"The winner of this match, Silver Veylir!"
"I don't understand... What just happened?"
"Silver won? Just by doing nothing?"
Whispers flew around the room, they couldn't understand what happened. To those affected by the Perfect Hypnosis, all Silver did was get his ass handed to him.
"An ability that allows Silver to control the five senses by manipulating his target's Soul-Energy through the Soul-Cores alligned in their body." Rai muttered under his breath with a smile. "It's even more amazing in person than reading it back then."
"Silver Veylir, in order to surpass the legacy of his siblings, he created a Soul-Technique to counter the Soul-Cores. Because his cores are still underdeveloped, it doesn't work on members of the Soul-Squads or anyone that has a more developed Soul-Core. Well done, that is truly a commendable ability for a member of the six great noble families."
Alaric praised him, then clapped his hands in a slow applaud to show his impression.
Slowly, everyone followed suite, and it turned into a loud applause.
"Perfect Hypnosis huh... What a terrifying ability." Hiro said with his arms crossed. There were two conditions necessary to activate the Soul-Technique, but since they didn't know the second condition, it made him even more alarmed.
"We'll move on to the second match of this phase, Theron Veylir vs Ren."
"I'm up next huh?" Ren grinned, then stood to his feet.
"Don't fail Ren, the success of our mission is highly dependent on the outcome of this selection." Xander reminded him of their mission, he gave no words of encouragement, no support to show that he hoped for the best.
"Yeah yeah, I understand." He turned his attention to Rai, then raised his thumbs up at him with a smile.
"Good luck." Rai returned the favour, wishing him the best in his battle.
As the two contestants took their respective positions in the middle of the room, the 5th's vice captain gave the signal to begin to battle. "Begin!"
Ren clenched his fists, it was exciting. As an otaku, stuffs like this were just fantasies he dreamed of, but now, he actually got to live it out. "It's a pleasure to face you, let's both do our best."
"What?" Unlike Reb, Theron didn't share in his excitement. "A mere commoner is my opponent? How insulting. The Soul-Hunter's exam is supposed to be an examination for the most powerful to prove themselves and attain a Soul-Hunter's license but I was fixed with a commoner who doesn't even scales up to B-rank?"
Theron glared at the 5th's Vice captain, displeased at the fixtures he made.
"So what if I'm a commoner? What if I don't scale up to B-rank? As long as I have my wits." His Soul-Energy burst out like a volcano. "I won't ever lose to someone like you!"
Ren shot forward with explosive speeds, the swirling energy around him condensing into his fist. In his previous life, he read about nobles who had no regards for those they considered beneath him, and he wasn't going to become a victim of theirs.
"Soul-Technique: Blazing Torrent!" He aimed his burning fists at Theron's head, and the sheer force of the strike unleashed a shockwave that sent a participant flying out of their seat.
The 5th's vice captain slammed his hands on the ground, and a wave of energy enclosed both Theron and Ren in a blue dome. "Now then, the fight can continue without casualties."
"Ren..." Alaric muttered under his breath.
"Hm? You know him?" Hiro asked.
"Obviously not, but he was with Rai Voltia during the orange gate incident. The head commander said he awakened as a C-rank Soul-Hunter, but after that display of power. It's hard to believe he's actually C-rank."
He wasn't impressed by his power, just surprised at he could unleash such a powerful force as a C-rank Soul-Hunter.
"However, just like the first battle, this battle has already been decided."
Theron Veylir — the brother of Silver Veylir, was one of the descendants of the Veylir bloodline. He was one of the chosen ones as Silver described it, and was blessed with a large quantity of Soul-Energy.
Unlike Rai and the others who activated their Soul-Cores in their teenage years, nobility like Silver and his brother activated their Soul-Cores a year before they were legally of age to obtain the title of a Soul-Hunter.
For a year, their family employed the best of all teachers, manuals and scripts that explained how to circulate and mold Soul-Energy. And for a year, he cultivated his Soul-Technique and lived up to his family's legacy.
He obtained a good mastery of his Soul-Techniques, and ascended as an A-ranked awakener.
As the dust cleared, Ren's eyes trembled while his flames flickered weakly before fading away, his fists firmly locked within Theron's palms. "Y-you caught that with your bare hands?"
"Is that really the best you can do street rat? How disappointing." Almost immediately, a sudden force burst from Theron's hand, blasting Ren off his feet. His body shot backward and he crashed into the glowing dome of energy before falling to his knees.
