to dimensions he couldn't even imagine yet.
---
"Well then…" he shouted slightly loudly to strengthen himself.
Then he forced himself to calm down and prepared to sleep to welcome the new day.
---
Ion was sitting
Inside a massive hall, at its center was a small rectangular structure emitting a white light that formed into a board used by a professor for explanation…
"Alright students, remember you don't have much time left before the midterm exam of the first semester. It is very important for you, as it will determine who rises and falls from S-rank. Most importantly, it will determine who enters the Fountain of Heaven and Earth first…
You must know that the top ten ranks receive special care within the fountain, increasing the chance of obtaining higher-level runes. So do your best," said Professor Thomas, a man in his late twenties with long green hair and black eyes. But the strange thing was the white of his eyes—it was yellow, which indicated he was a werewolf…
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As soon as he said that, a few glances were directed at Ion. After all, he was currently the one holding first place.
Ion didn't care about those looks because he noticed the professor was looking at him—it seemed he still had something to say.
And Ion's suspicion was correct.
"Ah, Ion… as for you, you're a bit of a special case. In the test, students will be given runes that simulate Heaven and Earth runes of the third rank, and that seems a bit unfair to you… so the dean said you will undergo a different test."
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Ion was surprised by this, and so was the rest of the class. What shocked them the most was that in the test, they would experience Heaven and Earth runes. Excited whispers spread among the students.
Ion said,
"Will you tell me what this test is now, or do I have to wait?"
Professor Thomas replied with a smile,
"Your test will have some freedom in it… the dean told me that you will choose one of the professors to fight. Of course, the professors won't use mana, only aura and weapons, so there's no need to worry… as for the rest of the details, you will know later."
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The S-rank students widened their eyes at this… it seemed unfair in a way.
Even Arthur, Eleanor, and Aria looked at the professor in confusion… wasn't this too easy and too favorable for Ion? Couldn't he just choose the weakest professor in aura usage and make his test easy??
Even Ion himself couldn't understand what was going on in the dean's mind… then he couldn't help but smile sarcastically. It seemed the dean truly understood him and wasn't afraid that Ion would exploit this freedom to make things unfair.
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"So, can I choose the professor I want to fight now?"
"Yes, you can. I will deliver your choice to the dean."
The others were surprised that Ion asked this so quickly. They thought he would take his time before choosing. Then it crossed their minds that Ion had already chosen the weakest professor and wouldn't need any thought at all…
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"I choose Professor Walter from the third year," Ion said with a smile.
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A shocking silence fell over the hall at this statement…
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To be continued
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