Northern took a deep breath and exhaled sharply. Everything was gone. His appetite. His will to eat. And before him lay the potential of a Supre delicacy, an unfathomable feast of the gods—if not for this… whatever in the shell of a noble scion had decided to interrupt him!
He inhaled sharply again, fixing a glare on Kaelan as he exhaled, this ti with deliberate control.
"So, in the end. The reason why you are here is because of your curiosity, isn't it?"
Kaelan froze, blinking at Northern as if he'd been caught stealing from a divine pantry. Then, he let out a wild, suspicious laugh—one that was jagged, unhinged, and maybe, just maybe, ant to cover sothing else.
Sadly for him, Northern saw through that flimsy shield effortlessly.
"What?! Curiosity? What kind of flimsy excuse—pfft, I'm talking about the next shape of history here! You—yes, you—could be the crux of an entire civilization to co! A living keystone, the bridge between what is and what should be! And all you have to do is take it. It's free! Nature's gift! Just reach out, seize it—sink your teeth in, devour it whole!"
His fist clenched as if he could physically grasp the abstract notion he'd just conjured. The last three words cracked like a whip from his mouth, his eyes burning with a manic spark of resolve.
Northern looked at him with a sincerely disturbed frown.
Then he sighed and shook his head.
"Don't worry about all that. Just get to the point, Kaelan. What do you actually want?"
Kaelan exhaled heavily, leaning back in his chair with a dramatic slump, like an actor who'd just been booed off stage.
"What a boring stick you are."
He clicked his tongue and raised an eyebrow, smirking.
"You. You're insane! The entire school is going absolutely bonkers over you! And not the fun kind of bonkers, no, I an full-on lunacy! As if clearing a rift in a day wasn't already an obscene flex, you just had to go and annihilate Uron. Uron, of all people!!"
"Uron?" Northern tilted his head slightly. "Who is that?"
Kaelan blinked. Stared. Then threw his hands up.
"The na of the guy you turned into a public spectacle! Really? You don't even know his na?! The prince of insects!"
Northern nodded slightly, nonchalant.
"Oh. Oh, I see now. He's another noble scion like you, isn't he?"
Kaelan shook his head, a half-smile stretching across his lips.
"I don't understand you. You don't know Uron Perecuey. Do you at least know the southern kingdom of Perecuey?"
Northern hesitated for a mont before answering evenly.
"The Central Plains have so many countries jamd together it's impossible to rember all of them. I know a few, though. Take Verulania, for example. And there's Reimgard."
Kaelan folded his arms.
"Who doesn't know Reimgard?"
He sighed, then leaned forward, gesturing vaguely as he explained.
"Perecuey, they call it the City of Insects. And Uron? He's its crown prince. A guy with a freakish connection to insect-type monsters, taming them like they're nothing. But it's more than just that—there's a nuance to his ability, sothing none of us can quite crack. It's not just control. People lose themselves when they go against him. Their will gets chewed up, digested, and spat back out as nothing more than submission. It's… unsettling. And that is why most of us pray we never have to go against him."
His lips quirked up, but sothing about the gesture lacked his usual bravado.
"Of course, there are exceptions. A few people can crush him, no problem. Take the student council president, for example."
His smile faltered a little bit.
"That woman… she's sothing else. A force that doesn't just move—she shatters whatever stands in her way."
Northern glanced down for a mont, rembering their first eting. Whether because she was truly capable or because he'd been distracted, she had miraculously bypassed his spatial awareness—sothing not easily done. Not to ntion, she was nimble, sharp, and carried a talent that seed deeply tied to light.
Ferocious. But in the end, talent abilities weren't about raw power. They were about how one wielded them.
And that… was a long, arduous ga. Even he was still learning.
Kaelan looked around, then at the watch on his wrist.
"Oh dear stars! I've been so engrossed in this delightful conversation that I completely forgot the contest is about to start!"
He shot to his feet, stretching like a man waking from a pleasant nap, then bead at Northern.
"It's going to be so much fun being your friend! My sister. Oh, she's been beside herself with admiration! Completely overwheld by your strength. And she thinks you're her destiny. And honestly? I almost feel the sa way! Just… in a very different direction."
His eyes glead mischievously.
"But worry not! I shall personally convey your lack of interest. Though… don't get your hopes up. She's tenacious. Unyielding. She might just—oh, I don't know—resort to extre asures to reshape… let's say, certain bodily factors to improve her chances."
He winked. A playful grin dancing on his lips before he turned away, waving over his shoulder.
Then he stopped.
And looked back.
The air shifted—cooled—the easy playfulness in his tone thinning into sothing sharper, sothing laced with purpose.
"Oh. I almost forgot."
His smile stretched, but this ti, it was sothing else. Sothing keen.
"If we do cross paths in the duel… please, go all out."
He tilted his head slightly, voice smooth, deliberate.
"I want to be the person who defeats you. Not half-heartedly."
With that, the Kejar scion walked off, hands slipping casually into his pockets, his figure blending into the shifting movent of the dining hall.
Northern sat there.
"All out…?"
He mouthed the words, letting them settle. Letting them dig into the marrow of his mind.
Him? Going all out?
Why should he? For what reason? The fate of the world was not at stake. There was nothing to gain—nothing to prove.
If he went all out…
The entire coliseum wouldn't survive it.
And the people within would die.
His expression darkened, sothing cold pooling in his chest.
A whisper of a thought brushed against his mind.
'Be careful what you wish for.'
This guy… Kaelan.
He had no idea what he was wishing for.
Power Ranking Monthly #35
Mar 21, 02:00 - Apr 1, 01:00
Mass release 10 chapters
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