Berean Drunnel was an average-looking human. He wore a specialized black zenanium armor; which covered his body so tightly that if his armor were to be of the same color as his skin, he would seem naked.

"Special Awakened Skill: Size Shifter. It allows me to alter the size of things." He said.

Humans' Special Essence Racial Skill, which for ones was a curse and for others a blessing, was a passive skill that forced its user to awaken a non-elemental Awakened Skill. Because of this, nearly every human was a Special Awakened Skill user.

"Fight!"

The instant Lenna Zelu's voice fell, and just when Thorn was about to move Berean Drunnel with his wind, Thorn felt a pair of hands grabbing his legs.

Berean Drunnel, who was grasping Thorn's legs so hard he crippled them, vigorously threw Thorn away.

Thorn had never thought Berean Drunnel could enlarge his hands this quickly. Now, he had no choice but to hit himself with a Wind Blast to avoid getting off the combat area.

*Boom!*

*Fuumpp!*

The impact made him spit out a mouthful of blood and crushed some of his internal organs. It was evident that his body had already reached its limit of endurance.

(Damn! This hurts more than what it should!) Grimacing, Thorn complained inwardly as he began to wrap the body of his opponent with his wind.

But while Thorn was doing that, Berean Drunnel didn't stay quiet. He shot his hands, which looked just like attacking snake monsters. This time, however, he was viciously aiming toward Thorn's neck!

Thorn had just now experienced the extremely quick assault of those hands, so he was now prepared to face such attack.

*SssClang!* *SssClang!* *SssClang!* *SssClang!*

Thorn's wind blades loudly clashed against Berean Drunnel's armor-covered hands. Although the wind blades weren't able to cut Berean Drunnel's hands due to the specialized zenanium armor he wore, they still managed to break the momentum and direction of the quick assault.

This gave Thorn enough time to completely cover Berean Drunnel's body with his wind. Without hesitation, he used Wind Glide to move the human out of the combat area.

When Berean Drunnel became aware of where he was standing on, he was already hearing Lenna Zelu's pleasant voice. "Thorn wins!" Though, the meaning of her words wasn't pleasant at all to him.

Without caring in the slightest about Berean Drunnel's sentiments, Lenna Zelu continued: "This ends the second phase. Now, our secondary judges are going to decide the ten participants that will pass to the third phase."

As for Thorn, he was about to climb down the platform. Actually, although he was the absolute victor of this phase, the sight of him getting off the arena was the most pathetic and pitiful of all the other participants. Due to the numerous wounds and broken bones he had, he couldn't even move his body; so he was tragically carrying himself with his wind.

It was at that juncture when someone suddenly said: "Miss Thorn, please wait a moment. I have something very important to say to you."

As nobody else was making any noise, everyone heard clearly these words. When all looked over in the direction of the origin of the voice; they discovered, to their surprise, that the owner of the voice was unexpectedly Arnold Alch.

This young super genius was standing and directing his passionate gaze toward Thorn's breathtaking violet eyes.

"Eh…? Y-yes?" Thorn, holding himself up with his wind, said perplexed.

Arnold Alch then smiled handsomely, and began his speech: "Never before had I met a woman as extraordinary as you, nor had I ever feel this way for someone else…" He blushed as he paused for a short moment. "What I am trying to say is tha--"

"Hahaha…!! Au, Au! Oh boy, Oh boy! Hahaha…!!!"

All of a sudden, a loud and unrestrained laughter interrupted Arnold Alch's words.

When Thorn shifted his gaze, he saw a human with disheveled black hair laughing his ass off as he rolled back and forth on the floor holding his stomach.

(Isn't he the head of the Medical Center of Lurep Village, Crok Alch? Why is he laughing with such abandon…? Has a clown kicked his brain or something?) Thorn wondered speechless.

Yes, the disrespectful fellow was Crok Alch. He barely managed to stop his laughter, crawled up to his feet, and said with much difficult: "I-I am really sorry for this unwanted scene. P-please, don't mind me. I just remembered something funny." He took a deep breath, and put on his most solemn expression. He then directed his next words toward Arnold Alch: "Young man, you MUST NOT let this heavenly opportunity pass by. I BEG you, continue with what you were doing. I'll pray for your success." After finishing his piece, he sat back on his seat and took a comfortable posture, as if preparing himself to watch a good show.

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Arnold Alch nodded at Crok Alch, his face showing some embarrassment. He tried to calm himself down for a pair of seconds, and finally, turned his gaze back to Thorn's eyes. It was a gaze which contained a desire so fervent it couldn't be overlooked or ignored anymore.

It was at this moment Thorn suddenly understood that the bastard in front of him was going to screw him up. (Holy shiiiiitttt…!) He cried silently as his heart trembled in fear.

Arnold Alch was already done with the idle talk, so he directly said: "I want to earnestly fuck you, Miss Thorn."

"…."

"…."

After a long period of silence and shock, some spectators began to discuss this matter noisily.

"Wow! The always lonely genius of Lurep Village finally has been so impressed he couldn't help but declare his love so promptly and so decisively!"

"Right?! He even bravely took the risk of being rejected in front of so many witnesses and ruin his reputation! "

"He certainly has immense guts."

"Rejected? About whom are you talking about? Arnold Alch's looks and talent aren't something a lady can reject!"

"But even if Arnold Alch were more handsome and had more talent, would he be worthy of Miss Thorn?"

"Of course not. Her understanding degree is already at the Final-Star Control of the Skill!"

"That's right! With such talent, it's now just a matter of time for her to become a powerhouse at the very top of the world, how could a mere Arnold Alch be worthy of such a woman?!"

