Chapter 343: 343
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…
The night before departure, everyone who would be participating in the event was feeling both anxious and excited. Some were training, some were studying their opponents' profiles, while some were quietly sitting in their rooms, thinking of strategies.
But no matter what they were doing at the moment, one thought was in everyone's mind.
[I must come back alive.]
This year was one of the years where everything could happen during the Battle of the Underground Beings. While the level of danger was upped due to the uncertainty, it also meant plenty of growth opportunities.
Everyone who survived until the very end would be applauded.
Juin was doing situps in his room when he heard someone knock on his door.
"It's me!" Cyrus' voice came from the other side of the door.
Without moving, Juin merely stared at the doorknob, and within 3 seconds, it was unlocked, and Cyrus walked in.
"I still need more practice…" Juin mumbled as he stood up. Grabbing a towel that he left on the bed next to him, he said to Lucifer, "When will I be able to master this?"
"You are progressing fast enough," Lucifer said with a nod of approval.
During the last few days, while going through Mr. Tucker's hellish training, Juin was also training some of the basic skills that he lacked, such as moving things using his power. When he saw how Saville was able to pick the lock of his door with his ice power, he thought that it was a neat ability to have, so he asked Lucifer for guidance on it.
His ability to learn had certainly improved by leaps and bounds ever since their adventure in Atlantis, and within the span of a few hours, he managed to create simple spells in his mind and cast it without moving his body.
"I bumped into Soren earlier, and he said that the man was asking for you and Luca to meet him in the office for a quick talk. I told him that I would relay the message."
Juin nodded. He quickly wiped down his sweat and put on a clean shirt before heading towards Presley's office. He arrived at the same time as Luca and Lann. Based on Luca's flushed face, the scratches on his face, and his sweat-soaked shirt, it was obvious that he was undergoing some harsh training with Lann as well.
"Hi, Juin, how're your preparations going?" Lann asked before they headed in.
"Good, Ms. Lann," Juin said with a genuine smile as he looked down at her. He had grown again over the last few days, and he was now almost at 186 cm, which pissed off the 180-cm-tall Luca. "I hope you don't overtire yourself with Luca's training."
He liked Lann. Even though he was her student's enemy, she still tried to guide Juin, and she helped Juin understand how to use his flame-based power differently over the last few days.
"It's all worth it," she said fondly as she linked her arm with her student's. "Let's head in. I'm sure Tucker is already inside."
They went into Presley's office, and sure enough, Mr. Tucker was inside. He was standing in front of Presley's table with a serious expression as he looked at something on the table.
"Hey," President Presley said when they walked in. "Come here."
All three of them went towards him, and when they arrived, they saw that Presley was also on a conference call with Wolfe and his father.
"The Elysium family donated a bunch of weapons, and they are offering these to you boys. Now that all of you are here, let's go through them."
Without wasting any time, he then explained each and every one of the weapons, detailing their strengths and weaknesses, as well as their suitability for each of the boys.
In the end, he added, "Choose whatever you want."
"How about the rest?" Juin asked as he touched the weapons that were lay out in front of him. There were at least 10 weapons, with most of them ranked B or above. "These are quite some donations."
"Don't worry about the rest. The four of you, together, made the strongest team of your generation. We have high hopes for you guys."
"But…" Juin felt bad and looked at Wolfe and Luca. "That's not really fair, is it?"
Luca ignored him and looked at the selections of weapons on Presley's table. He then pulled out his Shadowmoon.
Presley suddenly frowned and asked, "Are you sure?"
"There's no weapon that I like more than Shadowmoon…" Luca replied with a stern expression as the whip glowed up in its usual purple. No, it was even brighter. He raised the whip with both hands as he mumbled something under his breath.
The whip floated in midair before opening itself into a loop as it circled above the weapons. In the end, it picked up a dull-looking folding fan with broken tainted yellowish-white leaves, a tassel with bȧrėly any strands left, and the ugliest yellow guards and sticks.
"Eightwind Fan!" Wolfe muttered.
According to President Presley, Eightwind Fan was an artifact that the Elysium family acquired from another world. It was said that it was brought to Earth by one of the first members of the Elysium family centuries ago. It was a wind-based weapon, yet it was considered weak by the Elysium family. However, it was still evaluated to be a C-rank weapon.
Luca frowned when he saw Shadowmoon pick the fan that was basically all but thrown away by the Elysium family. However, he was unable to do anything else since Shadowmoon chose it.
What he was doing was basically allowing his weapon to choose its own partner. He read it from a book in Presley's library before. Some of the ancients from the other worlds believed that weapons, regardless of whether or not they had developed their own souls, would have certain abilities once they reaped enough lives. One of the unique abilities would be the ability to detect weapons that were the most compatible with themselves.
