Within the unfathomable depths, Margaret Ward walked into the main hall of the Abyss Prison. Draven Ciaran, the Warden of the Abyss Prison, was waiting for her in the center of the room.

"So you've given the book to the child?" Draven snapped his fingers, and a table appeared out of nowhere with freshly brewed tea.

"No tea for me, thank you. I passed the book to the boy. But I still don't think it is wise. Given time the boy could grow stronger normally."

"But you know we're running out of that time."

"Will he even be eligible to participate? His progress as an Exalt is even slower due to training in Reis." Margaret raised her brow. Draven seemed to have strange confidence in the student, Oscar.

"He'll make it in time. When that happens, he can fight and survive with Reis and Ein. I have to thank you for being patient. I cannot freely leave this place; I do not want to alarm anyone by using my powers to give it to him."

Margaret knew Draven was referring to a single individual, Elder Saul. From what she observed, Elde Saul had a liking for Oscar. That made his request to send Oscar to prison quite puzzling.

"What is the elder planning for Oscar? He guides the boy sometimes and makes idle chat." She crossed her arms in contemplation.

"It may be good for Oscar, or it may be bad. Nevertheless, he dislikes the fact I helped Oscar in prison." Draven was also in deep thought. The mystery of Saul was grating at his crazed mind.

"Remember, we can't tell the boy it was Elder Saul. He seems to prefer staying anonymous. We don't know how the elder would react." Margaret left with a final warning before departing.

The main hall fell silent as Draven picked up a cup of tea and drank it in one gulp. He stared in the direction of the coliseum as if he could see Oscar.

…….

Erik raised his fist, clashing against Oscar's sturdy buckler. However, contrary to his expectations, he could not force Oscar force but rather, his arm was slightly trembling from the collision.

"What kind of strength?" He stuttered in confusion.

He could not recollect himself as Oscar's deer anima stomped behind him, swinging its antlers forward.

'Stone Gaze'

Oscar locked eyes with the bewildered Erik. The short man trembled as he struggled to break free of Oscar's spell.

"I won't make it in time! If that's so, then…." Erik willed his Anima to split. One gauntlet shot straight to the deer anima and the other to Oscar's face.

Forced to block the incoming gauntlet, Oscar had to break the link of his 'Stone Gaze' while his deer whacked away at the other. This gave Erik the breathing room to fall back.

However, this retreat was not long. Erik brandished all his fists, including his Anima, at the ready. Flames burst out and enveloped the four gauntlets.

'Grade One Flaming Knuckles' was a spell that covered the wielder's fists in a torrent of fire. It was a perfect match for someone like Erik, who specializes in punches.

Oscar watched the bright balls of flames that were Erik's hands and gauntlet anima. It reminded him of the 'Grade Two Fists of Fury' that he witnessed before in the first lecture by Preceptor Frank.

It was because Erik's spell was a downgraded version of Frank's. A spell of a particular grade can be adjusted to be usable by lesser Exalts, resulting in a lower-grade version of itself.

The downgraded versions often lose some of the intrinsic qualities of the original spell. For example, Erik's 'Flaming Knuckles' were like he was lighting his hand on fire while Frank was collecting the flames into a molten layer on his skin.

Another example was Oscar's 'Steel Scales', which was derived from the 'Grade Two Silver Sheen' and the 'Grade Three Indestructible Gold'. That didn't mean once Oscar or Erik reached the Elite Exalt realm, they'd instantly be able to use the upgraded spell.

If the spells were properly recorded, purchasing them from the Archives and training on their added methods would be easier. Otherwise, they would have to figure out how to make adjustments and improvements to elevate it to a higher grade.

Even though they knew the original spell, improving it was still a task as hard as creating a new spell. Downgrading it was simpler.

The ideal would be to use spells derived from a Grade Five so that there were subsequent manuals up to the King Exalt realm. There were rumors that all spells in existence were derived from the unknown grade nine versions. But that was merely a legend.

Erik charged ahead and started a rush of flaming combos at Oscar. Right hook, uppercut, left straight, jab, jab—a neverending series of punches.

This barrage shocked Oscar. He was stunned by Erik's fluid motions. Sensing something incoming, Oscar ducked as a flaming gauntlet whizzed past from behind.

"He can even do unexpected combos from behind. I was wrong; it's not like normal punching. It can come from any angle thanks to his Anima." Oscar thought.

The barrage continued as Erik unleashed four punch combos. Oscar designated his deer anima to cover his back. With the link between their sights, Oscar was able to defend himself properly.

Hissssss

The constant exposure to the flames was slowly scorching Oscar's skin. But Oscar stood firm despite sweating from the rising heat.

Meanwhile, Erik was getting impatient; no matter what he did, Oscar would block or deter easily. Even though he was feinting and attacking from multiple directions, nothing worked.

"Is this guy playing with me? But this defense won't last long. I've noticed your weakness." Erik noticed how Oscar and his deer were moving in tandem, but only one was strong at a time.

During his defense, Oscar was switching whether he or his deer anima utilized the bulk of the Ein based on where the greatest threat was.

"Unlike my gauntlets, you can't control the Ein in yourself and your animal-type anima as freely. That will be your downfall." Erik smirked, deciding to end it now.

'Grade One Blazed Dash'

Oscar watched as Erik released a burst of flame that scorched the ground. This fierce blast turned Erik into a speeding bullet that charged at him like a raging bull.

