The Ancient Genes

"Ocien challenges all of the Academies into a Duel style battle. The last one standing wins.."

Erina's words rang around the hall and immediately sent the place into a silence. Everyone's faces seem to change upon hearing the announcement. No one in their right mind had expected to hear that.

"Hahaha!!!"

Suddenly, a laughter erupted from the crowd, and it rang loud in the hall which was full of silence.

As for its source, well, it was Melan.

His actions made Erina frown a little. After all, this was disrespectful to Ocien.

"My bad. I apologize for it.." Melan too seemed to have realized that his actions were not proper. Hence, he apologized, but no matter how hard he tried, he just couldn't suppress his grin. To be honest, everyone in the hall was having a similar feeling to him.

After all, what Ocien was doing was no more than a joke. They weren't even the strongest among all Academies and yet they wanted to single handedly challenge all the Academies to a fight. From one side.

They wanted to lose that bad?

It was foolish no matter how one saw it.

"We will see who has the last laugh.." Erina calmly stated as she looked at Melan. Her confident stance was something which really confused people. They couldn't understand where her confidence was coming from.

"I don't think I need to see to know the results here.." Melan lightly muttered.

Something like this was not supposed to happen during the announcement of the event, but the fact that this was between the students, no one found anything odd about it. It just seems like a competitive spirit between the younger generation.

Erina looked at Melan, and then just shook her head. She knew he was not worth her time any longer. The only one who she was looking forward to meeting tomorrow was one guy.

Kain Walker.

Erina's eyes once again fell on Kain, and sparks seemed to shoot between the two of them. Everybody seems to realize this as well, when an invisible pressure suddenly seemed to erupt silently in between the two.

Though only the two Headmaster's seemed to realize what had happened between the short exchange.

Kain who was sitting there with a smile on his face had released a light burst of aura targeting Erina who seemed to be in every mood to challenge him. This was obviously some kind of test, and when the burst of aura reached Erina, it dissipated without any hint of fluctuation.

'She is no longer the same..' A smile formed on Kain's face as he realized it. If he was only little interested in Erina earlier, then he was really looking forward to this fight now.

The Other headmaster's too observed the event with interest. But, still they didn't think too optimistically about it. After all, if something like this was done, then only Arcane with Max in it might have been able to do it. And, even at that, no one would guarantee success.

After all, you just didn't need to fight one person. But, it was a continuous fight. Until the last person standing. This definitely didn't sound like a joke. All of them here believed that one had to be a monster to single handedly dominate every single person in their generation. Max was one such fellow.

But, when have there been two monsters in a single generation?

It was unheard of...

The conference slowly ended on that note.

No one had any idea what was about to go in a day or two.

But, this sudden change of events sure had turned the tide of events. The waves that it created in the hearts of people was unprecedented. The people who had lost all hopes for their city had suddenly had hopes in them reignited.

…

"What are they thinking?" Aria muttered in confusion. She definitely didn't believe that Ocien was capable of doing it. This really seemed foolish to her.

"Don't underestimate her. She is different.." Lisa spoke as she looked at Aria. She knew very well what was going with Erina. She was not an ordinary person anymore. As a wielder of the Artifact, her potential was enormous. She was someone who could stand toe to toe with Max and others.

'She awakened herself later than me..but her abilities are climbing up so fast..' Lisa frowned. She felt a little pressured by this.

But, there was one thing which she wasn't counting in the equation. It was the fact that Erina had people to properly guide her. Lisa on the other hand was really lacking mentorship. Max could only provide her a little guidance as someone who had once observed a person with similar abilities.

There was a huge difference between seeing and experiencing. The two couldn't be spoken in the same sentence.

"You really think so?" Aria asked as she looked at Lisa with an odd look on her face. She had seen Erina compete. And, it was definitely not at a level where she could take everyone on her own. Max was probably the only person who could be that arrogant.

"There is nothing wrong in being cautious.." Janet spoke with a smile. She too was a person who had every knowledge about the current situation. It was really a strange event of coincidence, but this girl really was someone who had become a part of the group by proving herself in the test of truth.

If they counted all the members of their group, then her and Namen were the only two who were not one of the fighting force. These two were working behind the scenes in the real world. Trying to strengthen their control and build connections.

Janet was especially good at this. Though she had no idea how to use her ability to benefit others. That's where Bahamut came in, the guy was the perfect puppeteer for her and that's what was going on in the current situation.

She had really become Bahamut's favorite. He even regretted the fact that she was not her follower.

But, no one could change what had happened.