Many Thanks to Draconis to pring this, i can't stress how much he has helped me with pring sr rarely taking any breaks it would be awesome if you guys could find him and give him some rep for taking the time to help make sr readable for you guys, after all my raws are enough to make hell freeze over.
Hello! i'm back :) rota is busy so he won't be helping until a few days later, but skyler i think is enough to handle it all. So i did a lot of planning and thinking for SR and i believe i figured out how to keep things fresh and flowing properly so the story has plot and nothing is done on a whim while still being non cliche so to speak, than again it will be a few chapters until anyone can make fair judgements, hopefully i'll be able to recover some of my rating.
i wanted to thank my readers for being patient with me, i want to answer some questions.
Ethereal sovereign. i can't seem to push myself to write a chapter while i see spectral regalia struggling i need my focus on one story.
Mancers grimoire. same as ES but this was also intended to be a write when i feel like it story,
it doesn't mean i'm abandoning any, until i feel sr is doing well i won't be able to write with an open mind as i need to focus 110% on sr’s progress.
as for the surprise i promised you guys :3 it should be done hopefully tommorow or after tommorow, so most likely i'm going to submit it with chapter 98 :)
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The tournaments date was no accident. All Branch academies were boarding schools so to speak, meaning everyone who would be entering it had stayed within the boundaries of their schools training and improving themselves.
No one expected first years to enter, despite it not being forbidden. It was a sort of rule that only those who had remained at a branch academy for at least a year could enter. After all, no one would want to make a fool out of themselves.
Avrin, on the other hand, was a different story. Heading towards the school library, he was trying to figure out how to waste a week’s worth of time and what he could achieve before rising up.
The academy’s interior was what one would expect from a prestigious establishment. Laymist may be on the bottom of the chain, but it didn't stop it from being built like a palace. One could tell the materials used were of high quality from the fabric of the curtains to the windows in the walkway to the wood used in the frames of the arches and doors.
Even the students who wore their uniforms were no different. Avrin being one of them. He had plenty of time to wear his uniform, but if there were many people who weren't wearing it yet then he didn't feel obligated to wear it either.
Avrin felt a little nostalgic. The last time he attended an educational institute was many years ago. Back when he was a human. He had completed his studies at a military institute after becoming old enough to take care of himself.
Being an orphan with no parents wasn't any deterrent for him, he wasn't a picky person when it came to future goals. He would have the bare minimum to allow himself to live happily.
Becoming a general established his status and safety, while here he would just become strong enough to look after himself and keep an eye on the other Spectrals.
After walking for a couple of minutes, Avrin finally reached the library inside the main building. The large doors were made from a sort of white metal that looked as beautiful as marble. He had to stand and look for a moment to admire it, but this caused a few people passing by to look at him weirdly.
The library was quite large spanning hundreds of meters but the higher levels were visible. It stood tall like a tower, spanning at least 6 levels. One could see individuals on all levels tending to their own business.
“Out of my way!...” As Avrin was admiring the sight of knowledge he was pushed aside by a brawny individual wearing the Laymist uniform with rusted colored edgings and an iron badge. ”-This punk..-” Avrin couldn't help but think as he was shoved aside. The three individuals were laughing as they ignored him and continued on.
Avrin truly wanted to teach them a lesson, but didn't forget his goal. He calmed himself down while gazing fiercely at these the students. He definitely wouldn't let himself get pushed around. He would handle obligations soon enough.
Walking around the shelves that were littered with many books of Common and Uncommon quality, one could definitely tell the better books were levels above, but he dared not go there and cause trouble, so he had to make due for now.
He didn't have any intention of staying a day longer within Laymist academy if he didn't need to, but it didn't hurt to prepare for the long run as it was better to be safe than sorry, and Avrin knew that with his luck he would always draw the short straw.
“Alphabetical order huh.. Let’s see... Dark Abyss Chasm, anything related to it..” Looking around, Avrin didn't have high hopes, but at the same time he didn't have anything better to do. “Found it! ‘Common Knowledge of the Dark Abyss Chasm’” He cheerfully spoke before reaching out to grab the book. But as he did, a swift blur took him by surprise and reached out to grab the book before him.