Even though Luca himself had not killed that many beings before, his hands weren't clean, and the previous owner of Shadowmoon, his senior brother who passed away a long time ago, wasn't a monk either.
Still...
'Only one?' Luca thought with a frown. He was taking a huge chance with this, but he had no choice. With Juin and his odd powers and Caelian and his unknown abilities in his team, he had no choice but to believe in Shadowmoon's choice.
What he was doing was basically merging weapons together, or to be clearer, devouring. The survival of the fittest applied to weapons as well. Weapons that were weak could only serve as fodder for the strong.
"Why does he look so worried?" Juin asked Mr. Tucker in a whisper.
"His Shadowmoon is a Rank A weapon, and he's taking a risk of breaking it by merging it with a lower rank weapon," Mr. Tucker whispered back. "But if he succeeds, Shadowmoon will gain more strength, and it will be able to use the power of the Eightwind Fan."
"What if he fails?"
"Two possible outcomes. One, both items will be destroyed in a backlash. That's the most common likelihood when the weapons turn out to be incompatible. Two, Eightwind Fan will devour Shadowmoon instead of the other way round. But the latter is unlikely as Eightwind Fan is lower in rank than Shadowmoon."
Juin nodded slowly as he digested the new information. He suddenly thought of something and asked, "What will happen if Shadowmoon keeps devouring weapons?"
"It takes time, but it will slowly rise in ranks and eventually breakthrough to Rank S."
Juin digested the information for a few seconds before asking in a low voice, "Can a weapon become immortal rank by devouring other weapons?"
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…
The night before departure, everyone who would be participating in the event was feeling both anxious and excited. Some were training, some were studying their opponents' profiles, while some were quietly sitting in their rooms, thinking of strategies.
But no matter what they were doing at the moment, one thought was in everyone's mind.
[I must come back alive.]
This year was one of the years where everything could happen during the Battle of the Underground Beings. While the level of danger was upped due to the uncertainty, it also meant plenty of growth opportunities.
Everyone who survived until the very end would be applauded.
Juin was doing situps in his room when he heard someone knock on his door.
"It's me!" Cyrus' voice came from the other side of the door.
Without moving, Juin merely stared at the doorknob, and within 3 seconds, it was unlocked, and Cyrus walked in.
"I still need more practice…" Juin mumbled as he stood up. Grabbing a towel that he left on the bed next to him, he said to Lucifer, "When will I be able to master this?"
"You are progressing fast enough," Lucifer said with a nod of approval.
During the last few days, while going through Mr. Tucker's hellish training, Juin was also training some of the basic skills that he lacked, such as moving things using his power. When he saw how Saville was able to pick the lock of his door with his ice power, he thought that it was a neat ability to have, so he asked Lucifer for guidance on it.
His ability to learn had certainly improved by leaps and bounds ever since their adventure in Atlantis, and within the span of a few hours, he managed to create simple spells in his mind and cast it without moving his body.
"I bumped into Soren earlier, and he said that the man was asking for you and Luca to meet him in the office for a quick talk. I told him that I would relay the message."
Juin nodded. He quickly wiped down his sweat and put on a clean shirt before heading towards Presley's office. He arrived at the same time as Luca and Lann. Based on Luca's flushed face, the scratches on his face, and his sweat-soaked shirt, it was obvious that he was undergoing some harsh training with Lann as well.
"Hi, Juin, how're your preparations going?" Lann asked before they headed in.
"Good, Ms. Lann," Juin said with a genuine smile as he looked down at her. He had grown again over the last few days, and he was now almost at 186 cm, which pissed off the 180-cm-tall Luca. "I hope you don't overtire yourself with Luca's training."
He liked Lann. Even though he was her student's enemy, she still tried to guide Juin, and she helped Juin understand how to use his flame-based power differently over the last few days.
"It's all worth it," she said fondly as she linked her arm with her student's. "Let's head in. I'm sure Tucker is already inside."
They went into Presley's office, and sure enough, Mr. Tucker was inside. He was standing in front of Presley's table with a serious expression as he looked at something on the table.
"Hey," President Presley said when they walked in. "Come here."
All three of them went towards him, and when they arrived, they saw that Presley was also on a conference call with Wolfe and his father.
"The Elysium family donated a bunch of weapons, and they are offering these to you boys. Now that all of you are here, let's go through them."
Without wasting any time, he then explained each and every one of the weapons, detailing their strengths and weaknesses, as well as their suitability for each of the boys.
In the end, he added, "Choose whatever you want."
"How about the rest?" Juin asked as he touched the weapons that were lay out in front of him. There were at least 10 weapons, with most of them ranked B or above. "These are quite some donations."
