Infirmary.
An elven healer retracted her hand as she healed the small wound on Lia's hand.
Lia nodded at the healer to thank her, then got up to leave.
While walking back to her own waiting room, Lia brought out her phone and scrolled through the videos of a certain someone's fights.
'He won so easily… He has become much stronger than he was during the group survival test… Meanwhile, I haven't made much progress at all…'
Seeing Rio's display of overwhelming strength, Lia clenched her fists.
She might have accepted him as a close person to her, but her competitive spirit won't just acknowledge defeat so easily.
Rio has been progressing extremely fast recently, and he has left Lia far behind.
'If not for Kai's blessing… I won't even be worthy of standing on the same stage as him…'
To Lia, being left behind in dust like this was a great blow.
She also wants to progress; she wants to remain equal to him and wants to stand side-by-side with him.
[You don't need to blame yourself that much, girl; you are progressing, and it's not that you are slow… 'That guy' is just too fast…]
Kai's words were indeed true; compared to other students, Lia's speed of improvement wasn't all that slow; it's just that she was comparing herself to monsters like Rio and Link.
(Keep in mind that originally Lia only had S-rank potential, and it increased to rank SS only after she awakened Kai's blessing…)
Kai manifested on Lia's shoulder in the form of a cat and spoke in a calm tone.
"The thing is, you haven't even properly manifested my powers yet… The most crucial step to controlling a spirit beast's power is to have a 'path'…"
Kai thought for a moment before continuing,
"You have yet to use proper forms of my blessing… What you are using right now is merely a side product… They hardly qualify as genuine 'blessings'.
Lia shook her head, clenched her sword's hilt, and said it with a troubled look on her face.
"Still… even then, I will only be depending on your power…. I don't want to depend on external help to show off."
Before Lia could express any more self-loathing, Kai smacked her forehead with his small paw and spoke in a serious tone.
"Idiot! I am contracted with you, and my powers are yours to use…. Simply speaking, my powers are an extension of yours; without your mana, I can't exert my full strength either!"
Kai nodded his head and said,
"You awakened my powers with your own efforts; this power belongs to you; it's not an external buff; if you don't accept this power as your own, it will be difficult for you to progress…"
Kai's eyes narrowed as he continued.
"Perhaps the reason you are not able to find your path is also because you are refusing to take this power as your own… That's a bad mentality, kiddo…"
Kai gestured to Liam's video on Lia's phone.
"That kid Liam uses the power of his summons to defeat his opponents, yet he never considers the summoned beasts as a separate power from himself; he has accepted his own powers…"
"Self-loathing will get you nowhere; if you want to claim the long-lost title of 'Silver Dawn', you better accept yourself first…"
Listening to Kai's scolding, Lia sighed again and again.
She was really not in favor of using external power to defeat others.
Before contracting Kai, she had always believed in her own power and tried to achieve the peak with her own strength.
But ever since she started using Kai's power, she has become conflicted in her heart.
'Rio also said the same thing the other day… This power is mine, and I shouldn't deny my true self… but I feel like I am cheating whenever I use this power…'
Seeing the troubled look on Lia's face, Kai couldn't help but shake his head as he thought to himself.
Kai believes that Lia is a child who easily becomes overly preoccupied with her own goals and ceases to consider things that are right in front of her.
He thinks that if Lia hadn't had the goal to chase after Rio, then she might have already lost herself to this weirdly obsessed mentality.
That's what happened in the original timeline: she lost herself to the hunger of immense power, then went through demonification and became cruel and vicious.
(She was never able to awaken Kai, as demons can't have contracts with divine spirits… demon and divine spirits are natural enemies of each other…)
…
While contemplating all this, Lia reached her own waiting area.
She had already passed her second match with moderate difficulty and her third match would be tomorrow.
Lia glanced at the setting sun and realized that there were only a few hours left for preparation.
To increase her own combat knowledge, she sat down on her bed and started watching the battle videos of all matches.
