"When did it become so common to reach Saint Level before fifteen?" Eidar complained aloud. "I'm sure I was considered very talented when I became a Water Saint at sixteen!"
Rygar laughed as he observed the enormous battlefield, searching for the main highlights among the competitors.
"Don't worry so much about it. You probably would have managed it too if Reida had trained you from the beginning."
The two of them were at the edge of an immense arena, built over ancient ruins and prepared to simulate different types of battlefield. It was an environment created to force competitors to adapt, make use of terrain, and deal with ambushes.
While the various other Dawn Cup competitions were happening in parallel, the preliminaries of the combat division began in full force.
Earlier that same day, a young man from Sharia had taken first place in the Alchemy Competition by creating a completely new potion.
Even so, as expected, the combat competition remained the most famous. It was no coincidence that the stands were filled with people of all races, kingdoms, and social positions.
Since there were thousands of approved competitors, special methods had to be used to filter out the best among them. The initial format chosen was the Battle Royale. For that reason, at that moment, almost one hundred youths were fighting for only five spots on that battlefield.
Children and adolescents of various races, sizes, styles, and kingdoms fought among the ruins.
And that was exactly why Rygar and Eidar were observing them so attentively.
"That brat using Ice Magic is actually pretty good at the Water God Style," Eidar said, pointing with his chin toward one of the competitors. "But he seems to depend too much on magic."
Rygar looked in the indicated direction.
The youth in question seemed to be about thirteen or fourteen years old, though he fought with a composure above his age. He wore an Asuran Battle Mage robe, which indicated that he was probably a noble heir or someone connected to an important house.
He used Ice Magic and defensive swordsmanship to face two opponents who had teamed up against him, freezing sections of the terrain, making it difficult to approach, and keeping his blade always in a responsive position.
"You're right," Rygar said. "He does seem to depend more on magic overall, but maybe that's because of this specific battlefield. Besides, in my opinion, using magic together with swordsmanship is a positive thing."
Eidar pondered as he continued observing the boy.
Recently, he had become a Water Emperor. That meant that, since his resurrection, he had managed to master two of the Secret Techniques of the Water God Style.
Although the first two were the most compatible with him, and therefore much easier to assimilate, the achievement was still impressive, considering that he was currently only twenty-two years old.
His fame had already spread through the Combat Temple, and some predicted that the Kings of Gaia would soon undergo changes.
The problem was that Eidar was a little lost on how to continue his own training.
He had mastered Instant Flow and Counter Flow Current, but among the other three techniques, none seemed to have any specific affinity with him. In recent months, his progress had been small for someone accustomed to advancing so quickly.
Reida, his master, then advised him to teach a disciple. Many times, teaching someone was the best way to analyze and review all of one's knowledge on a subject, allowing martial artists to see their own art from a new perspective.
Eidar decided to follow the suggestion.
And what better place to choose a new disciple than the Dawn Cup? He was not even the only one doing that.
Rygar had also decided to teach a second disciple.
Throughout his life, he had had many informal disciples and taught many things to many people, but only one official disciple: Aisha.
The Dawn Cup seemed like a great moment to accept another official disciple. Eris already had Kody, Aisha had Romira, while Ghislaine and Verdia did not seem interested in accepting new apprentices.
Certainly, several people were watching the Dawn Cup with the intention of fishing talents out of the chaos.
Eidar continued observing the young man from the Asura Kingdom fight for a while longer, before finally speaking:
"First, let's see if he can make it into the top five. Then I'll decide."
Rygar merely agreed. Shortly afterward, he said goodbye. He had already observed that entire battlefield, and although there were promising youths there, none had truly caught his attention.
Eidar remained at the location, watching the fight reach its climax as the competitors gave everything they had to secure a place in that important competition.
After requesting some information through the Magic Word, Eidar received a response within a few minutes.
There were few youths who combined magic and the Water God Style at such high levels. The boy was the second son of House Redbat, Patrick Redbat.
One important detail was that Patrick was the son of the current Prime Minister of the Asura Kingdom, Derrick Redbat, one of the main supporters and responsible figures behind Ariel's ascension to Asura's throne.
Derrick, having seen Rudeus Greyrat use chantless magic from a very young age at the Ranoa Magic Academy, made a point of including that learning as mandatory for all talented youths under his influence.
His second son proved to be the most promising.
Although he was only thirteen years old, Patrick demonstrated a large amount of mana, excellent mastery of chantless magic, and at the same time, good control of standard Asuran swordsmanship, the Water God Style.
Even though he showed himself to be quite promising in that area, it did not seem to be his main focus at the moment, since Derrick valued magical improvement more.
That, in truth, interested Eidar.
He might not have been as interested if the boy were already completely focused on the Water God Style. But, from what it seemed, Patrick had received only the standard training of noble children from Asura.
In other words, his current level was the result of talent, good education, and discipline, not dedication to swordsmanship.
Eidar was almost certain that, if Patrick truly focused, he could reach much greater heights in both fields.
With Rygar's comment, he also realized that he did not need to master magic to teach someone who fought by combining magic and sword. After all, even Rygar had had many swordsmanship masters who did not know how to use magic, and that had not stopped them from teaching him.
