Chapter 20: A beast marking his territory

Rey unleashed a barrage of wind blasts. But instead of cowering or dodging, Elias charged headfirst toward the destructive wind spheres that looked like giant storms condensed into small spheres.

"He's insane!" someone gasped from the crowd.

"Is he trying to die?" another exclaimed. "A Strengthening class is strong, but it's the worst possible class when facing a mage who is far away!"

Even Rey was momentarily stunned by Elias's reckless advance. He had expected Elias to try to run or dodge, and had already prepared for that. Even if Elias were to dodge, there was no escaping for him.

After all, even though this was his first time awakening his class, he wasn't ignorant. His family had gathered data about almost all the classes, and he had learned about almost all of them, including their strengths and weaknesses.

He already knew what kind of class he had gained, including the abilities he could use right from the start.

Even if Elias tried to escape, Rey still planned to crush him. However, to his surprise, the brat was coming straight for him.

A grin appeared on his bloody lips. Even if Elias was a fool, he was a doll that was going to die faster because of his recklessness. Wind blasts were faster than Elias, and Rey knew he couldn't dodge them all.

Elias also knew that it was impossible to dodge them. That's why he wasn't planning to dodge them in the first place. He already saw something that gave him a crazy idea.

He didn't know if his idea was going to work. But even if it didn't, so what? Even if the wind blast was going to hit him, so what? As long as they couldn't shatter his bones, he would still advance.

Everyone saw Elias rushing toward the first wind blast. He reached out his right hand toward it without stopping.

"Does he want to lose his hand?"

"He has truly lost his mind! It looks like the youngest Ashborn is going to die today."

Even though Elias was rushing toward Rey, many thought that he would be wise enough to try to avoid the wind blasts, even if it was hard. Instead, he was reaching out for them, extending his hand as if trying to catch them.

The moment his fingers touched the outer layer of the condensed wind sphere, his lips moved as if uttering some words.

Fortunately, everyone was focused on the wind sphere, not on Elias's lips. Not a single person there heard Elias whisper, "Confirm Extraction."

The moment the words escaped his lips, the entire surroundings was shrouded in a large storm that originated with Elias at its core.

It was similar to the storm that had appeared in the sky to everyone's surprise. The only difference was that it was smaller. But even then, it was strong enough to hide Elias from everyone's view.

Elias used extraction on multiple wind blasts, but even then, he wasn't completely successful.

One of the wind blasts struck his body, but instead of being pushed back, Elias maintained his momentum and pushed forward. The impact, taken by his bare body, wrecked him even more.

Multiple loud bangs resonated within the storm. Many had already started looking at the storm with pity, certain that Elias was dead. The moment the storm disappeared, they expected to find Elias's corpse. Or at least that's what they thought.

The more certain they were of Elias's death, the more shocked they became when they saw a bloody figure emerge from the storm, rushing toward Rey Von Esterin.

With the storm propelling him forward, he was even faster, as if he were flying. Elias, now within striking distance, launched himself at Rey.

Rey's eyes widened. He had thought Elias was dead, which made him stop attacking. He frantically tried to condense more wind around himself for defense, but it was too late.

A heavy scent of blood accompanied Elias's bloody fist as it connected with Rey's jaw. Rey felt like he was experiencing nightmarish deja vu. It was the same way he had been attacked before.

The impact sent Rey stumbling backward, his vision blurring. Before Rey could recover, Elias was upon him again. Rey, overwhelmed by the beastly assault, could only raise his arms in a futile attempt to defend himself with another wind blast.

Elias noticed what he was trying to do. However, he didn't plan to fall for the same trick twice. With his left hand, he grabbed Rey's throat, and with his right hand, he continued his relentless attack.

Rey attacked with a wind blast, and once again, Elias was sent flying. However, this time, he brought Rey with him, maintaining his grip around the man's neck.

Even after the two of them landed in the distance, the punishment didn't stop. The brutality left many people aghast, as Elias didn't seem to care about his own safety.

The crowd watched in stunned silence as Elias unleashed his fury. The boy they had dismissed as a weakling now looked more like an untamed beast than a human.

Rey was left like a broken mess, his face covered with fresh blood. He even felt as if his skull was starting to crack. For the first time, he felt like he might actually die here.

The pain and fear was overwhelming, but even more scary was the fact that he couldn't escape. Even if he attacked Elias, he wasn't going to be free as Elias was holding onto him like a lion holding on to its prey with their teeth.

There was no one to help him. Just like they were spectators when he was bullying Elias, they were spectators when he was on the verge of death. He was so overwhelmed that he eventually passed out, his arms falling limp on the ground.

"He has already passed out. Isn't that enough?" Elias' fist again came down, but this time, it didn't connect with Rey as he felt like someone had grabbed his wrist.