千寻影视

The next…

Swoosh—!

He had already appeared in front of his opponent. Cyrus Rosewill. His golden eyes shot wide open.

Bang!

Cyrus skidded back several meters. Giving him no time to recover, Raven followed up with another attack.

Swoosh, swoosh, swoosh—!

He appeared from all sides, and each time, Cyrus would be struck by his fist.

They weren't allowed to use their weapons.

Just their elements.

But since Raven didn't have any attack skillswith his [Shadow] affinity…

He made use of whatever had.

His fists.

Bang!

And his legs.

Swoosh—!

Raven twisted his body sideways and kicked Cyrus straight on the abdomen.

"Akh..!"

Touching his abdomen, Cyrus groaned. But yet again, Raven gave him no time to recover as he appeared before him.

Bang– Bang— Bang—!

Raven's hits would always land. Wounds and grazes etched on Cyrus' face.

Having had enough of the beating, Cyrus surrounded himself with an armor made entirely of water.

Raven's attacks seemed to have slowed down.

But still,

…It packed quite a punch.

Bang!

"Ukeh—Damn it."

Cyrus spat out.

The gap was too large between him and Raven.

There was no helping it. Raven was ranked second. While Cyrus was ranked twelveth.

But still, he persisted.

"Ukeh!"

"Akh…!"

"Ukhh!"

He…

He too wanted to become strong.

To catch up to both Raven and Brandon.

Waving his arms, a wave of water rippled down towards Raven.

"Akh!"

Yet it was to no avail. The water cascaded down on the ground, and Cyrus skidded back several meters.

Blood started dripping down his nose.

Gritting his teeth, he clenched his fist.

"Gaaaahhh…!"

A final ditch attempt.

Bang—!

Yet Raven appeared right in front of him, and an uppercut to the jaw followed shortly after.

Blood splattered in the air, and Cyrus went wide eyed. His pupils dilated and he passed out.

—That's enough. Raven Blackheart wins.

It was way too one sided.

In any normal case, Raven wouldn't have gone that far.

But he did so since Cyrus specifically asked for it.

'Don't hold back, please.'

He quickly recalled Cyrus' words.

"Haaa…"

He breathed out a sigh and shook his head.

He truly felt bad.

And as he gazed at the audience, they all wore horrified expressions. Silence gripped the entire stadium, and what stood in the middle of it all was Raven.

But that was until…

"...T-that was a good m-match… T-thanks for not h-holding back."

Cyrus briefly woke up.

"Khh…"

And he fainted once again.

"Woooh…!"

"Now that's sportsmanship!"

The audience's cheers finally erupted. Praising Raven for the way he respected his opponent.

"Hehe."

He let out a laugh.

"Good match, Cyrus."

***

"Shit."

Brandon cursed under his breath.

The entire fight, his eyes could barely follow Raven.

He had gotten way faster than the last time they fought.

'What level is he?'

Clearly, Raven had significant progress with his system.

He didn't even use [Shadow Step], and yet he was still that fast.

"Haha."

The corners of his lips pulled up to a smirk.

"Good."

Keep getting stronger.

Save this world from its tragic ending.

I'll support you every step of the way.

Such were his thoughts.

He was snapped out of his thoughts as Amelia's soft voice reached his ears from the side.

"Raven Blackheart, right? Your friend."

"Yeah."

But that was when Brandon had an idea.

"Amelia."

"Hm?"

"Who do you think is stronger…? Me, or him…?"

"Hm…"

Pinching her chin, Amelia pondered to herself.

But shortly after, the corner of her lips pulled to a smirk.

"Probably Raven."

She turned around and clasped her hands behind her back. Not sparing him a glance, she teased.

"Yup."

"I see."

Two can play at that game.

Brandon shook his head and approached her.

Leaning close, he whispered behind her neck.

"I think Adrien's stronger than you."

Amelia's body twitched all of a sudden. Brandon purposefully let his warm breath bathe on her neck.

Amelia seemed unsure of what to say as she hesitantly turned around.

Brandon could see her face flush a slight beet red.

Her soft voice followed shortly after.

"...He's not."

Brandon shrugged.

"Sure he isn't."

He sarcastically remarked.

*

The exhibition matches took a short break.

It would continue in the afternoon.

It was currently lunch.

Amelia had asked Brandon to eat lunch together with Belle.

But he politely rejected and the two parted ways shortly after that.