Avrin was dumbfounded. He hadn't bothered to keep his Divine Sense expanded and it had already brought him trouble. The individual who obtained the book before him was someone he had met before.
“It's you!?” He was a little surprised that this person had managed to get so close without him noticing, even without his Divine Sense. Of course, this person was the robed individual who he and Mahck had travelled with.
“....” Not saying anything, the robed individual turned to leave, but Avrin spoke. “Excuse me...but I would really like to borrow that book. Can you give me a break and let me look over it for at least a half hour?”
“...” Without caring, the individual began to walk away. If Avrin had it his way, he would just let his fists talk for him. But this time, he had a better, more effective idea. “You're really rude...I wonder, though, do you get it from the demon side of you or the human side?” At these words, the figure quickly stopped, frozen in their tracks.
Suddenly a voice that was heard to discern but seemed forced and faked spoke. “H..How do you know..?” With a hint of worry. Avrin narrowed his eyes. “That's not important...but what's important is that I need that book for five minutes. Surely you can spare it for a little bit. Or should I tell you what else I know about you?”
They turned to look at Avrin with two eyes glowing a fierce green before reaching up and throwing the book towards him. Of course, he effortlessly caught it. “Thank you!” Avrin was quite happy. For once, he had gotten his way without resorting to violence.
“Tell me...how do you know?...” The voice was a bit more coarse and threatening and even attracted some gazes. Avrin knew this person was a higher ranked individual than him and seen as more important. At the moment, he wouldn't want to be on their bad side.
“Calm down...no need to show anger.” He then whispered “I have an ability that lets me discern races...a sort of inherited ability. It's nothing important though.” The robed individual continued to gaze at Avrin, raising their clenched hand up as if ready to hit him.
“I don't believe you…” Avrin’s face twisted a little. He had played the role of an 11 year old quite well, he thought. Trying to be a bit easy going and energetic, but it would be annoying to deal with this person.
“Uhh...it's the truth, I promise...besides, I'm not going to tell anyone...you're a Diamond ranked student right?” He suddenly whispered before continuing to speak. “Other than needing this book, I would never dare pick a fight with you. I don't even think we will see each other again.”
The robed individual gazed carefully at Avrin before turning to look around, seeing several curious eyes gazing at them. “Hmph..” With annoyance and caution the individual quickly left. It seemed as if they also wanted to be low key for a while.
“-What an annoying brat…-” Avrin couldn't help but think before giving a soft sigh of relief. He gazed at the book and smiled. But just as he took a step forward a hand touched his shoulder, followed by a set of words. “Hey...that book, hand it over..”
Avrin turned to look, seeing that it was the boy who had bumped into him earlier with the two lackeys at his side. “Uhh..Senior, I truly need this book for five minutes..” He tried to downplay himself a bit and act somewhat innocent, but it didn't seem to work.
“Pfft, like I care...Lady Yuvi of the Lotus Alliance wants it and we are here to pick it up...hand it over or I'll just beat you to an inch of your life…” The boy’s voice was getting louder and louder as if done on purpose to showcase his strength.
Avrin knew that fighting wasn't allowed in the library and didn't want to cause a scene. He handed the book over to the boy, who laughed mockingly, before walking past Avrin, bumping his shoulder against him again.
Avrin stood there for a good ten seconds with anger boiling in his blood. He understood he shouldn't be picking fights with kids, but he needed to teach them a lesson. Very rarely did Avrin let people get away with mocking him.
“-Lets see who is going to be beat within an inch of their life..-” Avrin seemingly vanished into thin air faster than anyone within the library could see. He reappeared on top of a building just above the path the three were taking.
They were headed towards a flowery garden courtyard filled with several Lotus Alliance members training, and not too far was a table were Yuvi was currently reading. Thankfully, the hedges of the garden were quite large, so visibility was nil. Avrin quickly reformed his clothing to reveal that of a gold ranked student with the golden badge done by pure memory.