There were some females glaring enviously at Thorn, as well as some males desperately wishing they could have big enough gust to pursue Thorn.

It must be mentioned that, in this world and era, the phrase 'I want to earnestly fuck you' actually meant 'Please, marry me and be by my side for the rest of our lives'.

Arnold Alch indeed had the guts of an entire army, and of course a self-esteem just as big; otherwise, let alone to speak to Thorn, he would be too ashamed to even show his face in front of him.

At that moment, Rose was staring quietly at Arnold Alch, hostility coming out from her eyes. (I know that little brat, I needed just a short glare to scare him into submission back then. Mhmp! Just because he got somewhat stronger, he now dares to harbor thoughts on Thorn! He is absolutely asking for humiliation!)

Meanwhile, Arnold Alch felt cold sweat flowing down his back, though he didn't know why. In the end, he carelessly attributed it at the fact that for quite some time now, Thorn was staring blankly at the empty space just like a soulless corpse.

(What is it?! Is she shocked speechless by so much happiness or so much disgust?! Or perhaps is it just indecision?!) Arnold Alch asked the heavens, heart about to explode.

Just when the man declaring his love was about to stutter something, Thorn guffawed away some madness: "HahahaHAHAHAha…!!!"

The spectators gaped flabbergasted at such outburst.

"… HahaHAHAha…!!!" The maniac laughter didn't stop, even though Thorn's wounds had yet to heal.

Soon, blood splattered around Thorn, who was spitting some each time a 'ha' came out of his mouth.

This sight sent shivers to the entire hall.

Some gasps of fear later.

*Puumn*

Thorn finally slumped over the floor, completely exhausted, his skin as pale as paper.

"You think I am a broken human, right?" He said, his voice frightening calm.

Arnold Alch then came back to his senses and hurried to respond: "Yes, yes. You don't have the Special Essence Racial Skill after all." At this point, he suddenly realized something and fear appeared on his face, he cautiously asked with a trembling voice: "C-could it be… You are a… m-mutant?"

"That's right." The guy lying on the floor replied, his voice emotionless.

After hearing Thorn's confirmation, the public couldn't help but fervently shoot stares at Thorn's body, as if trying to figure out even how many hairs he had.

Well, that was normal, a mutant was as rare as ghost's flesh after all. Mutants were beings that instead of having the Racial Skill of their parents, they had an entirely different and unique Racial Skill. That was equivalent to say that every single mutant represented a unique race.

Arnold Alch's face fell, he sighed and said resigned: "Such a pity… I suppose fate will always do as it pleases."

The scene of Arnold Alch giving in didn't surprise anyone. It was common knowledge that beings of different races couldn't have children. Almost a hundred percent of the cases, the baby birthed would be born already dead or would be an abomination of nature that wouldn't live for too long. And due to this, the sexual intercourse between members of different races was viewed by the world as one of the most disgusting and foolish acts.

Arnold Alch suddenly said: "Just to satisfy my curiosity, would you please tell me how your Racial Skill works?"

Using his wind to get up, Thorn answered: "It has for name Soul Linking Gaze, it allows me to have a superficial connection with someone else's soul. While this connection is active, I can tell if the person I am connected with is lying or not. Of course, the other person will also know if I am lying or not. Regarding its limitation, I can only use this skill if the target allow me to." He then suggested: "Would you like to experience it for a bit?"

Arnold Alch was taken aback by such a proposition, he didn't expect his curiosity would put him into a situation in which his darkest secrets could be exposed. He pondered his options for a while, in the end, he smiled confidently and accepted: "It will be my honor to experience such interesting skill. Go on then, my soul is yours to take."

Regretting his suggestion, Thorn became depressed. (Damn! Damn! What a lovely phrase! 'Go on then, my soul is yours to take'! Damn! Now in the future if a cute girl says to me these beautiful words, I'll remember that it was firstly flirtatiously told to me by a man! Damn! Damn! Damn!!)

Trying his hardest to conceal his urge to beat the bastard in front of him to a bloody pulp, Thorn warned: "Here I go!" He then activated his Racial Skill.

At the same time, using Complex Energy as fuel, innumerable tendrils appeared within Thorn's head, and they connected themselves with Thorn's mental body. These tendrils were like gentle rays of light, when they came out through Thorn's eyes, those eyes started to glow like violet Luminous Spheres. At that moment, the unbelievable happened: Thorn's eyes became even more beautiful.

Gasps of admiration echoed through the hall.

Very quickly, the tendrils made their way to Arnold Alch's eyes.

Arnold Alch felt as if he were directly staring at Zura [this world's 'Sun']. However, he didn't even blink and just let the tendrils touch his mental body.

After that, both Thorn and Arnold Alch could feel a strange connection between their souls.

Without letting Thorn ask any question, Arnold Alch put his palm on his chest and declared: "Miss Thorn, I would give up both of my arms and both of my legs, and even my very race if with that it were possible for me to be your sexual partner!"

A freezing wind blew through Thorn's spine and it reached his heart.

A triumphant smile appeared on Arnold Alch's face, and he flirtatiously asked: "Was it true or false?"

*Cough!* *Cough!* *Cough!*

Thorn coughed out the remaining blood inside his body, and groaned weakly: "I-it's true…"

At that moment, most spectators were feeling great admiration toward Arnold Alch's passion and sincerity.

Deactivating his Soul Linking Gaze, Thorn just said: "Goodbye." And without giving time for any reply, he carried his body toward his seat so quickly it seemed like his life depended on it.