“You are about to face another Nexarion, so he will have a fire related ability like I mentioned before.”

Ragnar’s eyes lit up; he imagined a stronger version of the guy he had faced at the start. This should be fun. He wanted to see what new ability he will be facing, and this time he didn’t have to wait till the battle to find out. Because Aura seemed to know it already.

“The first thing you need to know about him is… do not let him touch you, No. Matter. What. Because if he touches you, then he can incinerate you from the inside, whenever he feels like it. Trust me, you don’t want that. So, that’s his ability, he can imbue things he touches with his essence. That essence can be activated whenever he wants, and when he does, the essence will burst into flames that will feed on your essence to grow in magnitude. If he himself doesn’t stop it, then you are basically cooked meat.”

She took a breather here, and also tried to observe Ragnar’s reaction to this information. What she found wasn’t too appealing as he seemed unperturbed. She doubted if he was even listening. Albeit, she continued.

“That was about his ability, however, you will be lucky if you could force him into using it. His other aspects are just as deadly if not even worse. He has the generic trait of tough skin that their whole family share so it will be tough to damage him. And all that is besides the point. He will be leagues above the previous guy because he has merged with his Spectral Perk.”

She again waited with a smirk to see if he would react this time, and just as she had guessed, he spoke up.

“You can merge with the Spectral Perk?”

Ragnar at least knew what a Spectral Perk was… this was the most basic of knowledge that even he remembered. Every Spectral Ranked human can manifest their ability into something tangible. What they manifest it into is mostly what they are lacking in. A person usually has no control over what their Perk will be, but it will definitely be something that benefits them.

If Ragnar had to guess, then the wind blade guy’s perk was probably his armour which didn’t help much. And the duplicating one’s was the Rapier that also couldn’t help him much. Unlucky. As for merging with it… yeah, he was hearing it for the first time.

Aura had guessed as much and was ready with the answer.

“As you might know, every Spectral can manifest a perk, however, that is not what being a Spectral is all about. A person truly unlocks their potential as a Spectral when they merge with their Perks. Usually, it takes years for a normal person to achieve this feat. Which is why there are not many people in the rankings who have done it. It is its own minor rank within the rank. There’s no comparison between a Spectral who hasn’t merged and a Spectral who has. You should look at it like this, there is more difference in strength between a Spectral who has merged and an Arcane, then there is between them and a newly turned Mystic. That should give you an idea about how strong they really are.”

Aura paused, wondering if he would ask any more questions… but it didn’t seem like it as he had again gone back to observing the Arena. However, this time, Aura knew he was listening.

“All that paired with the fact that a person who achieved that feat under the age of 22, should tell you the type of opponent you are up against.”

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Aura considered ending her long dialogue here before she suddenly spoke up again.

“Oh, I almost forgot… His Spectral Perk is a whip. It acts as an extension to his body. So, it’s basically the same as getting touched by him. He can bend that whip however he wants, so don’t try to predict its path. You should avoid it completely if possible…. That’s all I know about him. Good luck.”

Speaking her bit, Aura let out a long breath before moving her gaze back to the arena, after a few moments she heard him speak again.

“Sounds doable.”

***

Ragnar once more stood in the same Arena, albeit facing a different face. This one was vastly different than the last Nexarion he fought. He had much shorter hair, more orangish than red in this case. They were combed neatly to the side for some reason. His clothes were quite similar to the last one though, just much less flashy.

Ragnar was being casual with his observation but even he couldn’t deny the impression he got from this guy. He simply stood there like a statue, his head facing down, as if asleep. But that statue gave the impression of being immovable. But that was all it was… an impression.

He looked so much nicer being quiet and with his head down, but he just had to go ahead and ruin it. He looked up and stared straight into Ragnar’s eyes, a calm smile lingering on his face.

“Reaching this far is quite an achievement, being you… But I’m afraid your abilities won’t carry you any further.”

What’s even worse was, Ragnar knew that he wasn’t being arrogant with those words. He truly believed in them. And maybe they were true, maybe they were not… but who was he to tell him how far he would go.

“Let’s find out.”, he replied with a grin of his own. He was truly excited about this fight.

In the next moment, they heard a voice that cut through the atmosphere, resounding in their ears. Even though it was spoken very calmly.

“Start!”

As soon as those words were heard, Ragnar decided to test out the waters… Raising his hand, he shot his strongest wave bullet, yes, his strongest shot that he could manifest. This will be the first time he was using his all in an attack.

A boom much more deafening than any of the ones heard previously reverberated through the Arena. However, what happened next was just as surprising if not more. At least for Ragnar it was. As the guy moved his hand up, a flaming orange whip manifested in his hands in an instant. He lashed the whip once mid air in the same motion, and Ragnar’s attack was dissolved… just like that.

Ragnar couldn’t help himself as his grin widened to the extreme. Finally … someone worth fighting. He took out his blade that he had taken from the arena. This battle was about to be a lot different than any of his previous ones.

Raising the blade in his hands, he channelled his waves through it and took his stance. Seeing this, the Nexarion also got serious, as he cracked his whip at the ground once, before beckoning Ragnar with his hand.

In the next moment, they both vanished from their spots, becoming a blur for the audience. Ragnar went straight for a stab to the torso, but what met him was a flaming whip. But the whip was met with empty air, as Ragnar had appeared behind the guy. He was utilizing his ability to move without his muscles to the extreme. His blade formed an arc for a slice at his back.

However, in the next moment before the blade made contact with skin, Ragnar had again vanished from the spot. A hand could be seen an inch away from the spot Ragnar was just at. Ragnar had appeared back at the position he had started. While the Nexarion stood at the centre of the platform, with his hand hung in mid-air. They both knew that the brief bout was over. Now the real thing could start.

Ragnar wasn’t the least bit discouraged about the outcome of this battle. In fact, he was feeling pretty good about it. It might have seemed like he casually swatted away his strongest shot of waves, but he had to use his whip to do it. That was good enough for him.

Aura was having a tough time believing her own eyes. Ragnar actually doesn’t seem to be at a disadvantage in this battle against a True Spectral. Instead… it actually looked like he had a slight upper hand.

Nothing needed to be said about the audience, as they had similar expectations as Aura regarding this battle. But what they just witnessed had shaken their preconceived notions to the core.