The next day;
<strong>Eternal Institutions of Arcana, Aclein City, Northern Qudour;</strong>
It's the third Sunday of September, time for another trip to the Arcana World, except that this time, Class Zero was split up even before entering the portal.
With the league two weeks to go, this is probably the last opportunity for the kids to improve their soul power.
All of those who are at least in the Elite realm (rank-5) were advised to go to the level-3 region but in pairs.
As if Izora had something against Azzy and Estella, she split up Azzy and his gf only to pair him with Louis, the exchange student from the main branch.
At the same time, Estella got Gideon as her partner.
Meanwhile, Claire was paired up with Mia; Lark, who recently broke through rank-5, was paired with Calder who is a tenth-grade student with mid-rank-5 soul power.
As for Adam, the one with a guitar as Arcana; he's still in rank-4. So, he couldn't accompany them to the level-3 region and went with younger classmates to a level-2 region where the strongest monster will be peak-rank-4.
The group of eight students entered the region of Snuirhiel, which is located close to the equator of the planet. Even from the portal point, Azzy could only a vast amount of sand, rock formations, or barren land, far away.
This level-3 region was a part of a vast sandy desert region that spreads over 2.4 million sq. km.
Along with the students, five experts also followed them to the place.
Combat instructor – Izora (high-rank-7);
Homeroom teacher – Uphiar (peak-rank-6);
Vice Principal - Sahara Fauns (high-rank-7);
New Rune teacher – Weldon (high-rank-6);
And new Ancient history teacher – Myrtle (peak-rank-6);
As the rest of the guardians stayed silent, Vice Principal Sahara looked at everyone and gave a warning in a serious tone, "all of us will follow you but won't help unless you are in grave danger. So, you need to treat it as if you are alone with your partner and forget about your guardians.
If possible, don't venture more than 100 kilometers from this city. Only stick to low/mid-rank-5 beasts. The danger out there is quite big, not only from the monsters but also fellow humans who might try to attack you just so that they can kill steal the monsters and absorb their core.
Some might also try to use it as their shield. So, all of you must stay vigilant all the time. Make sure you stick close to your partner. And most importantly, don't make any risky movements. We don't want to send reckless fools to the world league."
As everyone nodded, three of the groups went into different directions along with their respective guardians at once while Azzy and Louis were asked to stay behind.
Soon, Azzy realized the reason why he wasn't paired with Claire.
"Azrael, you are with Instructor Crescent." "Louis, you are with me," Uphiar said to them, splitting them up.
Azzy realized that his team up with Louis was a ruse. But, why did they have to deceive the other students? He didn't understand.
Nevertheless, it doesn't matter. He wouldn't have to stick to his partner, any longer. With his soul power surpassing most of the guardian instructors, he wouldn't even need to improve anymore.
Until now, he suppressed his strength but it might not be possible at the world league. Of course, Azzy never had the intentions to become the league champion but the rules don't restrict someone to kill their opponents.
So, he was worried about his teammates. And if a situation arrives when he had to use his full strength, then, he might kill the opponents. Whether his opponents or the judges care or don't care, he had a no-kill policy.
That's why he needs to train and stabilize his newfound strength. His control once again becomes a mess when he doesn't seal the 6th planet in his soul.
And Azzy wanted to use this opportunity to achieve his goal. Thankfully, for him, it's Izora who knows his real strength and also saw his death scythe. So, there's no need to worry about holding back.
After Uphiar left with Louis, Azzy looked at his mother, "Lady Crescent, shall we go?"
Izora nodded in response.
The mother and son pair set out in a direction towards the east.
Meanwhile, somewhere about a few hundred kilometers away, inside a man-made pyramid, an intense battle is going on between a sword user and a Sphinx.
It may be a fate or maybe, just a quite coincidence, Leah Pendragon had arrived into this very same city, a couple of hours ago, and ventured into the wild along with Cynthia Pendragon.
At present, she was engaged in a tight battle against the overlord of the region.
While the Sphinx is indeed the strongest monster in this region of Snuirhiel, it was actually a guardian of the tomb, which hosts the skeleton of an alleged Demi-god realm Arcana Master.
No one knows his name but the tomb has been there for dozens of millennia.
Of course, this place has been raided several times and the treasures of the supposed Arcana Master were looted long ago but the spirit of the Sphinx was tied to the place and couldn't get free no matter how many times it was killed.
The Sphinx dies and then, its body disappears, three days later, it once again resurrects at the same place.
Maybe, it could get free if the skeleton in the tomb was destroyed. However, the tomb was also sealed with powerful and complex runes and until now, no one could open it, neither through force nor through decoding.
With the powerful Sphinx doesn't give any benefit of core even after being killed, eventually, the place is abandoned altogether. Nowadays, almost no one comes here, except for the fools who believe that they are the fated ones.
"Izarok, materialize"
Out of the large volume of water that filled the chamber, a figure materialized in the form of Leah.
"Izarok, restrict its movements." She ordered while slashing at the Sphinx.
As a large cut appeared on one of the front legs of Sphinx and healed in the next fraction of a second, the aqua girl placed her palms on the water surface.
In an instant, several pairs of water hands appeared beneath the Sphinx, grabbing its legs firmly.
*Roar*
It let out a powerful roar while trying to struggle.
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