Victor felt the brutal impact before it even landed. Tarkos moved like a phantom across the field and appeared right before him with his palm thrusting forward like a blade.
Victor gritted his teeth and did the only thing left he could do.
In a flash, his avatar dissolved into particles of glittering light.
Tarkos's hand met thin air.
The tattooed assassin blinked once, then smiled faintly. He straightened his posture as his tattoos lazily shifted across his skin like dark rivers. "You'll be back," Tarkos said aloud to no one in particular. "All I have to do is wait."
Without hurry, he turned and walked toward a toppled section of a wall, selecting a shaded spot. He sat cross-legged and settled himself comfortably on the rubble as if preparing for a picnic.
The slums around him remained eerily silent as the metallic scent of spilled blood swear across the terrain.
Hours Later — Real World
"Move it, you snails! If you're not gasping for breath, you're not doing it right!"
Instructor Vex Rhane's booming voice echoed across the rough training terrain, snapping many out of their daze.
Victor ran with heavy weights strapped around his legs, ankles, waist, and even his back. His body moved rhythmically with the others of Camp 11 as his boots pounded against the rocky ground.
Victor wasn't struggling as much as before.
In fact, he barely felt the burden that had once left him gasping for air. His strides were longer and his breathing was steady. His muscles seemed to have strengthened further from breaking into the Nascent Soul Realm which allowed him to carry across the obstacles with ease.
Victor barely paid attention to his new physical prowess though—his mind was elsewhere.
Specifically, on Tarkos.
'Soul Transformation Realm…' he thought grimly while vaulting over a two feet tall barrier.
'It's not even close to Nascent Soul in terms of power. It's a completely different world.'
Victor had grown used to punching above his weight. He'd beaten Core Formation cultivators while still at Foundation Establishment. Nascent Souls when he was still Core Formation. He had gotten cocky without realizing it.
A shiver ran through him, though sweat poured down his back from exertion.
'Once I log back in,' Victor decided while gritting his teeth, 'I'll just go straight after the Jade Serpent Sect.'
He wasn't going to sit around and wait for them to keep sending people after him.
He would take the fight to them.
A faint smirk formed on his face even as he dodged under a low-hanging branch.
"Damn, Revenant, you're moving like you've got rocket boosters!" one of the nearby warrior classmates muttered in disbelief as Victor overtook him easily.
Victor barely heard him.
After finishing the two laps, the students were finally dismissed. He removed the weights and flexed his arms. The world suddenly felt feather-light.
Victor shrugged it off mentally and made his way back toward his dorm briefly before heading to his lecture blocks.
First was General Studies, where they continued learning about the humanoid species and advanced battle theories about mana zones and territory control.
Then two warrior-based classes followed—"Weaponized Kinetics" and "Advanced Battle Flow." Both focused on improving not just techniques but fluidity during battle—a crucial weakness Victor noticed from his earlier clash with Tarkos.
In "Weaponized Kinetics," they discussed dispersing force in sword swings to maximize damage while minimizing self-strain.
In "Advanced Battle Flow," they worked on how to maintain fluid footwork while chaining attacks together seamlessly—something Victor keenly noted he needed more practice with.
Every minute, he absorbed information like a sponge.
He was dead serious now.
When the lectures ended, Victor bumped into Danny, Amara, and, of course, Derek who was sticking close to Amara like glue.
"Brooooooo!" Danny shouted while practically barreling toward him and locking him into a rough side hug. "Where the hell have you been hiding?!"
Victor laughed and clapped him on the back. "Busy saving the world."
Danny laughed even harder while Derek just grunted in disapproval.
Amara had her usual soft smile plastered across her face, "You seriously disappeared for the rest of the day. We thought you joined a secret society or something."
Victor gave a sheepish shrug. "Something like that."
Danny quickly dragged him along, talking animatedly, and before he knew it, they were all headed to one of the personal training lounges.
Personal Training Lounge —Hub-7
The lounge was massive. Different rooms designed like obstacle courses, arenas, virtual battlefields—it had everything.
It was like stepping into a virtual gaming world.
There were even rooms where Awakened students could fight against specially designed bots that mimicked various humanoid enemies.
Victor's eyes widened slightly in appreciation.
No wonder they said Academy resources were absurd… this is insane.
Danny and Derek immediately ran toward a challenge room where large projectile launchers fired elemental orbs at different speeds while the participants dodged.
Victor stayed back a bit and watched. This was his first time coming here after all.
There were leaderboards mounted above each arena showing the highest scores in real-time.
Suddenly, a commotion stirred from the far side.
Gasps, murmurs and even cheers rang out.
Victor and the others turned to look.
At the far end, standing casually after completely obliterating a gauntlet filled with speed and strength challenges, was a girl.
She had short red hair, piercing dark eyes and a slightly heavy Berserker build but super attractive nevertheless.
Her name lit up at the top of the leaderboard.
"VEYLA" — Score: 9999 (New High Score)
She cracked her knuckles and looked almost bored despite the impressive feat.
Whispers spread fast.
"The S-Ranked Berserker…"
"VEYLA. First-year terror!"
Victor watched her carefully. This was the second S rank first year he was coming into contact with.
He didn't feel fear or intimidation.
Instead, he felt a bit of excitement.
Just like the other S ranker... this one also had a very intense presence. There was no doubt that they stood out from the rest of the bunch.
After setting the new record on the Gaunt
Climb, Veyla casually wandered over to
another section of the training lounge.