But there was something perfect for this situation. He didn't have time to reshape his appearance as the boys were nearing the courtyard at a fair pace, so he reached into the enchanted bag he had and put the white, metallic mask he had stored. It was suitable to use for something he felt attached to.
His Divine Sense extended downward, towards the three individuals, and he jumped down and quickly landed in front of them. “T...The hell?!!” The bully who had threatened Avrin prior to this called out suddenly.
“You like to bully huh?...Good. I do to..” Avrin took a step forward that seemed to cross the distance between them in an instant. He raised his right hand and flicked towards the boy, but not before his left hand snatched the book from him.
A boom sounded out. The air pressure from the flick blew the screaming boy back, who rolled around violently on the ground. When he stopped, he was bloodied and his outfit was torn, laying limp on the ground.
“-Mm, did I overdo it?..-” The two who lackies began to shake with fear as they looked at Avrin. They saw his outfit and nearly wet themselves. “Please don't hurt us…” One spoke. And soon a voice called out. “What's going on over there?!”
It was from the garden courtyard, of course. Who wouldn't hear the loud sound the flick made. “Hmph…Next time you bully new students...you will get a feeling for what the ground tastes like..”
Avrin vanished like before. He reappeared on top of the school building with his attire reforming and changing. It had suddenly changed into the Copper rank uniform.
He removed the white mask and placed it within his enchanted bag. His eyebrows were furrowed a little as he looked down to see several people gather around the scene. “One week huh. Concealing my strength for a week is going to be frustrating. I’ve barely managed through a day and I’ve encountered issues.”
With the day indeed passing by, the new school year had started. Avrin had taken the time to read and review the book he had taken before returning it to the library. Each book was given a magic seal. After a set time, it would home in on the person who currently has it. Avrin didn't want that to happen to him.
But after returning it, he spent time in his inner workings, tinkering around and helping the progress of his C.Particles. He was quite relaxed. He felt that at his current stage there were three types of individuals capable of threatening his existence: Gods, dragons and Sigil wielders. All of which were impossible to meet at the moment.
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Class within Laymist was simple. There were many teachers, enough for there to be 20 copper ranked students per class. Avrin, of course, didn’t waste time and went to his allocated class.
Classes went for 2 hours a day before students are given time to train and study. The meaning was simple, with your own effort after guidance can you achieve greatness. The classroom was what one would expect, several desks leveled behind each other like benches. Avrin had arrived first and took the corner top right desk.
He looked around seemingly bored. He knew there wasn't a thing he could learn here for the most part, there would be little he could learn and all of it was knowledge about the Empire or the other continents and even the Dark Abyss Chasm if possible.
Soon, students began to come one after another and then in groups until the entire class was filled. No one paid attention to Avrin, but he paid attention to them out of curiosity. “Did you hear? I heard someone beat one of the Lotus Alliances members! And so close to their courtyard, ha.”
One male student whispered to another who replied. “Hell yeah. I also heard that it was a Gold ranked student who did it. Something about not bullying and stuff. I bet it was the Phoenix Alliance trying to discredit them or something.”
“-Obviously they would think that-” Avrin thought. He didn't have issues with what he did yesterday, he didn't reveal himself and knew they would blame one another. He wouldn't even be on the list of people they thought of unless the guy he beat up had excelent memory and perception, and even then, the odds were slim for many reasons.
“Quiet, quiet!” A tall man entered wearing a uniform with glasses. He looked more like a fool than a teacher, and Avrin wasn't the first to think so. Many students tried not to laugh, but the teacher, who now stood behind his desk, could see their gazes. “I may not dress the way many teachers do, but I'm more than capable of killing every single one of you in no less than 5 seconds” After that he smiled grimly.
With that sort of threat, many of the students faces paled and they immediately stopped looking at him as if he were a clown. “Now then, let’s begin. You can call me Mr. Vurin. I come from a family who specializes in illusion magic and dagger techniques to suit. But I'm also capable of teaching the basics of many elemental magics. For instance, fire magic”
From there, the lesson had gone on with Vurin speaking about the main importance of every individual element, truly something Avrin considered boring at this stage. Of course, he was not the only one and quite a few students were whispering.
