59 Duel
When Aldrin noticed that his Energy Quintessence stopped expanding and he entered the ranks of middle Stage 1 Energy Refiners, he was definitely elated.
How long has it been since he started on this new path? Compared to the meager 5 IDLE Points he earned from his very first run, he's now earning more than a thousand times more than that.
True, there's the apprehension of not being able to explain himself if found out by others. However, being a realist, he felt that it's not wrong to celebrate his progress. It's not like he's about to brag about it to everyone.
In any case, for the next step now that his Energy Quintessence had expanded to its limit, his refined energy had turned towards his Energy Channels, expanding it as well to hasten and ease up the flow of Dimensional Energy towards his Energy Quintessence and to any part of his body.
Only after every Energy Channel had been expanded would he reach late Stage 1.
The progression of an Energy Refiner was that simple, at least for now. It's strengthening Aldrin's body or rather, modifying it so that he could eventually accommodate more energy.
"That's great! All of us had made some progress." Irina happily cheered with Aldrin's answer.
The three days given to them to be enlightened with the Concept they picked was fruitful for everyone.
But then again, Aldrin instantly noticed that these young Energy Refiners, including those from the other groups, experienced a change.
For example, this girl in front of him. After a little observation, Aldrin found out that like Renissa, Irina's refined energy was somewhat leaking from her body. However, he couldn't pinpoint where it was coming from, or rather, it's possibly hidden beneath her clothes.
And that's the same for everyone. Everyone except Aldrin himself.
They're all leaking refined energy from different parts of their body which confirmed that all of them met some kind of success in gaining enlightenment with the Concept they picked.
He remembered that Renissa told him that the side effect was the result of her being a complete beginner. But that's probably not the whole explanation.
Like these Energy Refiners around him, even if they're still short from being fully enlightened with their Concept, they could probably already mimic its effects or partly conceptualize it.
Given time, when they finally completed their Concept, they'd surely show more changes at the same level as Renissa's hair changing its natural color.
And due to that, Aldrin stood out like an Iron Bull in a herd of cows.
"So that's the one with the flawless spherical Energy Quintessence. No refined energy leaks." One of the instructors commented as he eyed Aldrin among the trainees gathered in front of them.
"That's right. He's the oldest among everyone as well. Whether that helped him or not, we will not know unless..." responded another.
"I know what you are thinking. Let's have them showcase their progress. You won't object, right? Janet?"
The same as the other instructors, the acting leader of the camp was also interested in the 'rare' spherical Energy Quintessence.
Whether it helped Aldrin or not, they had to know. He's the only one without any leaks of refined energy after all. There's no way for them to guess whether he made some progress on the Concept Book he picked.
"Heh. I can understand your curiosity. Do what you want."
After answering that, Janet met Aldrin's gaze and winked at him.
Although slightly baffled by that gesture from her, Aldrin soon found out why when the Camp Leader stepped forward to make an announcement.
"Listen! Three days have passed. To evaluate everyone in your progress in your Concept, we will be having a little assessment in the form of a duel. Show us what you learned these past three days, got it?!" He declared with a grin which instantly gathered different kinds of reactions from the young Energy Refiners.
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"Please hold back for me." Irina smilingly said to her opponent while getting into her fighting stance.
Because it was supposed to be just a stage to show off the progress of their Concept, the individual duels would be done in hand-to-hand combat and no Battlesuit or physical weapon would be equipped. In any case, what they're wearing was already changed to a standard military uniform that was padded for shock protection. Even if they beat each other up, they wouldn't sustain any lasting injury.
"Likewise." Her opponent, another woman under a different instructor, answered while also preparing herself to receive any attacks that would come her way.
With the new Energy Refiners forming a huge circle, the rules were made simple. Throwing their opponent out of the circle or having their opponent admit defeat would lead to the end of the duel.
One of the Instructors would act as the referee and judge, making sure that the duel wouldn't cause any fatal injuries.
"Fight!"
With the instructor's voice as a signal, Irina and her opponent instantly disappeared from where they were standing.
Both of their legs glowed with the use of their refined energy, increasing their mobility and leg strength.
For every new Energy Refiner present at the Training Camp, this duel might be their first fight against another Energy Refiner and that included Aldrin.
His experiences at fighting were against the insects in the Lower Dimension, the Rift Monster during the disaster and the simulated opponents during Combat Assessment. Never had he tried sparring with another Energy Refiner, even during their physical training from the past few days.
'This seems to be about right. It's not only Rift Monsters and the creatures in the Dimensions connected to Idle Adventure that I needed to be wary of. That mysterious Energy Refiner at the Southern District, it's obvious that he was about to silence me if not for the arrival of the mayor.' He thought for a while as he prepared himself to watch the duels carefully while also preparing himself for when his turn arrived.
Even though he didn't make any obvious movements back at the Southern District disaster, the mysterious man noticed that someone was hiding behind the wall. If he once again found himself in that kind of situation, Aldrin believed that he would not be so lucky again.
"Look, is that her Concept?"
"That's the only explanation, right? She managed to hold her opponent back."
"But all of us can partly use our Concept. I don't think this will be over soon."
As the duel between Irina and the other female Energy Refiner raged on, some of the new Energy Refiners began discussing among themselves.
Since all of the new Energy Refiners except Aldrin came from Energy Refiner lineages, most, if not all, trained themselves in different combat techniques ever since young.
Surely there were few exceptions like Bert. Despite hoping to become an Energy Refiner like someone from his family, he didn't take up any training. Fortunately or unfortunately for him, he failed to awaken, otherwise, he would become a punching bag in this Training Camp.
"Told you so. It will be extremely boring if this ends easily." said the vocal Energy Refiner.
In the middle of the ring, Irina's Concept that she could barely conceptualize made her opponent stop in place giving her the chance to end it easily. However, before she could deliver her kick that would end the match, her opponent also burst out with her Concept, shooting some kind of projectile from her punches and kicks.
On the side, Aldrin, who's the same as them, nodded his head. That's their current progress in their enlightenment. It didn't look as impressive yet because they're still finding it hard to properly utilize their chosen Concepts.
Totally unlike him that only had the restriction in his Energy Quintessence.
Although he couldn't make an accurate guess as to what kind of Concept the two women got enlightened to, Aldrin continued watching to learn more. He felt like he had to be thoroughly informed about different Concepts. That way, he wouldn't suffer too much in the future if an entirely foreign Concept was used on him.
Anyway, with the infinite possibilities it offered, he would be a Sage if his knowledge about Concept reached the point of recognizing all of it.
