Bang-!

Clang-!

Sparks flew in the air as a sword clashed against bullets.

The force behind the shots was enough to push Leon by a few feet.

"Urgg.."

Leon groaned. He could understand that rubber bullets packed such strength because of their velocity, but not how they were so hard.

Slashing at them made Leon think he was slashing at a hard metal.

"Should we stop? You look tired~"

Lilith teased Leon from the other end of the arena. In her hands were a pair of shotguns.

Swoosh-

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Without responding, Leon dashed toward her.

"Kyaa! Aren"t you being too aggressive?"

Bang-! Bang-!

Lilith quickly backed away and shot at Leon.

Hearing the sound, Leon didn"t think twice before falling to the ground and rolling to avoid the bullets.

Dozens of pellets pa.s.sed over his head as he was rolling.

When the last bullet was over his head, he jumped to his feet.

Bang-!

Unfortunately for him, Lilith was waiting for this chance.

With his body in mid-air, Leon looked at Lilith from the corner of his eyes. The bullets were made of rubber, but the speed at which they were fired made them very painful to bear with one"s body.

Leon had been experiencing that same pain for the last week.

Clenching his jaw, Leon twisted his body and slashed at the nearest pellet.

Clang-!

A metallic sound rang as Leon re-directed one pellet.

But it was only one pellet.

Fwosh-

Dozens of pellets were still moving toward him.

"Not yet!"

Leon gritted his teeth and tried to attack.

Thuck-! Thuck-!

Two pellets dug into his skin followed by many more.

Crackle-! Crackle-!

Leon was about to pa.s.s out from his injuries when suddenly golden lightning shot from his body.

His pupils dilated, blood flow increased, and his mind became strangely clear. The world at which Leon looked slowed to a halt.

,m Turning his head, Leon looked at the pellets, which were frozen in the air.

He grinned as he saw the golden lighting.

He finally succeeded in consciously activating his stigma!

Looking ahead, Leon raised his sword above his head.

"Dodge"

Leon mouthed to Lilith. He hoped that she was able to follow his speed and will dodge his next attack.

Then Leon for the first time used his variant sword style in Ward.

"Seventh form: Deadline."

Leon slashed his sword downward.

Swish-!

***

Bright sunlight seeped through the window, illuminating the youth sitting in the middle of the room.

One can see three scars on his upper naked body. His raven black hair stuck to his forehead from the excessive sweat.

It had been three days since Nathan had started his breakthrough. Unlike what he had imagined, it was a lot harder.

To break through to the next rank, not only did he have to compress and purify his core, but his left hand was constantly thwarting his attempts.

Nether is the direct ant.i.thesis of Aether.

Nathan"s core was formed from Ether, the energy which is the closest to Aether, the nature"s energy.

Whenever Nathan attempted to purify Ether, the wisps of Nether would react and start clashing. This was why Nathan hadn"t succeeded in his breakthrough.

But Nathan wasn"t disheartened. For the past days, he had been constantly trying to circulate Ether without touching Nether in his body, and finally, he was about to succeed.

Unknown to him, Nathan"s control over Ether and Nether had increased many folds during the past three days.

Meow

A black fur ball lying on the bed meowed as it sensed the change in Nathan"s energy.

Jumping on its foot, it stared at Nathan"s core while licking its paw.

Nathan"s hairs flailed wildly as the air inside the room stirred with him as the center.

Woosh-

Suddenly, a small gust of wind expanded outwards from Nathan.

The energy around his body was different from how it used to be.

Nathan had broken to Iota-rank!

"Huuu…"

Releasing a deep breath, Nathan slowly opened his eyes.

A pair of cold, emotionless eyes greeted the world. The dull eyes glanced around the room and stopped at the cat.

Flinch-

The cat flinched as it saw Nathan"s eyes.

The Nathan who always complained yet smiled wasn"t there. In his place was someone who had grown bored of the world.

It was as if that impa.s.sionate gaze had witnessed everything this world as to offer.

"Are you still here?"

