Our blades crossed several times in quick succession. My performance was much better than I’d expected, and I was still getting used to my newfound strength.
My opponent’s blade struck me twice, but she aimed for non-vital spots, barely nicking me, and failed to eliminate me. It felt like she was trying to preserve ether when she stopped conjuring icicles, but as I was getting more accustomed to my power and speed, her tactic shifted once again.
Her blade whizzed past, missing my chest by a hair’s breadth, and an icicle quickly followed. I barely caught it as she conjured it and dove to the side. I rolled across the ground and leaped to my feet as fast as I could, grimacing as a freezing cloud shrouded my vision.
Muffled noises reached my ears, and I caught sight of a darker shape in the mist, yet my opponent did not attack mindlessly. She stayed within the cloud, her movements deliberate and precise.
Suddenly, an icicle shot out of the cloud to my right while the darker shape shifted left. The icicle shattered, releasing another short-lived freezing cloud before it could hit me, and I spun left, realizing I’d just fallen into her trap. The edge of a blade emerged from the cloud to my left as it dispersed, yet I didn’t strike. I could have charged, hoping to take her by surprise, but it felt too convenient. Instead of following the urge to attack head-on, I retreated into the cloud to my right.
A soft curse rang out in the arena, confirming I’d made the right choice. At the same time, an emotion that wasn’t mine bloomed in my chest. It was hard to hide the smile tugging at my lips—Aureus was regaining consciousness, and he was furious with my opponent.
Funneling his rage, I shifted gears and burst out of the freezing cloud mere moments after disappearing inside it. Ready to surprise my opponent, I gathered enough ether to cast Paralyse. Confident in the next steps, I charged ahead, only to face three icicles.
She could conjure multiple icicles this whole time? I screamed inwardly, eyes wide. That was… unexpected, and troublesome to say the least.
I sidestepped to evade one, altered the trajectory of another with my sword, but the third was too fast and struck me. The icicle slammed into my knee, and a pained grunt escaped my lips. I still wanted to move forward, to press the attack, but a wave of despair hit me, and the desire to turn the tide burned hotter than ever. I never got the chance. The icicle crumbled in my knee, and the freezing cloud seeped into my system.
My leg went numb. I stumbled to the ground and screamed at the top of my lungs before I knew it. Not even a second later, my opponent towered over me, her sword swinging down. My blade flicked upward, and the ground beneath me quaked in resonance to the defiant roar that replaced my scream, but it was all to no avail.
Her demeanor shifted in an instant. She moved faster, struck harder, and an eerie mist, colder than the clouds from her icicles, seeped from her body, engulfing her like ethereal armor. It was… beautiful, and it was the last thing I saw before our blades collided.
I had no chance to retaliate as her sword pushed mine aside. A moment later, searing pain tore through the side of my head, and the world went dark.
***
My eyes snapped open, and I found myself surrounded by a pair of young-looking Blessed. I recognized them as the healers of the arena and sat upright with a groan. One asked if I was fine, and I shook my head, only to nod when I realized the only thing injured was my pride. I hadn’t even known I had pride, let alone that I could feel this bad about losing against other retinues.
I glanced around and saw that I was still in the arena. My opponent was still standing there, her vibrant green eyes fixed on me. She glanced at the ground around me for a moment, and the kindness in her gaze vanished.
“You lied,” she spat spitefully and walked out of the ring.
“W-What?” I managed to whisper, but the sound barely carried. I pressed my palms to the sand to push myself up, ignoring the healers’ warnings, and the consequences struck at once.
Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings.
A yelp escaped me as a burning sensation spread across my palms. I instinctively pulled them back, staring at the dozens of tiny holes piercing my skin.
One of the healers scolded me as he worked his trait again to mend my hands, but I barely heard him. My attention lingered instead on the hundreds of tiny spikes jutting from the sand-strewn arena floor.
“We need to clean the combat ring. Please leave and rest until your next fight,” the referee announced, and I did just that. I returned to Scott, who welcomed my return with a smile this time around.
