harles wiped the blood from his lips; the blood on his hands shook him to his core. Oscar's power was beyond his expectations, even though it was only a Grade Four deer anima. Bouts of pain reverberated through his body like a pulsating ache, making his hands tremble. 'What kind of strength was this? This pain can't be from just a spell and anima combination.'

He stared forward in unwillingness, only to see Oscar rushing toward him but without his deer anima. Charles grunted, understanding Oscar's purpose, and regained composure, twirling around his dual blade; his amphiptere anima stayed by the side because this was a clash of weapons. While Oscar's unusual combination attack was surprising, Charles held faith in his martial prowess and went out to meet Oscar.

"How surprising. That last collision by Oscar was reckless, trying to match his Grade Four anima against Charles' Grade Eight." Eleanor remarked.

"True, Oscar's anima took more damage." Celestina eyed the deer with no antlers, which were recovering, and the cracked tail of the amphiptere. "But Charles lost out against Oscar."

"Indeed, his power overwhelmed Charles to such a degree. But now they're going to fight hand to hand." Eleanor crossed her arms. "Who do you think will win out on this? Combat isn't just one big blow. Charles is very talented with his dual blade."

"No contest." Celestina smiled. Oscar had been trained in combat by the maddened Warden of the Abyss Prison, progressing in Reis and Prinstyct. There was no doubt in her mind that Oscar was the superior warrior.

"For who?" Eleanor didn't know who Celestina was referring to.

With their animas staying idle at the sidelines, Oscar and Charles engaged in fierce melee combat.

Oscar turned off his Prinstyct. Although it would have been an easy victory with it, he wanted to see how his training matched up against a genius of a younger generation without the use of predictive powers. Relying solely on his instinct and martial ability, Oscar blocked, dodged, and countered Charles' strange fighting style.

The young prince's mastery of the dual blade made him a competent opponent. He would enact a motion one way, but it was a trap to set up for the secondary blade. His hands moved freely like the wind, and his body moved flexibly with the dual blade.

Many strikes like heavy rain hounded Oscar; a few cuts landed here or there, but nothing too serious of an injury. Oscar smiled like a ferocious predator, increasing the power of his blows by continually taking in the Reis from Charle's blows.

'Flowing Mountain'

Ever since picking up Adamasreis, he's had few opportunities to use this redirection technique which took the Reis of an opponent's attack and added it to his own to rebound in a counterblow. The 'Shattering Wave' had been his staple, but Reis wasn't so shallow to let techniques wither away as he progressed. Oscar's blows became heavier, clashing against Charles' dual blade with the loud clanging of metal.

'What the hell is this?' Charles felt Oscar's attacks, which were already insanely powerful, become even more so. His hands continued to tremble as they became numb from the several exchanges he made with Oscar. His eyes couldn't help but reveal the confusion brewing inside him. 'How are his attacks getting more powerful? We're using Ein in our attacks, but he hasn't inputted more. But even more surprising is his movements. I can't get a good footing around him, and he's disrupted the flow of my attacks many times.'

Gritting his teeth, Charles put more effort into the focal points of his attacks. The Ein concentrated well on the spots he would attack or defend with, showcasing his incredible control.

Oscar was not shocked at Charles' sudden control. He knew there was no way a prince would be a brute who tried to overwhelm him; how he handled his dual blade showed his discipline. With Charles' finer control of Ein, Oscar found himself in a stalemate.

Although he could put in more Reis or use 'Shattering Wave' to break the balance, he decided not to shatter Charles completely. Oscar could tell from how Charles controlled the Ein that he was using 'Ein Awaken' in small intervals. Leave it to the royal family to induct their Grade Eight children into 'Ein Awaken' early.

'If I go overboard, he might suffer some backlash.' Oscar swung his buckler multiple times, causing Charles to groan from the weight of his blows. 'Then let's finish this.'

Oscar activated his Prinstyct. The indifferent third eye opened with majesty and an aura of holiness. The world distorted, and Oscar could see the ripples of intent from Charles's body.

'Swing into the second blade.' Oscar blocked.

'Combination of continuous right and left haymakers with blades' Oscar swung his buckler from side to side.

'Stab, no, wait; it's a fake into an upward swing from below.' Oscar stopped before the fake stab, followed by a swing from the second blade.

With the Prinstyct, Oscar no longer took any small cuts or slashes from Charles. He took control of the fight, forcing Charles to retreat step by step. Foreseeing a chance, Oscar stepped in fast, bringing himself close to Charles' chest, and rammed his shoulder into him.

"Guh!" Charles was slammed right into his chest, forcing the air out of his lungs. Charles tumbled to the floor, grasping his chest and gasping for air. 'How is he suddenly so untouchable? It's like he knows everything I'm about to do.'

Oscar didn't feel great using the Prinstyct to bully someone younger than him, but other options would significantly damage Charles. Bullying the prince when they had just met was in poor taste. Oscar stepped to Charles, who quickly rebounded and swung around to deter Oscar away.

