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墨書 Inktalez
Ten years ago, a Qualification Challenge was held in Crook Duchy, marking the first time Crook Duchy was chosen by Holy Light Academy as one of the competition nations.
During that Qualification Challenge, a remarkable talent emerged—Bin Finger, who was once known as the unparalleled qualifier Sean Sterling, and has now achieved the status of a High-Level Giant and Star Student.
Habea III also considered participating in that Qualification Challenge, but due to insufficient preparation and the unexpected rise of Bin, only one of the three Royal Family participants managed to secure a spot at Holy Light Academy.
That His Highness, however, became too arrogant at Holy Light Academy and offended a significant figure, leading to his secret assassination.
As a result, Crook Duchy lost its only connection to Holy Light Academy, and Habea III, as the ruler of a nation, could not seek revenge.
The significant figure was a prince from a mid-level dynasty with considerable strength and high status. Given Crook Duchy's limited resources, it was not in their interest to offend him.
This time, Habea III sent his two most outstanding sons to participate in the Qualification Challenge, hoping they would gain admission to Holy Light Academy and re-establish ties between Crook Duchy and the academy.
With the strength of these two His Highnesses, if they had not broken through before, it would have been extremely difficult for them. Naturally, they easily secured first place in the Seed Selection Tournament of two major cities and qualified for the Peak Showdown, attracting much attention.
Among the Thirty-Six Contestants, aside from these two His Highnesses, there was another young contestant who was quite well-known.
Listening to the discussions around him, the cold and aloof young man with silver hair named Arno had risen to fame in Crook Duchy's Mercenary world.
He had single-handedly killed an Intermediate Level beast while completing a D-rank Mercenary mission.
An Intermediate Level beast is significantly stronger than humans of the same level; however, Arno managed to kill it alone with low-level strength. No one knew how he accomplished this; they only knew that afterward, Arno was severely injured and took several months to fully recover.
After this life-and-death battle, Arno's strength greatly increased, stepping into the Intermediate realm and becoming a Quasi-Mid-Level existence. He quickly gained notoriety as one of the most promising stars in Crook Duchy's Mercenary world. Most people believed that if Arno did not meet an untimely end, he would surely reach the pinnacle of Intermediate Level and even have hopes of achieving High-Level status.
"Low-level strength... killing an Intermediate Beast... even if that beast was injured, it shouldn't be something mere low-level strength can contend with," Bu Ban squinted at the silver-haired Arno, secretly pondering this person's formidable abilities.
The trump card capable of killing an Intermediate Beast posed enough danger to threaten Bu Ban; he could not afford to underestimate it.
He observed the other person subtly for a while, and to avoid raising any suspicion, he shifted his gaze to a woman with black eyes and black hair sitting across from him.
"Mu Yan... Mu..." Looking at her, he remained silent within. He was already aware of her identity; she was the representative contestant of the Star Moon Alliance, one of the two major rivals that Warren Earl had instructed him to treat with caution.
Seeing another person with the same skin tone as himself—black eyes, black hair, and a woman at that—whose name also carried an Eastern flavor stirred some emotions within him. However, due to the prior shock from Ahen, he had already formed some guesses in his mind.
Now, encountering such an Eastern-looking woman unexpectedly, he felt surprised but more contemplative.
Perhaps having been aware of him for some time, Mu Yan noticed his gaze and put down her wine glass. Her dark eyes looked back at him, staring intently but without much expression, her demeanor cold.
Despite being in an adversarial relationship, it was merely the feud between the Aldra Family and the Star Moon Alliance. Although he was caught up in it, he did not feel emotionally involved. Therefore, on the surface, he still smiled and nodded in greeting before shifting his gaze to another person.
This person was a contestant representing the Miso Family. His name was Bowen—average in strength and appearance, with short brown hair sticking to his head without any remarkable features.
As he looked at Bowen, the latter seemed to sense it too and turned to look back. However, upon realizing that it was Step observing him, his expression instantly became somewhat unnatural. His already pale face turned ghostly white as if he were quite intimidated by Step.
Step did not pay much attention to him; compared to Mu Yan from the Star Moon Alliance, Bowen was indeed one of his rivals but clearly weighed much lighter in significance.
After all, with Mu Yan's Quasi-Mid-Level strength, if she had any formidable trump cards, she could pose a real threat to him.
As time flew by, the second half of the banquet was neither warm nor cold until it concluded.
When Habea III left his seat, everyone stood up to see him off until he completely departed. Only then did someone step out of the hall; Step followed Sean Sterling out of Lotus Hall as well.
