A strange silence took over the studio as Kiera's match ca to a sudden end. Neither Karl nor Johanna were able to say a single word as they sat in silence, staring at the figure that stood in the middle of the platform in silence.
As the darkness that gripped her body started to fade, revealing the outlines of her body and her platinum-colored hair, Karl silently hissed.
Johanna quietly nodded her head as she pursed her lips, replaying the scene from before in her mind.
It was just when Agatha was planning to end the match...
Her sword twisted through the air, gliding toward Kiera's weakened body. It had just been a few inches away from Kiera when she disappeared.
Even as they slowed down the replay nobody could see clearly what had happened.
Everyone was caught off guard, except for Johanna, who noticed a flicker in Kiera's ruby-red eyes just before she vanished. In the next instant, Kiera reappeared right behind Agatha, her entire body cloaked in black, with her finger pressed against the back of Agatha's hand.
Johanna quietly murmured.
It was faint, but enough for Karl to hear as he snapped out of it.
Karl slapped his thigh in realization. It wasn't as though the thought hadn't crossed his mind, but the skill was so quick and weird that he hadn't had the ti to properly process the situation. However, upon noticing how the darkness was leaving Kiera's body, he understood that she was a dual elental user.
Such users were actually quite rare.
It was rather common for a genius to have talent in two different fields. Most of the participants were like that, with only a few specializing in just one category. Nonetheless, the rarest ones were those that had talents that lay in the sa category.
One such example was Caius who was talented in the [Telekinesis] and [Emotive] fields which both belonged to the [Mind] category.
Belonging to the sa category, they were much easier to practice since the two fields complented one another.
There were many correlations between the two fields, making it easier to excel in both. This allowed them to progress more quickly, as they didn't need to spend as much ti practicing each one separately.
Kiera's profile detailed her as a single attribute [Fla] user. Her other talent was completely undisclosed.
It was for that reason that Johanna and Karl were surprised.
This changed a lot of things!
Taking a deep breath, Karl watched as Kiera gripped the cube and disappeared from the platform. At the sa ti, Agatha was escorted down by the referee who waved his hand at once and disappeared alongside her.
Watching all of this happen, Karl began to mumble,
***
[That was a wonderful first round of battles]
A voice quietly bood throughout the Plaza as the final combatants, Kiera and Agatha, stepped off the platform. Yet again, nobody was able to associate the voice with a figure as the one speaking didn't show themselves.
For what reason? I didn't know.
I just stood in silence while staring at Kiera who appeared a few monts prior.
She was weird...
No, she had been acting weird.
I pursed my lips.
'Is it because of what happened to her with her aunt?'
It made sense when I thought about it.
With everything that had happened to her, it was only normal that she'd react this way. But at the sa ti, since when did she start using her other elent?
I had hardly ever seen it use it.
In fact, most people around her had no idea she wielded two elents, as she typically only used her fla elent. This was the first ti she had ever displayed her second elent, and it was truly terrifying to see.
The mont in the first vision was the one that stood out to the most.
I never really quite understood why she had never shown it or used it, but after witnessing her past with the third leaf, I more or less had an idea.
'She's scared of the dark'
...Or at least, was.
That no longer seed to be the case any longer.
[There are only twenty-four of you left now, and after such grueling and fierce battles, it's ti you were given a well-deserved rest.]
The voice, hoarse yet authoritative, let out a quiet chuckle.
[The second stage will begin tomorrow at this ti. In the anti, you are free to do as you please. You can rest, eat, study your opponents, or recover from your injuries. The choice is yours, and we will not restrict your freedom. You are allowed to roam freely around Grimspire or Bremr if you wish.]
I noticed so of the expressions around brighten significantly at those words.
I felt the sa way. My mind was drained, and my body was on the brink of collapse. I needed
to recover as quickly as possible.
Of course...
That wasn't what I was most looking forward to.
'....Can I do it?'
What I was looking forward to the most was the developnt of my domain. Since the fight with Angela, it felt as though I had brushed against the edge of sothing profoundly
important.
It made my body itch and I wanted to do nothing more than try it.
So long as I carefully worked along those lines, I was confident in further developing my
domain.
While I still wouldn't be able to fully develop it, I had a feeling that I'd be able to develop it to an extent where it would be usable in fights and boost my strength considerably.
That was why, upon hearing the announcent to finish whatever they needed to do, I didn't linger any longer. I headed straight to the nearest inn and booked a room.
"A single room, please."
There were rooms offered specifically for cadets in another inn, but I was in too much of a hurry to head for the portal in Bremr and leave.
This was much better for .
"Not bad."
The room was as simple as could be. It featured dark wooden polish and minimal decoration, with a small window allowing a view of the dark sky and the white sun overhead. A small sofa sat beneath the window, while the bed was positioned in the middle of the room, attached to
the wall.