The 'Blazed Dash' was a straightforward charge forward, supplemented by the boost of speed and power from the flames that shot out of the user's feet like an engine.

Erik was in the front with his two fists stretched outward while his Anima had split and was approaching from the sides. The Ein was powerful in all attacks. To let a single one through would spell trouble and bad burns.

"I guess it's time to end this." Oscar drew in a deep breath and stepped together with his deer anima, prompting Erik's confusion.

He matched movements with his Anima, gathering Ein on its antler and his buckler. Like the time with the Rainbow Didus, this was their combination attack to strike as one toward a target.

Together, they drew their antlers and buckler back and swung in a full circle. Their motion started from the left to the back to the right and finally to the front.

The powerful concentration of Ein and Oscar's Reis blew away the two gauntlet animas and clashed against Erik's super-dash-powered fists.

Erik was in disbelief as his fists were forced back, and he was sent flying, crashing into the other end of the room. Down on the floor, Erik could only groan in pain.

This was Oscar's most powerful blow that forced the Rainbow Didus to keel over in agony. An unprepared Erik would not be able to withstand it.

"Surrender?" Oscar walked over with his deer anima.

"I surrender!" Erik quickly propped himself up like a small bear trying to stand. His face was full of unwillingness. "You could have won from the very start! Why did you hold back like that?"

He realized it from Oscar's last attack that easily blew him away. Erik would have lost if Oscar had used that from the start rather than blocking attacks for a while.

Although he was a grade five, Oscar was stronger than him. This fact made Erik clench his fists, thinking about how he had been slacking.

"I recently drank a lot of Elixirs, so I needed to adjust myself. Also, I took this as training."

"Training?" Erik tilted his head. Was he just training material for this bastard?

"You must have noticed it during the battle. There are gaps and discrepancies in how I move with my Anima. I can only make one true attack at a time between us or attack together in one area. I need more experience."

"I noticed. That was why I tried to go for the three-way attack. That takes a lot out of me, so I wanted to settle it there." Erik removed his gauntlets and stowed them away.

"How were you able to control your gauntlets so well? Other people with armament-type animas don't have that same control." Oscar was curious. Even Emily could not control her staff as well as Erik.

"It was simpler because my Anima was a pair of gauntlets. I only had to think as if I had four arms. For something like Emily's staff, that's harder because it would be thinking of pretending to have another body to wield it." Erik casually mentioned Emily and her Anima as though it was natural.

Forgetting Erik's comment, Oscar pondered on his words. If that was the case, then it truly was a world of difference with animal-type animas. To effortlessly control what is pretty much another being rather than yourself was a tough task.

"Hey!" Erik grabbed Oscar's attention.

"What?"

Erik bowed and shouted sincerely, "I apologize for being rude to you, but I can see you're strong enough to be with her. Can you introduce me to Emily?"

"......." Oscar stared blankly at Erik. Was this person serious?

"I'm serious! It's so hard for me to approach her. So I thought if you could help me there." Erik's eyes shined with longing.

Oscar felt a headache and rubbed his brows, "I can't help you."

"Why not?!"

"If you want to talk to her. Do it yourself. Why would she waste time on someone who doesn't even dare to talk to her himself?" Oscar goaded.

"Guh!" Erik tensed up. He could not deny the truth in Oscar's words. Often he found himself unable even to step up to introduce himself.

"Proceed to the exits."

An announcement resounded through the room. Since their match was over, they were directed to the exits.

Oscar and Erik went to the newly opened exit door that led to the main hallway. All along the way, they were silent. Oscar didn't have much to say to Erik, who was still struggling over his indecisiveness.

"Oscar!"

Emily's cheerful voice called out to him. Erik stiffened up like a kid caught making trouble. Oscar turned casually to Emily while Erik nervously turned.

'Where is the bravado from earlier when he challenged me?' Oscar laughed inwardly.

"How was your match?" Emily asked. Her orange hair caught Erik's heart.

"I won. What about you?" Oscar smiled.

"Easy victory. My opponent is over there." Emily pointed at a haggard man who was stumbling. There were many bruises all over.

"You shouldn't torture your opponents that hard." Oscar felt sorry for the man and prayed for his speedy recovery. Emily's blows stung the longest.

"Huh? Who's this shorty?" Emily noticed Erik by Oscar's side.

"He was my opponent. He has an interesting style of fighting." Oscar didn't introduce Erik. He wanted to see if Erik would do it himself.

"Oh? How do you fight?" Emily was interested and asked.

"Ah..Ah.." Erik was unable to form any words as his red went bright red. He was like a read teddy bear.

"Hello?" Emily tried to snap Erik to reality.

"I'm sorry!" Erik ran off as fast as possible, away from Emily and Oscar.

Emily was left dumbfounded and turned to Oscar with a face, asking, what the hell?

Oscar could not stop himself from laughing. But he suddenly stopped.

RIIIINNNGGG

A loud pitched sound resounded in his head before complete silence. Oscar realized something was wrong and tried to clean his remaining ear, but he could not hear anything.

The footsteps of everyone around him were inaudible, the chatter of those around them became mute, and Emily's mouth was moving with no sound.

"I said! Do you want to fight more?!" Emily yelled out.

Sound returned to Oscar's world only to be drowned out by Emily's piercing voice.

"I don't see any reason to stop after one." Oscar put on a small smile.

As Emily moved ahead, Oscar rubbed his ear, wondering what the hell happened.