Several professors and instructors across the academy were notified of the duel in the Tower of Legends. For many, it was the ultimate test of strength for cadets, so they had standing requests to receive alerts whenever someone challenged the tower. Beside that, a great screen mounted on the academic building displayed live updates of ongoing competitions and events. A small crowd of cadets gathered there, eager to witness how far their peers could climb. Professors, noticing the gathering, soon became aware of the challenge as well.
Professors and instructors had access to any academy event through their personal devices. The moment Raijin Stormrider ascended past the thirtieth floor, shock rippled through the faculty. It was a well-known fact that at that point lay two Bloodstone Gargants... monsters whose corrupted blood poisoned all it touched. They could only be slain with precise killing blows that left no blood spilled, a feat nearly impossible for a newbie first-term cadet. Even many graduates rarely succeeded at such a task.
Among those notified was Supreme Grandmaster Scáthach herself. As head of the Combat Department, she received every tower alert, but she had configured her device to notify her only once a cadet passed the twenty-fifth floor. Mediocrity did not interest her. She sought only the extraordinary.
The first alert she received that day bore Raijin’s name. She was in meditation when the device pulsed, and though annoyed by the interruption, she checked his record:
[Personal Database]
Cadet Name: Raijin Astrape Stormrider
Cadet Number: 10156601
Institution: Ascendance Academy of Midgard
Race: Dragon
Bloodline: Sky-Lightning (Level 1)
Cultivation Level: Awakened
Academy Points: 2015
Courses: Basics of Cultivation, Introduction to Supernatural Ethics & Law, Introduction to Lightning Attribute, Cultivation History and Paths, School of Swords
Achievements: Rank 4 in the Initiation Ceremony
Her interest waned almost instantly. A lightning dragon should, by her estimation, reach the fortieth floor without difficulty. Anything less marked him as weak among his kind. With that thought, she closed the record and returned to meditation, deciding she would only bother to look again if he managed to reach the fiftieth floor.
It was much later that her device chimed again. Expecting the dragon’s progress, she opened the alert... only to be surprised. Another cadet had crossed the twenty-fifth floor.
[Personal Database]
Cadet Name: Eleanor Elizabeth Raynor
Cadet Number: 10156659
Institution: Ascendance Academy of Midgard
Race: Werewolf (Alpha)
Bloodline: Mind Reaver (Level 1), Thunderbolt (Dormant)
Cultivation Level: Awakened
Academy Points: 2061
Courses: Basics of Cultivation, Introduction to Supernatural Ethics & Law, School of Mixed Martial Arts, Optional I, Optional II
Achievements: Rank 3 in the Initiation Ceremony
Scáthach’s eyes glimmered. "A Raynor alpha with a thunderbolt bloodline? That was unusual. Either the girl’s clan had concealed it, or one of her parents was from the Lychos line and had hidden the trait. In any case, the bloodline remained dormant," she thought.
"Mixed Martial Arts," she murmured with a smile. "An amusing choice for a first-term cadet. Let’s see if Arrichion has been earning his keep. I wonder how she fares without leaning on an element." With that, she closed the screen and folded back into meditation.
Elsewhere, in the same dark chamber on the second floor of the Combat Department, Arrichion himself sat in silence. His awareness spread outward in steady waves as he recovered his strength. Though his device had buzzed with the same tower alerts, he dismissed them without thought. The academy flooded its instructors with notifications daily. He had no interest in bureaucracy... only in healing his battered body.
***
The moment Eleanor stepped into the twenty-sixth level, her body crashed to the floor as though the weight of a mountain had fallen upon her. Her limbs pressed into the cold stone, muscles screaming, and she found she could not so much as lift a finger. Her breath came in ragged bursts. A quick glance at the corner of her vision showed the timer ticking away at its usual pace... merciless, unchanging.
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