A small lamp on the dark wooden desk cast a faint glow over its surface.
I glanced around the room briefly before sitting on the bed and closing my eyes.
A familiar black world greeted .
I took a deep breath and stared ahead. A familiar red orb materialized in the distance, gradually approaching until it hovered a few ters away from before coming to a stop.
Throb!
A gentle throb pulsed through the air as a familiar letter fell from above, coming to rest just
beneath the orb.
'R'
My blood boiled at the sight, but I pushed the feeling aside and rejected it. Instead of
allowing it to consu , I forced myself to remain calm.
I was taking a different approach from the first ti.
'A'
The next letter followed.
Once again, I felt power surging through my body. My muscles tensed and twisted as they
strained against the force. I bit my lips, resisting the urge to embrace it, and forced my
muscles to relax, pushing aside the power boost.
Throb!
'G'
The orb squird like before.
It was as if sothing within the orb had awakened, causing it to pound and pulse with a
strange, rhythmic timing.
The interior of the orb throbbed and writhed unnaturally. In that mont, I felt an intense
urge to reach out, as if the orb was calling to . But I resisted the impulse, holding back from
extending my hand.
Throb! Throb!
The orb throbbed with even more intensity, calling for to touch it, but I clenched my teeth
and held back.
"Kh...!"
Sweat poured down my forehead.
My face spasd as I looked ahead, my eyes stinging as I forced myself to keep them open.
I couldn't miss it.
I had to see it.
That was when a new letter appeared.
'E'
Everything stopped at that mont.
The orb stopped pulsing, and so did the calling sensation.
A strange silence enveloped the empty space as the orb emitted a faint crimson glow. Beneath
it, a four-letter word slowly appeared.
"Rage..."
I felt my mouth go dry as I stared at the words and the floating orb above them. For a brief
mont, I extended my hand toward it. The orb squird and ca to life, reaching out to as if in greeting.
It was just a finger length away from reaching before I stopped.
'No, not yet...'
I wanted to see more.
That was when sothing else caught my vision.
It was a green orb.
.... Just like the red orb, it appeared in the distance before coming forward and stopping right
next to the red orb.
It stopped for a mont before a familiar letter appeared from above.
Throb!
'J'
"....!"
The changes that occurred in my body were different. My muscles still squird, but this ti
the sensation was more focused, targeting my calves and legs.
But what exactly was it?
Throb!
The orb throbbed again, and the pain in my head intensified.
I bit my lips and resisted.
'More...! I want to see more!'
Throb!
'0'
The muscles in my calves squird and twisted as a hidden energy I hadn't experienced
before surged through them. My mind began to ache, and my vision blurred as ti seed to
slow down, each mont stretching out before .
Looking down, I saw several outlines of my hand tracing its path. Each ti I moved my hand,
two outlines followed, creating a weird trail.
'How odd...'
It was strange. As I looked ahead, the orb once again seed to call out to , squirming like
the first one had.
It throbbed and squird violently, but I ignored it.
Throb!
The last letter arrived.
My head shook, and I stumbled back.
"Ukh!"
But not before seeing the last letter.
'Y'
Gazing at the orb beside the other one, I placed my hand on my chest and read the words
beneath each orb.
"Rage... Haa... joy..."
I saw a pattern in all of this.
Soon, a new orb appeared in the distance. It was blue in color and began moving toward . It
headed in the direction of the two orbs, and as I stared at it, my vision shook.
"Uakh!"
I felt a certain throbbing pain and my eyes flared open.
"Ahkh!"
Squirming on the ground, I clutched my head and rolled around for a few seconds. Despite
being accustod to pain, this was sothing I couldn't endure. It was a pain so intense and
disorienting that it sent my body into shock.
Bang!
I thrashed my surroundings, sending the lamp crashing to the ground and tearing the
bedsheets apart in the process.
It hurt... It hurt so much!
Bang, bang!
"Akh!!"
It only ca to a stop after a full minute, by which ti the floor was covered in sweat and
torn sheets.
"Наа.. Наа..."
Breathing heavily, I leaned against the bed's fra and took deep, steady breaths to calm
myself.
'....I've overdone it.'
In my excitent, I overexerted my ntal energy. This was especially bad considering that I
had yet to recover from the fight.
In my excitent, I neglected myself. "Haa..."
I clenched my teeth.
The pain just refused to leave.
As I bit my lips, I felt sothing in my pocket. Fiddling with it for a few seconds, I pulled out
a small chocolate bar.
I stared at the chocolate bar for a few seconds before popping it into my mouth and chewing.
In that mont of pain, I forgot about all the hate that I had for sweets and savored the taste.
The pain started to subside, and I was able to finally breathe in peace.
Finally opening my eyes, I let out a long breath.
"Still too sweet."
But...
It wasn't too bad.
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