“I heard one of us first years managed to get into rank Diamond, can you believe that? What sort of crazy talent would you need to skip all that,” one male student spoke while the one he was speaking to replied.
“Idiot. Obviously it's someone in their forties or fifties,” he harshly replied. “No! My brother knows someone in the faculty who told him it's an eighteen year old, or maybe a twenty year old, but still, you get my point.” Vurin frowned as he could hear these whispers and was about to tell them to be quiet when a knock suddenly echoed from the class door.
“Oh? I'm not expecting anyone. Maybe a late student?” Vurin mumbled to himself before walking over to see who it was. Avrin, though, had a bad feeling in his gut for some strange reason, and as soon as Vurin returned with the robed person and a faculty member beside them Avrin’s face twisted a little. “-Speak of the devil-” Avrin referred to the fact that the one he had heard about in the whispers had just arrived.
“There he is. Herth, it seems you're lucky, you get to assist one of our Laymist’s rare talents.” Vurin spoke with a sort of prideful tone. Avrin, on the other hand just went with the flow. Surely it would be better than listening to this lecture.
Of course, this attracted some attention and talk. “Hey, I’ve seen that robed person all over school. Why aren't they wearing a uniform?” While another replied. “Rare talents? I’ve never seen this person before.”
From there, talk began to build up. “Ah! I know! I think this is one of the genius first years! Whoa, I never thought I’d get to see one so soon. But why are they wearing a robe?”
The faculty member cleared his throat and Vurin perked up for a moment before saying, “Quiet, all of you, or it's an essay on Elemental Aspects for the remainder of the lesson. Herth, you're excused for today. But I expect you to put in some more effort tomorrow”
Avrin had already walked down the steps some students gave him a weird look, wondering who he was and what sort of relation he had with this potential genius. But the gazes didn't last long as the three had soon left.
Minutes later, they had walked out of the school’s main building and headed towards a path that lead to a nearby forest which was used to train one's mind and body in a refreshing environment. “May I ask why I'm needed?” Avrin finally broke the silence.
“Well, it's like this. We have several dozen Diamond rank students, and each one are either talented and exceptional or have spent many years here. That being said, they are assigned several students to assist. This program works many wonders, but our talent here demanded that only one person be assigned. For me, that would be you, Herth.”
“-I have to babysit now?-” Avrin thought to himself. Before long, they had arrived at the entrance arch that leads into the forest. “Consider this a rare chance for you to improve, Herth. I can't recall the last time a Copper rank student had this chance. As for the training, I'll leave it to you to figure out”
That last sentence was spoken towards the robed person. Avrin, on the other hand, wasn't convinced. The faculty staff member soon left, leaving Avrin and the robed person alone. Of course, this person soon began to walk into the forest after speaking a word. “Follow….”
Avrin frowned, but did so. He knew something was wrong, so his Divine Sense was placed up a few meters in distance, and he began to decipher a bit of the situation as they entered the forest. “You know, I can't recall the school having a program like this.” Avrin curiously spoke.
“.....” The reply given was pure silence. Avrin figured something was wrong. “I see now. What's going on? You're quite careful aren't you.” Avrin spoke again as his eyes narrowed somewhat.
“....” The same silence. Avrin knew the situation. He understood this program didn't exist, and that something was amiss, but it was until they entered a clearing that the robed person stopped.
Avrin gazed carefully at the robed person and smiled. “You really take your identity more seriously than I do. And here I thought I was paranoid, hahaha.” Avrin couldn't help but smile and give a soft laugh. The situation now was really ironic to him. He had wanted to conceal himself as to not attract attention, but he discovered someone who wanted to also conceal themselves and they now wanted to get rid of him.
“But you know...I'm not easy to kill..” A near second after Avrin spoke this sentence, the robed person turned into a black blur that shot towards him, knowing that Avrin had discovered what was going on.
