"Yes, finally completed," Nathan thought with a smile.
Four days had passed since his encounter with Celine, and since then, he had just been following his daily routine.
He would wake up with the same nightmares about the auras and the boulder, which made him feel like he was dead every day.
Then he would exercise in the morning before going to classes and return to his room to continue creating skills and improving his vampiric senses.
He didn't really talk to Joey much; they would just exchange greetings when they saw each other.
Declan also tried to have a conversation with him, but it wasn't possible because Nathan was always nowhere to be found after classes.
He stood up from the floor and stretched out his right palm.
His ability energy seeped out, forming a brown rock-like shield.
It was circular and a little heavy, but with his strength, he could easily carry it.
"I'm now a middle-rank gifted," Nathan muttered.
"The earth pillar skill would have taken more time," Siena said.
"Hmm... Isn't it time to unlock another element?" Nathan asked.
"You haven't received a quest that offers that reward," Siena replied.
"Shit, how do I get that kind of quest?" Nathan asked.
Suddenly, a look of annoyance appeared on his face.
"Maybe I would have gotten a quest with that reward if I had gone to one of the areas," Nathan said.
"But my plans just had to be ruined," he added with a frown on his face.
He had planned to go beast hunting in one of the areas today, but Orion Blake, the principal of the academy, suddenly announced that a training match between the students was going to take place.
Because of that, the ASC building wasn't open to students as they were all expected to attend the match.
Due to the large number of students, the training match was divided between Saturday and Sunday.
After freshening up, Nathan walked to the academy hall where the other students were already seated.
Orion Blake entered the hall and cleared his throat before speaking.
"Good morning, students of this wonderful academy," Orion said.
"The training match will start today and will also take place tomorrow." He continued.
"A list of all the participants for today's section has been made and it will be displayed for all of you to see."
While the students were murmuring and discussing the upcoming event, Nathan was thinking about something.
"The principal is the only one we've seen, but what about the head of the academy?" Nathan thought.
All the academies in the stronghold have a head, either male or female, including Vina Academy.
But he has never seen the head of the academy, and from what he heard, it was the same for the other students.
"There's a high chance she's the one," Nathan thought.
Celine was able to cover Josh's case, and she also knew when he entered the academy.
Elves naturally have long ears, but Celine's ears weren't long, which means she had an artifact that allowed her to hide them.
So he wouldn't be surprised if Celine was the head of the academy.
Nathan glanced at the front and noticed a holographic screen displaying the names of the students participating today. The names were bold and easily visible to everyone.
"My name isn't here, which means I'll be participating tomorrow," Nathan thought to himself.
Orion clapped his hands to grab everyone's attention before speaking.
"All participants, follow me to the arena where you'll receive your training gear," Orion announced.
The students followed Orion and made their way towards the arena.
"Hey Nathan, how's it going?" Joey asked, walking beside him.
"I'm good," Nathan replied briefly.
"I'm participating today, so wish me luck," Joey said with a smile.
"Hmm... try your best," Nathan responded before heading towards one of the chairs in the arena.
Joey smiled wryly before going to get her battle gear.
The battle gear consisted of a comfortable full bodysuit made of spandex fabric.
The arena quickly filled up with students eager to watch the match.
The arena was spacious, with plenty of chairs for the audience.
The center area, where the participants would battle, was surrounded by a barrier to ensure the safety of the spectators.
"Alright, everyone, settle down. The match will begin in a few minutes," Orion announced.
"The winner can be determined in two ways: either when one of the participants surrenders or when a powerful hit that can't be avoided is delivered," Orion explained.
Orion glanced at the side of the ring and added.
"A teacher is here to step in in case of any dangerous hit."
"Hehe, I think I'm not seeing well," Nathan thought, looking at the teacher.
The teacher had red scruffy hair and a sharp look.
When Nathan saw the teacher, only one name came to his mind.
"Ken, i-is it really Ken," he thought.
"Wait... You have to confirm if he's the one," Siena said.
Nathan had incredible eyesight, but he still couldn't believe that it was Ken.
"Nah, it's just someone who looks like Ken," Nathan thought.
The training wear didn't have stars at the back to indicate the participant's rank, but the matches were already arranged to ensure fairness.
The matches started, and they were pretty interesting to watch.
Participants were allowed to choose one weapon made from the bones of a beast, which led some of them to use the stances taught by their teachers.
"Next match, Joey Northstar versus Anna Blue," Orion announced.
Joey was a half-step middle rank gifted , but Nathan didn't know the rank of her opponent.
The girl raised her hands, and the wind around her became sharp like blades.
She hurled them towards Joey with incredible speed.
Joey stomped her right foot on the ground, summoning a wall of hardened snow to block the wind blades.
Anna, Joey's opponent, started running towards her as if she was being propelled.
Joey summoned five snow spikes that moved towards Anna.
Anna used her wind ability to create a barrier, changing the trajectory of the spikes.
But she didn't expect to see Joey right in front of her after dodging the spikes.
Joey leaped in the air and thrust her spear.
Anna tried to create a gust of wind to reduce the force of the spear, but it wasn't enough.
*BAM*
Joey's spear hit Anna's shoulder, causing her to fall down in pain.
"The winner is Joey Northstar!" Orion announced.
The students cheered, and Nathan had a smile on his face.
He was genuinely amused that Joey won the match.
"Okay, there will be a little break before we continue," someone announced.
"Wait... that voice."
Nathan looked at the ring and saw the teacher standing there.
There was no microphone, but everyone could hear his voice.
"The matches will resume after the break," the teacher continued.
"It's the same voice." Nathan's eyes widened in shock.
"It's him... It's Ken!!"
[A/N: Hey guys, from now on I'll try my best to update two chapters a day and I've also created a discord channel to discuss about Elemental Vampire. It'll be much appreciated if you guys join. Thanks alot