Arthur spent the rest of the day letting loose on those "classmates" of his.
Considering that both parties could freely use fae, Arthur did put one additional spin on their practice matches in order to "teach" his fellow Fae Masters.
They couldn't use their own fae.
They had to borrow a fae from someone went they fought against Arthur.
Pretty simple idea, but the vast majority of young Fae Masters had just gotten used to manipulating and controlling their own Fae. Suddenly forcing them into the deep end caused the vast majority of those without Fae Master backgrounds to become confused and troubled by this new set of tactics that they had to adapt to.
Undoubtedly, those without talent, or sufficient imagination or comprehension would fail miserably at such a task. These learners were not as flexible, or imaginative when it came to combat, or building a martial arts system around their fae.
However, those with sufficient talent, and comprehension took advantage of this divide and exploited it during their battles.
Alina, Ratimir, Borik, Randolf and surprisingly Zoya, the one that Arthur fought in the first round of the new Fae Master tournament did quite well in this little exercise.
Andrea, the one that Arthur, as well as Dominic and Chensa paid attention to, did much better than the latter two thought she would.
It had only been a day since she awakened her Boundless Forest Yearning Sovereign Boundary Physique, but already had she begun to exhibit talents and comprehensions far beyond what she previously did.
Both of Arthur's older siblings seemed shocked at the sudden improvement in her battle senses, but Arthur just nodded.
'The talents and powers of the Thirty Three Sovereign Boundary Physiques are far beyond what a small Clan like the Kovacs Clan can comprehend. The maximum origin essence sea and origin essence sea regeneration are just the beginning. When she awakens her second Origin Fae, things will become much more interesting.....'.
Arthur paid close attention to Andrea.
The girl was innocent and immature in the scheme of things. And could be influenced quite easily due to her upbringing.
Arthur's smile widened as he watched her defeat a girl that she once lost to in a martial arts battle.
'She might be useful in the future', he thought.
With the arrival of someone with the Thirty Three Sovereign Boundary Physiques, Arthur's desire to cultivate came bursting forth, and his cold heart now bloomed with the flames of expectation.
Memories of his past life came bubbling up from the depths of his mind. Like froth rising from the raging waves.
'I'll defeat you one day!'.
'Don't get cocky just because you have one of the Thirty Three Sovereign Boundary Physiques!'.
'When I become a Rank 3 Fae Master, I'll visit again, and fight you once more!'.
The clouds grew darker overhead. The sounds of thunder and lightning echoed throughout Parachenko Village.
It was going to rain soon.
'What do you mean his talent has been destroyed!?'.
'He has one of the Thirty Three Sovereign Boundary Physiques! How could he lose!'.
'I swear, Vlad, I swear that I'll kill the one's who did this to you!'.
Arthur let out a deep breath of turbid air.
.... How long had it been since he last thought of "him"?
How long had it been, since he fulfilled his dreams and exterminated an entire Clan?
Arthur's heart remained still, and his mind as still as frozen water.
In his previous life, he had come into contact with an individual with one of the Sovereign Boundary Physiques before.
It wasn't the Boundless Forest Yearning Sovereign Boundary Physique, but the original Sovereign Boundary Physique, the Formless Night Shadow.
The strength of that Physique.
It's talents.
It's abilities.
It's.... beauty, was all still fresh in Arthur's mind.
He chuckled slightly, remembering the youth that he had once been.
Arthur used to be exactly like Zoya, or Ratimir or Borik with regards to his desire towards becoming stronger.
He was hot-headed, stubborn, and envious of those with better talents than him.
But after a thousand years of loneliness, this demon's heart had become cold.
Only faint memories of a time long since passed, of a time that had yet to happen came to him.
"A future that could have been, perhaps?".
Arthur closed his his, letting the faint raindrops fall down onto him from the Heavens above.
The only person that he ever considered his "rival".
The only person that he ever considered as a true "friend".
A person that would die, and bring forth the demon inside of him.
"Vladimir Lew, the current Formless Night Shadow Sovereign Boundary Physique".
After leaving the Kovacs Clan, Arthur spend most of his days wondering the Azure Envy Continent, battling spirit beasts and fighting for his life for just a shred of cultivation materials.
After unknowingly entering one of the forbidden zones within the Azure Envy Continent, Arthur battled a spirit beast that rivalled a Rank 4 Fae Master, as a measly Rank 2 Fae Master.
He had lost an eye, and had most of his fae destroyed when-.
"Oh? Junior sister, it seems that someone needs help? Why don't we cut our return to the Sect short, and help this poor fellow".
He was saved.
Vladimir had saved him, and watched over him while he recovered.
Arthur had a first-tier talent by this stage, and found a wild Talent Fae which increased his maximum origin essence sea to a whopping 291%.