"Don't worry about the rest. The four of you, together, made the strongest team of your generation. We have high hopes for you guys."
"But…" Juin felt bad and looked at Wolfe and Luca. "That's not really fair, is it?"
Luca ignored him and looked at the selections of weapons on Presley's table. He then pulled out his Shadowmoon.
Presley suddenly frowned and asked, "Are you sure?"
"There's no weapon that I like more than Shadowmoon…" Luca replied with a stern expression as the whip glowed up in its usual purple. No, it was even brighter. He raised the whip with both hands as he mumbled something under his breath.
The whip floated in midair before opening itself into a loop as it circled above the weapons. In the end, it picked up a dull-looking folding fan with broken tainted yellowish-white leaves, a tassel with bȧrėly any strands left, and the ugliest yellow guards and sticks.
"Eightwind Fan!" Wolfe muttered.
According to President Presley, Eightwind Fan was an artifact that the Elysium family acquired from another world. It was said that it was brought to Earth by one of the first members of the Elysium family centuries ago. It was a wind-based weapon, yet it was considered weak by the Elysium family. However, it was still evaluated to be a C-rank weapon.
Luca frowned when he saw Shadowmoon pick the fan that was basically all but thrown away by the Elysium family. However, he was unable to do anything else since Shadowmoon chose it.
What he was doing was basically allowing his weapon to choose its own partner. He read it from a book in Presley's library before. Some of the ancients from the other worlds believed that weapons, regardless of whether or not they had developed their own souls, would have certain abilities once they reaped enough lives. One of the unique abilities would be the ability to detect weapons that were the most compatible with themselves.
Even though Luca himself had not killed that many beings before, his hands weren't clean, and the previous owner of Shadowmoon, his senior brother who passed away a long time ago, wasn't a monk either.
Still...
'Only one?' Luca thought with a frown. He was taking a huge chance with this, but he had no choice. With Juin and his odd powers and Caelian and his unknown abilities in his team, he had no choice but to believe in Shadowmoon's choice.
What he was doing was basically merging weapons together, or to be clearer, devouring. The survival of the fittest applied to weapons as well. Weapons that were weak could only serve as fodder for the strong.
"Why does he look so worried?" Juin asked Mr. Tucker in a whisper.
"His Shadowmoon is a Rank A weapon, and he's taking a risk of breaking it by merging it with a lower rank weapon," Mr. Tucker whispered back. "But if he succeeds, Shadowmoon will gain more strength, and it will be able to use the power of the Eightwind Fan."
"What if he fails?"
"Two possible outcomes. One, both items will be destroyed in a backlash. That's the most common likelihood when the weapons turn out to be incompatible. Two, Eightwind Fan will devour Shadowmoon instead of the other way round. But the latter is unlikely as Eightwind Fan is lower in rank than Shadowmoon."
Juin nodded slowly as he digested the new information. He suddenly thought of something and asked, "What will happen if Shadowmoon keeps devouring weapons?"
"It takes time, but it will slowly rise in ranks and eventually breakthrough to Rank S."
Juin digested the information for a few seconds before asking in a low voice, "Can a weapon become immortal rank by devouring other weapons?"
The night before departure, everyone who would be participating in the event was feeling both anxious and excited. Some were training, some were studying their opponents' profiles, while some were quietly sitting in their rooms, thinking of strategies. But no matter what they were doing at the moment, one thought was in everyone's mind. I must come back alive. This year was one of the years where everything could happen during the Battle of the Underground Beings. While the level of danger was upped due to the uncertainty, it also meant plenty of growth opportunities. Everyone who survived until the very end would be applauded. Juin was doing situps in his room when he heard someone knock on his door. "It's me!" Cyrus' voice came from the other side of the door. Without moving, Juin merely stared at the doorknob, and within 3 seconds, it was unlocked, and Cyrus walked in. "I still need more practice" Juin mumbled as he stood up. Grabbing a towel that he left on the bed next to him, he said to Lucifer, "When will I be able to master this?" "You are progressing fast enough," Lucifer said with a nod of approval. During the last few days, while going through Mr. Tucker's hellish training, Juin was also training some of the basic skills that he lacked, such as moving things using his power. When he saw how Saville was able to pick the lock of his door with his ice power, he thought that it was a neat ability to have, so he asked Lucifer for guidance on it. His ability to learn had certainly improved by leaps and bounds ever since their adventure in Atlantis, and within the span of a few hours, he managed to create simple spells in his mind and cast it without moving his body. "I bumped into Soren earlier, and he said that the man was asking for you and Luca to meet him in the office for a quick talk. I told him that I would relay the message." Juin nodded. He