Upon hearing Alissa’s question, a bnk expression appeared on Killian’s face as he didn’t quite uand his as himself.

  “I guess I’m going to have to beat it out of you after all,” Alissa said, frustrated by Killian’s ck of rea.

  Everyog already khat Killian fancied Alissa, but after seven years together, they also khat he was far from the most emotionally intelligent person in the group. Still, they had no iion of involving themselves in their situation. O wasn’t their business, and two, this was way more amusing.

  But as soon as the fight got underway, their mouths dropped in disbelief.

  Killian may ck the emotional intelligeo uand how best to deal with his current predit. Still, as soon as Alissa shot towards him with her daggers in her grasp, his body acted on instinct, insta-casting the earth spell of the fifth-rank – [Earth Guard], a feat that was impressive to most, but as a student of the Pavilion, was far from surprising.

  The surprising thing was the texture of Killian’s [Earth Guard]. At the fifth rank, it ell that covered the user’s body in sto the seventh rank, it covered the user’s body in jade. Despite being a mage at the early stages of the sixth rank, Killian's was made of glistening crystal jade, meaning that his [Earth Guard] had the power of ah-rank spell.

  Even Ace, who had seen Killian fight more than anyone else this st year, was taken aback by his little brother’s progress.

  It was only when he saw the proud father-like grin on Mathias’ face that he realised this must’ve been a ret breakthrough.

  After beihe Earth Root Fruit back during their training exercise, Killian’s affinity to the ws of the earth – which was already of the exceptional grade – had skyrocketed.

  Between that, his stant fighting over the st year, and finally, the individual training of his saint-level master, it had allowed his prehension to improve by leaps and bounds, having already stepped into the ninth rank, meaning that he was capable of f ah Guard] of pure ptinum. Unfortunately, the drain of his mageforce was too much.

  Still, a crystal jade [Earth Guard] was more than enough to shield him from Alissa’s onsught.

  “Answer me,” Alissa excimed as her body flickered from one position to another, attag from just every angle imagio no avail. “ht me, you big oaf!”

  “’t do it!” Kil stated directly as he tio allow Alissa to attack him freely without attag back.

  “Why not?!” Alissa snorted, her attacks losing their usual grace as she focused all her energy to crack the turtle shell Killian had erected for himself. “I’ve seen you attack irls in the past.”

  Hearing that, Killian gnced back at Ace, who was still grinning encingly back at him and sighed.

  “irls, yes, but not you,” Killian expined helplessly, causing the silver-haired petit assassin to falter.

  “Wh… Why not me?” Alissa asked, standing unmoving just under a meter away from the immovable teen, the blush creeping up her neck hidden by her beautiful soft white fur as her heart began to speed up slightly.

  In that moment, time seemed to slow down as Killian seriously began to think about his time with Alissa, from the troversial way in which they met to the time they spent alongside one another in the Pavilion. Thehought about how much he felt like a part of him was missing when she left…

  It was at that moment that he realised how much Alissa truly meant to him.

  “Beca… because… because I like you!” Killian decred, his chocote-coloured skin going several shades darker with the blood rushing to his face.

  Before the target of his fession even got the ce to respond, he was taken by surprise by the sounds of cheering and g ing from his cssmates and instructors.

  “Wooh,” Ace cheered. “Atta boy!”

  “It’s about time,” Faye roared.

  Everyone seemed excited on behalf of the two love birds. Well, almost everyone…

  “What’s wrong with you, old man?” Wukong asked with a knowing grin as he moved closer to Cesar, who seemed to be gring daggers at the hulking teen on stage.

  “Hmph! No boy is good enough for that little granddaughter of mine!” Cesar snorted disdainfully. “Not uhey pass my tests.”

  Alissa wasn’t the slightest bit phased by the responses of the audience, a feeling of warmth threateo overwhelm her as she stared into the depths of Killian’s dark brown eyes. If not for the sound of Mathias’ voice bringing her back to reality, she felt like she could stay like that for eternity.

  “You two still o clude the fight,” Mathias said helplessly as he looked at the young love birds.

  “Ahh right, I give up,” Alissa announced casually before hopping off stage, leaving a stunned Killian in the arena alone.

  “You gave up?” Kil asked in a surprised tone. “Just like that?”

  “Just like that; I already got what I wanted!” Alissa nodded sweetly.

  “Killian, as the winner, you are now ranked fourth,” Mathias stated, snapping his disciple out of his dazed state. “Would you like to tinue challenging?”

  Killian’s thoughts were all over the pce, but he kneas her the time nor the pce to get distracted. With a deep breath, he calmly nodded his head. “I challenge Mira.”

  Even though Mira hadn’t made a challe, the only two ranked in front of her were the two freaks of nature. No one really expected her to take one of their pces; as such, this was effectively the finals of the ranking petition.