Patrick Redbat proved even more skillful than expected.
As mentioned in his dossier, he demonstrated great mana capacity. Even near the end of the battle, he continued fighting at a high level with chantless magic, freezing the field and restricting his opponents' space of action.
At the same time, his defensive style of swordsmanship did not allow them to take advantage of him in close combat.
One young beastman in particular constantly used the Longsword of Silence against him, trying to break through his defense with speed.
But Patrick was not hit even once. His reading of distance, posture, and reaction timing efficiently neutralized the Sword God Style, which was practically the mark of a good practitioner of the Water God Style.
He continued fighting until the end of the test converged on a ruined mansion.
There were only three more active competitors remaining in that sector. Patrick had already entered the top five and was qualified, but he was still fighting to improve his placement.
He, however, was visibly tired. He could no longer use large-scale spells as he had at the beginning of the combat. Even his great mana reserve was not enough to sustain a Battle Royale of that level without wearing down.
At that point, competitors who relied more on close combat had the advantage.
And that was exactly what decided the victory.
As soon as Patrick entered the mansion, he failed to notice a young man from the Demon Race camouflaged among the shadows. A black mist partially covered the demon's body, hiding his presence.
That was the innate magical ability of his race, and combined with his tribe's fighting style and the North God Style, it made him extremely dangerous in ambushes.
He observed Patrick for an instant, evaluating the target's fatigue, and then attacked.
The dagger pierced Patrick before he could react.
The young man from Asura was neutralized without even having the chance to face his ambusher in a direct exchange, ending the test in third place.
The camouflaged demon was Raven Noirtow, a fifteen-year-old young talent from the Noirtow Demon Clan.
After eliminating Patrick decisively, Raven hid again using his innate ability and, shortly afterward, ambushed the only other remaining opponent, securing first place in that group.
That demonstrated once again why the Dragon and Demon Races had been considered above their peers in combat for so long.
Regardless of talent, teachings, or effort, some innate magical abilities of demons were simply an excellent ace.
Some scouts from Asura and even from the Kingdom of Gaia identified that Raven's way of fighting was very similar to that of the late North Emperor Auber.
Eidar could not help admiring him, mainly because the other young man ambushed by Raven was not weak either.
Although he was only fourteen years old, he was Advanced Level in the four most well-known schools of swordsmanship. He had reached the end of the test by relying on his versatility and power, but even he fell before Raven's ambush.
Even so, Eidar went to speak with Patrick.
The boy's political position was a mystery, and perhaps he would not even accept becoming his disciple. Even so, after seeing his potential, Eidar did not want to give up so easily.
He thought of himself at that age, without a proper teacher to guide him from the beginning, and saw there an opportunity to do for someone what would have been so valuable to him.
By the end of that day, Eidar finally obtained his first disciple.
----
At the same time, in many other battlefields, the Dawn Cup continued advancing. The competitions that did not involve combat were also happening simultaneously, but the arenas were what drew the public's attention the most.
On an extensive prairie, an unusual scene unfolded. The battle was being transmitted to the public through a magical video tool.
No fewer than ten of the strongest youths in that batch had joined forces and, at that moment, were facing a single opponent.
Fire, wind, and lightning magic ravaged the battlefield. A young man with a spear tried to intercept the figure crossing the prairie at absurd speed, while tracking arrows came from different angles to limit his movements.
But their target seemed like a blur. His simple movement made the ground crack.
Perseus suddenly advanced against one of the casters, and no one managed to properly follow his movement.
Not even the young leader of that coalition, a fifteen-year-old North Saint named Darak, from the Ram Beastman Tribe, was able to react in time.
Darak was definitely one of the greatest talents of his generation. In addition to being a North Saint, he could use chantless magic. In any other group, he would have been the center of the battlefield.
Before Perseus, however, he found himself powerless.
Perseus avoided an interception strike that tried to protect the caster and passed through the defense like a beast. In the next instant, a brutal kick struck the human who was launching lightning against him.
The sound of bones breaking spread across the prairie.
The mage was thrown like a rag doll, shot like a projectile across the field while rolling uncontrollably through the grass, nearly dead.
The Laplace Factor combined with Battle Aura was no joke.
Rygar's old enemies could attest to that very well.
In the brief moment when everyone managed to see Perseus clearly, they noticed the wide smile on his face, stretching from ear to ear, as if he were hunting a flock of sheep.
An arrow flew toward him again.
The ground cracked, and Perseus disappeared once more.
Wild Dash, once mastered, gave the practitioner the title of Beast Saint. And in the current world of martial arts, it was considered the supreme movement technique.
Combined with Perseus's absurd senses, Howling Magic, monstrous resistance, and supernatural vigor, that technique transformed an open field into his hunting ground.
Even if twenty or thirty youths joined forces against him, Perseus would still trust his ability to hunt them down one by one.
In the end, on that prairie, the top five were decided by the last four competitors defeated by the deranged predator.
The young Perseus.
When the battle ended, not even a North Saint had been able to face him head-on.
There was only a pile of bodies beneath him.
And the excited smile did not leave his face for even a moment.
----
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