quickly wiped down his sweat and put on a clean shirt before heading towards Presley's office. He arrived at the same time as Luca and Lann. Based on Luca's flushed face, the scratches on his face, and his sweat-soaked shirt, it was obvious that he was undergoing some harsh training with Lann as well. "Hi, Juin, how're your preparations going?" Lann asked before they headed in. "Good, Ms. Lann," Juin said with a genuine smile as he looked down at her. He had grown again over the last few days, and he was now almost at 186 cm, which pissed off the 180-cm-tall Luca. "I hope you don't overtire yourself with Luca's training." He liked Lann. Even though he was her student's enemy, she still tried to guide Juin, and she helped Juin understand how to use his flame-based power differently over the last few days. "It's all worth it," she said fondly as she linked her arm with her student's. "Let's head in. I'm sure Tucker is already inside." They went into Presley's office, and sure enough, Mr. Tucker was inside. He was standing in front of Presley's table with a serious expression as he looked at something on the table. "Hey," President Presley said when they walked in. "Come here." All three of them went towards him, and when they arrived, they saw that Presley was also on a conference call with Wolfe and his father. "The Elysium family donated a bunch of weapons, and they are offering these to you boys. Now that all of you are here, let's go through them." Without wasting any time, he then explained each and every one of the weapons, detailing their strengths and weaknesses, as well as their suitability for each of the boys. In the end, he added, "Choose whatever you want." "How about the rest?" Juin asked as he touched the weapons that were lay out in front of him. There were at least 10 weapons, with most of them ranked B or above. "These are quite some donations." "Don't worry about the rest. The four of you, together, made the strongest team of your generation. We have high hopes for you guys." "But" Juin felt bad and looked at Wolfe and Luca. "That's not really fair, is it?" Luca ignored him and looked at the selections of weapons on Presley's table. He then pulled out his Shadowmoon. Presley suddenly frowned and asked, "Are you sure?" "There's no weapon that I like more than Shadowmoon" Luca replied with a stern expression as the whip glowed up in its usual purple. No, it was even brighter. He raised the whip with both hands as he mumbled something under his breath. The whip floated in midair before opening itself into a loop as it circled above the weapons. In the end, it picked up a dull-looking folding fan with broken tainted yellowish-white leaves, a tassel with brly any strands left, and the ugliest yellow guards and sticks. "Eightwind Fan!" Wolfe muttered. According to President Presley, Eightwind Fan was an artifact that the Elysium family acquired from another world. It was said that it was brought to Earth by one of the first members of the Elysium family centuries ago. It was a wind-based weapon, yet it was considered weak by the Elysium family. However, it was still evaluated to be a C-rank weapon. Luca frowned when he saw Shadowmoon pick the fan that was basically all but thrown away by the Elysium family. However, he was unable to do anything else since Shadowmoon chose it. What he was doing was basically allowing his weapon to choose its own partner. He read it from a book in Presley's library before. Some of the ancients from the other worlds believed that weapons, regardless of whether or not they had developed their own souls, would have certain abilities once they reaped enough lives. One of the unique abilities would be the ability to detect weapons that were the most compatible with themselves. Even though Luca himself had not killed that many beings before, his hands weren't clean, and the previous owner of Shadowmoon, his senior brother who passed away a long time ago, wasn't a monk either. Still... 'Only one?' Luca thought with a frown. He was taking a huge chance with this, but he had no choice. With Juin and his odd powers and Caelian and his unknown abilities in his team, he had no choice but to believe in Shadowmoon's choice. What he was doing was basically merging weapons together, or to be clearer, devouring. The survival of the fittest applied to weapons as well. Weapons that were weak could only serve as fodder for the strong. "Why does he look so worried?" Juin asked Mr. Tucker in a whisper. "His Shadowmoon is a Rank A weapon, and he's taking a risk of breaking it by merging it with a lower rank weapon," Mr. Tucker whispered back. "But if he succeeds, Shadowmoon will gain more strength, and it will be able to use the power of the Eightwind Fan." "What if he fails?" "Two possible outcomes. One, both items will be destroyed in a backlash. That's the most common likelihood when the weapons turn out to be incompatible. Two, Eightwind Fan will devour Shadowmoon instead of the other way round. But the latter is unlikely as Eightwind Fan is lower in rank than Shadowmoon." Juin nodded slowly as he digested the new information. He suddenly thought of something and asked, "What will happen if Shadowmoon keeps devouring weapons?" "It takes time, but it will slowly rise in ranks and eventually breakthrough to Rank S." Juin digested the information for a few seconds before asking in a low voice, "Can a weapon become immortal rank by devouring other weapons?"
