Uprising

   "Who do you think is going to win the match?"

    The person asking me this question is none other than Belitha, we were both watching the proceedings of the match Rosemarie took part in.

I planned on talking about who'd win between Rose and her opponent but it was very obvious who the winner would be.

Training had become frequent, everyone tried to make their way into the rookie bracket by first passing through the prelims.

I didn't plan on participating so it gave me the chance to catch a break and work on developing my power.

    It's been four days since my encounter and farewell with Perses now I had set my sights on leveling up.

I acquired serious amount of magic skills within the Arcadian dungeon and as such I had become a regular there.

I trained there so much the monsters had come to fear me. Kind of a let down honestly.

While I pondered, Rose had already won her battle. She'd been taken all her fights too seriously as of recent.

But I've been analyzing all said fights and I'd already learnt a lot.

Her magic assembly rate and accuracy was on another level. Basing that on her overall power she always had the best chance of victory.

"Nyx? Helloooo...?"

    Belitha snapped her finger several times to catch my attention. I'd spaced out again.

"Oh? Yeah? What's up...?"

"You spaced out again.." she said.

"Yeah, I guess I did.."

That's been happening a lot recently. Having smiled at Belitha, I checked the status of Rose's battle.

Her opponent was on the floor while she walked away.

'Well that's a bit rude..' I thought.

It was so unlike her. Using six seconds to take down her opponent was somewhat insulting. Something she rarely ever did.

The victory was obvious but looking at her face, I doubted that's what she was concerned about. She acted like this was a mundane task.

    At that same time Rose had a flashback, her father told her "You are the eldest of the Lunette house, the leader of the three great houses. Fight like you never have before, I will not endure a loss from the members of the Zelgrydn family, failure is not an option.." she bowed to her father's rear, he hadn't even faced her to relay this message, instead, focused on his documents.

"I know... Father.." she muttered.

"Hm.." I could easily pick up her words from where I stood, thanks to [Enhanced Hearing].

    Some few hours later, I had tea in the social affairs department with Grendeeny Steiner and Luciana Griffiths.

They told me of a friend Rose once had.

"Eunice Zelgrydn?" I reinquired to be sure I'd heard the name right.

"Yes. Eunice has already been selected as on of Verox's representatives." said Grendeeny.

I was surprised another academy had already made their selection so fast.

"Yes, as at last week.." said Luciana, she was actually the one who'd heard the news and passed it on to Grendeeny.

"Eunice... how strong is she?"

Grendeeny confirmed that she was indeed strong but she didn't tell me to what capacity, hence, I could not make any assumptions yet.

"Both come from noble families and all... In terms of raw talent I'd give it to Rosemarie, but Eunice outclasses anyone in combat, possibly even I."

For Grendeeny to give this girl such praise meant she was a force to be reckoned with.

'I mean, she wouldn't last a second against me, but that's not the point..' I bragged in my thoughts.

"Is she really that strong?" I found it a hard topic to part with.

"She's a formidable opponent, but I know Rose will give her a good battle."

Grendeeny also seemed sure about Rose fighting well, but not so sure on her chances of success.

"In any case, Miss Grendeeny is going to take the first place by a huge margin, just like last year!" Luciana expressed her thoughts verbally.

"I have no doubt in my mind.." I replied.

"You guys stop it... I don't think all this praise is necessary.." the lady of the moment uttered.

     My day was a busy one going back and forth.

Most of the class had made their way west of the Larzack forest to train. That was the most isolated portion of the forest and was also bordering an abandoned village.

While some decided to focus on practicing so as to secure a spot in the rookie bracket, I paid a visit to the dungeon where Perses had been sealed.

I wanted to test out my new unique skill.

"Now to test it out.."

[Composite] was something I acquired from Grendeeny and I decided to try it where no one was present.

Her unique skill uses the concept of combination and division used to splice different skills together, allowing them to develop and become something new.

In this case, Grendeeny was able to use this concept to evolve her skill set and gain a lot of new abilities.

