In the dream realm, Aster was busy leveling up his Grapple skill when a familiar voice suddenly echoed through the endless space. "Wake up, Aster!" In an instant, his consciousness was pulled back into reality. Aster slowly opened his eyes and saw Captain Lyra standing over him. Her face was filled with worry.
He rubbed his eyes before looking toward the arena. The white haired boy he had noticed earlier was standing proudly in the middle of the arena. Beside him lay Adrian, his body covered in blood and countless wounds.
A healer from Saint Helena Martial Art College quickly rushed into the arena and restored Adrian’s injuries. With a disappointed expression, Adrian pushed himself to his feet and silently walked back toward the resting room.
Noticing that Aster was finally awake, Veyl pointed his spear at him. "So you’ve finally come to your senses, Aster. Look, I already defeated your teammate. Now I’m challenging you. Get into the arena and fight me!"
What? Why is he so angry at me? What did I even do to him? Aster wondered in confusion.
The audience suddenly erupted. "Fight! Fight! Fight!"
As Adrian walked past Aster, he glared at Veyl before saying through gritted teeth, "Beat the shit out of him." Aster became even more confused. Without fully understanding what had happened, he walked into the arena. Before the match began, he opened his system window.
System Window:
Skill:
Grapple Lv.24 (24,900 / 25,000)
"Just another hundred uses." Aster thought. "If only I had another thirty minutes."
Veyl and Aster stood face to face while the crowd loudly cheered for Veyl.
Saint Helena’s principal smiled. "A unique class against another unique class. This is truly a one-of-a-kind match. What do you think, General Cassius? Who will win?"
General Cassius kept his eyes on the arena. "Veyl undoubtedly possesses an incredibly powerful class and skill set. However, I can already see several weaknesses and loopholes. If someone properly identifies those openings, defeating him won’t be impossible." He then shifted his gaze toward Aster. "As for Aster... his class remains a complete mystery. Yet only a few days ago, he was nothing more than a beggar." He smiled faintly. "So honestly... this match could go either way."
The referee raised his hand.
"Begin!"
The instant the match started, Veyl lifted his spear. "Radiant Judgment!" Brilliant celestial light gathered at the spear’s tip before he dashed toward Aster at incredible speed. As usual, Aster remained completely relaxed.
The moment Veyl thrust his spear... Grapple! Aster instantly pulled himself away, dodging the attack by a hair’s breadth. Almost simultaneously
Strike!
Five invisible staff strikes manifested around Veyl.
Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!
All five attacks landed perfectly.
The audience gasped.
"Look! He’s moving strangely again!"
"Yeah... the more I watch him, the weirder it gets."
"Isn’t that just telekinesis?"
"So this is the super-fast attack everyone was talking about," Veyl muttered.
"Super fast attack?" Aster thought. These people really come up with random names.
After taking the five strikes, Veyl calmly activated another skill. "Aegis of the Stars." A dark, shimmering barrier surrounded his body. Aster launched another series of strikes. The barrier absorbed four of them. The fifth one was reflected.
Whoosh!
The reflected strike shot straight back toward Aster. Although he noticed it immediately, he was slightly caught off guard.
Bang!
The reflected strike slammed into him, forcing him to stumble backward.
"Ah!"
Aster quickly looked at the black, glossy barrier. So that’s what it does... It reflects attacks.
Veyl smirked proudly. "Hahaha! Now your attacks can’t even touch me!"
"That’s an amazing defensive skill" Aster thought. "But the stronger a skill is, the more mana it consumes. The real problem is that it reflects attacks too. I can’t spam Strike anymore."
A system notification appeared.
System Window
Lazy Inspection
Weakness: Reflected attacks always travel back in the exact opposite direction from which they came.
Aster’s eyes lit up. So if I change my position immediately after attacking... the reflected strike won’t hit me.
My attacks are almost instant hit and I can only use one weapon skill every second so timing strike and grapple would be really hard. While he was thinking, Veyl prepared another Radiant Judgment and charged once more. "Bind." Aster attempted to restrain him but the skill failed.
The difference in attack stat between them was simply too great. Instead, Aster continued dodging using Grapple. Then an idea flashed across his mind.