"So? What did you call me here for…?"

Currently, Brandon entered a secluded area within academy grounds.

Secluded is what he wants to say, but it was the rooftop.

From a distance, two figures stood by the railings as they peered down below.

Noticing his arrival, they turned around and looked back at him.

Raven's voice reached his ears.

"It's about the issue from before."

"Issue?"

Brandon played dumb.

He knew where this was going.

He had set it all up after all.

"The company."

Raven then began to inform him about their findings. The secretary's arrest, and the conspiracy that was bound to happen during the festival.

"I see."

"Sorry, we left you out of it. We know how busy you are."

Brandon waved him off.

"Thanks."

He flashed a smile and walked towards them. He leaned on the railings and peered down.

Silence gripped the vicinity, as the three continued to gaze down.

But shortly after, it was broken as Raven turned to look at him.

With a serious expression, he pursed his lips.

"Let me ask you something. You don't have to answer. It doesn't really matter."

Brandon turned to look at him as Raven looked back.

"What?"

Brandon tilted his head.

Raven continued.

"What are you?"

He shook his head.

"I don't understand. Every time I see you fight, you suddenly have a new element. And from the mana poisoning case, it seemed like you didn't have the [Earth] affinity at the time."

Brandon was taken aback for a brief moment.

He fixed his expressions shortly after.

He had already expected this to happen after revealing his [Earth] affinity.

The reason why he did so was because it would hinder his progress if he had to hide everything.

"I'm a mage that continues to awaken."

Raven and Reinhard's eyes shot wide open.

Of course.

There were no such cases of mages awakening several affinities in a short period of time.

And all basic affinities at that.

"I see. Well if it's you, nothing surprises me anymore."

Surprisingly, Raven took it calmly.

Raven looked at Reinhard who seemed much more taken aback than him.

With a shocked expression, Reinhard pursed his lips.

"So… You awaken affinities… randomly?"

"Seems to be the case."

Brandon shrugged.

Reinhard was even more shocked.

"Seems to be the case...?"

He looked down as he covered his face with his hand.

"This is crazy… Don't you even know what that means Brandon?"

"I do."

Brandon nodded.

"Once the public finds out, things will get a bit troublesome for me."

"A bit troublesome?"

Reinhard shook his head.

"You might become the second coming of Lucian Frost. Paparazzi would swarm you, follow you everywhere. The whole world will have its eyes on you."

"Haha."

Brandon chuckled at that.

Lucian Frost?

No way.

There's someone way stronger.

A being that couldn't be measured by the world's standards.

And the person that Brandon needed to find as soon as possible.

He was snapped out of his thoughts as Raven's voice reached his ears.

"Thanks for trusting us."

Raven flashed him a smile.

"Yeah, rely on us more, dude."

Reinhard did the same.

"Sure."

Brandon nodded and peered back down.

He had already relied on them. Much more than they had thought.

Truth be told, Brandon had already known about the coerced company heads.

And despite knowing, he allowed everything to happen.

The main reason he didn't join the investigations, was because he knew Raven wouldn't leave it at that.

After reading the novel for so long, he knew just how Raven would think.

And his conjectures were proven as Raven and Reinhard discovered key information to the festival's upcoming obstruction.

There were two objectives to his plan.

To easily sweep the booth competition. And to not alert the new group of syndicate members who planned on obstructing the festival.

He had sent out invitations for the festival, allowing for it to spread, just so unwanted guests could enter the academy premises.

Why...?

Just so the real 'guests' could easily sneak into the academy.

And he was already quite aware that they were amongst the audience of the exhibition match.

He had pulled the strings. Now he didn't have to explain everything to Raven and Reinhard just to get their assistance.

There was one specific event that everyone was required to attend.

The talent show.

Every guest present were required to be in the theater room, leaving the Academy to its own device.

Besides the guard of course.

And if it all went according to plan, those syndicate members would most likely strike once the academy was clear.

Brandon quickly recalled the words he said to Smith the other day.

—Do something unthinkable, huh?

And that was…

To oppose the upcoming attack.

It was expected for most syndicate members to do small time heists just to get their name out there in the organization.

But Brandon thought differently.

He wanted to prove his skills.

That he was someone the organization couldn't take lightly. Someone they would want on their side.

"Haha."

Brandon chuckled once again.

The pieces were now in place.

All he had to do was move each piece accordingly.

And the upcoming talent show was his grand stage.