Owari began toying with all his affinities. He had quite a few by this point. The one he focused on was his water affinity. He used his body reinforcement technique over and over, relaxing his body and slowly turning it into muscle memory as he moved in various movements such as attacking, defending, and moving. Eventually he felt the snap and smiled. This spirit art allowed him to rapidly heal a wound at the cost of mana. It was quite good.
After that he did the same with his earth reinforcement and was surprised at the spirit art version of this technique. Whenever he sensed an attack coming that he couldn’t consciously react to his body would automatically respond by enhancing him with earth mana. It was quite a powerful ability for someone like Owari who could sense hostility. As soon as someone decided to attack him a specific type of hostility flares meaning as soon as someone is about to attack he already knows. Sometimes before even they know themselves.
Other than those techniques he didn’t really have much else to do. He could feel his dark affinity rising over time. His wolf was slowly enhancing it’s affinity as time went by, he could feel it closing in on an ancestral evolution of some kind. However he needed to secure it some more high-quality meat to do that. He decided to have it shipped over here to try and enhance it during the training regimen. He wanted to see what type of ancestry this beast had.
Noel and Owari spent about a week out practicing to resolidify their foundation while eating up all the meat. Eventually they ran out due to their gluttonous stomachs and decided to go back. When they arrived they were unsure of what to do. They had over a week before the training began, so they were at a bit of a loss.
“I guess it’s about time that I go get my license.” Owari decided to go take the test. First he would get his permit, then he needed to drive with a licensed driver for a certain period of time before they considered him legally capable.
“Your license? Maybe I should do so as well.” Noel had done some studying on it for the same reason as Owari.
The two of them spent a few days studying before going to get their permits. They then spent the rest of the time before the meeting practicing driving with Morgana teaching them. They both proved to be competent drivers since both had good hand-eye coordination and were both quite quick learners. Morgana was impressed. By the time everyone was supposed to meet the two of them had earned their driver’s license.
When the end of the month rolled around everyone had met up in front of the Silverblood estate. “Well it looks like everyone managed to make it.” Owari noted as he looked everyone over.
“Indeed. Alright everyone follow me and I’ll show you to your accommodations.” Noel gestured for them to follow her. She led them through the gate, and the guards nodded to her. “You’ll find passes within on the table that will let you freely move in and out of the estate. However they expire every two weeks so don’t think you can just take them away to come and go as you please.” Noel was of course joking, she doubted anyone here would be that bold or stupid. It says right on the pass when they expire.
“This should be it.” Owari spoke up as they arrived in front of a series of buildings. There was one for each of them. Of course everyone was shocked, although each was fairly compact being only about as big as Noel’s apartment, the insides were quite well stocked. It went to show the hospitality that the Silverbloods gave guests, in fact these were the most basic accommodations, Noel and Owari for instance would stay in a full-blown house when they come here.
“Now then, get your stuff sorted out today. We begin tomorrow.” Noel clapped her hands to get everyone’s attention. After that Noel and Owari left to go pick up the two Silverbloods who would be joining them.
When they arrived they saw one familiar face and one unfamiliar face. One was actually Luke whom they had already invited, and the other was a young man the same age as them. He was standing to the side a bit awkwardly as if he wasn’t sure what to say or do.
“I’m Owari, who might you be?” Owari asked curiously.
“I’m Marcus. I’m here to learn from you.” He answered seriously.
“What’s your rank?” Noel also didn’t recognize him meaning he likely wasn’t a major member of the family.
“High silver. I hope that isn’t a problem. I heard you were training gold ranks to become platinum, but the head insisted I go.” He sighed, he felt quite awkward about this.
“That’s fine. It’s only a little extra effort.” Owari didn’t have a problem with it. “But why did he insist on you?” This was what interested him.
“I have an inherent diamond affinity which is very rare even for beasts. Because of that they put a lot of effort into training me, but I have low talent. This is supposedly my last chance.” He smiled a bit forcefully.
“This is good for you then. Our method should help you get to a high rank. Though whether you survive is another question. Good thing the diamond affinity is good at taking hits.” Owari laughed when he said this but Marcus went slightly pale. He had heard there was a chance of dying but he had been forced to come. It still scared him to think about.
“No need to be so afraid. You’ll do fine.” Noel comforted him.
“Right, I’m sure you’ll make it through this stronger than ever.” Luke put his hand on Marcus’ shoulder.
“I’ll do my best.” He smiled as naturally as he could manage.