'Liam, Link, and Rio, all three of them are winning their matches without facing any difficulties at all… Not a single opponent has survived the past ten minutes in front of them…'
(Liam usually gets overshadowed by Link and Rio, but he's also a peak SS-rank talent, and with Ellie on his side, his improvement speed is not too far behind Rio and Link…)
'Currently… I have no chance of winning against them three if I end up fighting them…'
Lia didn't want to acknowledge her own weakness, but she couldn't ignore the truth either.
Due to the rules of competition, she can't summon Kai in his proper form; thus, her powers are naturally reduced.
She has to make do with his ordinary blessings.
'Rio has 'sword intent' , Link has 'Dao Rhythm' and even Liam can use 'Shadow Field' without manifesting Ellie in a proper form… Only I don't have a proper finishing move like them three…'
Lia knew her own weaknesses better than anyone else.
Thinking and stressing over all these things caused Lia to fall asleep from exhaustion.
…
The night passed, and the morning of the third day arrived.
Once again, the audience gathered in the stadium, and the broadcasting of the battles began.
The first match of the day turned out to be between Rio and Kira.
This matchup surprised everyone. Rio just defeated one of his own teammates yesterday, and now he has to fight another one of his comrades.
Lia woke up early, and after donning her combat outfit, she stared at Rio and Kira's fight.
She wanted to assess Rio's capabilities more. (She wasn't even thinking that Rio could lose…)
The match started amidst the loud cheers of the audience, but it ended in the very next second.
When the countdown to the match ended, Kira raised her hand and said,
"I admit defeat!"
Everyone, including Lia and the SS-rankers, was taken aback by this sudden turn of events.
But then everyone figured out the truth.
"I admit defeat!"
Everyone, including Lia and the SS-rankers, was taken aback Kira is a smart person; she's already sure that she can't win against Rio, and her outcome would likely be similar to Fade's, as her spells are not much different from his.
It was a wise choice to avoid wounds when you knew there was no point to this battle.
Lia noticed the barely visible look of disappointment that flashed through Rio's eyes when he had to sheath his sword, which had barely been unsheathed.
'He's bored…'
Lia can see Rio's suppressed emotions better than others; after all, she's been staring at him for nearly a year now.
No one can decipher Rio's feeling better than she does.
'He likely wanted to have a proper fight but hasn't been able to achieve it…'
Thinking this far, Lia shook her head.
'Sigh, what can I say, You are just too strong…'
Just as Lia was passing time while watching Rio's battles, the huge hologram screen in her room moved and the roulette started.
[Ding! Congratulations on passing your last match!]
[Ding! Congratulations! Your next match has been fixed!]
[Lia Silver Vs. Miki Kotov]
[Time: 11:00 A.m.]
[Make sure you arrive on time!]
Lia's eyes narrowed instantly as she saw her opponent's name.
'It's that cat girl? This is going to be difficult…'
Lia met Miki a few days ago and has also seen her battle videos.
'Kai said that she's only below Rio in terms of speed and agility… I need to keep my calm…'
In the next two hours, Lia did more research on Miki's abilities and found that Miki hasn't used her full strength yet in past battles, so the information on her true battle prowess was still vague.
'I need to be cautious of that unpredictable fighting style of hers…'
After finishing her research, Lia checked the time and made the decision to move.
She got up from her seat, placed her sword around her waist, and, with a determined look on her face, walked towards the arena.
'I must win this…'
…
…
Author's Notes.
Yo! It's your beloved author here!
Finally! It's time for Lia to shine! Let's see how she's going to deal with the obstacles in her way!
Question of the day.
If you had to fight Rio, will you surrender or fight?
1. Surrender (Kira's move was excellent, she knew her limits!)
2. Fight (True warriors never back down from a challenge!)
By the way, don't forget to use those power stones and also leave a review if you like the story. Comment your opinion about the chapter. Your support is my motivation.