Chapter 244 Rewards

The moment Darren finished speaking, blade intent and sword intent burst out from his body and charged at the spear shadows.

"His blade intent... and his sword intent..."

The superior talents standing beside the stage, especially Violet, who was a swordsman, immediately sensed that something was wrong.

"Ah, he has cultivated premium blade intent and sword intent!" Violet shouted as astonishment coursed through her.

Even all the grand warriors would be envious if they had seen this scene. They longed to reach the premium stage with their blade intent and sword intent because it was hundreds of thousands of times stronger than the preliminary stage. As she watched the two talents battle on stage, Violet realized how terrifying their gifts were. The two men were undoubtedly superior to her.

Premium blade intent and sword intent burst out from Darren's body and headed straight for Bowen's spear shadows.

The whole world seemed to collapse at that moment. Even the superior talents beside the stage had to mobilize their strength to withstand the aftermath of the collision between Darren and Bowen's forces.

The shock was so powerful that another crack appeared in the reinforced protection spell around the battle stage.

A brilliant flash of light exploded in the middle of the stage. It sparkled with such intensity that the audience could not open their eyes. No one knew what exactly happened on the battle stage as even the spiritual sense released by the superior talents to detect the situation had been forcefully dispersed.

After a long time, the light dissipated and everyone could finally see the stage. Now the time had come to decide the winner of the battle.

No one dared to close their eyes or shift their attention from the stage as they were curious about the result. With bated breaths, they gazed in the direction of the stage where a figure with long hair, like a black waterfall, levitated in the air. The figure emitted a stunningly powerful aura as he looked at the audience below him.

On the stage stood a young man in ragged clothes. Anguish reflected in his eyes as he looked up at the figure. He found it hard to accept that he had been defeated.

"I lost..." The sense of loss in Bowen's voice was so tangible that the audience felt his sorrow.

"Actually, you were not that bad. You pressured me to utilize more than half of my power," Darren said drily as he flew away from the battle stage.

"More than half of your power?" Bowen smiled bitterly and said, "No wonder history is always written by the winners. Those who are defeated deserve to be humiliated. We both clearly fought with all our strength, but you sound as if you could do much more than that. How interesting."

Bowen felt that Darren's blade intent and sword intent were only slightly stronger than his legendary martial skill. If he ha

had picked whatever they liked. Of the two remaining keys, Bowen and Violet claimed one each.

The guardian of these keys had shared earlier that the keys were necessary to break into the eleventh stage.

Now that the first stage assessment was over and the talents had selected their rewards, the only people who stood a chance to cross into the eleventh stage were Darren, Bowen, and Violet.

After the prize distribution was over, Boyce recollected that he had not requested Darren to keep Tom. Now, Boyce didn't have the courage to ask Darren. After all, Darren had given him two of his prizes, and Boyce was worried that if he asked for more, he would seem greedy and annoying. He was afraid that Darren would find him repugnant for this.

While Boyce debated over this dilemma, the guardian's voice was heard in the sky, "Darren, you have a chance to request for anything from me. There are many alternatives. Think about what you might want."

This chance was precious as Darren could ask the guardian for one weapon, one book on legendary martial skills, or any other valuable equivalent.

Although Tom was standing nearby, he could not bring himself to approach Darren with his request. Meanwhile, Boyce watched anxiously and hoped that Tom would tell Darren as soon as possible.

"I see. So..."

Darren paused for a while as he glanced at Tom.

"Mr. Guardian, I wonder if I can request to retain a superior talent who has been knocked out of the assessment."

"Of course, you can."

"Okay. Then please give the superior talent, Tom, another chance, Mr. Guardian. I wish to keep him." After Darren put forward his request, both Tom and Boyce were stunned.

Boyce had not mentioned Tom's request to Darren. To his surprise, Darren asked voluntarily. Darren's thoughtfulness touched both Boyce and Tom. In that instance, they felt a sudden surge of emotions, which brought them to tears.