48th Day of Exios, 1682nd Year of the Expansion Era.

Zachariel woke up from a good night's sleep.

`I’m not having those strange dreams now. How weird.`

He didn’t understand why and stood up from his bed. Zachariel felt his entire body was stronger than yesterday.

`Hmm… so it’s still cultivating until now, huh?`

He stretched out his head and went to the window, taking a look outside.

`Ah, the warm light. And the sky.`

His red eyes stared at the scarlet-red sky above.

`I wonder what is up there that is so important to me…`

He didn’t take too much time thinking about it and turned around, preparing for the day.

…

“Hey, hey. Did you know? A senior student was said to be missing!”

“Again? Isn’t the number of missing cases too many in just a couple of days?”

“I know right? I already feel unsafe whenever I go outside even if the blackout is no longer here.”

“Didn’t you say these missing cases are related to those black figures or something? What about them? Do the guards know who they are?”

“The Imperium guards said they’re already investigating the case. That’s what my father said to me. As for the newly missing student, I heard them from our seniors as I walked down-”

Their discussion was cut off when they noticed Zachariel exiting his room.

“Oh look, there he is. That guy from yesterday in the public broadcast.”

“Is it really him? I feel bad for him. He lost his title as a Prospect candidate too soon.”

Many people laid their eyes on Zachariel after hearing the gossip. He was wearing the dark-blue long-sleeved shirt and brown leather pants that he and Lia bought the other day.

“Yeah, must suck so bad. Nah, let’s not disturb him. Come, I’ve some other stuff to tell.”

They continued their discussion but Zachariel became disinterested.

He exited the dormitory, carrying his spetum polearm. When he came back yesterday, the guards notified him that his weapon was stored in his room.

`Another dead student, huh? The Imperium really likes to cover things up.`, he commented.

Amelia, Sabrina, and his five classmates waited for him in the large pathway outside his dormitory building.

“Hmm? They’re not fighting?”, Zachariel murmured. He observed that Amelia was behaving, while Lia nervously stood beside them.

She was afraid that Amelia would attack her again.

Luiz waved his hands to Zachariel.

“Oh, Zachariel. Glad to see that your polearm is back!”

He laughed and begged, “Please, please, can I touch it? I’m not jealous, just so you say. I just want to have a look at it again!”

“Luiz, this is too heavy for you. I can’t help you about it if you get crushed while trying to hold it.”, Zachariel reminded.

Iria held her laughter inside after hearing Zachariel’s statement. Luiz noticed this and was angered.

“Woah, woah, woah. Calm down now Luiz.”, Teddy backed him down.

Amelia clung to Zachariel, “Brother, brother! Come, let’s go. I want to see you fight again, Hehehe.”

She giggled excitedly.

“Amelia, you have to wait. I’m going to train with them for a while before going in the arena to fight.”, Zachariel told her.

She was angered about this, pointing at Lia for something the girl didn’t even do.

“You-!”

Zachariel knocked her out, sighing in defeat, `Father, mother. Please help me about Amelia. I don’t want to do this all the time.`

“Sabrina, can you carry Amelia over your back?”, he requested.

Sabrina nodded.

The group sighed a relief when Amelia was put to sleep. They then exchanged a few greetings before departing to the public training area.

…

On their way, they noticed a gathering of commoners in the middle of a street.

“Listen, everyone! His Imperial Majesty has released a new Imperial Edict. Come over and listen to what I’m about to say!”, a male public speaker shouted.

The public was intrigued and many came over to listen.

“The entire McKenzie household is now exiled from the Great Human Imperium. They are labeled as criminals and scums in the eyes of His Imperial Majesty! Anyone who provides information about their whereabouts will receive a fruitful bounty directly from His Imperial Majesty!”

The crowd let out gasps of shock and disbelief, gossiping about the reasons why Emperor Marcus did such a thing.

“Senior Cody is exiled? Oh no, Zachariel, we need to do something about it!”, Sabrina asked for assistance.

“Sabrina, there’s nothing we can do with regards to senior Cody’s case. It’s not like I don’t want to help him, but we also have our own matters to take.”, Zachariel replied bluntly.

Sabrina wanted to retort but the speaker shouted again.

“Also, anyone who dares to protest or show signs of rebellious acts against His Imperial Majesty will be treated as traitors and publicly executed should they be caught in the act! This is a warning, my friends, to not go against His Imperial Majesty, for he is our sole guardian and…”

The speaker deviated from his ‘announcement’ and started to praise Emperor Marcus in front of everyone.

Many of them immediately lost interest and went back to their own business.

This included Zachariel and the group as well.

“Let’s go. We have no time for this nonsense.”, Zachariel coldly snorted.

…

“Hah!”, Teddy vertically slashed at Zachariel. Zachariel blocked it using his polearm.

‘Clang!’

Teddy hung in the air, while Luiz sneaked an attack below.

“Huuu!!!”