This was partly why Arthur didn't care much for talent. He could always increase it in the future if he needed to.
But still, once Arthur had been healed by Vladimir, he became obsessed with him.
His strength.
His abilities.
His talent.
He was jealous, and envious of Vladimir in his entirety.
Arthur followed him back to his Sect and joined them in order to fight with Vladimir.
He was the Holy Son of the Sect, and next in line to become Clan Leader if he continued his cultivation correctly.
Even though he knew that Arthur followed him back to the Sect in order to defeat him, he still accepted every challenge and every request that Arthur had.
Even today, the reasoning why Vladimir did so baffled Arthur.
"It's a reward right? As the future Clan Leader I need to reward my followers when they achieve something beneficial for the growth of the Sect! Seeing your cultivation and battle strength rise means that the Sect grows stronger Arthur! That is why I never refuse a fight!".
Arthur's demonic path could've gone much differently, if things turned out different....
However, one day, a large amount of Clans in the Azur Envy Continent started turning their gazes towards the resources of Arthur's former Sect.
Their location was completely surrounded by other Sects, and thus, couldn't get word out in time from other Sects that they possessed alliances with.
Arthur had been sent out to request help from one of these alliances, and managed to break through the encampment set by the opposing Clans at great risk to the Sect's upper echelons.
By the time he had gotten back, and with reinforcements, the entirety of this Sect had been destroyed, and all of its members either sold as slaves to the myriad Clans, or killed during combat.
Only a small portion of the Clan managed to escape, with Vladimir's body in tow.
Arthur looked up at the sky, letting the strong rain completely envelop his body.
The cold liquid trailed down his clothes, soaking him, as if trying to wash away all his memories.
But the blurry images had been burned into the very depths of Arthur's soul.
"That was the day I fully embraced the demonic path. Never once did I look back, and never once did I apologise for the things I did".
Arthur had taken countless lives since that time. And caused countless more grief and despair just as those Clans once did him.
'By the end of my thousand years of life, did any of it really matter?'. He thought
The Sect that he had once been apart of, that he once felt at home with, had long since turned to dust. The bones of someone with one of the Thirty Three Sovereign Boundary Physiques would remain, even ten thousand years after their death.
But by the end of his life, Arthur had forgotten where he buried Vladimir. He had forgotten the reason why he had chosen "this" life.
He laughed, one filled with a self-depreciating tone.
"Did any of it really matter then? Was my hatred ever quelled? Or was it all for nothing?".
The Thirty Three Sovereign Boundary Physiques had been something that Arthur thought of a lot, during his lifetime.
While he only ever researched one of them in depths, he had come into contact with plenty of different Sovereign Boundary Physiques.
Their talents.
Their abilities.
Their strengths.
Their potential was.... seemingly limitless.
After Arthur met Vladimir, he had become enamoured with everything about the Thirty Three Sovereign Boundary Physiques.
After his death, this desire faded slightly, seeing that these seemingly almighty powers had become fallible.
No Fae Immortal had ever become invincible, nor was any Immortal Fae invincible.
But the closest thing to it, was definitely the Thirty Three Sovereign Boundary Physiques.
But now.... being so close to one, Arthur couldn't help but think-.
"If I could take this power for myself, what could I achieve? What could I do?".
The notion frightened Arthur, but caused a spark of excitement to course throughout his frozen heart.
Never in his previous life did he have the capabilities, or the prerequisites to obtain one of the Sovereign Boundary Physiques. He had started his cultivation too early, and become a Fae Immortal before finding out some of the secrets about the Sovereign Boundary Physiques.
The false smile that he had on his face seemed to be the only thing Arthur knew since he had been reborn, but now the jubilant expression on his face seemed to light up the whole world around him!
He had a thousand years worth of knowledge.
A thousand years worth of ideas and powers that no-one had yet to come up with!
The Thirty Three Sovereign Boundary Physiques, were completely random in their appearance in the world, as was shown when Andrea awakened her Physique.
But-.
"There are at least a handful that already exist in this world. And countless more inheritances that haven't been claimed yet. If I take advantage of both of them, could I-".
Arthur's breath hitched.
Ever since his awakened, all he ever thought about was gathering strength.
Strength was the most important thing in this world, as it was the strong who decided the fates of the weak.
But-.
What point was strength, without a goal to achieve with it?
Strength for the sake of strength wasn't enough for Arthur. It wasn't enough to push him!
But this.... this he could work with.
Arthur's eyes became maniacal, and his laugh echoed throughout the streets of Parachenko Village. The rain, combined with the booming sounds of thunder and lightning dulled his crazed amusement, but those who heard it felt shivers down their spine.
Arthur had been reborn in this world for over a month now.
But on this day, a demon was reborn.