Though to Avrin, the movements of this person were quite slow. He extended his hand outward and emitted Nebula Mist that shot out and formed a cloud that quickly engulfed the robed person.
Avrin was not done. The mist hardened, capturing this person within before raising itself up in the air a few more meters and smashing downwards onto the ground, causing the earth to shake and crack. A small shockwave caused a few nearby trees to shake violently and birds to flee their nests in terror, but soon calm returned.
The sight was as expected, a small, messy crater with dust filling the air around it. Avrin had held himself back. He was in no rush and had been quite bored. “Y..You...what are you..” A silhouette began to stand within the dust cloud, with robes tattered, revealing a perfectly fitted set of leather attire suited for someone who prefers agile combat.
As the figure became clearer, a fair set of curves could be seen on this person's chest hidden behind her agile fit attire. Not large or small, as one could see clearer they would find dark brown hair in a style that reminded one of the ancient queen cleopatra.
Avrin looked carefully and saw the her skin tone was a fair ebony color. Her eyes gazed fiercely towards him with red pupils that shined with confusion as well as caution, but the eyes themselves were not the dead giveaway. One could see slightly pointed ears and a familiar demonic mana emitting from this woman.
“I don't have any fond memories of fighting women, and this surely isn't anything new. Are you really going to try and kill me because I know your secret? I wouldn't go as far as doing something like that, so I'm certain you're hiding something incredibly important. I'm sure it isn't because you're half human or half demon.”
“Heh..” A smirk appeared on the girl’s face. “You're right...I do have a secret I'm protecting...and you knowing who I am can jeopardize what I'm trying to achieve...even if you give me your word, I have no reason to trust it!!” The girl quickly reached to her sides, unsheathing two long daggers before throwing them towards Avrin.
The daggers acted strangely. They emitted a dark mana before a spherical pulse of black energy expanded out, engulfing 50 meters outward. Once within this field, the mana of the girl suddenly shot up immensely. As if a door holding back an ocean had just been opened up, allowing the water to flood out. Or in this case, mana.
“-Hiding her strength? Incredible. She’s already reached the level of an early stage Grandmaster and she is using field magic within a weapon?...No, this is strange. This girl isn't a Grandmaster. Her strength seems to keep rising-”
Avrin could see it all as he wasted no time to augment both his eyes. The gravity field began to press down on him and slow him down, and the girl vanished into a quick dark blur that shot towards him.
She grabbed both the hilts of the daggers before shooting towards Avrin like a whirlwind. Emitting his Divine Sense, Avrin used Phantom Pulse, causing the effects of the gravity field to be null. The Phantom Pulse was much more powerful, even enough to cause the girl to loose balance and stop dead in her tracks, almost falling face first into the ground.
But what surprised Avrin was that she kept herself steady after retracting the dark field of magic until it enveloped over her body. Its effects now seemed to strengthen her, as she was able to regain her freedom of movement.
“You're quite strong. You're strength stopped rising, but you're nearly at the peak of the Grandmaster level. That's quite monstrous. Are there even many on this planet that are capable of fighting with you?” Hearing Avrin’s words, the girl simply smirked before her figure vanished, causing the wind to split.
She arrived within an instant in front of Avrin while crouched down. She twisted her wrists, causing the daggers to face upwards, before thrusting them up in an attempt to gut him in one go. But as she looked up, her eyes widened with surprise.
This was because Avrin was gazing down at her. His gaze contained pity, most likely for his next action. His Divine Sense engulfed around the girl before she had even reached him, such was his reaction speed after his training in the Twisting Lands, showing his advancement.
The phantom pulse pressed down on her gravity field as well as her body. With his Divine Sense completely focused on her it allowed his attack to increase many times in strength. The pressure caused the daggers to wobble and smash downwards into the ground.
A scene that repeated itself within the village during Kael’s fight, just like they were unable to move under Avrin’s Phantom Pulse, this half demon was now in the same position as them, being pressed against the ground that was starting to crack under the pressure.
(A.N: Reforming simple clothing is quicker than reforming one's appearance.)