"Grapple can activate twice every second, If I attack perfectly after the first Grapple and move right before the second grapple activates. I’ll instantly change positions before the reflected attack reaches me.
The theory sounded simple but executing it was another story. Not only did Aster need perfect timing, but he also had to dodge Veyl’s relentless spear attacks without making a single mistake. There was only one option. Level up Grapple.
For the next several minutes, Aster completely abandoned offense. He focused solely on dodging.
Again.
And again.
And again.
The more attacks Aster avoided, the angrier Veyl became. Finally, unable to endure it any longer, he shouted, "Ascendant Form!" Holy light descended from the sky. Two radiant angelic wings unfolded behind Veyl’s back.
Aster’s eyes widened. "You can transform? That’s so cool!"
Instead of replying, Veyl vanished.
Boom!
His speed had increased several times over. Aster barely dodged. A tiny cut appeared on his shoulder. Veyl didn’t stop. His spear blurred into countless streaks of light. Aster continued evading, but every dodge left another shallow scratch across his body.
The audience erupted.
"Look! Aster can’t keep up with Veyl’s speed anymore!"
Saint Helena’s principal smiled confidently. "Looks like Aster has finally been cornered." General Cassius remained silent, his sharp eyes never leaving Aster.
Captain Lyra...
Adrian...
Alas...
Yor...
Everyone watched without blinking, their brows tightly furrowed.
Then
System Window: Congratulations! Skill Leveled Up!
Skill
Grapple Lv.25: Manifest 5 Grapple effects per second while holding a Grappling Gun. Range increased to 40 meters.
Aster looked at the notification. A huge smile spread across his face "Finally."
Veyl frowned. "What?"
The next second... Aster disappeared. Veyl immediately thrust his spear. It pierced Aster’s body.
No...
An afterimage.
The illusion slowly faded into thin air.
Veyl’s eyes widened. He quickly looked around. Everywhere he turned, he could only see Aster’s afterimages. The audience was stunned by the sudden reversal.
From Broad River’s waiting area, Riven stood up. "Wait... isn’t that similar to my Mirrored Step skill? But... how can he create five afterimages?!"
Within a single second, Aster appeared in five different locations. Strike!
The attacks slammed into Veyl’s barrier. Some were absorbed. One was reflected. However, before the reflected strike could return, Aster had already moved somewhere else.
Again.
And again.
And again.
Using Grapple at incredible speed, Aster continuously changed positions while launching Strike after Strike. Veyl struggled to distinguish the real Aster from the countless afterimages.
Meanwhile, his barrier devoured his mana at an alarming rate. As his mana rapidly drained, his movements gradually slowed. But Aster showed no signs of slowing down.
Soon, Veyl’s Ascendant Form could no longer be maintained.
The radiant angelic wings dissolved into countless particles of light as he reverted to his normal form. Every enhancement the transformation had granted him vanished, and his mana was completely exhausted. At the same time, Aegis of the Stars shattered, causing the shimmering barrier surrounding him to disappear.
From the resting room, Adrian suddenly shouted,
"Now! Beat him!"
The moment Aster heard him, he stopped using Grapple and stood perfectly still.
Then
Strike.
Strike.
Strike.
Countless manifested Strikes rained down on Veyl one after another, each one landing with pinpoint precision.
Each manifested Strike slammed into Veyl’s body with tremendous force.
Bang!
Bang!
Bang!
Every hit pushed Veyl another step backward, leaving fresh bruises and red marks wherever the invisible attacks landed.
To the audience, however, the scene looked completely different. All they could see was Veyl’s body suddenly jerking in every direction and flesh would appeared one after another.
General Cassius smirked. "Looks like Veyl is the one who’s cornered now."
By the time Aster finally stopped attacking, Veyl had already lost consciousness. The referee quickly rushed over, checked Veyl’s condition, then raised his hand.
"The winner... Aster!"
For a brief moment, the arena fell silent. Then thunderous applause erupted throughout the stadium. After witnessing Veyl’s overwhelming strength, no one believed he was an easy opponent. Yet Aster had defeated him
At that moment, the audience finally understood. Aster wasn’t just a mysterious trickster relying on strange abilities.
He was genuinely strong.
"Aster!"
"Aster!"
"Aster!"
The crowd erupted into cheers, his name echoing throughout the entire arena.