Free Web NovelChapter 22: Rivals And Contest
"Straight to the point huh? Well." A smile curled up the side of the boy’s lips as he pointed his thumbs to his face and said. "My name is Kai Voltia, and I’m your new rival."
Rentaro looked at the boy with slight shock flashing through his eyes, though his expression quickly settled back into its usual calm neutrality.
"Rival?" Rentaro blinked as he repeated the boy’s words.
"Yes, your new rival. You smashed through every record in the first two trials, surpassing that of the Soul-King himself!" Kai said as he could barely contain his excitement, a grin spreading across his face as it became obvious he could hardly wait for the chance to compete against Rentaro.
Rentaro narrowed his eyes slightly as he sensed the remnants of Kai’s Soul-Energy lingering within his body.
’This guy... I can tell just from him standing across me... Despite his lean build, he’s strong.’
"Smashed through every record?" Rentaro’s brows jerked as he finally processed Kai’s words. "What do you mean by that?"
"You mean you haven’t noticed yet? There’s a ranking window that updates itself every time an Awakener clears the trials of a sanctuary. That rank displays the amount of time an Awakener uses to clear a trial. So far the Soul-King held the record for the shortest time to clear the second trial. But just mere minutes ago, the rankings were updated after more than 100 years."
"Rank window?"
"See for yourself, it’s part of the system programming."
Rentaro faced forward, then with a single word, he summoned the rankings of the second trial.
—— 2ND RANKING UPDATE ——
[1st Place - Rentaro Mizuno — 9:54.]
[2nd Place - Eliza Morgan — 9:54.]
[3rd Place - Tim Ashborne — 9:54.]
[4th Place - Alexa Noir — 9:54.]
[5th Place - Arthur Curry — 50:34.]
[6th Place - Lilith Ravenscar — 10 months, 23 days].
[7th Place - Kai Voltia — 1 year, six months and fifteen days.]
From the rankings panel, he saw the time duration it took the top seven Awakeners to clear the second trial of the Sanctuary.
’So that’s how he knew my name, 7th place... 1 year and six months? No wonder he’s so determined. Eliza and the others are also ranked in the top four because we took the trial as a team.’
Rentaro’s eyes slowly settled on the fourth place in the rankings, his expression remaining calm as he silently stared at the name displayed there.
’Arthur Curry... Considering the time frame he used to complete the fifth trial, he must be the Soul-King who’s rumored to be humanity’s strongest Soul-Hunter. Fifty minutes? That’s actually impressive, unlike me he didn’t have the God-Tier proficiency returns, so for him to clear the fifth trial on his own really earns him that title.’ He thought.
Rentaro stole brief glances around him, his eyes narrowing slightly as he felt the unsettling gazes directed at him from every corner of the room.
"Disturbing aren’t they?" Kai said as he stepped forward. "These people, they spent years fighting and surviving through the first four trials. They sacrificed a part of them, lost their morals, their body parts. They even lost cherished comrades on the way, hearing there’s an Awakener who managed to ascend to the fifth trial in just nine minutes, I guess their reactions are a bit justified."
"..." Rentaro remained silent for a moment, then without saying a word, he turned around and began walking away.
"Hey wait wait, you really aren’t big on conversations are you?" Kai sighed softly, then turned around with a faint smile resting on his face as he said. "How about we have a little contest?"
Rentaro continued walking, then without turning around, he said calmly, "I don’t have time for contests."
"Oh come on, it’ll be worth your while. There of course will be a reward if you win, let’s say 200 evolution points?"
Rentaro stopped completely the moment Kai offered him two hundred Evolution Points if he won the contest between them.
"200 Evolution points? Why go to such lengths just for a contest?"
"It’s like I told you from the start, I’m your new rival, and you don’t have to worry about giving me anything if you lose. It’s all on me."
Rentaro stared at Kai for a brief moment, his eyes narrowing slightly. The problem was not the amount of Evolution Points Kai was willing to sacrifice, but the fact that he could afford to give up that much so casually.
Even after clearing the first trial and helping defeat the Supreme General, a Grade 4 Spirit Guardian, Rentaro had only managed to accumulate fifty Evolution Points.
But then again, Kai had spent over a year plus completing the second, the third and the fourth trial. Unlike him, Kai had far more time to hunt beasts and gather Evolution Points from the first to the fourth trial.
Still, that did not change the fact that Evolution Points were extremely difficult to obtain.
One beast only amounted to a single point, so for Kai to casually offer two hundred points for a mere contest meant he likely possessed over seven hundred points total in estimation.
"Fine... What is the contest all about?" Rentaro let out a quiet sigh, then reluctantly agreed to the contest.
It felt like a complete drag to him, but two hundred Evolution Points would be extremely useful, especially since his Soul-Core was far more difficult to develop than most. freewebnσvel.cѳm
"In the first two parts, the first person to clear the two selections and qualify to take the fifth trial wins. That is, the first person to develop the required Soul-Techniques and pass the selections wins."
Rentaro looked slightly hesitant. He had no idea what kind of Soul-Core or ability Kai possessed, but he knew his own ability and Soul-Core were completely different from the normal ones.
Developing Chronos and creating two Soul-Techniques would be incredibly difficult. Even the vice captain understood how challenging it would be for the Awakeners, which was why he had given them a duration of one month.
"Alright, I accept your conditions."
A smile formed on Kai’s face as he said. "It’s decided then."
Then he turned around and walked away, his voice echoing lightly behind him.
"You might have surpassed me in the rankings, but I won’t lose to you again, Rentaro Mizuno."
