Noah didn't know how he and his team had done it, but they had made it to the end of the stage, collapsing immediately upon reaching the safe zone. And they weren't the only ones—teams with Adept stage students had barely managed as well.
Their combat suits were burnt through in many places, revealing most of their upper bodies and the red, blistering burns on their skin. Thankfully, they had brought a change of clothes and were able to change easily once Emery created a curtain of Umbra Essence around them. Of course, anyone could still peek using Internal Sight, but no student would be that idiotic or insensitive.
"We managed to get through this, but the next stage is probably going to be just as hard," he thought, sighing as he let his body slump onto the ground, too exhausted to even lift a finger. His mind, however, spun furiously as he tried to develop a plan, but each one was quickly discarded rather quickly. "In the end… we might have to quit at this stage. We've pushed ourselves enough. Our team is practically the only First-Year team to have made it to the end of the third stage. The only other Year ones are those in Elaine's team. If we face a weaker Year 2 team and win, that's great—it means we'll have at least one victory in the fourth stage, which should increase our rewards. But if it's a Year 3 team, we'll have to quit."
Indeed, there was no use trying to match up to those seniors. Each team had a leader capable of utilizing Intent, a power that his team couldn't quite face yet.
With his decision made, Noah regulated his breathing and began siphoning Essence from his surroundings to replenish his Core while circulating his Blood Essence to speed up his healing. He also activated his martial art skill, Dragon Sleep—a technique that boosted his healing rate. Unlike Dragon's Vitality, it couldn't be used in battle, but it was far more efficient, with a lower Blood Essence consumption.
The academy seemed to be merciful, granting the students a few hours of rest before they felt energy waves forming ahead of them, signaling the opening of a new portal. No one spoke; they simply rose from their positions and walked into the portal, allowing the spatial currents to propel them through space and teleport them to a familiar setting.
"This is…"
It was the same place where they had taken the final stages of their entrance exams. The teams had been transported to floating platforms, each spanning about 200 meters. Above them appeared Emile, the Vice Principal.
"It seems the first years are quite promising this year," Emile remarked, a faint smile on her lips as she glanced at Noah and his team before addressing all the students. "Congratulations to everyone who has reached the final stage. Twelve teams have made it to this round, which will be a series of team versus team matches. Each of you will be randomly paired against another team. I wish you all good luck."
After her brief speech, a flash of silver spread out, and she disappeared. Following her exit, two platforms shifted with a loud groan, nearly startling the students atop them. The platforms moved towards the center of the strange space they had found themselves in, then merged together, signaling the start of the match.
The two teams belonged to the remaining four Year 3 teams, one of which was Alyssa's. Seeing this, Noah immediately focused intently on the fight. It had been a long time since they had parted, and he wanted to see how far her battle prowess had advanced.
Even though he had expected her to become stronger, what he saw was shocking. Alyssa appeared to have reached the 8th Level of the Adept Stage. Coupled with her bloodline, she could easily surpass ranks and fight against 9th Level Battlesoul masters. From the aura he had sensed when they first met, she seemed to be one of the rare individuals who chose to walk two paths!
Choosing one's path typically began at the 5th Level. After much consideration, it seemed she had decided to walk both the Body and Essence paths. This allowed her to contend with individuals who were on the verge of advancing to the Expert Stage—Pseudo-Expert Stage Battlesoul masters!
One might think that since it was the same 9th Level, the strengths wouldn't differ much. But that wasn't the case! The reason was simple:
Pseudo-Expert Stage warriors could properly utilize Pseudo-Intent. They were essentially Expert Stage Battlesoul masters but without the necessary Essence capacity to sustain their Pseudo-Intent.
Yet Alyssa seemed to defy this convention. The rule was that one had to reach the 9th Level to properly harness Pseudo-Intent, but she could already use it at the 8th Level! This was unprecedented! The latent talent within her could put 80% of Battlesoul masters to shame.
Even more surprising was that both her allies and enemies seemed unsurprised by her abilities, indicating that they were already aware of her prowess. Her still slightly unstable aura hinted that she had recently advanced and gained access to her Pseudo-Intent as early as the 7th Level!
Noah was utterly speechless. This kind of talent probably secured her the undisputed first place in her Year's ranking system.
And from her not-so-subtle display of challenging all four of her opponents alone, it seemed she wanted him to acknowledge this fact too. Even while battling, their eyes met periodically, showing how effortlessly she managed, despite one of her opponents being a Pseudo-Expert Stage Battlesoul master like her.
"This feeling…" Noah unknowingly smiled as he watched her display her strength before his eyes. "This feeling of rivalry—I haven't felt it in a long time." His hands clenched and unclenched multiple times. His aura suddenly surged as his Essence coursed through his organs, strengthening them to the limit and pushing him to the 9th Level of the Intermediate Stage.
"Soon. I'll get to that stage soon."