`Got you, finally!`, he thought.

Zachariel reacted by lowering his left hand. Teddy’s sword slid and he fell to the ground faster than he expected.

After that, Zachariel jumped and kicked Teddy in the face, evading Luiz’s attack at the same time. The polearm’s tip struck the ground and Zachariel floated in the air like a pole dancer.

He then gathered wind mana essence and propelled himself far away.

“Damn it, he got out again!”, Luiz cursed. Teddy laid on the ground, staggering to get up.

`Hmm… I can turn my mana essence into fire, dark or wind, but not the other elements.`, Zachariel realized the effects of the ‘Primal Mana Essence Escalation’ that the thing in his head told him.

`Maybe I need to absorb the other mana essences before I can use them firsthand.`

“Stop! It’s been two hours now, we’ll end it here!”, Iria shouted at them.

“Whaaa… So tiring.”, Luiz slumped on the ground. His body ached all over.

It was that challenging to train against Zachariel.

Sabrina was speechless on the sides.

`Is this what they call ‘training’? It’s basically an arena match!`

Amelia, however, stared coldly at Zachariel’s classmates. She woke up right when they entered the public training area. Her anger almost exploded after recollecting the events that transpired before she was knocked out.

Luckily, Zachariel was able to pacify her and convinced her that he would have to train with his classmates first before going to the arena.

“Amelia…”, Sabrina worried.

Zachariel stretched out after two hours of training with his classmates.

…

His classmates recovered at the same time he finished his set of stretching activities.

“Do you want to come over? I’m going for some arena matches later.”, he invited them.

“You’re still not tired after all the training?”, Luiz asked.

Zachariel nodded.

“But why though?”, Luiz could not keep the curiosity inside him.

“I just want to test my strength. Nothing else.”, Zachariel told them half the truth.

There were other things he wanted to test as well. Training with his classmates wouldn’t and didn’t allow him to do so.

Luiz sighed, waving his hands, “Okay, okay. I’ll go watch, I guess. I have nothing to do later anyway.”

“Count us in, Zachariel.”, Luka and Teddy stepped up.

Buvalu suddenly sprang from the back, “Arena match? Who? Let me see it, let me see it!”

“You idiot! It’s Zachariel. Learn to listen properly!”, Remko and Tony shouted at the same time.

“Okay, let’s go then.”, Zachariel led them.

…

“Wow, so this is the magic screen for picking opponents in the arena, huh?”

Luiz and the rest stared at it curiously, wondering how it worked. After browsing for a little while, Luiz noticed a peculiar thing about Zachariel’s opponents.

“Eh, Zachariel. Why are all your opponents at a very high level? They’re either gold or platinum-level. Isn’t it a bit unfair for a student like you?”

Zachariel was unbothered about it.

`Who’s this Trickster guy? Let me check it.`

[

Arena Callsign: Silver Trickster

---

Class: Elemental Mage

---

Age: 35 years old

---

Power-level: Middle Gold-level

---

Standing: 51W 55L 12D

---

Select as Opponent

---

Return

]

`Middle-gold, huh? I guess we could try it out.`

He selected him as the opponent.

It was the lowest-leveled fighter he found after checking out the opponent list on his magic screen.

“Eh, Silver Trickster?”, Sabrina recognized the name.

Zachariel looked at her, “Sabrina, you know this person?”

“Yeah, he’s the one who defeated Helena on her match days ago. He’s supposed to be a lower gold-level fighter.”, Sabrina explained.

“Lower gold-level to middle in just a few days.”, Zachariel murmured.

“Zachariel, you have to be careful against him. He’s a bit insidious and evil to his attacks. Just watch out during your fight, okay?”, Sabrina warned him.

An alert was sent on the magic screen.

[

Opponent accepted your invitation.

The match starts at 14:30.

Venue: Arena SE-1.

]

Zachariel looked at the time in the upper right corner, `14:15, huh?`

“I’ll be going now. See you.”, Zachariel bade goodbye.

“Uh, okay.”, Luiz replied.

“Brother Zachariel! Win the match!”, Amelia cheered for him.

Zachariel only waved his hands before going to the grook gathering point and went to Arena SE-1.

…

“Sir Maverick, Zachariel has a match scheduled for today.”, Blake called out to his boss.

“Now? Who’s the opponent?”

“Silver Trickster.”

“Oh, that slippery motherfucker. This'll be a good match. Turn that magic screen on, I want to see it.”, Maverick ordered.

…

Zachariel entered Arena SE-1.

“Hehe, another greenhorn about to be taught a lesson by that bastard.”

“Come, come. Let’s bet who will win!”

“The young boy.”

“Obviously, it’s that slippery bastard.”

The spectators had a heated discussion.

Zachariel stood at the other side of the arena platform which had an area of about 200 square meters.

A thin figure dressed in a silver mage robe called out to him, “Brat, you think you’re ready for me?”

He laughed.