  The students watched with bated breaths as they wondered if Killian would be the first to shake the position of one of the top three or if he’d fall just short.

  Amira had just nded in the ring when Ace’s voice rang in the air.

  “Good luck!” Ace cheered from his position.

  “Who are you cheering for?” Julius asked curiously, knowing his cheer could’ve bee for either of the two on stage.

  “Both of them,” Ace shrugged.

  He didn’t care who won at this point; he was just happy that it was his brother and future wife in the finals.

  “I want Killian to win,” Alissa perkily interjected.

  “We know!” All the students voiced simultaneously.

  “Who do you think will win?” Cesar asked curiously, turning to Mathias.

  “I don’t know,” Mathias replied frankly. “From the strength they’ve shown so far, it’ll be a close one.”

  “If this were yesterday, you’d probably be right,” Aiden announced as he finished anourd of wine.

  “Iing,” Cesar muttered as he sized up the drunkard curiously before turning back to the ring.

  “I guess there’s only one way to find out,” Mathias said before also looking back at the arena to begin what should be the final battle. “You may begin!”

  “[Supersonic S]!” Amira called out immediately, instantly surprising the audieh the fusion of two spells allowio soar into the sky with surprising speed.

  [Supersonic] spoke for itself, but the [S] spell ell of the seventh rank, meaning that not only was she also capable of insta-casting spells two ranks superior, she had eve to fuse them.

  Still, as incredible a feat as it was, Killian had never expected this to be easy.

  “[Supergravity Field]!” The dark-skinned youth roared as Amira had all but vanished from his vision.

  Amira’s eyes suddenly bulged as she felt the gravity around her suddenly multiply, causio almost crash into the floor before she could make it to Killian’s back.

  Just as she regained her bance, she was forced to use Geppo to step on the air and barely, yet gracefully evade the battle axe threatening to cleave her in two by mere millimetres.

  “He really was holding back,” Joel sighed as he withe power behind Killian’s st ssh, uandioo had already fused both states of wielding.

  Ace wasn’t surprised by that; Killian had made that breakthrough months ago. No, what he was surprised by was the amount that gravity had increased by. ‘His prehension really has stepped into the ninth rank.’

  That’s right, Killian’s [Supergravity Field] had the power of a ninth rank, which was why Amira struggled so much to resist. Still, with her incredible perception and trol of her body, it only took a fra of a sed to acclimatise to the new gravity a accly.

  She calmly watched as Killian’s axe swept just under her nose, slig off strands of her hair as it moved before stomping on the air with all her strength to close the gap before Killian could readjust from the power of his st strike.

  Amira’s ter was timed to literal perfe, and for a sed, it looked as though she was about to finish the fight already, but Killian’s rea showed that Amira wasn’t the only oo see a drastic improvement in battle IQ.

  Just as it looked like he was about to lose, Killian silently undid his gravity spell whilst shifting his body slightly, allowing Amira to pass him by like a rocket.

  Seeing that, all the students who had been watg with their mouths open could only sigh. Despite being of the same geion, it was now abundantly clear that they had all bee behind by the two on stage; well, not quite all of them.

  Ace watched with a proud smile as the two tiheir incredibly teical battle that left everyone on the edge of their seats. A fight at this level, where there was virtually nothiween them, was basically a game of chess. You had to use skill, feints, and tactics to try and force your oppoo make a mistake.

  He really didn’t care who won; he was just happy that they had reached a level many could only ever dream of.

  “I really didn’t expect to be pushed this much,” Amira said betweehs as the two young experts paused. “If you block this attack, it’s my loss.”

  Though her words sounded arrogant, Killiahat as she was still in the fifth rank, he had a clear advantage in terms of endurance. Even he was starting to slow now, so he could imagine how Amira was doing.

  If she wao win, she had to bet it all on the line now before her fuel tank really hit empty, but that suited him just fine as the earth was known for its defensive qualities.

  Killian had expected Mira’s final attack to be one of the more powerful wind spells she’d retly prehended, but when he saw Mira fsh in his dire, his brows furrowed.

  Though she didn’t a the way he had expected, Killian still reacted appropriately, swinging his axe to intercept her sword, but just as both ons were about to make tact, Kil’s eyes almost bulged right out of his sockets as he felt the space around him suddenly strict.

  It wasn’t just him; aside from Aiden, Arianna, and Ace, who already had his suspis, everyoched in surprise as Killian’s ssh suddenly slowed just enough for his oppo’s swords to fly straight past unimpeded.

  “You already prehended impose?” Killian sighed helplessly, ign the bdes of Amira’s katanas resting against his neck. “I’m viny loss.”

  P.S. Support me oreon listed below to read ahead - Release rate is at least 2x as many chapters every week! XD

  Currently 109 chapters ahead

  P.atreon./ACoilingDragon

  Book 7: Chapter 28 – Breakthrough!