Chapter 38 Abnormal Growth

It's been two months since the new students joined the academy. In that time frame, 18 top students in this class showed remarkable talents as they grew stronger in a short span of time. Especially Lui Grey, that guy's growth over 8 weeks was far abnormal, matching the level of the main cast. But I can't remember if his name was ever mentioned; after all, this never happened in the novel.

I still feel like he was hiding something, but the prickling sensation and uneasiness I'm feeling from him are gone.

"Great, you guys are growing way faster than I imagined. After four weeks, you guys will be far stronger when applying for rank assessment." Ms. Elisa complimented the 18 students with her usual great energy.

After talking to them, she turned to my side and looked closely at me for a while before speaking. "I know you will grow stronger, but... I didn't think you could fight head on with Taren's copy." There was a slight amazement and disbelief in her tone.

"Huff–huff, bu-but I lost."I said while panting, as I couldn't control my erratic breathing.

"Don't be moody, Jadel; not only did you fight toe to toe with him for one minute, your martial arts techniques, awareness, battle senses, and quick thinking way surpassed what I could imagine. I feel your growth is far abnormal compared to others," her eyes gleamed while saying this.

'Well, that bitch trains me until my bones break, and day and night I worked my butt off and kept pushing my body until it was on the verge of breaking to reach this level now.' But that is not the only reason why I pushed my body to the extreme. There was this thirsty feeling—the thirsty feeling for power—that I couldn't quench no matter how hard I tried. It's only increased day by day, slowly but surely.

'But' I activated the status screen.

===] Techniques [===

Dagger art: Dark Slash:- ‹★›

Proficiency: 231.4%

(Dark Slash is a technique that unleashes condensed mana slash to erode skin)

Master Of Weapons:- ‹★★★›

Proficiency: 77.8%

(Contains basic knowledge of a weapon master's weapon wielding style and knowledge of 100 different types of weapons)

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'It's not a glitch; I can go beyond what seemed to end. And not only am I learning techniques more quickly, but my battle sense is also increasing at a faster rate than I could have imagined before.' After all, Jadel is known as a talentless prodigy in his household.

"It's all thanks to the help of my master." I answered.

"You're humble, Jadel. Even if Juvy trained you, in the end, it's because of your talent that you've grown quickly."

"I guess"

"Good"

Ding! Dong!

The bell at the academy rang, announcing the end of the school session.

"Okay, everyone, see you tomorrow," she told us as she walked out of the training ground, still keeping her cheerful smile.

'How can she keep smiling all day?' Shaking off my thoughts, I walked to the changing room and started to change.

"Hey, did you guys hear about the conflict?" A guy asked his group of friends.

"Conflict?"

"No, I didn't hear about it"

Hearing they were not aware of it, he started explaining. "Well, apparently the students didn't like the rank assessment at all. As few low ranking students jumped into high ranking while some of the higher rankers demoted to lower ranking, stirring a conflict."

'What a silly reason to start a fight.'

"And since A class students are mixed up, unlike us, they clearly want to hold the position of the strongest class. Well, that's what I heard."

"I heard they mixed A class students to avoid conflict between them, but it still happened."

'So it's a conflict between A classes, huh. I wonder what Taren will do. Poor guy, changing classes to only be the center of a fight for power.'

Changing to a uniform I walked out of the changing room as I didn't want to hear any unnecessary conversation that didn't concern me, and I also needed to get there quickly.

***

***

***

I walked to a private training ground that my master uses. She and I have been training here since the classes started. After the classes are over, I will directly come to this place.

Standing in front of the door, I placed my hand on the scanner.

WEEZ!

The door opened after identifying me, and the melodious sound of the AI greeted me.

[Welcome, cadet Jadel Atlanta]

As I entered, I saw a red haired woman sitting on the ground, cross-legged, and absorbing mana stones that were placed in front of her. I cannot see the raw mana, but I can see the mana swirling around her and entering through her nostrils and mouth as the space around her was distorted by the constant movement of the mana.

Mana breathing is a breathing style that helps to absorb mana and increase our rank quickly. It's a common technique everyone knows, but it varies from person to person as to how they utilize it with their talent. And with the help of mana stones, it will be way faster to increase the ranks.

I changed my uniform to training clothes and waited for her until the process was over. After ten minutes, she opens her eyes, revealing her red eyes that shimmer with stars.

"Let's get started then." She didn't like chit chatting when training, so we started as soon as I entered. Taking out a mana restriction bracelet, she put it on her hands.

