Book 3: Chapter 22: Warning Part I

Book 3: Chapter 22: Warning Part I

Scarlet

The second day of the internship is spent mostly just going on a tour of the underside of the Garden, which is a lot more modern in terms of technology. Probably because the underside is meant for battle and not living or anything else. Aside from some storage and the hangars, that is.

After that Im given the opportunity to train with some of the members of the Garden, following which Im led to that very same training hall as yesterday.

And immediately upon entering the training hall to start a match, I glance out of the barrier to find White standing with her arms crossed and a serious look on her face. Meanwhile, the rest of the spectating area is full of several dozen other members of the Garden of varying Classes.

And across from me in the arena itself is a girl about the same age as me who is also Class II and Im pretty sure contracted at the same time as me, if what Ava said was true at least.

She goes to Aquatic Pride though and wasnt their Solo Primary student. Actually, she didnt participate in the tournaments at all due to her own choice.

The girl nods her head at me, briefly saying, To a good duel. So I respond in kind.

Then we both break into a sprint towards each other. And right away, I shift both of my arms, activate my blood claws, and set up a null magic field around her, making her grimace as a thin layer of water forms around her. The water then transforms into tentacles of water that sway around her despite the increased mana cost.

I use both blood boil and life drain on her, making her wince for a moment, only to continue charging towards me. And when we meet together at the center of the arena, my claws striking at her first, the water tentacles begin to move straight towards me. But I dont let them, stopping them with blades of blood that I use to sever the tentacles midway through.

The girl Angelica I believe her name was grimaces at that but continues making more, which she finds is easier to do now that shes outside of the null magic field.

Over and over again, Scarlet and Angelica can be seen rushing at each other, engaging in close combat while showing off their martial arts, which Angelica seems to have a greater level of skill in. But despite that, Scarlet manages to keep going thanks to her blood sacrifice skill, the steam of her own blood slowly lifting out of her pores throughout the fight as blood blade meets tentacle, and claw meets fist.

Over two dozen levels below her as a rough estimate judging by their mana levels, and yet, shes still winning. Predator V which is what I assume she has only tends to give an incremental boost until the user is up to thirty levels above them, so it should only be giving her a fifteen percent boost to her stats right now at most. And just that along with her blood sacrifice skill alone are enough for her to eclipse her in strength

Ava glances at White.

The daughter of a Knight really is frightening.

Right as Ava is about to wonder if the match will end up being drawn out to wear Angelica down, chains made up of hardened blood suddenly shoot out of both the ground and portals in the air to wrap around the girl, following which Scarlet rushes in while waves of bloody steam rise off of her skin, her arm raised to strike. And to stop her from trying to break out of her chains with her water tentacles, various blades of blood start rushing out around her, severing the tentacles the moment theyre formed with a few blades piercing into Angelicas skin.

Then the match ends just like that, her claws digging straight down the girls neck, through her chest, and going all the way to her hip before Scarlet performs a spin and kicks her, sending her bleeding form flying away, only for it to vanish midair.

She saved up her chains skill till the last moment to do one major and unexpected push, taking Angelica off guard and finishing her off in an instant, Ava says, trying to strike up a conversation with White with a genuinely impressed look on her face. But most people would be impressed after seeing a Guardian defeat another Guardian who is over two dozen levels above them and has better training in unarmed combat.

White just nods her head, the ghost of a smile stretching across her face.

The spectators all begin applauding the winner, only for everyone to be sent back to the real training hall. And its at that point that White finally turns to look at Ava while narrowing her eyes.

Ava narrows her own in response.

Looks like shes done ignoring me.