Newfound Strength

Ra stood inside the Arena lobby, he seemed to be transfixed, holding the draconite amulet as it spun randomly in front of his eyes, no one could see the intense struggle happening within.

Ra's soul was battling with the energy inside the draconite crystal, The crystal wanted to subdue Ra, and Ra, defending himself, fought to subdue the berserk power attempting to overtake him, their powers clashed, The silent battle like an eternal game of tug-o-war.

Ra finally saw a chance to gain the upper hand and seized it, his soul energy grew like an immense wave, rising and crashing against the dense mana inside the crystal, His soul suppressed the sealed energy and began to withdraw from the crystal, sensing the energy recede, Ra sent his mind into the crystal, taking the mana energy for his own, and as he did so he felt another surge of power well up within him, the purity of the energy inside the draconite crystal was refining Ra's own mana energy, harnessing the power of his soul Ra assimilated the energy effortlessly, The power overflowed, rising like the morning sun, The mana in the surrounding area suddenly became visible to him, Ra's soul had undergone another evolution!

Ra was about to break through the Ancient stage!

"But...what stage comes next?" Ra had no idea, Ancient was the last known stage to recruits at his level.

He no longer had time to think about it, The surrounding mana surged towards him, filling his reserves and expanding his mana circuits, Ra felt a kind of power he had never known was possible, his limits had shattered, when he took a step forward he appeared a mile away from his location, when he sucked in a breath of cold air; the sky trembled, but most importantly...he could fly.

"Th-This is incredible!" Ra flew through the air at a breakneck pace, he had only one place in mind, one person he wanted to share this with, and the instant he thought it, he was beside her.

Ra found Bast fast asleep at a desk in her room, with a notebook open and a pen in her hand still braced against the page, his heart was throbbing as a visceral sensation welled up within his breast, he took the pen from her hand, and lifted her up gently, cradling her against his chest, her arms wrapped around his neck, and in that instant all the power Ra felt from his ascension drained from his body, as he laid down upon the bed still holding her close, and fell into a deep sleep.

The last thought that flitted through his mind before he succumbed to sleep:

"I'm going to marry this woman."

Bast woke up first, finding herself in Ra's arms, she didn't attempt to leave them, she felt so safe and secure, the thought crossed her mind wishing they could stay like this forever but she could only choose to enjoy this moment for now, and so she nestled herself against him, breathing in that strong manly scent she loved so much, she closed her eyes and imagined a future where she felt just as safe in his presence as she did right now in his arms.

But as the sun rose higher in the sky, she lightly nipped at his chin, her teeth scraped across the small tuft of hair, his eyes flickered open and he gazed down at her poking him in the chest.

"Let me go." she whispered cutely and in such a way Ra wanted to refuse and consent at the same time.

Finally deciding to release her he spread his arms and she pulled him into a kiss that felt as deep as the largest ocean, and as vast as the starry sky.

She kissed him until he could no longer breathe before depriving him of all the oxygen he would ever need as she pulled away.

To Ra, enough air to experience her kiss was enough time to spend the rest of his life; Even if it were to end immediately afterwards.

Bast sprang up from the bed, she walked in such an attractive way Ra was basically hypnotized, she picked up the pages on her desk, pressed them into his hands, and kicked him out.

Ra was accustomed to this scene already, he had already long forgotten his reason for coming here, he felt no strength around Bast anyway, that woman was the only true weakness he possessed, he made his way towards the island belonging to Class 2 and arrived there instantly, he turned in the two essays to a visibly shocked Instructor, and quite literally vanished, all traces of his presence was gone, Ra arrived at the Arena and his energy was welling within him again as he prepared to take on the S grade challenge once again.

An announcement sounded:

[The following Slayers have been selected to join the raid to the Primal Red Dragon Saint's Dragon Tomb.]

Shu Alexandria

Neb Alexandria

Natalia La Clare

Jace Freeman

Rania Harris

Yu Izanami

Hannah Lockley

Lionel Milgerott

Adam Olsword

Cleopatra Philopator

Pwyll Redwood

Seth Robin

Ra Usfur

Merlin Wyllt

Bastet Zurique

"Please report to the main gate, thank you."

"Fuck! I forgot!" Ra was seriously deliberating kicking himself.

In the end he settled for a figurative kick in the rear as he sped towards the main gate, which of course took him no time at all.

Since everyone else was much slower than him Ra could do nothing else other than wait.