"As usual?" she asked.

"Yes"

"Okay" replying, she adjusted her power to C rank.

"Not taking away your restrictions?"

"No"

"Suit yourself." uttering these words, she vanished from her place and appeared in front of me, her hand approaching my abdomen swiftly.

'I can't dodge it, nor can I block it'

Imitation: Astro Deflect

Touching her wrist softly, I redirected the punch, but I couldn't execute the technique perfectly because of the sheer difference in our strength.

Scratch!

I felt a stinging pain in my right rib area as it grazed my body. She didn't stop there; as the punch missed, she executed a flawless spinning kick.

Bam!

Crack!

"urgh!" I grunted in pain as I blocked her kick with my hand, causing it to break slightly. But I didn't care, as my mind was telling me,'more''more''more' and 'more'.

My heart gripped with an unknown feeling I felt every time I trained with her, causing the thirsty feeling for power to increase.

Thump! Thump!

Tapping my smart watch, I took out a black obsidian sword from the spatial storage.

"Are you going to use weapon now?"

"Not only that"

Core release: 30 percentage

Core release is a technique used to release all the mana contained in the core. Releasing means the mana runs wild in mana veins. And the reaction would be explosive power. It's like a double edged sword; not properly using it means damage to the core and mana veins. Because of this negative effect, hunters don't use core release, even if they wanted to, they couldn't use it unless they had the talent to do so.

And I can use this technique flawlessly up to 60 percent; going above would certainly damage my mana viens.

I found out about this technique when I watched recordings of my VR battle. In that battle, I used core release mixed with my passive skill, Bloodlust, and was able to fight with the main cast and tank their powerful skill even though I became a walking, breathing corpse.

But I didn't know this was a Core release until my master told me. In the VR battle, we did a few experiments to know what causes my personality to flip and found out two reasons.

One was seeing blood; if it was a small amount, it wouldn't be a problem, but seeing more blood causes me to flip. And the other one is being under pressure. It was confirmed by my master, as I talked about it and formed a plausible theory.

And when I flipped and fought with Master, she confirmed I could use Core Release flawlessly; she even said it was close to impossible to use Core Release mixed with skills. The reason why others can't use core release mixed with skill is because unleashing mana and, at the same time, using a skill will be a massive burden to the core and veins. It's not impossible, but the chances of permanent damage are 90%

When she found out I could use both at the same time in a VR battle, she stood there astonished.

That's one of the reasons Jadel's family called him a 'talentless prodigy' and a 'failed product' by his father.

'She's irritating me now'

"Why are you holding back? It's irritating me." My real thoughts slipped unconsciously.

"Do you want me to kill you?" She said it in slight anger. I know it might put me in danger, but the feeling is slowly eating me away. I have a feeling that I could only quench this thirst by entering the dungeon and accumulating status points.

"Kill me, huh? I only trained and sparred with restricting myself and only using core release to 30%." I released all of my restrictions. "Since I'm entering, I will test my skills," I mumbled to myself.

Core Release: 50 percentage

I felt power course through my body, and veins slowly started to bulge all over my body.

Exerting all of my power, I leap to her and swing the sword in a downward slash.

With a quick backstep, she dodged the attack.

'I won't let you'

Sxwzee!

The sword suddenly turned into a whip and followed her movement, but as if anticipating that, she dodged the sharp blade, but it slightly grazed her face.

"It always ceases to amaze me when I see how you handle that thing."

"It's Urumi"

"Yeah, yeah." She touched her cheeks where the blade grazed her. "But playtime is over." Her face suddenly became serious.

Swoosh!

Instantly, she appeared in front of me and punched; it was so fast that I could do nothing but take it.

Bam!

Crack!

Another cracking sound was heard as the punch connected to my rib.

"Guhh!" Another punch approached my face, but this time I blocked it.

Kapow! Crack!

The bone cracked and turned in an unimaginable way, but I couldn't feel the pain anymore.

Core Release: 60 percent

Gripping the weapon, I attacked her. Before it could coil around her neck, she ducked, avoiding the blades.

"Futile"

I didn't stop and kept on swinging. The blade danced around me every time I attacked and defended myself.

Seeing an opening, she rushed to me.

"You fell for it." retracting the blade to normal, I slashed her. Her eyes shone as countless stars moved like a meteor shower. And when the sword reached her face, she dodged it as if she knew the sword's trajectory.

Bam!

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