White Ice

Surprisingly, Leonel was one of the three participants called to the stages. As Noah had practically hogged all the attention when he fought against Argos, Leonel had ended being side lined as the weaker party, so the person ranked 15 wished to try his luck.

The boy walked to the stage with a smile on his face but his strained expression and the vein that hoped to pop on his forehead suggested that he was pissed. He faced against a teenager around the age of 14 who possessed handsome features, though not as much as Leonel. Still, the teen sought a sense of superiority from his higher level of strength, standing at the 8th Level of the Intermediate. "You know, it would be better if you give up now kid."

Leonel glared at the teen and simply summoned his spear, waiting for the match to begin. The latter snorted when he saw this and unsheathed his daggers.

Soon, a siren rang out signaling the beginning of the match and both participants dashed forward. The teenager possessed the lightning and had thus trained himself into an Agility type Battlesoul master. Yet he almost could not react as Leonel appeared before striking down with his spear. Almost.

He quickly brought his daggers upwards, blocking the spear and jumping to the side. A swirl of Essence occurred at his feet before lightning tongues appeared to coat them. His speed seemed to increase after this and he didn't hesitate to utilize it. His figure faded before he appeared behind Leonel, thrusting his dagger with a dangerous lethality at the boy's nape.

Unfortunately for him, Leonel had already began his next move the moment he felt his spear strike being blocked. The second the dagger was only an inch away from his neck, his Essence raged as multiple rays shot off his body and struck at the teenager. "Astral Rays."

"Fuck!" The teen could only withdraw in haste while summoning a shield composed of lightning to block off the attacks, yet he couldn't stop a few from passing through and piercing his skin.

Leonel would not be stupid enough to lose his advantage so he pressed on. He jumped, easily appearing before the retreating teen and swinging his spear which brimmed with his Star Essence. "Stellar Arc."

Gritting his teeth, the teen had no choice but to recall his defensive skill since he had acknowledged that despite his lower level of strength, he had the ability to bypass his defense. So he choose to use attack as his defense. His Lightning Essence appeared and coated his dagger as he lunged at the approaching Leonel. "Blitz Blade."

The moment the two attacks met with a resounding explosion, with both of them sent backwards but Leonel was quick to recover. With his movement skill, he appeared above the still disoriented teenager and struck downward with his Falling Star skill, sending him crashing into the ground and making it cave in.

A groan left the teenager's lips while pain filled his mind, making him unable to move an inch. Soon a familiar siren rang out, signaling the battle's end. Leonel had won. And quite easily too.

"Goddammit, what a waste of time." The boy sighed, watching as his defeated opponent was teleported away before he turned around to scan the platforms around him and smiled as he noticed a figure. He rose his hands and pointed towards a girl with the number 4 hovering over her head. "I'd rather get this over with as early as possible, I'm challenging you."

The target of his finger revealed a hesitant expression. She was quite a beautiful girl, even by Maest's standard, despite her young age, which was the same as Noah and Leonel. She possessed a rare white colored hair and sky blue eyes that could mesmerize any male around her. Leonel himself had been stunned when she glanced at him but as someone who had grown up and fought alongside Noah, even if it was a short period of time, he knew when to fully acknowledge one has their gender or age. Plus her Level 7 Intermediate Stage strength told him that she wasn't as innocent as her appearance suggested.

The girl on the other hand showed hesitation because she could sense that her challenger was a genius, one that had reached, or even surpassed, her level. But in the end, she nodded and walked down the stairs that had materialized before her.

Soon she and Leonel stood face to face. She summoned her weapon, a meter long staff with a white colored orb placed at its top, hinting at her being a Mage-type Battlesoul master. "My name is Monica Elson."

Leonel's eyes rose in surprise. "Oh? A mistress of the Elson House. Pleasure to make your acquaintance then. My name is Leonel Norton." He said as he spun his spear playfully.

Monica nodded, expecting that her opponent to be someone of a Great House like hers. "Norton huh? And what Great House would your friend up there be?"

He chuckled and shook his head. "Hehe, Noah's not part of any House."

"What?!" Monica prided herself in being a collected and calm person, but that information was so surprising that she couldn't hide her expression.

Not only her, the audience who had been paying attention to Leonel let out shocked gasps as they read his lips. If before they had been planning to poach Noah, it was now an all-out battle on how to get a genius of such a level.

Atop the platform, Noah's eyes narrowed with coldness as he sent a hardened glare at Leonel's nape, making the boy shiver in fright. It was now he realized he had fucked up, one way or another. "A-Anyways, we didn't come here to chit-chat did we? Let's begin this fight shall we?"

Monica glanced at the nervous looking Leonel and then Noah who stared at her with a bone chilling stare that bore through her mental state. She quickly broke eye contact and used her Essence to clear the menacing aura that sought to pierce through her mentality. Only after this, did she sigh in relief not daring to glance at the transmigrator again. 'What a terrifying aura! How does someone like this not belong to any House?!' She then tightened her grip on her staff and nodded. "Let's start then."

Leonel merely nodded and summoned his Star Essence to coat his body and spear. "Constellation Star: Shooting Star!" He transformed into a ray of light that travelled with unbelievable speed.

Monica was quick to respond to this. She knew that as a Mage type Battlesoul master, her weakness, at least for now, was in close quartered combat. So her Essence raged as she swung her staff and executed her Battle art skill. "White Snow: Ice Field." Suddenly a white colored Essence appeared around her and burst onto her surrounding, freezing a 100 meters radius with her at the center.

Leonel could immediately feel the ice seeping into his muscles and slowing him down, forcing him to cancel his movement art and executing another. "Constellation's Hearth: Star's Warmth." Soon a golden shine coated his body, dispelling his body's affliction but he realized that he would have to keep it active if he wished to battle against her close up. 'This… Her ice magic is surprisingly potent.' His eyes then widened as he noticed the white Essence that surrounded her body. "You…"

"Yes, it seems you finally remembered." Monica smiled calmly as her Essence charged up for another attack. "My Elson House specialty is Absolute Zero Ice, otherwise known as White Ice." Her Essence then burst out, appearing as multiple ice spears that launched themselves at Leonel.

"Fuck. Noah cheated me!" The boy could only curse as he quickly dodged and ran out of the 100 meter Ice field. He glanced only to see an expressionless Noah, though one would notice that there seemed to be a hint of mockery in his eyes. And Leonel could easily tell that the guy was laughing at his current situation on the inside.