Start of A New Journey!

Now let's see what actually happened -

Velar charged towards Adrian, keeping his aura-enveloped sword at a right angle for a horizontal slash before Adrian could react. His attack progressed smoothly until he reached in front of Adrian.

To his surprise, he encountered a grin on the boy's face, as if Adrian had him in his grasp. Velar slashed with lightning speed, but something unexpected occurred. The boy, who had been clearly struggling to dodge at normal speed, reacted to the attack with astonishing speed.

Adrian took a step back, skillfully evading Velar's attack at the right moment, before returning to his original position at a speed imperceptible to the naked eye. Then, with a swift motion, his sword curved towards Velar's neck. However, Velar activated his trump card once again, vanishing from Adrian's reach and reappearing at the far end of the ring.

He believed that he had escaped the attack. therefore, had a triumphant and relaxed expression. However, what followed was witnessed by everyone.

Now back to Present...

"W-What?" everybody shouted in unison, rising from their seats with shocked expressions.

"Did Velar Jon just lose to a kid?" a noble asked, finding the situation unbelievable.

"But how did his neck get cut off? Did that kid do it?" another noble questioned.

"I doubt that. Even those 5-stars couldn't react to that speed. Do you really believe a 4-star kid could react to his attack with that unstable foundation he has?" one of the clever nobles inquired

"Then what happened? I want to know!" an impatient noble yelled, curious about the situation.

"We would've to ask that kid about it, but what's important is that Count Nadino has won this war. We should announce the result of this duel First" The clever noble suggested.

After this, the announcement regarding Adrian's win in this duel was made. Count Nadino received congratulations from various nobles. Adrian left the ring and arrived at the Count's side.

Everyone's curious gaze fell on him, asking for answers as soon as he got close. Count Nadino, noticing the gazes, decided to ask on their behalf.

"Sir Adrian, can you explain how you defeated Sir Velar? We weren't able to follow what transpired in the ring."

"A-Actually, I also wasn't able to see what he did. He vanished, then appeared in front of me, then once again disappeared. I was terrified at the thought of dying the next moment, but when I turned to see behind me, his head was detached from his body. I believe his technique backfired or his mana got rampant inside his body," Adrian answered, shivering from fear.

Upon listening to the answer and witnessing the kid's condition, the respect for him quickly disappeared from the nobles' eyes as everyone nodded in understanding, finding the reason reasonable.

They had thought maybe he was able to follow Velar's attack and had beheaded him, but since that wasn't the case, there was no reason to give too much importance to him.

"Child, although it was by luck, you have defeated a ranker. Therefore, you will also be a ranker from now on. Though you have defeated Velar Jon, who was ranked 49th, you will be given the last 100th rank as this was not an official rank match. Nonetheless, you will be the youngest ranker in the world.

Your name will be known throughout the seven empires. I would have to report this to the Ranker's Association, so I would need your details, and I will also have to share the details of how you won. Is that alright?" The clever noble questioned.

"That fool was a ranker? The standards of rankers in this small kingdom are too low at this time!" Adrian thought before answering, "Yes, that is alright with me." He turned towards Count Nadino before requesting, "Sir, I believe you will take care of the formalities here. I will take my leave now."

Adrian left, giving a last look at the environment. Adrian's eyes paused for a moment upon witnessing the scene of Count Philip pleading on his knees to a noble with purple hair. He was the vice-chairman of the federation, Marquise Benahelm.

Adrian was moving in the direction of his mother's house. He wanted to spend this day with her before leaving for his journey tomorrow. Yes, he had planned to progress with the main quest as well as acquire the Fire Dragon's blood.

"Hey Adrian, I want to say something," Demios muttered.

"Then go ahead. Who is stopping you?" Adrian replied as he continued walking towards his destination.

"So what I want to say was..." Demios paused before yelling at the top of his lungs, "Aura Cyclone! Whoosh, whoosh... pfft... hahaha!" Demios burst into laughter as he rolled on his belly. Adrian's whole fight was a comedy act for Demios, with Adrian acting as a weak and pitiful child.

"Why did you act so serious while performing that ridiculous move?" Demios asked, wiping the tears that had welled up in the corner of his eyes from laughing so hard.

"Yeah, yeah, laugh all you want. My time will also come when I will laugh at you," Adrian muttered as he glared at Demios, squinting his eyes.

"Alright, alright, I will stop now. So tell me, what do you plan to do ahead?" Demios inquired.

"I will recruit the first member for the Shadow Palace, who is also a great sorceress. The one capable of transplanting the Dragon's heart into my body - Grand Sorceress Etheria Reinsta!" Adrian announced.

"That's a good plan, but wouldn't she just be a kid with 4-tier magic right now? She should be around 19, and I don't think she will be able to conduct that surgery of transplanting a dragon's heart into your body," Demios muttered, confused by his choice.

"Since I know she will be a grand sorceress in the future, I can teach her the surgery process. She must have that much talent in her. Also, since she is just a kid right now, I will be able to persuade her easily into submitting to me," Adrian explained with a grin across his face.

"Alright, this seems alright to me. You can go ahead with this plan; I give you my permission," Demios announced with a proud look.

"Who asked for your permission? Just keep quiet for now."

Upon reaching his house, Adrian spent the rest of the day with his mom before departing in the morning for his new journey. He had already discussed with the Count regarding his mother's stay until he returns. He could leave without any worries now.

He left Antinia City before disappearing into the forest.