Incubus Awakening: The More I Lust, The Stronger I Become

Logan's heart dropped.

'An A-rank? At my duel? This is completely unheard of...!'

Even Zack, who'd remained fairly nonchalant before now couldn't help but stumble on his feet at the sight.

"Elias Jebel? Are you serious?" Zack said. For a second, it seemed that was going to fall on his back from the surprise, but instead, his lips curled up—eyes dropping to relaxation. "What a pleasant surprise. The duel that I intend to proclaim my intent on ascending is the one where an A-rank pops up. This truly has been ordained by the gods."

At the same time, Elias was humming to himself with his eyes shut.

However, once his hearing was lost in the stands' nonstop cries, he stopped. "Hey, y'all. Surprised?"

Some in the stands sat in disbelief, others were more anticipating.

The one thing they all shared in common was this one fact: the understanding that the person seated before them was one of the "strongest."

The stands shook—no, the very earth cried out at his presence. It was like destruction itself was trapped in his limbs, trying its hardest to free itself.

Not only that, but the air weighed down on them with all the pressure of a whale. Even mana, in all its vast power, didn't quite know how to handle his vessel, swirling around him like a whirlpool.

He had muddy-brown hair that rested on his scalp like stone. The narrow in the corner of his eyes made him out to be a sort of predator, peering down on them like dregs to be discarded.

His arms were pronounced with muscles that protruded skin like thin, metal wire, to the point that one could even make out each individual strand of his pectorals.

Of course, that was with the help of his plain, black compression shirt which hugged onto him tight, squeezing him down to the micrometer.

"Is that who I think it is?" a girl called out in the F-rank section.

Nico—the boy who'd been arguing with Logan at the beginning of the day—rose up. "Yes, Gelenna, It's Elias Jebel, "The Calamity". One of the only 5 A-rank students occupying these school grounds."

Isaac, another student who was in Logan's class, chimed in. "I'm still finding it hard to believe it, though. I mean, I thought the A-class was just propaganda the school issued to motivate students to ascend ranks. To think they actually exist..."

"That's not the end of it," another student said, serious. "Even though Logan's an F-rank, there's talk spreading that his Gift can reverse time."

"Gobey, that's unbelievable," Nico responded, pointing at Logan—the boy who stood shaking and stammering, "You really want me to believe that the guy I beat twenty-seven times could use a Gift like that? I'd have to see it with my own eyes."

Cecile shook her head. "He really did awaken his Gift, though. I confirmed it myself. If the rumors are true, then that would certainly explain why so many important students are coming to watch this duel."

"Hah! Then we'll just have to see, won't we?" Nico said, unconvinced. "After all, the guy he's going against is projected to ascend to A-rank. If he's really as special as you're claiming, he might make this somewhat close."

While the many students of F-rank continued their talk, Sabrina was trying to speak, but felt her throat go dry.

"Sabrina, you doing okay?" Amelia asked. "You look pale. You don't need to go to the emergency room, do you?"

"I'm fine. I'm just worried, is all. After all, Logan is too kind for all this. I wouldn't be able to bear it if he were to embarrass himself in front of all these people."

While Sabrina was pouting, Amelia could only smile. "That's what makes you, you. But you shouldn't worry, someone that could garner your attention like this must be amazing, so I'm sure he'll do fine."

Sabrina shook her hands in the air, wide-eyed. "W-w-woah! That's not what I meant—"

"It's okay, Sabrina. You care, and that's a good thing. Just believe in him, and he'll do the same."

Sabrina looked to her side, acknowledging Amelia's words, yet still seeming distracted. "Hey, have you girls seen Emily?" she asked, head rested on her palm.

The air grew heavy at Jasmine and Amelia's downcast eyes.

"I thought so," Sabrina sighed. "Then let's just watch this duel… for her."

They each nodded to each other, then looked ahead.

"Damn that Victor...!" Elias bit down, slamming his fist into the stands. "Even though he's in charge of information control, this is too much! Some of these kids don't even know who I am!"

He unknowingly evaporated the hard metal into wiry shards in his punch, kicking up a metallic storm of shrapnel.

Of course, given the fact that this was a school of the Gifted, nobody was harmed behind their shields of mana, it was still enough to cause concern in all those present.

"Sorry, guys!" Elias yelled, both hands funneling his voice. All the yelling in the stands made it hard for him to be heard, though.

"You shouldn't apologize. It is not your responsibility to accommodate your powers for the weak. It is their fault for being helpless."

Elias, carefree as he was, still found himself a bit shocked at the sudden appearance. There was a girl, small in stature but still clashing against his reign over the atmosphere.

Instead of influencing the world around her through gallops of mana and entire gusts of wind, things instead sat still, moving unnaturally slow in a roughly five-meter space around her.

"What are you doing up here?" he asked, taking note of her hair. It was a luscious blue, trailing down to the floor—spiked evenly into six tails. Discolored at the ends with white, it was, all things considered, uncanny. "You know this is meant for A-ranks, right? Judging by your face and height, I would guess that you're a first or second year, so you should be at those other stands meant for lowerclassmen."

"I apologize. I didn't see any seats higher than yours, so I took the next best thing."

"Hey, I think you meant 'lower'."

She shook her head. "Nope."

Wind brawled through his nose, aiding his clenched fists. "Okay, what do you think you're doing?"

The air kicked up from his resounding power, forcing some of the students at the lower levels to shift in their seats. Higher up, though, they still needed to ready themselves, flaring the air with their own strength.

"Woaoaahh! What's happening!"

"Who is that sitting next to Elias!?"

"The winds are too strong, I'm gonna fall off!"

With the students in F-rank having to hold onto the stands' guardrails after their legs flew up into the air, Elias calmed himself. Yet, the winds didn't stop.

No, she gave her own surge of power—this time, bursting forth with twice the velocity as his. It didn't need feeble constructs like the wind to empower it, whipping the walls and lashing the ground like mana was supposed to be physical.

"A mana conjuration..." Elias gasped, throwing his arms in front of him to defend against the onslaught. Mana sizzled against mana as he felt his guard defend against her mana whip.

Instantly, the winds fell.

"Hm, and I meant to kill you. I suppose it wouldn't be that bad to sit by your side," the girl said, looking forward without a care in the world.

Dumbfounded, Elias laughed, patting her on the back. "You're not all that bad yourself! I don't care where you come from—if you're strong, you're deserving of these seats!"

After a few seconds, he resigned into his own space. Quietly, he stared at his forearm.

A single stream of red trickled from where the whip impacted him. And to think I was fully defending against her attack too. Just who is she?

Meanwhile, Logan and Zack were still standing, waiting.

They were exactly equal to each other on opposing sides of the battle station, Solomon in the center.

"It is now 4:00. I believe things are about ready to proceed. Anything the two fighters want to say before this duel begins?"