Training Lesson - My Devour Has Taste
'Strange...'
Asura felt a little conflicted after defeating the Prince.
He expected to be able to devour some of his mana and use it for himself, but although he managed to deplete the Prince's mana by over half permanently, he gained nothing at all.
[...]
[You...]
[Do you want something from that guy's body inside you forever?]
'Wait... Why do you phrase it so disgustingly, and why do you sound so excited!?'
He kind of understood it was a strange feeling inside himself that absorbing the Anima of living males was a little disgusting on a mental and emotional level for him, and thus, he tended to use their stolen mana to attack them or create spells instead of storing and using it to improve himself.
[It's just a mental thing. Don't worry too much about it.]
The battle between Asura and Valos seemed to break the ice as the new students began training in the many arenas with four people on each stage. The entire class was now gripped in a battle frenzy after the intense battle of the Prince and Earl.
"While you are fighting, please listen to my voice without losing focus. When in battle, sounds and voices could be your dying comrades or loved ones, but you must remain focused."
At some point, Lorem was standing beside Asura as he felt the wisps of her cursed energy faintly seeping into his body, not enough to damage him like an hourglass slowly turning and spilling sand.
His body began to work overtime, absorbing the curses slowly, only causing him to feel an increase in temperature at most.
⁜Gained 1 Anima⁜
⁜Gained 1 Anima⁜
⁜Gained 1 Anima⁜
The sound began to ring in his mind as Brian quickly turned it, only to show gains of ten or more to avoid distracting Asura.
⁜Gained 10 Anima⁜
"I will read the current grade and value assessments for you all while you fight. Those who lose focus or their training battle during this time will have their scores lowered entirely."
"In a random order!"
"Mu Xue!"
—Mana Density: B
—Mana Affinity: A
—Knight Stage: Three.
"Silvara Velos!"
—Mana Density: C
—Mana Affinity: C+
—Mage Stage: One
"Silvara Vela!"
—Mana Density: A
—Mana Affinity: A+
—Knight Stage: Two (Peak)
Many people were fighting with increased motivation and momentum during the battle, hearing their grades. Some who used to be the type not to fight or see merit in a future of magic and knighthood began to feel elated.
The ones with lower marks felt their pride damaged and fought hard to prove they were not that weak!
Asura looked at Lorem, her tenacious and heroic face; even with her scar, she was one of the most beautiful and charming women he had met. Not in a pure lustful way, but he felt proud to know her, to be her student in this world. As she began to run out of names, the one he was worried about came.
⁜Gained 100 Anima⁜
'Will I be seen as garbage, or is this to be my first step into the stoplights taking centre stage of my family's demise?'
"Fenix, Asura!" Lorem's face turned towards him, showing a strange smile as she gave him a wink before continuing.
'Here it comes!'
—Mana Density: S
—Mana Affinity: S
—Dragoon Stage: One (Peak)
'Eh? What is a Dragoon? My attributes are surely higher than this... Did she do this to make me stand out but not become someone hunted?'
Asura looked towards Lorem, who gazed at him with a strange look; it was not just his imagination.
There was something in her eyes—those enchanting golden eyes of wisdom that sought something from him, yet he didn't understand their desire.
One thing he knew for sure was that standing beside her was enough to bring his entire being to the next level, and it was causing hell inside him.
[Don't be eager for success; take what you can get to reach the Second Layer, but beyond that, you must forge with intense battle, training and supplement with the energy of these women—otherwise, you will risk hurting yourself and them.]
[If you are not in peak shape, the Anima you give them will be flawed, too.]
[This bitch! Don't do it!]
'Hmmm?'
Brian's shout caused me to lose focus as everything became blurry.
There was a sudden burst of pressure and heat as Asura saw the world slowing down—a huge bird of flame reigned supreme, burning those who became her enemies and giving her blood to save those she adored...
That huge bird stared into his eyes, the sound of the world fading out—slowly, even the heavy clashing of weapons and magic became distant, like the breathing of Mu Xue during sleep.
Opening her beak, the voice was deep and booming, causing his head to ache with each letter and word.
"Boy with a Fire affinity beyond naturally possible..." A strange bird call sounded as she spoke, but those golden eyes were all too familiar with this existence. It was most certainly related to Lorem or, most likely, the person herself.
The black aura that decayed her body was the biggest sign after her beautiful golden eyes that never left his body.
"There are very few things you can be."
"Only two existences with a fire affinity and capacity of an SS-Class or more."
"A red dragon."
"And a phoenix..."
Her long, elegant, pointed beak poked his shoulder, letting a small red flame enter his chest, causing the inside of Asura's body to tremble as an earthquake inside his body erupted on a scale of ten!
He didn't fall and held both hands on his knees tightly as the insides of his organs began to scorch, but the flame didn't hurt him—instead, it was like they were being given something they lacked...
...Something they desired greatly.
"Ugh...."
Asura tried to focus on the strange situation was too surreal, and he thought it was likely a dream as the figure of Lorem and this bird was a little too different, one a heroic and brave knight and the other an elegant and lovely phoenix.
"Do not worry, little bird."
"I will not tell your secret and need not bend your will. I am just overjoyed and filled with bliss that another of my kind was finally born into this world when hope was all but faded."
"After Seven thousand years of waiting for you."
"A dozen more won't hurt."
Her words were deep and clear, as if they were engraved into his soul and mind before Asura shook his head and found himself still in the arena. Lorem was facing the rest of the students, and everything seemed like a daydream.
[That was no dream...]
Asura suddenly felt bloated before he lifted his left arm only to notice faint marks on his flesh, like dragon scales and patterns close to feathers from the back of his hand to his elbows, causing him to feel a little unsettled.
'Brian... Why did my cultivation almost breakthrough and my Monoliths... Did merely standing here beside Lorem allow me to improve this much!?'
[Asura, calm down. Your teacher just told you all not to lose your calm even if you should lose your loved ones, including situations like this!]
⁜ Bottleneck Reached Please Find a Place of Practise ⁜
Cultivation Level: Earth Cycle First Layer (Inner Core Formation)
Cultivation Progress: 100% - Breakthrough imminent
⁜ Monolith - Status ⁜
Devil: 4999/10000 (Stage One)
Dragon: 4999/10000 (Stage One)
Asura: 4999/10000 (Stage One)
Devour: 4999/10000 (Stage One)
????: 4999/5000 (Stage Zero)
"Last Student, those of you who won your battles, congratulations. To the losers, remember this defeat and loss of your ranks and make up for it in a month!"
"Bahamot, Xavida."
Asura suddenly put the current state of his body to the back of his mind as the cold-faced dragon was currently fighting with Mu Xue in an equally matched battle. The pair weren't using magic or their special abilities, just martial arts and weapons.
—Mana Density: S
—Mana Affinity: S
—White Dragon Stage: Two (Peak)
'The moment the words left their lips of Lorem, nobody seemed shocked to hear that she was a white dragon.'
'Rather, it seemed like something they already knew!? '
'Was I the only one who didn't understand or realise these things?'
[Foolish boy, she spoke in a dragon tongue just now while casting a spell that told everyone else she was a Blade Knight.]
'I never even noticed...'
[Like you snap your fingers to look cool when quick casting, she clicked her tongue when casting that spell, so of course you missed it.]
[Remember, different mages and beasts will have different ways to cast...]
[Some disgusting creatures even cast using their bodily gas...]
[But her humour is quite good..]
'Hmmm?'
[A Dragoon and a Dragon... She's implying you'll end up riding that Bahamot girl.]