“I half-expected you to ignore me again,” I muttered grimly, the pain of losing another fight hitting harder than I wanted to admit.
“Did I ignore you earlier?” he asked, eyebrows scrunched. Scott turned to Destiny, who nodded rigorously, pointing her tiny claws at him and then at me, squeaking.
“Looks like I did. Sorry about that, Adam.” Scott grimaced. “Sometimes, I’m a bit of a mess. My trait is unpredictable. Sometimes it’s fine, but more often it’s like a seed of chaos that sprouts at the worst possible moment.”
I had no idea what that meant. That didn’t stop me from nodding like I understood every piece.
“Don’t worry too much about the final result. The combat exam is just one of three parts. The Camp may value combatants highly, but I’m pretty sure no one expects a Novice to defeat a Journeyman.” Scott snickered. “Even an Adept who literally advanced in the middle of the combat exam is not expected to beat a Journeyman.”
While that may have been true, it did little to lift my mood. Complaining about my situation wouldn’t help anyone. However, watching the other fights would—probably.
I had to split my mind. First and foremost, I had to digest the changes induced by Aureus’ evolution, especially the things newly added to the arsenal. These seemed to grow more pronounced as my Soulkin grew stronger, reaching the finishing line of his evolution.
Second, I resumed my studies of the retinues, hoping I’d find something that would ease my worries. And I did—I found something.
I focused on Scott and the other retinues as they returned to the combat rings. To be precise, my focus was on their power, and I was greatly surprised to recognize that some Blessed were not that strong. Everyone was physically stronger than I was, even after my core expanded, my physique grew stronger, and I gained access to more ether gates. Advancing to the Adept Rank was a fortunate turn of events, but others were still physically superior to me.
However, no matter how strong they were, nobody was as strong and fast as Selene, Lea, or Daniel. After watching another fight of the fast Blessed who’d lost against Scott in the first battle, I was certain Daniel was faster, stronger—better—than him.
Nobody could rival them, which shattered what I thought applied to all Blessed at the Journeyman Rank. After all, Daniel and his sister were still at the Journeyman Rank, no matter how hard it was to believe in Lea’s case.
I always thought others had to be like Daniel and his sister—overwhelmingly powerful—to reach that Rank. Then again, I thought the same of Adepts, and now I was one myself.
However, no matter how magnificent and powerful some traits looked, not all Blessed were as powerful as they first appeared. Sure, all of them had traits and, more likely than not, two Soulkins, years of experience, and high mastery of the techniques they’d practiced for a long time; they were not invincible.
My next fight was not until three hours later, two of which I spent analyzing everyone’s prowess, and I was positively surprised with my research.
To think Daniel was right all along.
He’d told me more than once that my bond with Aureus was unusual; stronger than it had any right to be given how little time had passed since the little glutton hatched. According to him, a normal bond took at least a year, often several, to reach that level. But thanks to the compatibility between my World and Aureus, we’d skipped most of that slow buildup.
Of course, compatibility between World and beast wasn’t the only factor that mattered. I treated Aureus well, supported his every desire, be it for food or strength, and we shared the same goals. We worked toward them together. Trust, love, hard work, and our similar personas had forged what appeared to be the perfect bond, the kind others desperately sought. At least, that was how I looked at it.
That was the key. The soulshare I received was more extensive than what most retinues could ever hope for. Strengthening a bond became increasingly difficult past a certain point, but I hadn’t reached that limit yet. The others’ bonds weren’t weak by any means—they were probably stronger than the norm—but they didn’t gain as much from their Soulkins as I did.
And, as insignificant as it seemed to others, most retinues had only one Soulkin with purely physical attributes. If they had a second Soulkin, it usually possessed unique traits to boost their combat prowess in other ways, at the cost of additional physical gains. From what I could tell, these Soulkins were typically acquired through their sponsors, though where they came from didn’t matter much.
All that mattered was the result of all my research: now that I’d advanced to the Adept Rank, my enemies no longer felt like insurmountable mountains.