It had been two weeks since the bet had begun. With only half the time remaining, the pressure on Fiona’s shoulders was starting to greatly burden her even more than before. She had created numerous changes for the better yet this also came along with it even more problems.
A man of noble status knocked on Fiona’s door. He held a platter of some snacks and drinks.
“Come in.” Fiona absentmindedly answered as she kept dealing with the documents that had been piled up sky-high on her desk.
“The growing pains of turning over anew. It hurts but it’s mandatory.” Elliot came to Fiona’s side and left the platter by her side.
Fiona dropped her stamp and ink, opting to take a small break for the time being. She had never been stressed out this before. With everything that has been happening, the academy has been visibly changing in its culture.
Even so, Fiona couldn’t be more content than this. “Thank you, Elliot. You’ve been a big help. That proposal you gave made such a huge difference. That would’ve been an annoying problem if we didn’t deal with it this early on.”
“Glad to be of service.” Elliot felt satisfied that his actions had brought a change, no matter how small. After giving her the platter, he promptly left, not daring to take more of her time.
Fiona immediately went back to reading everything that needed her approval. It ranged from student leaves, suggestions, and schedule changes, to even disciplinary action. Due to the Student Body Committee being severely understaffed, she had no other choice but to keep grinding away at it.
Normally, it wouldn’t have been this bad but due to her spending her time figuring out the Perfect Clears of The Moon Runic Ruins, her work had piled up. She had far too many responsibilities to deal with alone.
As Elliot was walking away, Fiona suddenly had an idea.
“Elliot, wait. Do you have anything you plan on doing for the time being?” She took a certain person’s advice, using the people she had under her.
“I was planning on testing the new supplies my siblings sent me. Other than that, I have nothing else to do. Why do you ask?”
“I need help dealing with all this paperwork. Do you mind… helping me?” Fiona gave him an awkward smile. She was actively asking for help that she could’ve done by herself.
Hearing this, Elliot gave her a hearty laugh. “I wouldn’t mind at all. I just need to know what I need to do.”
“It’s not that difficult, I trust that you could easily do this. The only hard part is making sure that there’s nothing wrong with the documentation.” Fiona carried on explaining the job in great detail. Elliot keenly listened and made sure that he didn’t miss anything.
“Like for example, here, this is a proposal from a Syndicate. Oh, from the head of it no less. Eriel Moonstone of the Narsh Syndicate is proposing a deal regarding the resources we currently have. She wants to exchange a few Maze-level Trials and even… Bind-level Trials?” As Fiona continued reading it, she couldn’t help but feel that this proposal was too odd.
Seeing Fiona’s odd expression, Elliot asked, “This isn’t normal is it?”
“Trading Maze-level Trials usually isn’t that common but it’s still within the realm of normalcy. Bind-level Trials and above though… they are much rarer. I need to see why she’s bold enough to demand them.” Fiona took this much more seriously.
Fiona fully focused on this proposal by Eriel. She plucked each detail with meticulous detail. After reading everything, the only thing left to read was what they were willing to offer.
“I am willing to trade for Arin Theo’s allegiance. As of now, he is currently registered under my Narsh Syndicate. I am willing to negotiate in more detail.” Fiona couldn’t believe what she was reading. A breath escaped from her.
“His allegiance? What does this mean?” Elliot wasn’t as informed about these matters since this didn’t matter to him this early on. He knew that they could’ve joined a Syndicate during the first day but up until now, it hadn’t been relevant.
“It means that we won.” Fiona felt a gigantic burden off her back. This was the kind of thing she was extremely keen on getting. “As long as we get this, it’s basically the same as winning the bet. I can’t believe this luck!”
“That serious? Wait that can’t be. How did this ‘Eriel’ get this?” Elliot didn’t expect such a thing could even occur.
“If this was me before, I would’ve gone against it since it ignored Arin’s opinion. But now, I’m willing to be a lot more flexible than before. Go call everyone, we’re holding a meeting!” Fiona was visibly excited at seeing such a trump card appear before her.
