The day of the competition arrived.
Talented individuals gathered at the arena one after another. The stands were packed, filled with cheers and shouting as families called out to their children.
The clans sat separately.
Four major clans occupied the central viewing platforms, each surrounded by the smaller tribes under their authority. Bound by allegiance, they were seated together, distinct from the others, watching the arena with measured interest.
This was not just a competition.
It was an evaluation.
There were four main clans that governed the city's academies.
Tharos Clan
Vaelorn Clan
Cyrenth Clan
Dravik Clan
Each clan oversaw one of the four academies. All of them operated under the authority of the Great City Lord, who had yet to arrive.
There were five hundred students participating in the battle.Out of them, only one hundred would advance to the second round.
The City Lord, Lord Valyrex the Adept, would only appear during the second round.
And thus, the battles of the day began.
They weren't much of a spectacle. Many students surrendered the moment they recognized their opponents. Some fights happened, a few were intense enough to steal one's breath—but overall, nothing truly noteworthy.
The first round was strictly segregated by Aspect.Cognition faced cognition.Essence faced essence.
There was no crossing, no real danger, no true test.
Chronis emerged at the top of her Cognition class and secured a place among the Top 100. Alongside her, Serik, Mila, and Kael also advanced.
But this victory meant little.
They had only defeated those of their own Aspect.
The students who reached the Top 100 were rewarded with academy dormitories, each receiving a private room of their own.
The academy dormitories were not located within the academy grounds, but in a separate residential complex reserved exclusively for the Top 100 students.
These students were the ones clans would compete to recruit in the future, the seeds of power already being claimed in advance.
The second round would begin after a gap of a few days.
During this period, Chronis and Serik met up and spoke briefly.
Chronis told him about the elixir Cognition: Predictive Gale and the attack resource Blood of Wisdom. Serik listened, nodded, and shared his own intentions regarding the resources.
With nothing more to discuss, the two parted ways and returned to their respective dormitories.
The battle details for the second round were soon displayed.
Chronis was assigned an opponent from the Tharos Clan.Serik drew an orphan who wielded the Void Aspect.
Serik glanced at the name and spoke calmly,"Hmm. Void Aspect… this will be interesting."
Mila was matched against a Cognition Aspect user. Only two cognition students had entered the Top 100—Chronis, and this other student now standing in Mila's path.
Beyond that, one matchup drew far more attention than the rest.
Murmurs spread through the crowd as students whispered among themselves.
A clash between the top contenders of the great clans—
Aethon VaelornLyraen Cyrenth
Both were recognized geniuses, their names already circulating throughout the academies. Many believed they possessed greater potential than any of their peers, and their confrontation was expected to set the tone for the second round.
A few days passed, and the second round of the academy competition began.
A few battles passed in succession, one after another.
Before long, it was time for the match between Serik and the orphan of the Void Aspect.
Serik and the Void Aspect user entered the battlefield, and many eyes immediately turned toward them.
Serik's popularity drew attention—envy, hatred, admiration—all of it lingered in the air. What made it more striking was that both of them were orphans. Reaching the Top 100 without clan backing was considered extraordinarily difficult. With no parents to guide them and no private resources to rely on, they had only the academy's teachers.
And teachers, no matter how capable, could never devote themselves entirely to a single student.
Serik stood still.So did the Void user.
Nearly a minute passed.
The crowd began to murmur.
"Why is no one making a move?""What's happening? They're just staring at each other—""Look, the orphan moved!"
The Void Aspect user suddenly began to vanish. His aura thinned, fading layer by layer, until it dispersed entirely.
He was gone.
Serik didn't flinch.
But the crowd erupted.
"Invisibility—!""I know he's a Void user, but this is different…""He created that technique himself—amazing!""He completely erased his presence!"
Eyes widened as realization set in. This wasn't a borrowed art.It was his own creation.
Serik remained where he stood, calm and unmoving, observing.
He didn't panic. He didn't search blindly. He simply waited.
At the precise moment the Void user struck—his hidden attack finally revealing itself—Serik activated a Soul Defense technique. The assault didn't just fail.
It was repelled.
The void energy rebounded violently, crashing back into its owner. The orphan coughed blood, eyes widening in disbelief. It was a void-based poison attack, twisted and lethal—but it had been caught in soul-damage reversal.
The crowd exploded.
"He reflected it—!""That was his own technique!""He created that move himself!"
Even among geniuses, this was absurd.
Desperate, the Void user attempted to retreat, activating his mobility arts to create distance.
Useless.
Serik's Essence mobility surged. In a blink, he was already behind him.
Before the orphan could react, Serik unleashed a direct soul strike—clean, merciless, absolute.
The Void user collapsed.
Dead on the spot.
The arena fell silent.
"He… he—he died?""Serik killed him—what?""No way. Serik was always kind. I've spoken to him… he wasn't like this.""Why would he kill him?"
For a heartbeat, the arena was silent.
Then it erupted.
Some felt bitterness. Others pity—for the boy who had just died. Shock rippled through the stands, unable to reconcile the image they held of Serik with what they had just witnessed.
The girls who admired him saw something else entirely.
Mila stood frozen, her mouth slightly open, words refusing to come."Serik… why would… you do something like this…"
Somewhere in the crowd, Kael Tharos was shivering, teeth clenched tight.
"What kind of bloody monster… is this guy?"
Serik thought to himself, "Good. He was capable.Better to kill him now than let him become trouble in the future."
Without sparing the arena another glance, he turned and left the battlefield coldly.
Thoughts lingered heavily after the battle. It was the first match with a death, and the weight of it settled over the arena.
But attention soon shifted.
All eyes turned toward the next fight—
Aethon Vaelorn vs. Lyraen Cyrenth.
The clash everyone had been waiting for.
Voices rose from the crowd.
"Aethon Vaelorn is a Stellar Aspect user, whereas Lyraen Cyrenth uses Fire."
"I wonder how this fight will go…"
"Isn't the Cyrenth Clan's dominant Aspect Cinder?"
"But wait—doesn't the Vaelorn Clan mainly cultivate Water?"
"Then why is Aethon using the Stellar Aspect?"
"You fool," someone scoffed. "It's because Aethon's father discovered a rare Stellar elixir basin—one containing exceptionally pure Stellar resources. He forced Aethon down that path because of it."
Murmurs spread again, interest sharpening.