"Truly I have lost to you, not only in the battle of might, but in the battle of life. Till we meet again Rai Voltia, I bid you farewell in all your endeavors." Alexander said in his thoughts, drifting completely away into darkness with a smile on his face.
The nobles all murmured to each other with curiosity as they couldn't hear the discussion between Alexander and Rai from their seats. Rai left the arena and went into the medical bay to check on his temporal apprentice.
While that happened, Ford made the necessary repairs to the colosseum and proceeded with the next matches. At the medical bay, Rai sat next to the bed the unconscious Selena laid in.
She had been given the necessary treatments for her conditions, but even at that she was yet to regain consciousness. "There's nothing more we can do for her.." The nurse in charge of her medications informed him.
"There's really nothing more you can do for her?" He asked out of concern.
"No, it would have been more favourable if her injuries were as a result of essence. Her body completely shut down after continuous exposure to such high levels of cold, normally she is supposed to be dead but we were able to intervene before her body succumbed fully to the cold." The nurse replied.
"Put simply, you have no idea when she'll regain consciousness?" Rai asked.
"Precisely, I'm sorry. But there's nothing more we can do for her." The nurse concluded as she packed up her equipment and left the room.
"Tch.." Rai grunted, he felt like everything that had happened was his fault. Then again how would one achieve their dreams if they don't fight against all odds?
A couple hours past, the second stage of the Essenmage was concluded. It was filled with difficult and life threatening matches but at the end, the winners of each match pulled through.
Back in the medical center, Rai lowered his head in hopes of Selena gaining consciousness but it was of no use.
"Alexander, his essence is a mystery even to the high councils in the kings ministry." A voice spoke behind him which caused him to shrug for a second as he turned to identify who it was.
"Ford?" Rai uttered.
Ford let out a smile, his expression understandable.
"Don't be surprised, not every noble has a grudge on the commoners and I for one don't." He said reassuring him.
"How odd." Rai replied simply.
"I understand, many nobles find the concept of power the only necessity. They neglect true virtues and values and forget all about the importance of human life." Ford said as he laid his back into the wall and crossed his arms.
"And what makes you so different? your also a noble so what makes you not feel that superiority towards us?" Rai asked out of curiosity.
"Because, I am not truly a noble.." Ford answered.
"What?" Rai rattled by shock turned to face Ford.
"What do you mean you are not a noble?" He inquired.
"If these two concepts were a race, I guess you could say I'm a hybrid. I married into a noble family after gaining recognition in the eyes of my wife, so believe me when I say this Rai Voltia. It is possible for commoners to ascend to the top." He stood straight and dropped his arms as he was about rounding up what he came to do.
"The second stage of the exams has been concluded. You'll receive the final evaluation of the exams in a day to two days time, till then you are required to rest." Ford addressed him as he walked slowly to the exit of the room.
"Final.. evaluation?" Rai pondered on these words in his thoughts, it appeared winning a match wasn't the only requirement to passing an exam.
Ford stopped at the exit of the room, he examined Rai thoroughly before a smile came upon him. "The journey forward will be a difficult but also an adventurous one for you, I believe you have the strength to bypass any issues that comes your way. But I'll give you this piece of advice, watch who you call your friends. For in this world of essence, the human minds are led astray in the pursuit of power." Ford said before leaving the room.
"Led astray huh.." Rai said softly, remembering the story Alexander told him about Bridget.
He sighed, even in his previous world the concept of power was the progenitor of conflicts and wars. People desired power for protection and defense, but as time passed that same power took root in them and clouded their judgement.
They confused the thirst for power as the desire to protect their loved ones and that gave birth to the wars which have devastated humanity since the beginning of time.
Rai left the sick bay and went back to the apartment he had rented, Selena had not yet been discharged so he couldn't take her back with him just yet. All he could do was hope for her condition to improve.
Back at home, an exhausted Rai laid back into his couch. So much had happened in the past day that he didn't have any time whatsoever to catch his breath.
He recalled the events of the exams that had transpired and pondered on them to determine whether he could learn something from them. It was a battle of essence and yet he couldn't do use it, or so he remembered.
"That reminds me.." He said to himself softly as he remembered losing consciousness during the match between him and Alexander.
"What happened back then? And how did I end up winning the match?" He asked himself again as it hit him, the last thing he remembered before losing consciousness was being trapped in the claws of Alexander's Dragon King emperor form. Then all of a sudden Alexander laid at his feet.
"Was it the system?" He pondered again, remembering that he indeed possess a system. But there was one thing he was confused about, and that was how the system worked.
"I see...throughout the course of the exams the only time I actually levelled up was when both I and Selena took down that flame dragon. It seems there are certain criterias I have to fufill before I can level up." He sighed a bit frustrated, he knew it wasn't going to be an easy task but at the end it was going to be worth it.
"Well like Ford said, the journey only gets more difficult from here. If I am going to become an Essenmage, I can't remain at the same level I am right now." He uttered softly as he recalled the strong nobles from the exams who undoubtedly surpassed him in everyway possible especially the princess.
"It's time I paid attention to the system." He made up his mind, crafting a smile on his face as he knew this marked the beginning of an adventurous journey.