Elliot saw just how ecstatic Fiona was, he wasted no time in calling everyone in. Fiona looked out the window, she had complicated feelings about Arin. She had both fury and gratitude towards him.
She hated how little Arin cared about people. He was willing to kill for even the slightest of mistakes. Then again, he had faced her into doing something no one else had dared to do thus far.
“As you have vowed to rip my heart out, I too vow to show you the world I envision. It all begins with a single step.”
~~~
Arin felt something ominous hover over him. Every time he had this sensation, something dangerous was about to occur. He didn’t dismiss this feeling at all for every single time he had this sensation it was cause for great concern.
Unfortunately for him, he didn’t have any way of confirming where this sensation came from. It could come from one of his father’s enemies plotting to assassinate him or it could be a danger that the entire City of Sin was about to face.
“Just a little while longer.” Arin grabbed ahold of a vial of powdered Essence. It weighed approximately 1 gram. Right beside him was a black container, showing nine other vials with the same contents.
He was currently sitting in the middle of the platform where the Trials were held. This was the only appropriate area to consume this.
“I’ll just say this now, if you want I can turn them into Essence Capsules. It should be easier to digest.” Rion offered his services by the side. He was tasked to ensure that Arin would survive the process.
“Safety at the cost of the potency. If this was a lot more I would’ve accepted but it’s only 10 grams.” Arin opened the vial and chucked it down his mouth. As this powder entered his system, his entire body burned red hot.
Veins popped off from Arin’s body, clearly showing immense rejection from the Essence he just consumed. The effects were clear for everyone to see, his muscles started bulging to the point that his clothes could barely contain it.
Taking a deep breath, his lungs were filled with hot air. Arin exhaled, causing the air around him to turn even hotter. There were specks of crimson and platinum matter all around him, a small resonance with the Malum stored within him.
The undigested Malum within him caused a chain reaction to show signs of activating. It was getting activated by the Essence Arin had consumed, slightly erratically moving about. As for Fiona’s Malum, it held its own ground, being unaffected by this change.
A mix of clashing colors caused Rion to take this matter quite seriously. Usually, when one consumed Essence, they would increase their affinity with Malum and increase their body’s resilience against corruption. This would usually cause the Malum within themselves to resonate and manifest weakly. The specs of color were Malum itself manifesting.
“Crimson and platinum? Why are there…” Rion’s eyes immediately reacted appropriately. He didn’t waste any time at all, rushing towards Arin to remedy this situation as soon as possible.
Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.
Recalling what happened to Arin before, he quickly connected the dots to theorize why this mixed color appeared. He quickly realized that Arin had been infected by Fiona’s Malum, an already difficult affliction to deal with alone.
Arin had his eyes closed, feeling his body swell up. At this rate, if he didn’t do anything at all then he would likely rupture his organs and veins. The Essence he had consumed was activating everything within his body, forcing them to work much harder than they usually did.
He was letting the Essence let loose all over his body to get the most out of this. With such a limited supply, he needed to get as much as possible. At the cusp of his body breaking apart, he finally took the reins back and opened his eyes.
The clumps of Malum all around him reversed itself as everything was controlled within himself. Within a single breath, everything wrong within him immediately reverted back to how it was.
Rion was about to purge Fiona’s Malum out of Arin’s body when he immediately returned to his state of normalcy. His head was about to reach Arin’s forehead when he looked at him in his eyes.
“Have you been inflicted with Fiona’s Malum this entire time?” Rion quickly placed his hand behind his back.
“Ever since the defeat.” Arin was unashamed at his loss. It served as a blemish to his reputation but reclaiming what he was owed motivated him to keep striving for power.
“Do you mind if I removed it? You may not understand my concerns but her Malum might interfere in some unknown way since after all. A human showing no signs of going insane when inflicted with another person’s Malum is extremely rare.”
Rion continued on, “Then again, Perfect Affinity isn’t common either.”