"I'm..." Ren stood to his feet with a grin. "Not done yet." Flames swirled around his body, and he shot forward again. This time, he appeared as a blur in the eyes of some of the participants.
"He increased his speed!?" One of the participants shouted.
Ren appeared right behind Theron, driving another blazing torrent straight toward the back of his head. But his fist froze midway before it could even land, as if an invisible wall was planted firmly between him and Theron.
"What!?" His eyes went wide.
"Infusing your flame Soul-Energy into your legs for an explosive burst of speed? It seems you know a thing or two about using your Soul-Energy. However."
Theron turned and pressed the tip of his finger against Ren's forehead. "You're a thousand years too early to have the thoughts of thinking that you can beat me." In the next moment, a burst of power shot out, blasting Ren off his feet and slamming him into the walls of the dome once again.
"Damn... How's he doing that?" One of the participants muttered.
"Fuck... The disrespect... I don't think I'll be able to live with myself after that."
"You damned nobles and your arrogance, it wouldn't kill you to just finish the battle without disgracing your opponents." Hiro scoffed, the disrespect was too much. With just a finger?
"What you call arrogance, I call pride. It's a difference that a common like yourself wouldn't be able to understand." Alaric said disdainfully.
Rai kept his eyes on Theron, and in his thoughts, this couldn't have been a more terrible matchup.
'Theron Veylir, one of the characters I hated the most in Path To awakening. He was considered the second strongest child of the Veylir family and for a good reason. Just a year after activating his Soul-Core, he ascended to the power level of an A-rank Soul-Hunter. And to make matters worse, he activated a troublesome ability. The Zen Soul-Core — Gravity manipulation.' He thought.
"Yield, and you'll walk out of this alive. Victory in this battle is a dream you'll never be able to achieve." Theron offered, he had no interests in a battle that would spoil the legacy his parents and siblings had built.
His sister was the captain of the 3rd Soul-Squad, she led a platoon of warriors into battle against Soul-Beasts, even Silver, the third child who wasn't chosen by his family genes had a better matchup. But him? He was pitched against a mere commoner.
He refused to fight this battle.
"Yield?" Ren got up slowly to his feet. Theron struck a nerve. "A dream I'll never be able to achieve? Infringing on my status on my commoner is one thing, but looking down on my dreams, is the worst mistake you'll ever make." As he spoke, his Soul-Energy exploded outwards, sending ripples through the air.
Once again, he rushed forward, his fist wrapped in the fiery energy that swirled around him as he swung it hard at Theron's face.
Like before, an unseen force stopped his fist from landing, but this time, his flames didn't fade. Instead, they flared even wilder, burning with a fierce and untamed ferocity.
In that instant, Theron's brows twitched, and Ren's fist tore through the invisible force, landing a clean right cross across his cheek with a loud thud, and Theron's body was flung across the ring, crashing hard into the far side with a force that shook the arena.
"He landed a hit!" One of the candidates got up to his feet fast.
"Alright." Xander squeezed his fingers into a fist, and his eyes lit up with hope.
Alaric's eyes went wide, and in response, a smile curled up the side of Hiro's lips. No one could believe it, it was one thing to get up from Theron's attacks, but to penetrate his defense?"
"Let me tell you something about us commoners captain of the 4th Soul-Squad. We might not have immense Soul-Energy like you nobles do. But we have something even greater to compensate for it."
"As Soul-Hunters, when we hit our lowest point, that opens us to the greatest change. And that's why we don't give up, that's why we'll never lose, that's our power, the power to never give up." He crossed his arms as his eyes shone with certainty.
Ren stood tall, and raised his fist as the light from his flames glinted off his determined gaze. "I told you, as long as I have my wits, I won't lose to a scum who looks down on others just because he was blessed with power."
Rai smirked. "You bastard, you trained even harder and became stronger didn't you?"
"Specimen 3, Ren. He belongs to the Elementalist Soul-Core and possesses an in-depth control over the element of fire." A voice said behind Rai, and as he turned around, he saw a girl with black, curly hair and glasses taking some notes.
He didn't recognize her from anywhere, but judging by her character, it was easy to tell she fell under the Alchemist Soul-Core.
Theron pushed himself back slowly to his feet, then used his thumb to wipe the blood from his mouth.