"Your skills are amazing." Charles complimented Oscar. But his eyes showed a deep desire to win. "I hate losing to anyone other than my sister. So, I'll make this more interesting."

His amphiptere anima flew over and picked up Charles, putting him atop its scaly head. It flew around and beat its wings, blowing gusts of wind around the room; its tail whipped around and suddenly swung toward Oscar.

'Damn.' Oscar quickly blocked the anima's tail with much of his power. The amphiptere's actions could not be seen in his Pristyct; whether Charles knew that or not was irrelevant. Perhaps his instincts led him to make the correct decision.

Oscar felt the power of the anima tail and used 'Flowing Mountain' to redirect some of it to the floor, ruining his shoes. The power of a Grade Eight Anima was truly different from his own. If it were a lower grade, it would probably be smaller, unable to carry Charles, and not as powerful with its wings and tail.

Oscar gave chase to Charles while riding his deer anima, but the amphiptere anima swished and flew around with its flexible body, evading his attempts to catch it. Oscar felt slightly irked as it beat its wings and swung its tail, inducing more painful blocks from oscar. At this rate, he was going to be dragged around senselessly.

His body was already run ragged by the constant harassment of the amphiptere anima.

He tried to get a look at Charles to try to use 'Stone Gaze', but the young prince was too far. A hint of regret welled up an Oscar for his lack of ranged attacks other than his buckler, which would be pointless here because he had to block the rampaging tail while giving chase. He swore to learn a ranged spell for his next one, or he'd face more situations like this.

"Only one option." Oscar patted his deer anima and got up on its antlers. His deer anima launched him like a spear throw with its antlers. Oscar flew across the air, getting closer to Charles, who looked shaken.

'Shattering Wave'

'Steel Drill'

Oscar met against the great maw of the amphiptere anima and stabbed his drill into its throat, sending the 'Shattering Wave' forth to crack it all over.

Charles coughed out more blood and fell off his anima. Oscar's deer anima caught him just in time.

"The winner is Oscar," Phillip announced to the surprise of Eleanor. Celestina looked as though this was the expected result.

"I can't believe it." Eleanor ran up to Charles and Oscar. "Who would have thought you were this strong?"

"Told you. No contest." Celestina puffed her cheeks, looking proud.

Charles coughed and got off the deer anima. He walked up to Oscar and said, "I accept my defeat. You are a fine warrior."

Oscar bowed. "I'm only a Grade Four, so this is a hollow victory. Soon enough, you'll progress faster than me and go beyond me. You'll enter the Elite Exalt realm before I do. Though I'd say, I'm stronger when it comes to fighting against others on my level."

"That doesn't piss you off? To know lots of others will pass you by?" Charles blinked in confusion at how Oscar could so casually declare his own shortcoming.

"I'll take longer, maybe decades longer for higher realms, but even if I'm last, if I still get across the finish line, that's worth something. Though, I am in a bit of a rush because of the Ashen Grove." Oscar remarked with a weak smile.

"Hahahaha!" Charles laughed heartily. "You're an interesting guy! But I know for sure you're not a bad person. You're right, so what if I become a King Exalt in, say, 200 years? If you make it in 400 years, and I'm stuck at the wall, and we fight again, I'll lose like today. Though do you know what the finish line is?"

"The wall?" Oscar's interest was piqued.

"Ok." Celestina clapped her hands to get their attention. "I presume with this, there are no problems with Oscar. Eleanor and Charles?"

Eleanor shook her head. "I see no problems. He's a trustworthy person."

Charles smiled. "None from me. I want to spar more."

"Then, let us say again." Celestina smiled. "Welcome, Oscar, to the Inner Hall."

The rest of the morning was filled with laughter as Oscar got to speak with the others and learn more about them. Eleanor was in the same year as him, but she remained lowkey until passing the Inner Hall exam a while ago. That was why he didn't hear about her.

Celestina was particularly interested in Oscar's regrown ear, and he simply said it was Elder Saul's doing, which made her clam up.

As they exited, Charles stuck to Oscar, wanting some tips on fighting. Celestina sighed at this, but she had something to do and left. Eleanor and Phillip went with her.

"How about we spar tomorrow? Even if I can't learn Reis because my family would probably go crazy if I did, your techniques and movements are still something to learn from." Charles followed Oscar as they moved down the mountain of training rooms.

"Sure, I need more experience in fighting higher-grade animas." Oscar smiled. After the spar, Charles had a good impression of Oscar and stuck to him like glue with requests to fight. Oscar wasn't annoyed but welcomed a new enthusiastic junior much like William from the Foundry.

'I should also go to the Foundry tomorrow.' Oscar thought. But he suddenly stopped, staring blankly at the figure, who just came out of one of the rooms.

She had a bed of scarlet hair that ran down her long neck. Her scarlet eyes were like rubies, shining even in the morning. Her beauty enamored many; even other girls would look at her in awe.

But Oscar sighed instead of being drawn in by her beauty, which he had gotten used to for a while.

"Isabella."

"Oscar?"