“Try it.” Arin had already known he needed someone else to get rid of it but the only problem was that he hadn’t thought of anyone that could do it. Be it whether they would refuse or weren’t skilled enough.
The Overlords of the underground city might be able to do it but they were under Kian. Since he had fully removed himself from any matters relating to the academy, he couldn’t ask them.
Rion came right behind Arin, placing his hand on Arin’s back. The only way to get rid of Malum was to use Malum to fight against it. He connected to the network he had created, deriving power from the system he had created.
“Combat Technique, Culled Future: Faune.” Rion fully activated his Combat Technique. This highly amplified his control over his Malum, forcing it to have an extremely tenacious property. He didn’t hold back as he compressed his Malum to the point that its sheer density would be nearly impossible to get rid of within a short amount of time.
Rion perfectly controlled his Malum to find Fiona’s Malum scattered all over the place. As a test, he tried to cleanse the ones nearest to him, Arin’s upper left shoulder. As his Malum met with Fiona’s, the battle had started.
Fiona’s Malum contained the intent of purity, aiming to make anything impure vanish from the world. As soon as it had met Rion’s perfectly created ball, it immediately considered it a threat, a foreign entity that should not harm its host.
“Found it, I just need to- Gah!” Rion was relatively confident in dealing with Fiona’s Malum. Too bad he had severely underestimated just how terrifying her power truly was. His very mind was attacked, unable to hold a coherent thought.
As Fiona’s Malum struck his own, his Malum faltered without even being able to fight back at all. It wasn’t a matter of density or purity, it was a matter of hierarchy. It was as if Fiona’s Malum came from a higher dimension, enforcing its rule against the weak. Rion didn’t even stand a chance.
Fiona had reached out to the source of this foreign entity, aiming to destroy it for good. As soon as Fiona’s Malum reached out towards Rion’s hand, he had no other choice but to sever the connection. With a dazed look and threat of death, he cut off all his fingers in an attempt to stop Fiona’s Malum from infecting him further.
“That’s what I thought.” Arin didn’t even bother helping Rion at all.
It didn’t cause Fiona’s Malum to react any differently at all.
Rion felt extremely nauseous. He felt all his senses get disoriented to the point that he involuntarily vomited his lunch out. Even then, his limbs weren’t responding to how they should be. As a proud top-tier Bind Solver, this was one of the worst experiences of his life.
“The… disparity is… so much… hah…” Rion clenched his stomach, trying to get himself to no avail. His body was still rejecting the subtle influence that Fiona’s Malum had on him. “Fiona Pierre… what a monster…”
Arin ignored Rion’s suffering and continued consuming even more Essence. One vial after another was used, he had ignored what the consequences would be. Normally, a person who has not adjusted to it yet would start to show signs of rejection as the human body wouldn’t be able to adapt fast enough.
Yet this limitation didn’t apply to Arin at all. His body could keep consuming and consuming, infinitely growing without limit as it continued getting stronger. The only thing stopping him from growing any further was the resources available to him.
Once he had consumed half the contents of the black container, he stopped. He had now become much stronger than he was before. Considering his physique, he was near the theoretical limits of what the human body could reach.
Arin reconditioned himself with his newfound power.
“So this is what consuming Essence is like… No wonder it’s so valuable.” This was Arin’s first time-consuming Essence, at this point, he had exponentially grown in strength. Only comparing their physiques, Arin could finally be considered barely stronger than Barlot. Adding on his overwhelming superior speed and combat sense, he would one-sidedly win this encounter.
At the very least, if he had taken Fiona’s first strike, he wouldn’t have lost consciousness. This improvement might seem small but this was considering the fact that Fiona was using Malum. If Arin faced everyone in his class with their physiques alone then he would win without a scratch.
Twisting his body, he ordered Rion. “Get one of them. I want to check how strong I’ve gotten.”
“G-Got it…” Rion was struggling to keep awake right now. After he did this one order, he would go lie down by the side.
Rion went over and called a porter to call for Emilia, specifically. He sent down the order to have her come up and have Arin test his power. He wrapped a cloth all over his hand, preventing any blood flow. The pain banging within his head was more agonizing than his severed fingers.
