Chapter 58 Inner Circle (3)
Chapter 58 Inner Circle (3)
Chapter 58 Inner Circle (3)
"30 seconds."
Elias calmly sighed. He slowly reached out to his pocket and took out two black gloves and inserted them into his hands.
"What do you me..."
At that moment, while Ragna was observing at his actions curiously, Elias' suddenly moved and struck decisively without a word.
Pow!
Before Ragna could react, a roundhouse kick struck him in the head. At first, Ragna didn't think anything of it, however, he suddenly felt a numbing headache!
Ragna slightly staggered as he felt dizziness hit him.
Not letting him speak, Elias attacked again decisively. He reinforced his fist with a heavy amount of mana and lit up his entire arm with fire.
In a smooth motion, he threw a straight flaming jab towards Ragna's face—caving his blazing fiery fist towards the man's face.
Boom!
It was like a meteor strike, with untold might and force, Ragna suffered a direct explosion on the face and staggered slightly.
However, most importantly, Ragna was concerned about something else, from the man's attack...
He felt pain.
"How the hell…?!"
For the first time in the battle, Ragna was shocked.
The marksman was actually hurting him—in a physical confrontation, no less—he couldn't process it for a moment.
At that moment, after a slight delay, numbing pain suddenly assaulted his face from where he was hit by the fist!
Ragna's expression twisted slightly as a trail of blood dripped on the corner of his lips. But his face was not mad, rather perplexed with a hint of curiosity.
"Aside from that old geezer, I haven't been hurt like this before. How the hell can you do…"
Like a blur, Elias abruptly reappeared in front of him and struck once more. But this time Ragna was ready and blocked the attack successfully.
"...that?!"
With one swift motion, Ragna raised his fist and slammed it towards Elias!
However, Elias saw through it and kicked Ragna's face, using it to propel himself backward and dodge the attack on time.
Ragna's fist slammed to the ground, causing the soil to explode into a mess. He licked the blood on his lips while looking at Elias.
Woosh!
'1 minute is up. As expected of Ragna Newgate, there's no chance of winning this if I hold back...'
Elias landed in the distance, looking at the man silently. It was settled then.
"Not answering?"
Ragna frowned. He cracked his fingers. His eyes turned red while a terrific aura circulated around him.
The aura emitting around his figure caused Hajin and Celestia to widen their eyes in surprise.
Ragna grinned slightly. He assumed a stance, both of his hands opened like claws. He was prepared to attack.
Right now—he seemed like a Mad Demon.
With his overwhelming physique, red aura, and slightly crazed expression, Ragna was like a mad demon.
"Ragna Newgate, you want a good fight, don't you?"
At this moment, Elias suddenly spoke. He wore a calm expression while staring at Ragna.
"Absolutely, come! Let's fight!"
Ragna nodded with a smile. That was one of the main reasons he wanted to join this academy, to experience an amazing fight.
Aside from escaping from the old geezer, he wanted to experience more of the world other than live in the mountains and hunt beasts.
Although he didn't know how the man knew his name, he couldn't care less. It was not important at all.
Ragna looked at Elias expectantly. However, Elias instead removed his gloves and returned them to his pocket before speaking lightly.
"Then wait until another time."
"Huh?"
Ragna was stunned. However, he immediately recovered and looked at Elias with a confused and angered expression.
"What do you mean… wait? Are you running away from the battle?!"
"No, I'm saying we can fight another time. I'm currently handicapped, so I can't fight with my full strength… or are you implying you don't care about that?"
Elias spoke amusedly while tilting his head. That was the truth. Well, partly. He was indeed handicapped.
"Of course not!"
Ragna suddenly felt anger course through him. How dare he suggest that..?! He wanted to fight, but not when his opponent was handicapped.
'This guy...'
Thinking of that, Ragna exhaled deeply.
"Fine, when do you want to fight then?!"
"After the examination, in the academy."
Elias responded lightly.
Hearing his demands, Ragna was reluctant. He was itching for a fight, but he didn't want to fight someone handicapped.
In the end, he chose to accept as he scoffed under his breath before nodding, as though unwilling.
"How can I be sure that you won't break your promise?"
"Don't worry. I swear by the Corleone name that I'll fight you after the examination, if not then I shall be labeled as a coward for a lifetime."
Elias simply smiled and reached out his hand.
Ragna looked at Elias—seeing the resolve in the man's eyes. In years of living with beasts, he found the eyes of others a reliable way to assess their personality.
Elias eyes were confident, fearless and calm.
Ragna nodded an shook the man's hand. Elias patted his shoulder and spoke:
"I hope you can be patient until then,"
[Name: Ragna Newgate]
[Race: Human]
[Talent: Totem Deity]
[Rank: D+] (Rank Advancement: Unfulfilled)
[Level: 39]
[STR: C]
[AGI: C-]
[STA: C-]
[CONS: C-]
[INT: D-]
[WIS: D-]
[MAG: E+]
[GROWTH: S]
[SKILLS: [Blessed by Nature (Passive)], [Giant Strength (Passive)], [Dragon's Fist], [Wind Flight], [Lightning Rage]...]
***
While this was happening, in another place, Rain Violetstar, Lance Schultz, and Sumi Aethereal were walking through the forest.
Sumi Aethereal stopped in front of the borders of the inner circle. As she stopped, the two footsteps behind her also stopped.
An awkward silence erupted—she turned around and looked at them.
"Are you guys still going to follow me even through the inner circle?"
"No. We split ways after that,"
Lance immediately shook his head.
"I object!"
However, Rain rejected that notion. The two stared at him. But he didn't back down. He looked at them earnestly and spoke his thoughts.
"Let's not split up. Our teamwork is immaculate. Besides we already spent a night together anyways, we might as well team up in the inner circle to pass the examination faster, how about it?"
"...No. We're going to split up."
Lance rejected that thought almost immediately. However, Sumi was rather quiet, ruminating over the idea of teaming up.
"How about it, huh Sumi?"
Rain ignored Lance and looked at Sumi instead.
"...That's alright."
Thinking for a moment, Sumi nodded and agreed. It was not like she hated their presence, on the contrary, she found them slightly enjoyable to be with.
"Yes!"
Rain smiled widely and clenched his fist. However, Lance frowned and shook his head, looking at Rain with an amused expression.
"I'm not going with you guys."
"That's alright."
On the contrary, Rain smiled instead. He tilted his head and suddenly spoke out loud.
"With Sumi around, reaching the academy is far easier… we'll probably be first as for others… they'll be left behind like dust,"
"Do you think that will work on me, fool?"
Lance haughtily spoke.
"So you're fine with being second?"
Rain asked with a smile.
"That won't work. I can reach first on my own."
Hearing that, Lance was amused. Without slowing down, he walked inside the inner circle, disappearing from their sight.
"Well... that failed."
Rain shrugged and looked at Sumi, who was wearing a slight smile. Soon, the two of them also entered inside.