Rakin Lockham looked relaxed with a faint smile. He had a white linen shirt tucked into his black trousers loosely.
"Recover to full. Then we shall fight."
The crowd immediatly cheered.
"It’s Rakin! Well, there’s no surprise in this battle anymore."
"Looking at his clothes, it seems he just returned from the Nexus city."
Some of the girls were crazy for him, while the boys acted gay.
John, on the other hand, raised his eyebrows as he saw the public’s reaction.
’Don’t lose.’
Azeli’s words suddenly rang in his head, her tone sounded firm. She didn’t want John to lose.
’I’ll try my best,’ John replied with Soul Whisper before he sat down and began recovering his spent soul energy and stamina by meditating and breathing calmly.
Upon seeing that John began recovering, Rakin looked at Azelis and smiled while cupping his fist. "Teacher Azelis, I’ve just returned and thanks to your guidance, I managed to improve myself on the last trip. Thank you."
"Good," Azelis said with a nod and a small smile that she gave to all students.
Suddenly, two figures appeared nearby.
Executive Jason.
Executive Tavros.
"Rakin. Judging by your aura, it looks like you attained Wind Mastery level 2," Executive Jason’s old face bloomed into a smile as he spoke.
"All thanks to the guidance of you teachers," Rakin humbly said as he cupped his fist with a slight bow.
"It’s your hard work. We did nothing," Executive Tavros faintly smiled.
"By the way, this junior is quite talented. I saw how he defeated Hugo," Rakin said as he looked at John curiously. "He looks new."
’Brother Rakin, the guy you just challenged is someone Teacher Azelis brought and wants to make her first Apprentice.’
Rakin suddenly got Soul Whisper from one of his friends, and his eyes flickered.
"He is John Wicked," Azelis said with a faint smile. "I scouted him from the survival event, and I intend to make him my first apprentice."
"That is if he manages to prove himself up to the standards," Executive Jason followed up right after Azelis finished speaking.
"He will, quite easily," Azelis said, her smile and tone confident.
"Oh..." Rakin blinked, looking away from John to Azelis, Jason, Tavros, and then back to John.
A glint passed through his eyes.
’I was supposed to be chosen by her...’ Inside Rakin, a bubbling fire began rising. ’She is mine!’
Others might find it weird, but Rakin joined Ouroboros Hall for the sole reason of wanting to be Azelis’s first apprentice, and then, down the line, after some years, also make her his!
That was not just his plan, but his family’s plan as well!
Azelis was twenty-six years old, and Rakin was currently seventeen. However, high-ranking Tamers of King-rank and higher have a long lifespan, and Rakin had been dreaming of obtaining Azelis ever since he had seen her in the Nexus city a year ago.
That was the sole reason he came to Ouroboros Hall from Nexus City. Otherwise, he didn’t need to come to this city at all when he had the Lokham Family’s influence and resources in Nexus City.
Executive Jason and Tavros knew about it, while Hall Master Varek was above such matters and didn’t know about it. Even if he knew, he wouldn’t do anything as it was a matter that Azelis had to handle herself.
But Rakin wanted to cultivate closeness, even if it was of teacher and student at first, with Azelis!
And now, this guy came out of nowhere...
Five minutes passed by just like that, with Rakin in his thoughts and the other audience speaking amongst themselves.
John opened his eyes and stood up, cracking his fingers at his neck and popping it as well.
"Alright, I am ready." John grinned as his pistol appeared in his right hand.
Lesly nodded at him before looking at Rakin. "Rakin, get ready."
Rakin took out a long sword as the wind began to rustle around him.
His stats got suppressed, becoming 55-55-55, the same as John’s.
"Fight starts in three...two...one!"
*Swoosh!*
John immediatly felt a gust of wind blowing at him while Rakin swiftly closed in.
’Fast,’ John’s eyes flickered. ’But the wind is nice and handy.’
Strider’s Gaunt. John side-stepped casually while pushing his legs a big, his hand that held the pistol positioned towards his chest...right where Rakin’s longsword slashed in!
*Clang!*
’Did he see through my sword’s trajectory that fast and react for that block?!’ Rakin felt shocked.
John was pushed back as the wind forcefully carried him along with the powerful slash impact, but John grinned at Rakin while getting pushed back, his pistol aimed perfectly.
*Bang! Bang!*
Rakin’s pupils shrank. He had just finished an attack, and these two spiraling bullets were coming at him from curves!
His thoughts were fast, but his body was suppressed to 55-55-55 stats!
Two bullets of 30 soul energy were powerful. Rakin slashed at one, his sword flickering with a cyan-green whirl as he consumed soul energy to produce some wind energy of his Wind Mastery level 2.
One bullet was blocked, while the other one barely missed him as he had moved while slashing to dodge.
Rakin kicked off his legs right after that, and John also landed at the same time, shooting two more bullets, but of 10-soul energy, this time, and rushed ahead to meet Rakin head-on.
The audience was shocked.
First, those two curvy bullets, and now dashing ahead against a longsword!
Rakin also couldn’t understand, but that just made him angrier at this arrogant fellow.
He swung his sword with its wind-whirled blade, destroying both bullets in a single strike before making a burst dash.
With just ten meters of distance between them, there was no way John, who was also dashing ahead, would be able to dodge.
But Strider’s Gaunt was a Geno Ability that could make the body flexible and agile as long as the user had the mind and skill to do it.
John simply bent his legs. He didn’t dodge, didn’t side-step. Those two things would take time, and he would get hit if he tried to do either of them.
But while running ahead, he simply bent his legs in a perfect motion, lowering his height and leaning back as he slid forward with the momentum he gathered from the dash.
Rakin’s sword...only cut the air where John’s chest was supposed to be.
Everyone’s jaw dropped.
*Click*
John’s hand was already stretched back, his pistol aimed at Rakin as he just passed by.
*Bang!*
100 soul energy bullet! Faster, stronger!
Rakin’s pupils shrank, and his eyes trembled. ’Me...losing?’
’No way!’