This was a powerful tool that could be used to increase someone's knowledge and capabilities.

[--Unique Skill: Oracle Engine--]

Activating...

[--Oracle Engine: Accessing Unique Skill ---> Composite--]

Processing...

[--Composite Active--]

[--"Fire Manipulation" + "Dark Magicubes"--]

Processing... 80%... 90%... 100%...

[--Generate Thermal Element: "Apocalyptic Flame Control"--]

"Woaaahh... sick flames."

A tempest of black flames encircled me, their presence commanded power and that much, was obvious.

I was surprised that the dark magicubes stored in my body after engaging the reprocessing function on Perses would grant me the ability to use a new level of fire magic.

Honestly, I was amazed, my facial expression said it all, "How cool is this?"

I asked no one in particular, but Scentia took it upon herself to give an acceptable answer.

[>> "It is an additional skill '--Apocalyptic Flame Control--' acquired from dark magicubes in conjunction with fire manipulation, spawn of the unique skill '--composite--' it deals more than normal damage to demons and spirits alike. Listed as a Tier A+ skill <<]

"Do black flames even exist?"

I was unsure whether I would need to use such a power on school grounds, it seemed lackluster.

I couldn't risk even using this spell in the heat of battle, it could cause serious damage.

"I'd never be able to forgive myself if it hurt someone.."

So I made a request of Scentia.

"Scentia, can you lock access to apocalyptic flame control?"

[>> Affirmative <<]

My access to the skill was restricted this resulted in the flames vanishing completely.

Still though, I only have this ability because of Perses, frankly speaking, I actually miss him.

"Really funny guy.." I chuckled, "I wonder if he'd like Belitha... she's such an angel... Perses could.." I stroked my chin.

We may not have known each other for long but it's hard to come across people who trust you completely in such a short period of time.

If he could completely place his trust in me, this meant I not only had a duty to myself but also to him.

I stood there in silence as I stared at my reflection on the water surface.

"Seems I'm having a good hairday.."

There was more peace in the dungeon these days, and the fact that the monsters no longer tried to attack me made it more of a place to think than to explore.

...

In the deeper regions of Belmund mountains, through the cavernous reaches of the land, a young lady made her way into the said cavern of darkness.

She wore a long black hooded-cloak, nonetheless her hair was exposed, she was a brunette.

She'd gone to visit a man sat at the "ends" of this never-ending darkness.

Said individual wore a tattered cloak and his face was masked by his integral hood, casting darkness over his countenance.

His hand was the only exposed part of his body. Tribal tattoos were inscribed on it and his blistered legs were without footwear.

"It's a surprise that you agreed to have this meeting. I can assume we are prepared for the next phase? Zaratros?"

The figure hadn't given a response to the lady whose name was Vania Croft.

He was silent so far but finally decided to speak, "Woman... what is it you want?" this was her chance to give a valid response now that he had expressed his interest.

Instead she changed the entire topic "You crave destruction, yet you don't indulge yourself in it. If you so desired, you could use your power to bring the entire kingdom to it's knees. But for some reason you haven't... whether it's a matter of principle or ambition is unclear." she didn't exaggerate his power one bit, he could easily have done what she was saying.

And yet he'd sat in this position for nine years now without the thought to leave.

"Vania... what do you want?"

She decided to go straight to the point, he wasn't in the mood for chit-chat, or rather he's never in the mood for it.

"I would like to acquire the last remaining item on your list for you, just give me the go-ahead." the item in question was not specified upon in terms of it's actual name.

"What do you want in return?" Zaratros wasn't dumb, far from it, he was aware if someone wanted to willingly offer help, then they'd have a proposal of their own.

Had his system been completely healed, then surely he would've acquired the item by himself. But now wasn't the time to exhaust the power he had left.

"What do I want? It's easy, I want to serve under you! When you eradicate this world I want you to spare me, I will not die a fool's death... I refuse to." was that all? That was within his power.

The sharp grin on his hidden countenance said it all.

Zaratros had finally entered the page, but when he would truly manifest was unknown. Who was he really?