"Was that awesome or what!" Daichi exclaimed, the excitement of the first stage still gushed through his body.
"We got off easy this time around, it's not a cause for celebration, the Soul-Hunter exams is much more difficult than you think." Lucy ended his excitement, her mother always taught her that success isn't assured till the very end.
"We did good, that I can agree." Rentaro replied to her strict comment.
"That wasn't good enough, you both were overtaken by the same guy who tied with me in the rankings. Don't assume the second and final stage would be that easy." She said flatly.
She parted ways with both Daichi and Rentaro as they were headed back to his apartment. "Hey! Where are you going!? Aren't you going to chill with us till the second stage begins!?" Daichi exclaimed.
"Preparedness is a pre-exquisite for victory." She put plainly leaving the two boys dumbfounded.
"She does have a point." He sighed softly as they watched her walk off to train. "Well I guess I'll see you later, I got somewhere I have to be now." He waved at Rentaro before running off in the opposite direction.
Realizing he was left alone he took the opportunity to check his stats after leveling up in the first stage.
_______________Status_________________
[Name: Rentaro Mizuno]
[Age: 17]
[Occupation: Student]
[Level: 9]
[Title: Dragonmancer]
[Experience: 7]
[Dexterity: 10]
[Stamina: 16]
[Agility: 20]
[Strength: 25]
[Intelligence: 12]
[Soul-Energy: 400/700]
[Soul-Type: Summoner's Soul-Type]
[Rank: X- Rank]
[Abilities:
• Summoning — Volton
• Abilities: Electric-Burst (Level 4)]
[Skills -
• Bloodlust Of The Assassin
• Dragonic Longevity
• Dragonic Recovery]
• Items -
- Muramasa's Fangs (Level 1)
[Stats point: 5]
[Drago available: 1500]
_____________________________________
"I see." He spoke softly to himself, given his Soul-Energy increased exponentially each time he gained a Soul-Essence.
He stared at his right palm, he knew the level the [Electric Burst] was at currently wouldn't be able to get him pass the second stage. When he fired off the electric burst at the large beast in the final moments of the first stage, it managed to penetrate the neck of the beast far enough to disintegrate it's windpipe and that was as far as it's damage was with the beasts hardened skin destroyed.
"If Daichi and Lucy hadn't helped me back then who knows what would have happened, I have to get stronger if I am going to pass this exams." His eyes revealed his determination, he wasn't satisfied with the level of power he was at now.
He headed back to the dorm to resume his training from earlier, during his previous training he developed an idea for a new ability but he knew how difficult it was going to be to master it.
"Absolutely not!"
A voice exclaimed from afar as he approached the dorm.
"Huh?" The voice was similar, from the pitch to the tone.
He approached the room he heard the voice from and to his greatest surprise, he found Shun Li inside Daichi's room which was wide open.
He hid besides the opened door, eavesdropping on their conversation.
"But Sensei!"
"You're not ready for the next step! The path to greatness starts from the lowest step! You have to master each steps completely before you can move on to the next."
"Then how am I supposed to fare in the second stage?"
"Daichi.." With a calm voice, he placed his right hand on Daichi's shoulder. "What you have is enough, just remember the three principles of the Inner Soul formation, contrast, expand and release."
"Yes Sensei!"
As Shun Li approached the entrance of the room, Rentaro disappeared as swiftly as he came, returning to his room.
"If I'm going to pass this next stage I'll have to master this ability right here, right now." He said, encouraging himself as he took deep breaths before tightening his fist.
Just before he could return to his room, he heard a distant noise at the girls side of the dorms, out of curiosity, he approached their corridors.
"You are quite foolish aren't you? We thought we made it clear not to take this year exam?"
"Huh?" Rentaro was left astonished, backed up against the wall by three boys was Miyuki, she felt frightened or rather uncomfortable.
"I've gotten strong enough I promise, big brother doesn't have to worry about me failing anymore." With an anxious voice, she tried defending herself.
One of the boys chuckled, mesmerized by her stupidity. "We don't care if you've gotten strong enough, we said stay out of the exams you stupid brat!"
Out of annoyance, the boy raised his hand with the intentions of hitting her. Miyuki's response was the same as it was the previous years, knowing what's to come, she closed her eyes in sorrow.
Seconds passed, she felt absolutely nothing at all. Usually she would feel a sharp stinging pain on her cheeks as she closed her eyes but this was different.
"Huh?" As she opened her eyes, they widened with disbelief as she found Rentaro standing right in front of her, the hand of her assailant caught in his grasp.
"W-when did you -" She stammered.
"What!?" The boys exclaimed, stunned at his speed. They had no idea he was there until the last moment.
"Haven't you heard the saying, a man who beats a woman is a weakling and a coward." Rentaro said, his eyes emitting the rage he felt.
"Who the hell are you!?" The boy asked, trying desperately to free his hand from Rentaro's grip.
"Just someone who hates bullying, now I'll make this very clear to you. Touch her again, and you're a dead man." As he warned, he applied pressure to his hand.
The boy writhe in pain, as his friends tried to save him, it made everything even worse.
"Okay okay!" As he submitted to his will, Rentaro released his hands and he fell to the ground.
"Tsk, this isn't over!" Immediately, they all exited the hallways not daring to drag this forward.
"Y-you didn't need to save me, this is something I'm already used to." With a shy voice, she spoke, indirectly trying to thank him.
"What? This isn't the first time he's hit you?" This revelation came as a shock to him.
"Yes, I mean no! Just stay out of it!" With a mood swing, she hurriedly entered her room and shut the door behind him.
"Hm.."
..
Back in his room, he took his stance and stretched out his right palm and electricity began coursing into it assuming the form of a blue energy ball which gradually generated sparks of electricity around it. His goal was to generate and maintain those sparks as long as he could but with each attempt it blew up in his face and knocked him off his feet. This particular training was similar to the other one but it differed in purpose.
The training before the exams begun was to enable Rentaro build up the electric burst long enough to increase the damage rate of the projected sphere. This training was to enable him to build up the electric burst and maintain the ball shape as long as his stamina could hold it up. This was crucial in order for him to fully develop the new ability he was working on.
His attempts were costly and his right hand paid the price as his burning flesh prevented him from generating even a spark of electricity due to the sharp piercing pain he felt in his palm.
"Damn." There were two things holding him back from mastering the next phase of the [Electric Burst], his current durability and lack of total control of his Soul-Energy momentarily.
"Tch..." He fell to his knees using his left hand to hold his right wrist as he groaned softly due to the piercing pain. He recalled the words of Daichi which argued that his ability was far safer than that of his, at that point he saw wisdom in his words.
He ended the training session and quickly attended to his wounds knowing very well Lucy or Daichi would never let him hear the end of it if she found him like this, especially during the second stage of the Soul-Hunter exams. He placed his injured hand in cold water to reduce the burning and stinging sensation he felt from his palm. He couldn't use [Draconic Recovery] for a specific reason.
He immediately bandaged it after it had cooled down to a certain extent.
"Tch, of all the times Daichi could actually be right." He complained, this injury was a setback but it wasn't something that could stop him. The second stage was to commence immediately the next day so he had to use this opportunity to rest.