"Y-Yes, my friend fought against him but lost. Listen to me! Arslan is using some strange techniques! I'm trying to figure out what he is cultivating but it's not that easy!" He said as he tried to calm her down and make her pay attention to what he said while taking out his hands from his pockets.
"That b*stard... it must be his father's power! I told Joseph he should have thrown those two out because they would have been a problem but he didn't want to listen to me!!! Just for that stupid promise he made to that b*tch!" She said as she broke her thumbnail due to the stress she was having.
'So, I was right. It is probably the secret cultivation method of the Crimson family!' Troy thought as he heard Eveline speaking about Arslan's father,
"Mother, do you know something about what kind of techniques Arslan is practicing?"
"No... it is exactly for this reason that I don't want to risk him becoming like his father! It's too dangerous!! He must be crippled before it's too late! Did you hear me, Troy? I want him crippled!!!"
'Normally she would just flip out, but she seems to have her mind clear right now. I was right to start worrying after witnessing what that f*cker could do! Exploiting Jacob to study Arslan's moves more was the correct decision.' He thought as he looked at Eveline,
"I assure you, mom, that he will suffer for what he did to you." He said with a nervous expression on his face. He wasn't sure if he would have succeeded, but he would have done his best to accomplish it.
--
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--
Monday arrived in a heartbeat. Arslan was already awake when the sun enlightened the cloudy sky and he could see the weak light entering his room from the window. He was too worried to be able to sleep properly. Where is my sister? What did they do to her? These were only a few of the questions that tormented his mind. No one would assure him, as, without her, he was utterly alone,
'I have to remember this feeling... because I don't want to feel it ever again! I will save you Elma, and those who did this to you will plead for your forgiveness.' His rage was overwhelming and he was ready to let his steam off on his opponent.
While heading out of the residence, he met again the same guards, who were protecting the gate, he met on Saturday. He didn't even look at them and just passed by them, but he could clearly hear what they were talking about,
"So, are you telling me he passed the test?"
"Yes, my wife heard Miss Eveline flipping out because of this 2 days ago."
"Ah, right, she works in the main house as a maid... it must be nice working there."
The two guards continued talking but Arslan stopped paying attention to them and just ignored what they were saying afterward.
Half an hour later, he arrived at the Imperial Academy, where news of the fight was already spreading. The disciples around him were all looking at him... some with a face of disdain and others with curiosity about his newfound strength.
After a few steps, Arslan entered the Reception Hall, where all the challenges were officialized. It was the place where every new disciple that won the Martial Competition had to go to be registered as an attendant of the Academy and where each disciple had to communicate their cultivation and bloodline levels. In this way, there were no secrets between them and, even if they had lied, the elder in charge of checking their levels would have unveiled the truth.
"Look! He really came!" A disciple inside the Hall said as he saw Arslan coming in.
"So, it is true that he is gonna fight Jacob!" Another one added.
"I wonder why he accepted such an uneven fight."
"This trash is too confident lately. I hope Jacob won't show any mercy!" A disciple in the first 50 spots of the ranking said. Most of them wanted Arslan to be put back in his place, as they saw him as an ant to crush as they pleased.
"Yeah, an orphan like him shouldn't be even allowed to attend this Academy." A guy belonging to a tributary family of one of the Great families said.
Arslan ignored all of them and went to talk with the old man working there as receptionist,
"I'm here to accept the challenge that Jacob, the 3rd in the ranking, launched to me!" Arslan said with decision. The old man, whose few hairs on his head were white, due to his age, put down the pen and lifted his head up. His eyes stared at Arslan through the old man's glasses,
"Who are you?" he asked as he didn't remember Arslan's face. It was 2 years since the last time Arslan came to talk to him, so it was normal for him not to immediately recall who Arslan was.
"I'm Arslan Crimson." He answered without changing his facial expression as he didn't expect to be recognized, to begin with.
"Mmm... I remember you now. You are the weakest outer disciple of the Academy. You said you came here to accept a challenge, am I right?" The old man said while scanning Arslan with his eyes.
"Exactly."
"Then you need to sign this paper where you confirm to willingly accept this battle." The receptionist didn't bother to ask why those two were going to fight each other as it wasn't part of his job.
"But before doing that... to follow the rules, I have to communicate my new cultivation level, due to my late breakthrough." Arslan's words resonated in the whole Hall. Every person who was speaking stopped talking and looked at Arslan, as their ears heard something they would have never expected.
"Ohoh... and what level did you reach?" The old man asked as he squinted.
"Earth-level... middle-stage." Arslan said without batting an eye. He wasn't realizing how outstanding it was to have reached that level in just 1 week after being a late-stage Human-level for the last 6 years.
After a moment of silence, a huge uproar could be heard inside the Hall,
"WOOOAAH!!"
"Whaaat????"
"Did you hear that?????"
The disciples were shocked and couldn't believe what they were listening to.
Arslan reached the middle stage right the night before. Not being able to sleep properly, he spent the last two nights refining his Qi, and, at last, he succeeded in breaking through the next stage.