11. AETHER'S SECOND DEFEAT AT THE HANDS OF A WOMAN

After the two eventful matches were through, the rest of the fights progressed quickly with the participants being shaved by half. Once the preliminaries were through, only a few participants remained, among them being Arthur, Mineta, Ikki, Urora, and Horneva. The remaining 26 were now standing in front of the Guildmasters and guild representatives.

The day and exams were now reaching their conclusion and the audience both present and at home, watching were anxiously waiting for the selections. Many had placed bets on who will be joining which guild and were ecstatic to see if their bets were true or not.

Lui-Bo Jin stepped forward, with the microphone in hand. He turned to face the guild masters, finesse and elegance flowing through his movement.

❝ At long last, the day has come to an end and with its conclusion, the selection exams draw to a close. Without further waste, let the guildmasters select their new members. ❞

Immediately after Lui-Bo Jin concluded his statement, Lieh sprung to the occasion, raising his hand making him the first pick. He grabbed the microphone and cleared his throat.

“The Crimson Guild would like to take Horneva and Ikki. I believe under my guidance they will be one of the best hunters Korea has ever seen.”

The other guildmasters and guild representatives expressed their distaste for Lieh and his obsession with power however, Lieh just relished in their envy. He resisted the urge to mock them in front of everyone as that would give the audience a bad image of him.

However, two weren't bothered. Those two were Evangelist and Min-yin who represented the WildRift Guild, Min-yin raised her hand, having recalled what Evangelist said the other day. Lui-Bo Jin nodded at her, giving her the platform to speak.

Like Lieh, she grabbed the microphone and took a gaze at the remaining bunch. She composed herself before speaking. “On behalf of our guild master, we, as the WildRift Guild would like to take Arthur, Mineta, Kishio, and Urora under our wing.”

.

Arthur visibly groaned, he wasn't against the draft but what he was against was him, Urora, and Kishio being in the same guild. He condoned their arrogance in the orphanage and now in the guild as well? What was Evangelist thinking? He wondered and missed the rest of the selection. But he had something more pressing to adhere to, the reward he attained back when he fought Evangelist. Tears Of The Fallen One.

Synched with his thoughts, the Arodis system appeared. The all-familiar crimson screen opened up, showing him what he wanted to see.

『Tears Of The Fallen One Information Window』

『Rank:? 

Classification: Summoning. 

Description: Tears Of The Fallen One, a unique ability that allows the caster to summon companions to aid them in battle. At level one, the user can only summon dual elemental companions ranging from canines and avians. 』

Arthur grinned, this system regardless of how he negatively thought about it knowing everything about him and his other self was rather handy and beneficial to him. The revealed ability added to the King's rule were hefty abilities capable of changing the whole battlefield in his favor, however, he wanted to know the true extent of the ability itself.

He was so engrossed in his thoughts he failed to see the two looming silhouettes come into his line of sight. One bearing a predatory yet lustful look, the other expression nothing but annoyance.

“Arthur!!”

Arthur snapped out of his trance and looked at the person who called him. He raised his eyes to meet Evangelist and Min-yin. To say he was put on edge by the look Min-yin was giving him, was an understatement.

“Yes?” He replied, taking a step back.

Evangelist nudged Min-yin on her side with her elbow and gave her a look that told her to cut it. Min-yin complied and stopped what she was doing to mess with Arthur. “As I was saying, We would like for you to come to the guild first thing tomorrow morning. I've already informed the others where it is. Also since you are part of the guild, here.”

Evangelist threw a key at Arthur. The young teen caught it with a single hand and raised an eyebrow, wanting to know exactly what was this and why it was given to him.

“That's a key to your new home, it's nearer to the guild. We will direct you there but first, Min-yin wanted to speak with you.”

Given the platform, Min-yin cleared her throat and smacked both her hands together. “I want to fight you, right here, right now.”

Arthur was put off by her bluntness, she didn't seem to have any self-restraint and would blurt anything she thinks of out. But a fight? From what he knows, Min-yin was the same rank as Evangelist and with him being unranked, that would be a bad idea yet he felt the need to prove himself.

“Alright.”

Excitement flashed on Min-yin's face as she dashed away from the group. Evangelist stepped away leaving the two standing a few meters apart.

Min-yin unhooked her jacked and threw it to the side. Her fists gained a crimson hue around them as she smashed them together igniting small sparks from the collision. “Come at me kiddo. I won't hold back”

Arthur smirked, he extended his hand and the Ring Of Archeon's first phase manifested in response to his Qi. The black blade manifested in his palm and he clutched it tightly pointing the edge of the blade down as he relaxed his hand. He had taken notice of the sparks and the glow on Min-yin's hands, as such he decided to keep that in mind. ❛ Fire awakening huh? Well, that's bad. ❜

BLOOD ORCHID ACTIVE

『Strength: 20 (+6 - First stack)

Speed: 20 (+6 - First stack)

Vitality: 6 (+6 - First stack)

Intelligence: 22 (+45 Aether) (+6 - First stack)

Endurance : 15 (+6 - First stack)

Durability : 10 (+6 - First stack) 』

The signature boost activated and he prepared himself. Arthur settled into a stance, both legs placed aside, with both hands clutching the handle of the blade. Taking a deep breath, Arthur pushed on his right leg blazing through the distance at his base speed which was that of a D rank. He closed the gap between him and Min-yin, and swung his hands horizontally swinging the sword at neck level aiming to cut Min-yin on the neck.

Min-yin smirked and bent her body forward, low enough to be at Waist length with Arthur, allowing the blade to miss her by a considerable distance. In the process, she brought her fist forward.

EXPLODE.

Her fist connected with Arthur's abdomen and it glowed crimson. An explosion occurred from the impact, sending Arthur through the examination center.

The shockwave destroyed the front of the building and cleared some of the trees outside. Everything before Min-yin's extended fist was curved and charred. Min-yin turned to Evangelist and sheepishly grinned. “Did I go overboard?”