"The geniuses are all strong. But for these two days, I'm pretty sure everyone will be on their turf."
"The Ultima geniuses do not feel any threat from the Fallen geniuses below, and the remaining Fallen geniuses are already aware they'll be losing out soon."
"Now everyone is living on easy mode, and this is my best chance…"
Ryuk mused to himself as he slowly rose back to his feet.
His injuries had already closed up, and his mana and endurance had reached a good level—at least enough for him to stand and throw a few punches without any problem.
"I have to grow stronger, faster. Faster than they think is possible."
"I have to win a spot…" Ryuk said with determination as holographic tablets began appearing around him. Quickly, he tapped on their surface.
In the next instant, the dilapidated training room around him began mending itself.
The severed robot in its middle disappeared into the walls, and in its place appeared another robot, which slowly shimmered into the air before directing its attention toward Ryuk, raising its plasma weapon that began flaring with a destructive beam of energy.
"I have to win!" Ryuk roared, followed by the air tearing apart as the destructive beam ripped through the wall, shredding Ryuk's image.
But it was only an afterimage, as his figure appeared in front of the robot, sending forth a powerful punch.
The sound of footsteps rang out through the training hall as a Fallen genius calmly walked through the area.
It was a young man, towering at a height of 1.9 meters, making him look like an adult. But on his face, one could easily sense he was still only a teen, albeit looking mature.
Dressed in flowing silver clothes and trousers that matched his silver hair and eyes, he radiated a refined aura like that of a scholar.
Yet somehow, if one focused their attention on him, they would barely notice the air around him shimmering—unable to settle, as though the air itself was on fire.
"Huh?" A faint gasp escaped the young man's lips as he paused in his steps before looking to the side, where a door could be seen.
From there, he could hear incredibly powerful explosions.
But after an especially loud one, the sound faded away, with the room returning to silence once more.
The young man slowly turned to the door before his hand reached for the doorknob. He tried to open it, but the door wouldn't budge.
Still, the door didn't resist for long.
The doorknob suddenly became engulfed in silver flames, and soon, the entire door was burning in silver fire until it turned into nothing but silvery ash that drifted into the room.
The sound of footsteps rang out in the dilapidated room as silvery eyes scanned the destruction all over the place.
There wasn't a single place on the wall that didn't have a gaping hole, all in human-shaped formats. The ground was riddled with deep potholes, where pools of blood had gathered.
At the centre of the training room was a robot cut into four different pieces. The silvery-haired young man slowly walked toward it, his hands trailing along the fine cuts on the robot's body.
"Only a truly fine blade could have done such beautiful work of art…" the young man said, a bit of interest flashing in his eyes as he finally turned to the edge of the training room.
There, a boy was currently kneeling on both knees, blood trailing down his jaw and dripping onto his white clothes.
There were holes everywhere in his body, but surprisingly, they were closing up quite fast.
For now, he seemed absolutely unable to move, barely breathing hazily from his kneeling position.
"Tell me, human. What blade did the work of art on this robot?" the Fallen genius asked as he walked toward Ryuk.
Right now, Ryuk was in a world of his own—a world of pain.
He had fought with exactly three robots at the Core Stage of Ascension in a row. Now, he could barely feel his own chest pumping from the adrenaline.
There were so many destructions to his nanobody that it somehow amazed him he was still standing right now.
Surprisingly, the last robot had proved to be quite the powerful nemesis, properly beating up the already battered up Ryuk.
But in the end, Ryuk had still managed to cleave it into four parts.
But then there were these footsteps, succeeding in awakening him as he slowly raised his head, using his remaining working left eye to gaze at the Fallen genius.
Looking at the Fallen genius, Ryuk hadn't seen him around before. But looking at the air around him and seeing the shimmering distortion, a single thought appeared in Ryuk's head.
Without the young man even needing to do anything or showcase his power, Ryuk could easily sense his level based on his aura.
'Somehow, this is the perfect time to test out my ability against a Fallen genius in the top 20. But with my current injuries, even Quinn wouldn't find it too difficult to give me a good beating…' Ryuk thought, and in the end, he decided to cooperate with the youth.
"An ability. Don't ask to see it. I barely have enough mana to raise myself up, talk less of activating it…" he replied as he took himself away from his kneeling position, his back slamming on the wall, sitting properly.
"The only cut I've seen with such beauty is that of that weird Darius kid…" the guy said with a thoughtful expression as Ryuk's eyes flashed and he unconsciously called out.
"You mean Darius Crescent?" he asked as the guy narrowed his eyes.
"He isn't strong enough to make me remember his full name, so I can't say for sure…"
The reply seemed like the most arrogant thing Ryuk had ever heard in his life.
According to Quinn, Darius Crescent was a genius who was said to possess a blade that could cut through the heaviest of armor.
He was 6th on the Ultima ranking, yet the boy was saying he was too weak for him to remember his name?
How arrogant is that?
"And who are you?" Ryuk couldn't help asking.
Perhaps the boy was one of the three that Quinn didn't mention. Who knows?
"Who am I? You're also too weak to know…"