"What's this?" He stared at the blood on his thumb. "He made me bleed?" He examined his mouth carefully, then he discovered that as he crashed to the ground, he mistakenly bit his lips.
"Oh, I bit myself." He stared back at Ren. "A commoner can never make me bleed."
"Tsk... Your Soul-Technique can't block me out again, this time, I'll show you that my dreams can be fulfilled!" Ren proclaimed with passion, and prepared to counter again.
"Soul-Technique? What Soul-Technique?" Theron spoke softly, he was already pissed that a mere commoner dared to put his hands on him. "What you broke through was simply the concentration of the little Soul-Energy I intended to fight you with."
"W—What..?" Ren stammered, and everyone's mouth dropped in disbelief. "What was that?"
"Hey... Hey hey hey." One of the participants chuckled nervously, it sounded like Theron just said something crazy.
"Is this guy for real... He held back such a powerful punch with just a concentration of the little Soul-Energy he decided to use?"
"My mouth was stained with your dirty hands, I need to wash it as soon as possible, so why don't we bring an end to this match?" As he spoke, an overwhelming force pressed down against Ren, and drove him down to his knees.
"W-what?" Veins swelled on his forehead as he gritted his teeth, struggling to push himself up, but the force pinning him down was far too strong.
"Gravitational Soul-Technique: The Conqueror's Domain."
Theron's Soul-Technique — The Conqueror's Domain, was an ability that restricted the movements of anything in a specific range of his choosing by increasing the gravitational force.
"Let me show you the difference." Theron muttered under his breath as he approached him. He channeled his Soul-Energy into his hands, and using his ability [The Conqueror's Domain], he increased the gravitonal force on his hand, making it more compact and stronger.
"Between a C-rank Soul-Hunter, and an A-rank Soul-Hunter." He stepped up to Ren and threw a quick right cross that struck hard across his cheek, and he spat out a tooth.
"That's for earlier." He threw another right cross, then another, before unleashing a barrage of punches. But with the crushing gravity holding Ren in place, his face didn't move an inch.
He stopped, then eased the crushing gravity around Ren, leaving him floating just inches above the ground. His face was battered and bruised, and even the smallest blink sent a sharp sting through his eyes.
"Do you yield?" He asked.
Ren coughed, spitting a puddle of blood onto his face as his only response, and it made Theron's temper flare.
"GH-BLEH!" Ren's eyes widened in shock as Theron drove his gravity enhanced fist into his stomach, then continued with his relentless assualts.
"Do you yield?" He asked, resisting the urge that told him to kill him for violating his body with his dirty hands.
"N-No."
"Tsk." He snapped. "The rules says I'm not allowed to kill you, and the battle is only over if you surrender or fall unconscious, that means I won't be violating the rules by beating you to a pulp!" He continued his relentless assualts, and Ren's muffled groans filled the air, and his blood splattered to the ground.
The participants were shocked, not even the captains expected this outcome, if it continued, Ren would definitely die.
"Do you yield?" This time, Theron didn't wait for a reply. He drove his hand into Ren's stomach, and his eyes shot open, followed by a loud scream as he felt an antagonizing pain coursing through his midsection.
"After this, let's see if you have the wits to face me again!" In his other hand, he gathered his Soul-Energy, forming it into a dark sphere that slowly pulled in the air around it as it grew stronger.
"Soul-Technique." He aimed the sphere at his chest.
"Stop!" The 5th's Vice captain shouted in an attempt to stop the match. He allowed it to go on this long because he thought Ren would eventually submit, but he was wrong.
"Ren!" Xander shouted and rose to his feet, attempting to intervene. He sensed the power behind the sphere, and it was unimaginable.
Before the dark sphere could pierce his chest, Ren slipped from Theron's grasp and vanished from sight.
"What!?"
The hall fell silent, Xander and Alaric's mouths hanging open as they caught sight of Ren in Rai's arms, far behind Theron.
"What!?"
"What's with that speed!?"
"Hey... Isn't that.."
Theron turned around, and glanced down at the person who had interrupted him.
"And who might you be?"
Rai laid Reb gently on the ground, his body battered and bruised. With no doubt he had already lost a great deal of blood.
"Tsk." He clenched his fist in anger and rose slowly to his feet, blaming himself for letting it drag on this long. He had thought like before, that Ren still had something left up his sleeve, but he was wrong.
He turned around and face Theron, and with a soft voice, he said. "Rai Voltia— D-rank Soul-Hunter."