Athar's First Move

After his talk with Trux, Athar returned to his room. The moment the door clicked shut behind him, a transformation swept over his entire demeanour.

The slouched shoulders, weighed down by nervousness, fear, and anxiety, straightened with a sharp crack. A newfound vitality surged through his spine, and he stood tall exuding an aura of purpose and resolve.

The expression of panic that had marked his face just moments before faded, replaced by a calm, calculating confidence. It was as if an entirely different man now stood there; One prepared to face every challenge and adversary that lay ahead.

"Trux," Athar muttered under his breath, his tone cold and laced with steel. "So, you are the first link in that mysterious and powerful web Dervin spoke of."

A dangerous grin slowly stretched across his lips, one that radiated a silent threat.

"How convenient of you... to deliver yourself right to my doorstep," he added with that same dangerous glint.

If Trux had not revealed his strength by showcasing his E Rank aura, Athar might have remained cautious around him. He would have undergone a lot of considerations.

But the moment Trux thought that flashing his aura would be an effective way to pressure Athar, the fool had lost the plot entirely.

Trux had assumed that his E Rank aura would intimidate Athar. He perhaps wanted to cow him into submission but the effect it produced was the exact opposite.

That display had made one thing abundantly clear to Athar: if the need arose, he could absolutely take Trux on.

And for that, he owed endless gratitude to the Tree of Origin. As far as Athar was concerned, that miraculous tree was the sole reason behind his absurd talent. The power provided by the tree was his trump card in a world full of predators.

Shaking these thoughts aside, Athar turned to his wooden cupboard and retrieved one of the beast cores stored inside.

It was time for cultivation.

Athar had made an approximate calculation that at the speed at which he was able to absorb the mana from the beast core, he can make a breakthrough to E Rank in two months.

For that to happen, he needed one beast core daily. But he received only 5 beast cores for a week. Which meant, he needed almost 15 extra beast cores. Even so, Athar was determined to make his breakthrough in the next 2 months.

Athar set aside his thought of acquiring extra beast cores and decided to worry about them later. He needed to focus on cultivation and he knew that it was going to be an eventful week.

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The next morning, the very first thing Athar did, even before heading to his theory class was to collect his quota of weekly resources. Without delay, he carefully placed the cloth sack containing the resources inside his room, ensuring it was safely stored away.

So far, Athar had grasped one fundamental truth about the academy. No matter how much it turned a blind eye to bullying, pranks, or any other kind of trouble, intruding into another student's room without permission was strictly forbidden.

This was a red line no one dared to cross. The academy enforced this rule without exception.

The rooms were considered safe havens for every student. As long as a student remained inside their room, they were safe. There were no ifs, no buts.

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Four days passed in the blink of an eye. Nothing particularly eventful happened during this time.

Athar's routine remained the same. He attended his theory class in the morning, sparred with Ryler in the afternoon, joined Sankul's practical class in the evening, and then absorbed a beast core at night before going to sleep. This was the rhythm of his daily life.

However, there was one thing Athar did more of. He had started to observe things closely. During his free time in the afternoons, apart from sparring with Ryler, he would continuously observe the other students as they trained or sparred with each other. Athar paid special attention to the E Rank spars.

In these four days, Athar reached a solid conclusion. His assumption that he was a genius had been correct.

After watching the E Rank students train, he was certain that, with careful planning and the element of surprise, he could defeat an E Rank student. This realization gave him a significant boost in confidence.

The other part of his observation quest revolved around Trux.

Whether in the dining hall, after classes, or in the training area, Athar made it a point to observe Trux as much as possible.

He carefully tried to identify patterns in Trux's behaviour. When he arrived in dining hall to have his food, to which places he roamed in the class? Athar observed everything.

Fortunately for Athar, Trux did follow a certain routine, a predictable behavioural pattern that Athar believed would be tremendously useful for him in the future.

It was late at night, and Trux had just finished his dinner. He was moving under the dim, flickering glow of the mana powered lamps scattered across the hallway.

There was this particular routine Trux followed every evening after dinner.

Without fail, he would head up to the top floor of D Block to spend some time alone, enjoying the night view of the city bathed in the multicoloured lights of the mana lamps. This had become something of a personal ritual for him.

He had just crossed the fourth floor and was making his way toward the fifth floor. Since students rarely visited that level, the staircase was shrouded in darkness. There were no mana powered lamps illuminating the way.

The faint, flickering light from the fourth floor barely reached the steps, leaving much of the stairwell in shadows.

As Trux placed his foot on the large step midway up the staircase, right at the point where the stairs curved in a 180 degree bend, he heard a sudden rustling noise.

His eyes snapped forward, instinctively trying to locate the source. But it was already too late.

What greeted him was a dark silhouette looming over him, the figure's form blurred by the dim light. In its hands was a thick, metallic rod, gleaming faintly in the darkness.

Before Trux could even lift his hands in defence, the rod came crashing down, striking him squarely on the side of his face near his ear.

A sharp, sickening crack rang out as the blow connected. Trux's head reeled from the impact, and he was violently flung against the wall.

Warm liquid began to trickle down his face—his own blood, oozing from the fresh, brutal wound. Before Trux could even utter a sound, a wave of darkness swept over him. His body crumpled onto the stairs, unconscious and motionless.

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