It was a new day, and as had beco the custom, the morning was inaugurated by the sound of thunderous detonations.
This ti, only Eric, Icard, and Alia remained standing in the sparring circle.
[Third Floor Access Confird]
[Skill Activation: Blue-white Edge]
’Another skill? Just how many has he tucked away?’ Katar wondered, his feline eyes narrowing as Icard lunged.
A frigid, blue-white aura shimred along the edges of Icard’s silhouette like a coat of frost.
He moved in for close-quarters combat, his hands held rigid and flat in a lethal chopping stance.
He brought a hand down in a blurring strike, but Katar vanished in a flicker of static, his body pulsing with a rhythmic electrical hum.
Simultaneously, Eric closed the gap, his fists roaring with fla.
Clamping his hands together, Eric swung them down with the force of a falling sledgehamr.
Katar bolted, the fiery impact shattering the ground where he had stood a microsecond before.
Then suddenly, a sphere of concentrated erald energy shrieked through the air.
Katar leaped to evade it, but the attack didn’t just dissipate. The ground where it landed cracked, the green aura clinging to the earth like a living stain.
Alia tightened her grip in the air, her face contorted with effort as she crushed the very ground into dust.
Then the green aura bled outward, racing toward Katar’s landing point.
"Hollow!" she scread, her voice cracking as the energy spread beneath Katar’s paws.
"Swamp Trap!"
Vines of light, like tiny, desperate hands, erupted from the soil to snatch at Katar before he could rebound.
"Tch," the cat clicked his tongue. Her hold was surprisingly iron-clad.
’This little brat... she’s been hiding this much potential behind her laziness all this ti’
Katar had always known Alia’s space was potent, but this was different.
Her force was raw, suffocating, almost like ancient witchcraft.
Caught in the snare, he was pinned against the earth by an invisible, crushing weight.
Alia did not let up.
Tears pricked her eyes, her body trembling from the strain, but the fear of Katar’s legendary "redial punishnts", of which she had received the lion’s share, pushed her past her limits.
Icard and Eric seized the opening. Icard’s Blue-white Edge humd as he chopped downward, while Eric’s enflad fists trailed streaks of fire.
Seeing them converge, Katar allowed a small, thrilled smile to ghost across his feline face.
’These brats... this was definitely the right choice.’
Energy surged from his body as his entire form transitioned into pure, blinding plasma.
Before their strikes could land, a catastrophic lightning explosion erupted.
From a distance, the blast was visible as a pillar of white light, sending flocks of birds screaming into the sky from the surrounding ruins.
Once again, they had failed to bring him down. Not that it was ever truly possible at their stage right now.
As the dust settled, Eric and Icard lay face-down, their muscles twitching with residual electricity.
Alia was the last one standing, panting heavily as she tried to force her leaden limbs toward Katar once more.
She was determined to be the last man standing, but Katar appeared before her in a flash, delivering a sharp static shock that made her scream and sent her collapsing into the dirt.
"Congratulations," Katar announced.
"You’ve all officially graduated from being ’utter piles of trash’ to... ’slightly higher-quality piles of trash.’"
Icard groaned, weakly pushing himself onto his elbows. He wasn’t entirely spent, but he was close.
Katar observed him for a long mont.
"I would have preferred you use those skills you showcased against the Chieftain and Teleth’s brat," Katar said.
"But you claim you need ’special permission’ from your keeper to use them."
’That was the best lie I could co up with on the fly,’ Icard thought, his chest heaving. ’And also, gloom frost wouldn’t even work on him’.
"It seems you can still move," Katar noted.
"Rest for now. We continue in a few hours. You’ve made progress, your mana pools have widened slightly, but more importantly, your instincts have sharpened. Your chances of survival are up by at least a fraction."
A collective sigh of relief swept through the group.
"By now, you should understand the rhythm of your mana recovery," Katar added, walking toward a jagged pile of masonry to overlook the training ground.
"Knowledge of your own limits is the only thing that keeps you breathing in a real fight."
They had chosen this spot, a desolate stretch of crumbling concrete and rusted rebar, specifically because it was far enough from their residential streets to avoid destroying their ho.
Matt and Reya, who had been knocked out earlier, watched from the sidelines.
Matt lay on his back, staring at the bruised hues of the ruined sky, when he spotted a figure approaching.
"Soone’s coming," he muttered.
The newcor wore a crisp, utilitarian uniform, an official attire of the unit under Albert.
He looked exhausted, like a man who had spent the entire day running errands through the rubble.
"Good day," the ssenger said, wiping sweat from his brow. He looked at Eric. "You’re Icard, right?"
"No, I am Icard," Katar interrupted, giving the man a look that clearly suggested he was an idiot.
"Ehh? I thought Icard was supposed to be..."
"What do you want?" Katar snapped.
"Right, sorry," the ssenger straightened his posture. "I have a ssage from the Guild Union Chairman."
"Chairman? Since when do we have one of those?" Matt asked.
"Chairman Maxwell," the ssenger corrected.
"There is an urgent summons for all affiliated raid party representatives and their Erwalds later today. I was sent to deliver the notice."
’A summons?’ Icard’s brow furrowed.
He searched his mory of his "previous turn," but he couldn’t recall a eting like this.
If it had been a major event, it should have been etched in his mind.
[Perhaps It Didn’t Happen Last Ti. I Don’t See Any mory Of It.] Alyxara’s panel appeared.
’Are you seriously watching my life like a movie?’ Icard shot back ntally.
[Does It Matteeeer? -Giggles-]
Icard brushed her off. If this was a new developnt, it was all the more reason to go.
"We’re not interested. Get lost," Katar blurted.
The ssenger’s eyes widened. "But... you agreed to the affiliation! You can’t just ignore a direct summons from the Union!"
’Oh! We weren’t registered last ti. That’s why I got no mory of this’ he thought in realisation.
"Katar, we should go," Icard intervened, running a hand through his hair. "It might be important if he’s calling everyone."
Katar harrumphed, clearly displeased, but Icard could tell the cat was just looking for a reason to disagree since he hated congregations like this.
"Fine. Whatever," Katar sighed.
"Only the raid group representative needs to attend," the ssenger added quickly.
"Icard should do it," Matt said instantly, pointing a finger at him.
"?"
"Yeah," Reya agreed. "You’re the only one who actually knows what he’s doing. You’re our rep."
Icard realized then that in this turn of events, the leadership dynamic had shifted. It wasn’t Reya standing at the front anymore. It was him.
Icard breathed out calmly.
As evening bled into the sky, the eting convened in the space before the mayor’s office.
Roughly forty incarnations and their Erwalds were present, representing the elite of the registered raid parties.
Liam and Redd were visible in separate corners, their presence drawing wary glances from others.
Icard arrived late, with Katar straggling behind, his tail twitching as he scanned the room with sharp eyes.
The air was thick with a prickly, awkward tension.
These were leaders used to their own independence, and the forced proximity made the atmosphere feel like a powder keg.
"Do they think we have nothing better to do?" one man grumbled loudly. "Who do they think they are, making us wait?"
A murmur of agreent began to ripple through the crowd, but it was silenced instantly by a heavy, suffocating presence.
Albert stepped into the plaza, his sheer aura acting like a physical weight that pressed down on the dissenters.
He was followed closely by Maxwell and Ixie, together with dark-haired Margaret, with her ssy hair and saggy lens.
The order was restored in a heartbeat.
"I deeply apologize for the wait," Maxwell said, his voice steady and commanding.
"Please, let us comnce this eting imdiately."
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