Once outside the hall, night had deepened and a chilling air enveloped them.
Suddenly, flakes of snow began to fall softly from the sky. At first, it felt like ice mixed with rain as it hit their faces and turned into cool droplets. The scent of flowers surrounding Lotus Hall mingled with the unique cold fragrance of the night, creating a refreshing atmosphere that was invigorating.
Gazing up at the dimly lit night sky, Bu extended his hand, feeling the temperature of the snowflakes landing on it. The coldness came from the snow itself, while the heat was from the fleeting life of the snowflakes burning away.
The life of snow transforms into water, then melts into ice, returning to nothingness and back to the earth. It is brief yet seemingly eternal, more brilliant than a blooming night flower and more dazzling than a shooting star; it is a sigh of life akin to a moth flying toward the flame.
When Bu and his companions returned to the castle in a carriage, the outside world was blanketed in white. Though visibility was poor that night, the bone-chilling cold could still be felt.
The howling wind and swirling snow resembled a chaotic dance of demons sweeping across the land. In one of the castle's rooms, Bu stood by the window, gazing outside, his figure motionless for a long time.
"During tonight's banquet, I observed nearly all the participants of the Peak Showdown. With my current strength, aside from a few limited individuals, none pose a threat to me. If all goes well, I will surely secure a spot among the students of Holy Light Academy," Bu thought to himself, deep in contemplation.
"That said, Gaia must have quite a few tricks up his sleeve. Even if I disregard him, the other Quasi-Mid-Level experts cannot be underestimated. Take those two His Highnesses for instance; they have access to all the resources of the principality and likely possess formidable combat skills or Amplification Equipment. I cannot afford to be careless."
"And then there's Mu Yan... Arno... they are not simple either. Among them, only Reynold is someone I know well. Given Reynold's strength, having just stepped into Quasi-Mid-Level not long ago, he might rank lower among these competitors." As Bu pondered this carefully, he felt increasingly alarmed.
Had he not fortuitously entered Intermediate Level, it would have been nearly impossible for him to compete with these individuals based on his previous strength; he would have been at best on par with Reynold. Moreover, he had no way of knowing if any of the remaining contestants were hiding their true abilities and playing possum. If there were indeed hidden talents among them, participating in the Peak Showdown with his pre-breakthrough strength would make it very difficult for him to break into the top ten.
"Let's put these thoughts aside for now; after all, I am already an Intermediate powerhouse. Securing a place in the top ten of Peak Showdown should be as easy as reaching into my pocket. What I should be more vigilant about is whether Hawk is truly following me. If he is here, where could he be now? With his unpredictable stealth techniques, even Sean Sterling would find it hard to detect him."
As Bu contemplated this, a chill ran down his spine. He unconsciously scanned the room while extending his Mental Power to cover every corner.
After a long while, he detected no signs of anything unusual.
Shaking his head in self-deprecation, Bu found his paranoid behavior amusing.
Even if Hawk had indeed infiltrated this place, as long as he did not wish to be discovered by Bu, with Bu's current strength, it would be impossible for him to root out Hawk. His probing felt somewhat overconfident.
As he pondered silently within himself, Bu's gaze flickered as if he had made some kind of decision. He stepped forward and exited the room.
"Knock, knock... knock, knock..."
A series of knocks echoed through the empty corridors of the castle, dull yet clear.
The one knocking was Bu, standing outside Sean Sterling's room. Two elite guards were stationed at the end of the corridor, but they recognized Bu and did not stop him.
After a moment of deep thought inside, Bu could no longer hold back. Pressured by Hawk, as well as the potential threats from the Star Moon Alliance, Miso Family, and even the Arthur Royal Family, he had to seek support.
With his current strength, he could still protect himself against opponents of the same rank, but facing Hawk and the long-standing Major Forces of Crook Duchy would be like an ant trying to stop a chariot. The situation was urgent, leaving no room for Bu to be careless. Moreover, he was also planning to accomplish something after the Peak Showdown.
With a creak, Sean Sterling's door opened silently.
Bu peered inside but did not see Sean Sterling's figure. He guessed that Sean Sterling had used magic to open the door.
Stepping quietly into the room, Bu closed the door behind him and walked further inside.
The room was pitch black with no light whatsoever. Bu could only hear his own heartbeat and felt no sign of Sean Sterling's breath. However, thanks to his Vampire Physique, he could see many details in the dark.
To his surprise, after scanning the room, Bu found that there was no sign of Sean Sterling.
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