Emilia was currently sitting around with her friends, cautiously exploring the underground city. They were initially a little put back due to how ominous the atmosphere was. Fortunately for them, they were considered as being directly under Arin. This meant that they didn’t receive much trouble outside of unintended mistakes.
As soon as a porter called out for Emilia’s name specifically. She quickly followed the order and came to Arin’s side. Even though the rest of them weren’t called, they felt it was better to join alongside Emilia.
As soon as they got there, they saw Arin donning a whole new aura around him. He seemed much more intense than before.
“I didn’t expect this to be a hivemind. Might as well. You, no Malum, show me what you’ve got.” Arin had pointed towards one of the girls who had her thigh pierced last time. She had already fully healed it so it wouldn’t be a cause of concern for her anymore.
They all immediately followed what was happening. Arin was going to be testing their combat capabilities. Although he was genuinely skilled, that didn’t that they weren’t either. They might not have an all-encompassing understanding of the puzzles inside the Trials but they fully knew well how to fight.
“Are you sure? Our Combat Techniques double or even triple our battle strength.” She answered back, not feeling ashamed of fighting against a kid ten years younger than her.
“You wouldn’t be able to stand a chance otherwise. Go bring out your main weapon.” Arin crossed his arms as he waited for her to come up.
She jumped up, bringing out her pair of daggers. She leaned down, lowering her posture as low as possible to minimize her body area. A stance to perfectly maneuver against any attack. Arin could tell that she leaned more on agility. For her to get injured meant that the traps were just that dangerous.
“Combat Technique, Fluttering Shadow.”
She carefully came closer, taking small steps as she came towards Arin. Her movements started off unnoticeable and subtle growing in momentum as she moved faster and more erratic. Her easy-to-pinpoint daggers now turned blurry as it became difficult to even see where she was.
Her cascading momentum eventually reached a point where her movements did not align with what she was doing at all. Her legs would perform a sweeping motion, twisting around while her upper body remained in static motion. These obviously clashing references were the result of her Combat Technique.
She was given enough time to ramp up her Combat Technique. Although she could only barely perform the basics of her Combat Technique, her mastery of its true form let her apply some concepts that she had grasped from a higher level. On all accounts, this should be an unfair fight, in her favor.
She rushed in and split into three bodies, immediately surrounding him from all sides. This was a threatening attack where two of the attacks would be illusions while only having one real attack, make one mistake and it would be your funeral.
If this was a normal person then he would be faced with a stressful situation with his life on the line. Too bad she wasn’t facing someone normal.
As her multiple bodies came closer and closer to Arin, his ears perked. He simply turned his head and watched the figure on his left with a knowing look. With her sneak attack obviously halted, she now had to face against him in a duel.
Her erratic and inconsistent movements made it very difficult for Arin to see through her true intentions, which he had to admit. As she winded up her true attack, she slid to the side, attempting to stab Arin’s stomach.
As she had thought that she had gotten the better of him, a merciless hand grabbed her wrist and clenched tight. Her wrist was broken, causing her hand to lose any grip strength it had. Arin threw her away with such force that her body rag-dolled across the platform. Specks of dust and debris were spewed out from each impact on the ground.
“If that’s the quality of everyone else then there’s no point in continuing. You have no foundation, useless.” Arin disappointingly sighed. He had thought that at the very least these Bind Solvers were smart enough to understand their weaknesses.
He already had a decent understanding of how strong people should be.
He had earned his reputation after all. Tackling the young geniuses of the underground city again would be bullying at this point. Even if they had used their Combat Techniques, he could easily shatter apart their form.
This was adding to the fact that it was him before he consumed 5 grams of Essence. He needed new targets.
“What’s the point if you can split your body into three when I can obviously hear where you are? If your ‘friends’ didn’t even tell you that then they must’ve wanted you to die.” Arin looked over to the group and mocked them. Picking up the dagger she had dropped, he snapped it in half with his fingers.