Chapter 3
849 Words
There were several reasons why Ray chose to fight the common elf without finishing the battle in a single blow, as he had done with others.
One of them was his desire to assess how much his spearmanship had improved.
After fighting for over fifteen minutes using nothing but pure spear techniques, Ray finally realized that his spearmanship had already surpassed the level of masters and was now approaching the realm of grandmasters.
However, at the same time, he sensed a great wall preventing him from stepping fully into the grandmaster realm.
It wasn't just his spearmanship; his swordsmanship had also reached the same level.
Ray became even more interested in reaching the grandmaster realm when, in the middle of their battle, Riya asked if he was already a grandmaster.
He could see the frustration on her face, which only fueled his determination to break through that barrier.
But there was a problem; he had no idea how to do it.
He needed more information.
It seemed that even he couldn't grow stronger by doing everything alone.
Perhaps it wasn't such a bad thing that he had made a contract with Gina.
She might know something about reaching the grandmaster realm or at least have knowledge of where he could seek out the answers.
Ray also discovered something interesting: contrary to the Vatican's claims, the woman known as the Saintess wasn't the only person capable of wielding holy energy.
It wasn't a divine blessing or any sort of divine intervention, as the Vatican wanted the world to believe.
Instead, anyone could wield holy energy as long as they possessed the attunement for it.
After defeating the common elf, Riya, Ray went on to defeat seven more awakeners without stopping.
Unlike his fight with Riya, which he had deliberately drawn out to savor the battle, he dispatched the others quickly.
They were strong, but none of them intrigued him. Most were just ordinary cultivators.
In his battles for the 9th, 8th, and 7th rankings, Ray faced martial artists—two swordsmen and a spearman.
However, their skills were far below his, and he defeated them with ease.
For the 6th and 5th positions, he fought mages, one specializing in fire magic and the other in water magic.
The fire mage was the easiest opponent he had faced in the entire power ranking.
Her fire magic had almost no effect on him, and a single punch sent her flying, securing his victory effortlessly.
The battle against the water mage for the 5th position, however, proved to be slightly more troublesome.
The water mage was crafty; he flooded the entire battleground, restricting Ray's high-speed movements.
He trapped Ray inside a prison of water magic, launching arrows of condensed water that pierced his metal-like skin.
But no matter how hard the water mage tried to keep him contained, Ray was simply too strong.
Using his earth magic, he shattered the water prison and delivered a powerful punch to the mage's gut, securing another victory.
In the battle for the 4th position, Ray faced another elf, a man.
Unfortunately, this meant Ray wasn't particularly interested in the fight.
Ever since the day of awakening, and even in his life before his regression, Ray had never been particularly drawn to women.
Before awakening, he had some interest, but no one had ever reciprocated his feelings.
After awakening, even that faint interest gradually disappeared.
Now, after his regression, he had been so focused on growing stronger that he hadn't even thought about women.
He had begun to wonder if something was wrong with him.
But just now, when he fought that common elf in the 10th-ranked battle, something changed.
The combination of both power and beauty instantly made her appear attractive in his eyes.
He realized that there was nothing wrong with him; he still desired women.
However, he also understood that pursuing romance could become a hindrance to his growth as an awakener.
Still, that didn't mean he would go out of his way to seek women.
If anything, he preferred that they come looking for him, not the other way around.
In the battle for the 3rd position of the power ranking, Ray faced a woman who was quite interesting, not because of her appearance but because of her abilities.
She didn't use a sword, spear, or any other traditional martial weapon.
Instead, she wielded a g*n, yes, a g*n loaded with compressed energy.
Each bullet was highly dense, packed with enough power to obliterate an elephant into pieces.
The Awakener herself was incredibly strong.
She was astonishingly fast, much faster than anyone Ray had ever faced.
Strangely, she didn't seem to be using any special movement technique, yet her speed was overwhelming.
However, she was still not as fast as Ray.
Eventually, he caught up to her, and before he could deliver the finishing blow, the woman accepted defeat, saving Ray the trouble.
After the battle, Ray developed a particular interest in guns but had no idea where to start looking for them.
He made a mental note to ask Gina about them.
- Writer
