Asher looked at Ella, who used her water ability to wash away the blood on her body and clothes, leaving her completely soaked.
"If I didn’t know you, I would have thought you had a grudge against that bear. Tearing open a huge hole like that is insane," Tom couldn’t help but comment, still stunned by her brutal finish.
"Well, what can I say? I just need a stronger Echo ranked beast," Ella spoke confidently, wringing out her sleeve as water dripped from her hair and chin.
"Why don’t you go fight a Veil-ranked beast, then?" Hito asked from the side, his tone flat but teasing.
"I will, when the instructor agrees," Ella replied with a smirk. Deep down, though, she knew she couldn’t win against a Veil ranked beast. The bear she had just fought was on the lowest end of the Echo ranked spectrum.
"Your hand to hand combat never ceases to amaze me. Many women with the ability to control water would just focus entirely on that,"
Asher remarked from the side, genuinely impressed.
"I’m different from everyone else. Outside of those broken bloodline abilities, I’m sure I stand somewhere at the top," Ella boasted, her words laced with a charming smile and confidence that shimmered in her eyes.
But Asher didn’t reply. He simply smiled softly to himself. He knew better than to underestimate the world. There was always someone stronger, someone more talented, someone hidden away.
Who knew what talents the Dukes were sheltering? Who knew what monsters the other Empires had yet to reveal?
Although Asher would love to declare himself the most talented of all, it was better to kill off any form of pride or arrogance before it rose too high.
There could be people far better than him. Worse, there could be other transmigrators or reincarnated individuals with systems, cheats, or blessings from mysterious entities.
"I want to see what the Tenth Sun is capable of,"
Hito spoke, his eyes narrowed, lost in thought as he looked toward the arena.
"He’ll probably go last. The best are always saved for last," Tom replied casually, resting his hands behind his head.
Their conversation continued as more trainees stepped up to face monsters. Many were just one misstep away from death, and a number of them had to be saved by Drake before disaster struck.
Serious injuries were handed out like snacks. The man who brought the beasts always healed them afterward with calm precision, returning them to their feet. Not everyone was like Ella, capable of blowing up their opponent with a single fist.
Of course, Asher saw a few promising trainees in the mix, but for now, they were still too unrefined, too green. He couldn’t wait to face the real prodigies, the overpowered children of Dukes and royals. Not weaklings like Ryan.
He wondered how strong individuals like Vaelric and Vaelra Lux Vanthelmor were. After all, they were the royal prince and princess of the Empire.
Children like that would have been trained since the moment of their birth. Not just in battle, but in strategy, elemental theory, and ancient knowledge.
Asher couldn’t help but smile at the thought of facing them.
’I’m turning into a battle maniac every single day. This bloodline is really a problem,’ Asher thought.
Whenever he found himself enjoying the thrill of battle, he would always blame the Wargrave bloodline. But deep down, he knew the truth, his love for fighting had nothing to do with genetics.
Bloodlines awakened abilities, they didn’t influence behavior or desire.
"Tom. Echo," Drake’s voice echoed again, this time from above, as he floated lazily in the sky without so much as a flap or gesture.
Tom didn’t say a word. He simply stepped forward, a huge hammer resting across his shoulder. He looked ready to break down anything in his path with sheer, crushing force.
In front of him stood a feline predator. Its body was sleek, covered in black fur that shimmered faintly under the light. Its tail swayed behind it like a whip, eyes narrowed as it locked onto Tom with a predator’s gaze.
’Matching him against a speed type monster since he’s a strength type,’ Asher thought silently as he observed the pairing.
The monster didn’t wait, it pounced forward like a flash of death. Its claws were already just meters away from Tom’s face, its movement silent and deadly.
But Tom had predicted this. Felines always behaved like this, stealthy, fast, and aggressive.
The moment his name was called, Tom had already channeled Astra into his feet. In a sudden burst of motion, his figure blurred.
The monster’s claws sliced through an afterimage that lingered where Tom had stood. He was already beside the feline beast, his hammer crashing down from the side with terrifying force.
But the feline turned into a blur itself and vanished into a gust of wind. Its tail streaked through the air, aiming to slam into the back of Tom’s skull.
But Tom was ready. His hand snapped out. He caught the tail mid swing, dragging it backward with raw power. With his hammer raised in the other hand, he swung with devastating intent.
But the feline predator wasn’t just fast, it was clever. Instead of defending or dodging, it attacked. Its claws shimmered under the light as it shot them straight for Tom’s throat.
It went for mutual destruction.
Tom had no choice but to let go and dodge. It was his throat, after all. With a rapid body shift, he bent backward, his spine arching in an impossible angle, his back nearly parallel with the earth beneath him. The feline’s claws swiped past where his throat should have been.
If that attack had landed, he would have died instantly. No healer could fix a torn-open throat like that.
As the feline landed on all fours, it instantly vanished. Tom frowned, narrowing his eyes as he realized he had lost visual contact with the beast.
’Invisibility. That’s its ability,’ he realized instantly.
But Tom wouldn’t wait to be ambushed. He raised his hammer and activated his own ability.
Tom’s ability allowed him to increase the mass of anything he touched, yet to him, the weight remained the same.
He raised the hammer with both hands to the sky. Its form remained unchanged, but its mass increased exponentially. What had once been manageable in weight now carried the density of a collapsing star, but to Tom, it still felt light.
That was what made him terrifying.
He could make a pencil weigh tons. And while it would feel feather-light in his hand, once it struck someone, the result would be catastrophic.
Tom’s hammer came down with explosive intensity. The entire forest quaked. A ravine formed underneath the sheer pressure. Gusts of wind tore through the trees, toppling them like twigs in a storm.
Since he couldn’t locate the invisible feline, he decided to simply destroy everything.
And just as he had predicted, the feline reappeared. His destructive attack had disrupted its invisibility. Without hesitation, Tom hurled his hammer at the beast.
The feline vanished again, streaking sideways in a burst of speed, but that was part of Tom’s plan.
He couldn’t keep up with it in speed, so he would force it into predictable movements.
As the feline dodged, Tom was already there, waiting.
The weight of his fist had already shifted.
His punch connected with the feline’s skull.
With a thunderous blast, blood and bone exploded across the ground. The creature’s head was forcefully exploded to bits, and the forest fell silent once more.
The battlefield smelled of death, raw power, and iron.