Nathan spoke to the cat. He wasn"t sure how much time had pa.s.sed since he started his breakthrough.

The cat blinked when Nathan. His gaze was back to how it always was and he was back to his old self.

Questioning if what it saw was real, the cat jumped on Nathan.

Nathan tilted his head at the cat"s strange actions. Did something happen when he was making the breakthrough?

Shaking his head, Nathan stood up. Whatever it was, it could wait.

He was more excited about his breakthrough!

Nathan quickly wanted to see what had changed after reaching Iota rank.

Feeling the energy traveling through his body, Nathan punched the air.

-Bang!

A small ring of wind exploded as he punched with all his might.

Feeling enthusiastic, Nathan used his art.

Phzzzt-

A static sound echoed through the room, and Nathan smiled.

Behind him were 8 weapons floating.

The numbers were the same as before. But constructing them was a lot easier and faster!

"Should I go to a dungeon?"

Nathan spoke like an excited child.

He wanted to test his newfound strength and gauge his fighting capability as soon as possible.

He would have done so in training rooms in Ward if not for the low-rank cadets" training facilities being monitored. This was even more so, as Lilith was now training there.

"Let"s check the da-"

-Thud!

Suddenly, Nathan"s body stiffened, and he fell onto the floor.

Sizzle-

A sizzling sound started coming out from his left hand, along with wisps of black smoke.

The sound slowly increased, but Nathan"s body didn"t budge, almost as if it was a statue.

His eyes started becoming bloodshot, and sweat profusely gushed from his body like a waterfall.

Despite these things happening to him, his breathing was slowing down.

The muscles on his left hand began wriggling as the sizzling sound continued.

Nathan couldn"t move, nor could he ask for help.

The pain he was feeling couldn"t be described in words. Only pure whiteness filled his mind. He wanted to shout at the top of his lungs and ask for help.

Meow!

The last thing Nathan heard before losing consciousness was a familiar cry.

***

"Monster"

Lilith punched Leon"s shoulder while grumbling. Staring at the sight in front of her, she was still stupefied.

A 3 feet deep gash was running from the middle of the arena to its edge.

Unlike what Leon had used with Nathan, the attack he used with Lilith was the true Variant-Genisis Sword style that his master created for him.

Leon clenched his fist as he remembered the sensation of using his sword art with his stigma. Now he was sure that what he felt while fighting with the Royal Demon wasn"t wrong.

He finally understood why he had never been able to use the fifth movement, or anything above, for that matter.

"My art is supposed to work with my stigma."

After unlocking his stigma, Leon could feel it. If he gave his all, he might be able to execute the fifth movement.

"But when did master see my stigma for her to base the art on it? She should never have seen it. Even I only saw it once before."

Leon mumbled to himself.

"Leon, what is your stigma?"

Leon didn"t know how to answer that question. He wasn"t sure what his stigma did.

Not to mention, now he could see his physique: War G.o.d Physique in the status window. Though truth be told, he had no idea what it did, either.

Moreover, the strength he displayed in his last was also because of his sword art.

But he couldn"t tell that either. Any sword art above Grade 3 was too precious.

He was about to make an excuse when he felt something behind him.

Meow!

A black cat with red eyes was urgently staring at them.

Before Lilith or Leon could even speak anything, the cat bit Leon and started pulling him.

"What is it doing?"

Sadly, for the cat, it was too weak to pull Leon. Realizing that its efforts were futile, it stopped pulling Leon.

Racking its brain, the cat tried to think of another method.

"She wants you to follow her."

Leon turned his head and looked at the silver-haired beauty that spoke. She had been coming to this training ground since the weekend.

When Lilith asked why she was there. The silver-haired girl answered that she was here to meet someone she had called.

Though n.o.body came to meet her. If anything, all the cadets stopped coming to this training center.

The glare Rank 1 gave them sent shivers down their spine.

With every day that pa.s.sed, her expression was growing colder and colder.

"Does it?"

Though Leon said so, he stood up and started following the cat. For some reason, he started feeling a sense of premonition.

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