“The training starts tomorrow morning so deal with whatever you need tonight.” Noel informed them.
With that the four split off and made their way to deal with things. Noel and Owari went to borrow a couple of vehicles from the family, those being standard military transport looking vehicles. Different from Noel’s which was actually luxurious on the inside, these were standard. Each could carry six people, which meant two was enough for the twelve of them. Of course Morgana would be driving behind them in a separate vehicle while Noel and Owari took the two transports to practice.
The next day came around and everyone loaded up into the vehicles and made their way to the mountain range. Noel and Owari were driving causing everyone to be a bit nervous, but surprisingly things went very well. The two were good drivers and did their best to focus on driving, not letting themselves get distracted one bit. This was a skill anyone who meditated often would have. Their focus was trained to the extreme.
As they arrived and got out of the vehicles Owari clapped to get everyone’s attention. “Let’s start with Kent since he’s used to the process and can show you how it's done. First is mana training.” As soon as he said it Kent started to sweat.
“I thought you said it wasn’t as useful to me now.” He said incredulously.
“It isn’t, but a few of you could use it.” He looked at Marcus, Lee, and Lin when he said this.
“Alright fine.” He grit his teeth. He pulled out a pair of shortswords and sighed.
He quickly got to work using up his mana. He swung his swords also taking the chance to demonstrate his techniques to Owari and Noel so they could critique him later and help fix any mistakes to his movements. It was a natural reaction as he was used to his new instructor doing so. He swung one sword in an arc sending out a blade of wind, then spun his body and swung his other sword creating a gust around him that protected him. Then he swung his swords in an X and sent out an X shaped wind blade before slashing them horizontally and firing off a number of wind bullets. This was all pretty standard and other than an increase in power and efficiency were not very different from his old techniques.
However it was after that that things started to change. He jumped into the air and stepped across the air a few times firing off wind blades this way and that. He occasionally pulled back his sword and stabbed forward creating a spear of wind. He continued doing things such as this for about fifteen minutes before he drained himself of vital mana. He lay on the ground heaving and complaining about pain.
“Take a pill you baby.” Owari dropped a pill on him which he gladly consumed. “Next is Marcus. Use up all your mana. No holding any back.” Soon enough Marcus was doing the same thing. When he tried to finish early before burning vital mana, Owari scolded him and made him continue. He couldn’t help but hesitate after the first move caused him so much pain. But he felt he had little option since he wanted to grow stronger so he grit his teeth and did it anyway.
The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.
Next was Lee and Lin. Although they yelled in pain the first time, they also grit their teeth. They had too much pride to admit defeat when the two others were able to do it. Once they were all finished Owari handed them some mana restoration medicine. It would speed up the rate at which one produces mana for a short time.
“Next is combat training. Kent will again demonstrate.” Owari said, causing Kent to go pale.
“I haven’t recovered yet!” He complained.
“That’s fine, it’ll take a bit to find a suitable training partner. Don’t worry, we’re starting out leniently because it’s everyone’s first day.” Owari reassured him.
“Training partner?” Max asked as he looked around at everyone else who was doing the same.
“You’ll see. Let’s go. Reign in your auras or you’ll scare them off. If you can’t do that much I‘ll wack you with a stick until you can.” Owari threatened. Nobody knew how much it would hurt to be wacked by him with a stick, but considering his rank nobody wanted to test it.
Soon they were searching in the mountains for a suitable partner. After only three hours of searching they found one. “Alright. Go ahead.” Noel shooed him off.
“Here I go.” He said to stall for a little extra time. Seeing as he wasn’t getting out of it though he sighed and made his way out to face the large horned lizard laying on the ground. “Let’s do this.” He pumped himself up as he pulled out his swords.
The lizard noticed him immediately and stood up. Its horn crackled with electricity. A split second later lightning struck where Kent had been a moment ago. He had dodged it by a split second. His focus was at its maximum and he had a serious look on his face. All traces of his previous cowardice and hesitation blown away. He dodged two more bolts as he closed in. Then he used a cross slash to intercept a fourth shot. The lizard seemed to be out of juice as it stopped firing them off. Instead it swung its claws which were infused with lightning at the approaching Kent.
Kent deftly dodged between two claws while whipping up a whirlwind around himself to deflect the lightning. Then when he was above it he slashed twice and accurately cut the lizards eyes blinding it. Then he landed on its back before jumping off. The lizard discharged electricity around it in a panic causing it to burn through mana rapidly. Kent stood off to the side with a smirk as he waited for it to tire itself out thrashing around and burning its mana.
