Leo figured there was no use fretting over the choice right now when he didn't even know what a World Core was or what sort of choices he would be presented with.
So, he asked the next important question.
System, what does a person need to do for the World Baptism? Leo asked.
>They need to attain the highest point in the Pseudo 5-star realm according to their profession. After which, the phenomenon triggers automatically.
Leo then proceeded to ask questions about World Cores: what they were, and if there were choices, then the possibility of multiple World Cores, and finally, how a single world could have multiple World Cores.
And he didn't receive answers to any of them.
The system remained silent to all those questions.
Seeing there was no use wasting time anymore, he diverted his attention back to Lily, who was marvelling at the new look of the spirit beast. She had once again been able to control the surge of strength within her.
She shot towards Leo at full speed and hugged him as a thank you. But they separated soon enough, before Tarun and Brant came to their location.
But even before talking to them, the elders took their sweet time admiring the spirit beast that looked straight out of an apocalyptic scene.
"Doesn't look like our theory was correct..." Tarun muttered while closely examining the Amphithere. For now, the stronger element seemed to be fire instead of wind, at least from its appearance alone.
"Hmm... shouldn't one of the heads represent the wind element for our theory to be correct? Both seem to be fire..." Brant muttered.
"Maybe using the higher-strength core of the Infernal Serpent was a mistake... it became dominant," Tarun muttered.
"But I thought the higher bloodline of the Wind Amphithere might have balanced the strength disparity."
Both were discussing things as if their research and knowledge had been wrong and were being corrected in real time, unaware that things had actually been successful.
And Leo and Lily didn't go ahead and try correcting them. They wanted it to be a surprise when Lily used it in a battle.
With that done, Brant summoned his Eagle, and everybody started heading back to the academy.
During that time, Tarun gave them some instructions.
"Previously, you all were told to keep your strengths, abilities, and beasts as hidden as possible. Now, that is not the case. It's time you show the true extent of your abilities, because not doing so will make you lose."
He turned towards Leo and Lily.
"Yes, lose. You both too, even with your overwhelming raw strength."
Both Leo's and Lily's ears perked up as they listened to what Tarun was saying.
"Currently, the only advantage you both have is your superior raw strength against most of the other participants," he continued.
"Which I say would have been enough if not for the lack of techniques and experience you both have. Especially against the dragons. Some might even match you in strength and have way higher-level techniques and experience than you possess."
Tarun gave one last suspicious glance at Leo before looking forward.
"But I guess even they have some surprises after all... Not to mention, almost all of them don't have the advantage of multiple tamed beasts as they are beasts themselves."
"So anyways, go all out and try your best. Don't feel vulnerable after revealing all your strength, because we exist here for a reason. Unless you are strong enough and remain under the academy banner, no one can touch you."
Leo, Lily, and Kaelion nodded simultaneously. They were the only three people who hadn't showcased their complete abilities. The rest of the top 10 were forced to reveal their cards to maintain their positions. And even though their battles weren't streamed across the Empire, spies existed who could relay the information through words and phone recordings.
Because Leo and the others had themselves seen recordings of battles by other top-10 students from other academies.
In that case, the only surprises would be the 15 other people they had chosen.
But those held true for the other academies too.
As they were talking, they came within the 10,000-kilometre range of the academy, and the students' phones rang with pending notifications as soon as they got a connection.
Ting!
>Every participant of the Inter-Academy Competition is supposed to be present in Aurelius Hall with complete preparation by 6 PM, 30th April 500 AA.
They looked at the time.
6 AM, 30th April.
They had exactly 12 hours, and all three knew what they would be doing in that time.
Rest.
They would sleep the whole day away from how tired they were. Well, Kaelion would probably get busy with something else since, technically, he had rested more than enough.
When Brant dropped them in the territory, the couple immediately went to sleep. And during sleep itself, Leo received a system notification, along with a tremor running through the whole territory.
Ding!
Cragviel Colossus [Howl] (Peak 3-star -> Pseudo 4-star)
- Super Bloodline (37% -> 51%)
- Blood Bond (71% -> 74%)
Trait:
[Titanic Endurance] - Unlocked (10% -> 40%)
- +100% -> +400% Stamina Boost
Ding!
>Beast 'Howl' has reached a desirable strength level for proper feedback.
Stats Updated!
Vitality: 3970 + [4000 -> 4500] + {50% boost (Optional)}
Strength: 3960 + [4000 -> 4500] + {90% boost (Optional)}
Agility: 3950 + [4000 -> 4500] + {140% boost (Optional)}
Stamina: 3900 + [4000 -> 4500] + {190% -> 490% boost (Optional)}
Intelligence: 7270 + [4000 -> 4500] + {50% boost (Optional)}
Mana: 799,700 + [440,000 -> 495,000]
"Sheesh..." Leo cringed after seeing the amount of stamina boost that was stacking up.
Because after that 490% boost, his stamina had reached the highest level of Peak 5-star.
And with how much his stamina and other stats were mismatched after all the boosts, he wasn't going to get tired because his body wouldn't be performing at the level required for his stamina to actually get consumed.
It would be like a world-class marathon runner just walking and winning against a below-average, obese person who couldn't even outpace him while running at full speed.
And just like that, evening came.
Leo and Lily came out wearing the academy uniform. Though it was clear that Lily didn't actually like the black uniform with the red tone.
"It's not as bad as your swollen cheeks suggest," Leo said while chuckling at the cute pout on her face.
"Hmph! I will ask the teacher to get me a uniform with something white. This black doesn't match my beautiful hair."
"Come on now, even Professor Katherine cannot change the academy rules. And you don't even look bad; it's just your imagination."
With that, they headed out.
---
*Academy Uniform Image*
A/N: Sorry for the delay; I had a crazy workload yesterday, which left me tired.
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