His long black hair draped down on his face like that of a horse’, and his black eyes exuded malicious intentions as they stared at Zachariel.

“Did you know? I played along with some young girl a few days earlier! It was fun, though she was too unabashed so I couldn’t get the best performance. I hope you would be the loud one!”

He pointed his thin fingers at him.

‘Bang!’

‘Propulsion!’

Zachariel charged at his opponent.

“Hehe, good, good! Come to papa!”

Silver Trickster casted a spell, ‘Frozen Ground!’

The ground below Zachariel froze and reflected a clear image of the ceiling and his figure.

It was so quick that many thought Zachariel wouldn’t be able to react on time.

The opponent mage smirked, `Slide down, you fool! If you try to melt it, I’ll surprise you with another attack!`

Zachariel gathered his mana essence and turned it into fire. He then layered it in his feet, melting the ice below.

`There it is! Yes, do it! I’ll make you suffer after your so-called small victory!`

Zachariel stepped on the wet ground and stopped charging.

‘Blazing Terra.’

Fire mana essence erupted from his body, bursting outwards.

‘Whoosh!’

Some of the ice melted while the others sublimed.

The mage was caught in the blast radius as well, flying a few meters back due to the force.

`This brat! He dares to fuck with me?!`

He tried to attack Zachariel off-guard, but the latter vertically slashed his spetum polearm and struck the ground.

The ground cracked, while the water was swept out of the arena platform.

It surged towards the Imperium guards below but an array formation blocked it, pushing the water back.

Silver Trickster was dumbfounded as well, `He did two things at once?`

He only realized that a slashing wave was sent to him.

‘Shockwave!’

He pushed himself out of the way while nullifying the slashing wave.

‘Swoosh!’

The water was returning to the center of the arena platform.

`Good, it’s here! Multiple Water Serpents!`

Silver Trickster gathered additional water mana essence, before casting the spell.

Numerous serpents formed and stretched out, both from the water and from Silver Trickster, attacking Zachariel from different angles.

They were thick, long, fast, and intimidating to the eyes. Their water skin spun around their body like a devastating whirlpool.

‘Sprout, Growth, Vine Entanglement!’

He then performed successive spells. Large and thick bushy vines sprouted from the ground and entangled Zachariel, restricting his movements.

`If you dare to destroy those vines, those serpents will bite you and pressure you! If you dare to attack those serpents, I’ll electrify you to death!`, Silver Trickster was thrilled.

Victory was in sight and he longed for Zachariel’s shouts of pain and begging.

`And while you’re at it, I’ll-!?`

He had a backup plan if all of it failed, but he never thought Zachariel would do something unexpected.

‘Vortex!’

A strong sucking force suddenly acted upon him. He felt that someone pushed him on the back, but regained his bearing and tried to counteract the pulling force.

Unfortunately, the effect he was expecting did not go over.

`Wha-what is this?! My mana essences are being sucked dry too?!`, Silver Trickster was at a loss.

He also noticed that the serpents were writhing in pain as the spinning dark vortex that was Zachariel absorbed them to nothingness.

`He dares to cover his entire body with dark mana essence? Does he want to die?!`, Silver Trickster cursed.

What madman was he fighting today? At the very least, even the most insane opponent he had wasn’t as suicidal as Zachariel.

`Look, even the array formation is starting to get fucked! Shit, what kind of greenhorn is this?`

On the other hand, Zachariel felt bloated from absorbing the mana essences in his surroundings.

`I’m so full right now. Time to end this.`

He grabbed his spetum polearm and struck the ground with its blade tip. The ground shook as he gathered earth mana essence from his body towards the arena platform.

‘Crack!’

His muscles enlarged as he pulled out a huge lump of earth and threw it towards Silver Trickster. The earth mana essence prevented the lump from disintegrating into smaller pieces.

He then repeated it twice.

`Oh shit!`, Silver Trickster panicked.

His mana essence was running low. Defending against the incoming projectiles would put him in an exhausted state, something a mage didn’t want to suffer.

“I surrender!”

The moment he said those words, the lumps of earth shattered into pieces.

“Halt! The winner is Sentinel!”

The captain announced.

“Yeaahhh!!!!”

“Wooohhh!!!”

The spectators cheered and clapped their hands for Zachariel. It was an unbelievable performance shown by a greenhorn like him.

Those who won the bets had tears of joy in their face, while those who lost gritted their teeth in indignation.

`What Silver Trickster bullshit?! You got fucked yourself instead!`

…

Zachariel went down the platform and didn’t have the mood to stay any longer. The fight felt like a warm-up to him.

`Why do I feel like he wasn’t even gold-level at all?`

He wondered.

As he made his way back to where the rest was, somebody ran to him outside the arena.

“Luiz, why are you here? Shouldn’t you be with the others?”

Luiz had a panicked expression on his face.

“Zachariel, it’s bad. Your sister, Amelia! She’s been taken away by somebody!”