Eventually it seemed to tire out and collapsed on the ground. “How’d I do?” He asked expectantly, he felt he did a good job.
“97 out of 100, you could have gone for the eyes from the start.” Owari critiqued.
“95 out of 100, he also couldn’t dodge the fourth bolt after closing in.” Noel as always was less forgiving.
“That’s still an A, I’ll take it.” Kent laughed happily. He obviously took their comments to heart to improve, but he was just happy as this was his highest grade.
“You did good. You should be mid gold rank now.” Owari mentally noted this causing Kent to stop laughing.
“Next should be Marcus. He needs to raise his rank fast after all.” Noel suddenly called out Marcus who was trying to stay inconspicuous.
“I have to fight like that?” He asked hesitantly.
“You’ll be fighting a high silver rank. We already noticed one nearby, let’s go.” Owari led them on. At the end of their quick journey was a goat beast with deep brown fur.
“Have fun.” Noel pushed him towards the goat catching its attention.
It looked up at Marcus who had relatively little combat experience. He was sweating as he saw the rage in its eyes. It suddenly charged at him in a flash of brown. When it was close to slamming into him he suddenly crossed his arms and his body glowed in a crystal clear light that was hard to describe. The goat slammed into him sending him stumbling, but the goat stumbled back as well shaking its head as though it slammed into an impassable wall.
Realizing being on the defensive would be bad, Marcus pulled out his longsword and jumped forward. His sword glowed the same crystal clear color and he swung his blade down. The goat sensed the danger and jumped back. His sword continued to fall and split straight into the ground like butter. He easily pulled it back out. Then he entered a piercing stance and stabbed his sword at the goat sending a spear of crystal light at it which it sidestepped. The light cut through its side at a speed similar to light and left a deep hole into the cliff behind it.
The goat flashed brown as it was hit causing the wound to be superficial instead of deadly. Then it rushed Marcus once again. Marcus didn’t bother to dodge. Instead he swung his sword as his body glowed once again. The clear light and brown light connected and the two stumbled away from one another. The goat recovered first and tried to rush him again only for Marcus to recover in time to cross his arms and block the attack. Then he flipped the sword in his hands and swung it down at the goat.
The goat intercepted with a horn which flashed brown. However the horn was still split and the goat jumped to the side as it realized it was in danger of having its neck split. After that Marcus pressed the advantage by slashing his sword and sending a blade of crystal light at the goat. It ducked under the attack only to find Marcus rushing it. The goat stomped on the ground causing a wall of earth to appear in front of it. The wall stood no chance as Marcus easily split it. But it gave the goat enough time to prepare. Under Marcus a number of rock needles shot up towards him.
He panicked and prepared to dodge while blocking, however in the next moment all the needles were split and he was pushed back and rolled across the ground. As he reoriented himself he looked up and didn’t see anything. “Try again.” Owari’s voice came from nearby. Looking over Marcus saw everyone staring at Owari with hints of fear and respect. Marcus put two and two together and realized he had been saved.
He continued the fight after that. It took one more try but he was finally able to defeat it with some effort. He was almost out of mana. “11 out of 100” Noel stated. “He failed twice and while his reaction time is good and his choice of moves is decent, he underestimates the enemy too much.”
“I agree.” Owari felt her grade here was appropriate.
Everyone else couldn’t help but pity the kid. He tried his best but he still failed so horribly. “Who’s next?” Owari asked. However nobody volunteered. “Then I’ll choose. How about... Ignatius.” Owari pointed at him causing him to smile. “That’s the spirit. Now let’s get to work.”
Like this Owari and Noel sat at the sidelines and directed the group by having them hunt beasts of the same level. This continued for two more days. After that they moved on to fighting enemies stronger than themselves. “Alright Marcus, you’re first as always.” Owari looked at the serpent in front of him. It was clearly low gold, it had a horn signifying its dragon blood.
“Alright. I’ll try my best.” He said with some hesitation. He had long learned not to rely on Owari and Noel’s protection. One time Luke had done so and got hurt badly because they decided to teach him a lesson by not jumping in. Of course they paid the bill to have him treated quickly, but he was still nursing the wound even after two days.
He tried as best he could, but after three failures and near-deaths Owari killed the beast in one swing of his sword. “3 out of 100, you survived three near deaths.” Owari graded.
“1 out of 100 each counted as a third of a point and not one point each.” Noel was ever the harsh one.
