Neraxis took a deep breath and, grunting through the pain, stood up before nkly ncing at Kael.


    "Hm? Are you alright?" Kael called out, but as he did, Neraxis suddenly used Sword Dash to appear before him.


    Noticing the white tattoos once again envelop Kael''s body, Neraxis merely scoffed.


    Useless gimmick.


    A reflective skill like that was impossible to use in such quick session. After all, not even two minutes had passed since thest time Kael had used it.


    Which meant Kael was trying to trick him—and, obviously, failed.


    "Guh!" Kael''s body was flung several meters, and a trickle of blood appeared on his chest.


    Neraxis nodded in satisfaction. In the next moment, he flicked the sword downward, making the blood fall next to where his sword tattoo was located.


    Funnel that blood into my mouth in a way where no one will notice.


    He nned on using his Vampiric Dominion''s Partial Vampirism skill effect. As weird as it was to drink Kael''s blood, it was either that or lose the fight.


    So, he sucked it up—and, in just a few short moments, tiny strands of blood began traveling up his bodysuit, unnoticeable to the naked eye from such a distance. Soon, the blood entered his mouth.@@novelbin@@


    Immediately, Neraxis felt a wave of relief as his injuries seemingly healed in an instant.


    Without wasting any more time, he made his move toward the still-startled Kael.


    Noticing that Mark of Decay was off cooldown, Neraxis activated it, and a ck orb appeared around Kael.


    As that happened, Neraxis desummoned his sword and shifted into a simple boxing stance.


    [Fist fight? Really?] Evangeline whistled.


    I don''t want to kill him, Neraxis replied with a shrug before making his way over to Kael and delivering the first punch.


    Unsurprisingly, it was blocked. But before Kael could counterattack with a precise punch of his own, Neraxis diverted it with a single brush of his palm and delivered a direct elbow to Kael''s ribs.


    Despite holding back, the blow seemed to unsettle Kael as his eyes narrowed, and he spoke.


    "You''re acting a bit different—finally taking me seriously?"


    His taunting tone went right over Neraxis''s head as he noticed there were still three stacks left before he could finally detonate the mark.


    So, he went back in—a leg sweep to start it off, followed by a jab straight at Kael''s face. Due to sheer speed and exhaustion, Kael was unable to dodge.


    Pity, he dodged the leg sweep, Neraxis remarked inwardly, ncing at him again.


    "Surrender."


    His tone was cold and carried a certain weight; however, Kael refused regardless.


    "Nope. I told you I won''t be giving up. Besides, you haven''t won yet."


    Neraxis merely sighed since, at a nce, it was clear Kael was doing this purely out of massive pride.


    But he wasn''t one to simply wave away someone''s efforts. Therefore, he dashed back in and quickly delivered a spinning heel kick toward Kael''s shoulder, seemingly dislocating it on impact.


    Four stacks, but he''s not even dodging anymore—just acting like a punching bag. Neraxis thought, delivering one more kick to finish it off.


    Yet, as his kick was in motion, it suddenly halted. Neraxis jumped backward, dodging a fearsome wind magic attack.


    Kael frowned once it missed but tried again and again until, eventually, his breaths werebored.


    [I can''t say I like how you use the boxing stance and do weird moves like kicking, but as long as it works, I guess,] Evangelinemented with a softugh.


    It works because he''s expecting a punch, not a kick, Neraxis added and finally took thest few steps toward the exhausted Kael.


    "Surrendering or not, it''s still the same oue."


    Kael scoffed in response. "Well, at least it''s a fair loss."


    "If you say so," Neraxis replied in an unamused fashion. Instead of striking and detonating the mark, he simply grabbed Kael''s ne and threw him off the tform before stating,


    "3-0." With those words, he nced to the side.


    Magnus stood at the very center of the tform with his arms crossed, ring at both him and Kael.


    Finally, he spoke. "Both of you are disqualified—same with the rest of you. I expect you to follow the rules next time."


    "Seems like it''s a draw," Kael said sarcastically, to which Neraxis simply affirmed.


    "You lost. It''s still 3-0."


    Their bickering was quickly cut short as Magnus interjected.


    "Enough!" His shout rang out, freezing them in ce.


    "Everyone is free to go. sses are ending early. Tomorrow, we continue as usual," Magnus finished before ncing at Kael.


    "You and I are going to have a serious chat," he stated before turning his gaze toward Neraxis.


    "As for you... don''t cause any more trouble."


    Neraxis nodded before taking one final look at Kael. Soon, he made his way to the lockers, swiftly changed back into his uniform, and headed out.


    A few of his ssmates sent strange looks his way, but he ignored them as he walked through the halls and finally outside.


    It was empty and silent. His butler wasn''t around, so he decided to call him and patiently wait.


    [So? What''s the next step?] Evangeline questioned amidst the silence.


    Research, even more research... and finally, I should reach out to a fellow group of mine, shouldn''t I? Neraxis mused with a chuckle.


    What good was ying it safe? Repeating the same process just to reach the same results in the very end?


    Special ss was indeed a big step up—as was the tower—but how was he meant to improve in the meantime aside from the Astral Tower?


    And that''s where The Obscura came in—a way out, or more like a way in—an unheard-of organization that seemed to have some malicious ties with Eternal Night.


    But most importantly, it was something different. That same organization could improve hisbat ability by leaps and bounds—something the academy alone would take months, if not years, to aplish.


    [I see... it''s a good choice,] she affirmed in a warm tone.


    Soon, the butler arrived. As per usual, he drove back to his empty house, where Neraxis made some food and sat by hisptop.


    He had a lot on his mind, but the first thing he wanted to check out were the differences in the events that had transpired—from the things that had happened in his pastpared to the current reality.


    Spending hours on theptop was usually boring, but surprisingly, the information he dug up was amusing, to say the least.


    The major events, excluding the emergence of Dreamspire, were all fairly simr—but not to the point where he could urately use his future knowledge.


    By his calctions, the chance that something would differ was around 63%.


    I can only use my knowledge as a rough sketch... the rest is up to chance... simrly to how Amara was a factor I didn''t ount for, Neraxis thought while leaning back in his chair.


    [63% differential is still good. You have general knowledge of what will happen—just not how it will happen,] Evangeline remarked as she appeared in front of him in her sword form.


    [Anyway, you want to contact them, right? Here.]


    As her words fell, a white half-mask appeared in his hands.


    [Putting it on might be enough to get the word across.]


    Neraxis stared at it for a moment before finally pressing it to his face.


    Immediately, his vision shifted. Colors inverted, some bing more vibrant, until finally, they stabilized and came back together.


    Instead of his room, he found himself seated at a round table in front of four people wearing the same white half-mask as him.


    "Haha...?" A puzzledugh rang out as all four of them nced at him.


    And the one who spoke, was Amara.


    "An impatient one, aren''t you?"