“I’m doing my best. Can you expect someone to fight a beast higher than their rank. It’s already difficult to do so within your rank.” He complained.
Owari jumped down from a rock he was sitting up on and stood in front of Marcus. “Every single time I ranked up I did so by killing a beast a rank above mine when I was ill-prepared to face it. I grew stronger through the adversity. And I didn’t have a safety net like all of you do. Even Kent grew this way.” Owari spoke to everyone. “If you want strength you have to seize it, passively training might work but it’s slow as molasses compared to the real thing.”
Everyone mulled over his words. They were all proud geniuses of their generation, none of them backed down. Soon enough everyone got into the swing of things. The only one with a grade above 20 points that day was Kent. He was used to this so he was able to handle the challenge to some degree even though he also failed. It was by seeing how well Kent did that everyone grew hopeful that they could do better. After all he had already received their training and was doing much better than the rest.
A week passed after that before anyone killed their first above ranked
beast. Owari and Noel found it was much slower if the threat was merely maiming over death. However this was fine. They were okay with a slower pace if it meant ensuring everyone’s safety. The one to beat their above rank was Marcus who was the lowest rank and had the easiest time. After that two days later it was Kent who beat a high gold. Owari then described in detail what spirit arts were and how to achieve them. Kent was shocked but he started to take this seriously and began doing his best to comprehend his techniques. He spent a while fighting high golds while trying to train his muscle memory.
Everyone managed to reach high gold by the end of the month, but nobody had yet to breakthrough. The closest were the Silverbloods who created their own mystic arts and had the best comprehension of their techniques. The information had leaked to them from the other members during some of their various chats. They spent a lot of time together. Sometimes they were given days off which they would spend together complaining and hanging out to relieve stress. Because of this everyone grew quite close. Owari and Noel had intended this from the start.
During this time Owari had also had Garm sent up, and he had been bringing him along to feed the extra meat they had. The beast had recently gone into hibernation and had just come out at the end of the month. Owari was shocked by its transformation. It had grown to the size of a truck, and its eyes were deep red and its fur was black with grey highlights. He recognized this as being the bloodline of a hellhound. They were known for their incredible dark affinity and their ferociousness. They were fast powerful predators, and it’s said a pack of them could take down nearly any land-based beast. Currently he was high gold on the border of low platinum. He wasn’t technically an apex beast, but he had that potential if Owari raised him right.
It took one week for the first breakthrough. The one to achieve it was Max. While he was fighting a gold-ranked fire drake he was having difficulties getting through its fire resistance. When he was in the middle of using a flame art to try and melt through its scales with brute force he suddenly seemed to have an epiphany and grew absentminded for a second before he held his hands together. Suddenly a ray of heat burst from his hands and melted into the drake’s scales killing it instantly.
“Congratulations. That’s the power of a spirit art. It makes most gold ranks look like a joke huh?” Owari laughed when he saw the shock on Max’s face.
“No wonder you always make it look easy killing a gold rank.” Max felt an overwhelming strength as he looked at the drake on the ground.
“It’s still a ways off from being platinum though. You’ll need one or two more spirit arts, but now that you got the knack of it the rest should be easier.” He was right as it only took two days for him to officially reach a level to be considered platinum rank.
After him the rest quickly followed, especially the Silverbloods who were both next. This just went to show Max’s talent having been able to reach platinum before them. After everyone had managed to reach platinum rank it was already close to the end of the month. Owari looked at everyone with some pride. He and Noel had managed what others would consider impossible with such ease. It did take some time, but it was worth that time investment. It was a delicate balance to keep them safe and a few accidents occurred such as one time Ignatius almost died when he ran out of mana and refused to burn into his vital mana like Owari and Noel had assumed he would. Thus began everyone’s pain tolerance training so they wouldn’t hesitate like that again much to everyone’s dismay.
“Good job everyone, you’re all officially platinum ranks in my book. Now you just need to go out and hunt one. I’m sure your respective groups will be more than willing to help you with that.” Owari assured them one last time of their skill.
“What about you?” Max asked. “Even though we’re both in the same rank I don’t think I can beat you.” even after achieving platinum rank he still couldn’t help but feel apprehensive of Noel and Owari’s power.
“Within the platinum rank the levels begin to blur. The gap between each level is massive so even though we’re technically in the same rank it’s more like you’re a beginner low ranked platinum, while I’m an adept low ranked platinum. But that sounds dumb to say so we don’t.” Owari explained.