Chapter 19: Four Down
Now, if Damien fought an Apprentice Ranked opponent, he would recieve double the Life Essence. And if he was an Apprentice Rank, and fought a Civilian, the Life Essence obtained would be halfed.
But there were more to this, than just that. Damien will have to uncover them from his memories as time goes by. Because for now,
"We have only a couple of seconds left again, you should level up." He said, feeling Juliette moving closer towards him from behind.
She arrived besides him, "It's, not enough." And meekly responded.
Damien slightly paused his actions, then transfered all of his Life Essence towards her again.
He still did not feel the need to Level up yet. Even against the angel, he still did not let out 100% of his full strength. But he did not hold back either.
"..."
Juliette did not comment and only leveled up once more. With both their Life Essence, she had 69 units in total. And to become a level 5, she required 50 units.
"Done." She said.
"How much to Level up again?" He asked casually, packing the feathers besides himself. While also slightly using one needle to twinkle with the halo.
It was shining a bit too chaotically right now, and gave out the impression that it could explode at any moment.
As for the amount of Life Essece, he had forgotten. It was long since he entertained the lower levels due to his power back then.
"Uhm, 70 units." Juliette responded after checking her status. Damien nodded. He knew that after a moment, she would become level six.
And could finally cultivate mana and become an Apprentice. She could also gain more enhancement to her strength, and become better developed.
"Hey."
Damien whispered lightly. His hands did not stop tinkering with the angel halo. It now gave off threatening pressure. And a dangerous presence.
"Hm?" Juliette responded.
Damien paused his actions, and stared up at her. He was still kneeling down besides the angel's corpse. And Juliette was standing up behind him.
Hence she had the rare opportunity to look down upon him. It felt nice staring at his charm from a high stand point.
"After the next threat, there will be three minutes of time before the next after that. I am sure you already realized that." Juliette nodded, and Damien continued.
"So, in other words, we would have three minutes all to ourselves." Juliette once again nodded, signifying that she understood.
"Enough time for you to gain a hint of Mana. And enough for us to discuss our next steps." Damien concluded and stood up.
Besides his foot, there was a bundle of needle-end feathers lined up neatly. While he held a mask on his hand, and the angel halo on the other.
"Mhm." She nodded, not asking much about what Mana was. He added, "You'll be able to help even more at that point." Damien added.
Juliette once again nodded obediently. Damien smiled and gently rubbed her head. "Which is why, I want to ask you. Would you prefer us going two on one against these fellas."
"Or... would you want to test your own strength as well?" He said, slowly and calmly.
The angel was his opponent. Hence he had defeated two trials so far. And he was still not aware of his limit.
Then there was Juliette, who still had two more trials to partake in. In short, even if he pit himself around her level, and say that he had a total of three trials, they still had three opponents to fight.
Minus one
The next coming trial in a few seconds could be ignored. Hence, there were two more opponents. At minimum at that.
Plus, Juliette also required to mature, combat wise. So he proposed, looking forward to her thoughts, and what she preferred.
"You... you want my opinion?" Juliette confirmed as she looked at Damien with bright eyes. They were shining with joy and happiness. This was husband material. She thought.
"Who else's?" Damien clicked his tongue at her. But Juliette did not mind. She only responded to his question. "I think I am ready to fight an opponent by myself."
"Alright." Damien nodded. 'Think? How cute.' He thought, not saying it out loud.
At this moment, wind suddenly picked up from all directions. And it was gathering towards one singular point.
Above them.
The wind gathered in tides, forming a small tornado. Then moments later, the small tornado shrunk until it was around a meter in diameter.
The tornado was now spherical in shape. The wind circulating around it being quite powerful. Capable of forcefully uprooting trees.
Then out of the spherical tornado, a child-like humanoid being formed of nothing but wind appeared.
It was similar to the fire spirit, but with a rageful expression instead. But it was nonetheless cute, and extremely adorable.
Unfortunately for it...
"..."
The moment it appeared, Damien hurled the angel halo within his hand towards it. It flashed like a golden light at near sonic speed.
...!!!
It's instinctive response was to trap the halo within a wind ball before it could reach it. That was a normal, and clever response from its side. Especially considering it's age as well.
If... the angel halo was not tinkered with.
BOOOM!!!
The moment the angel halo was bombarded with the intense winds, it immediately triggered itself into a premature explosion.
And maybe thanks to the wind, the explosive power spread out even more. Even Damien did not expect this level of destruction.
"..."
[ TING!!! ]
A notification then chimed within their consciousness moments later. Both Damien and Juliette stared up in silence.
"..."
"..."
Damien did of course intend to do this. He just did not expect the opponent to be a wind spirit, and to make things even easier for him.
The time of appearance and death were almost instantaneously. It just appeared, and died. Fast and swift.
Just like that.
[ You have killed the Lvl 2 Windborne Spirit, Sarrd. You have obtained 16,5 units of Life Essece ]
[ Due to being a level lower than your opponent, Life Essence obtained has increased by ten percent ]
[ Bonus effect has been applied. You have individually obtained 36,3 (36) units of Life Essence. Your partner has obtained 33 units of Life Essence ]
Juliette also received the same notifications. But more this time, as this was her trial and not Damien's.
[ TING!!! ]
[ You have killed the Lvl 2 Windborne Spirit, Sarrd. You have obtained 16,5 units of Life Essece ]
[ Bonus effect has been applied. You have individually obtained 33 units of Life Essence. Your partner has obtained 36 units of Life Essence ]
[ Congratulations. You've obtained the following resources: Tier 1 Spirit Shard(Impure), Bracelet of Sarrd(Superior) ]
[ For defeating a trial opponent, you have obtained the following rewards: Extra Ability(×1), Tier 1 Random Treasure Chest(×1), Spirit Fragment(1/4) ]
Both were still in a daze. Especially Juliette, who did not expect one of their battles to be so easy and free flowing.
[ Your partner has shared their obtained Life Essence with you. Do you accept? ]
Such a notification pulled her out of her daze. She hurriedly accepted, then leveled up. She now had 19 units from before, plus the extra 69 units from right now.
A total of 88 units of Life Essence.
Enough to Level up!!
And to Level up, she did.
[ TING!!! ]
[ You have leveled up ]
[ Congratulations for becoming the first ever Civilian to reach the peak of mortality. You have been awarded with 100 units of Life Essence, 1 free Stat Point and 1 free Ability Point ]
[ Note: The Stat point can be distributed evenly among your base stats. Ability points can be used to Level up Abilities, and possibly, evolve them to the next level ]
[ From here on forth, every level up increases all attributes by 0,1 Stat Points. With a class, the distribution might differ ]
[ You have obtained the Grand Title: "Pioneer of Mana" ]
[ Pioneer of Mana (GRAND) :- Increases Mana absorbed through cultivation by 100%. And as the Pioneer of Mana, you obtain the Special Effects of being able to innately sense the flow and condition of Mana from your soroundings ]
[ Due to becoming a First League Combatant, an extraordinary being, you can now absorb Mana to be capable of unleashing skills and inhuman feats beyond Civilians ]
[ Due to becoming a First League Combatant, you have awakened your three extraordinary stats; Intelligence, Wisdom and Affinity ]
[ Due to becoming a First League Combatant, you can officially equip a Class/Sub-class (Note: Wait until you have succeeded your trials) ]
[ Once you have succeeded in absorbing Mana, you can view the information of your weapons, resources and materials thanks to the Primordial Source ]
[ ... ]
"Wow..."
Juliette was pleasantly surprised as she was bombarded with notifications. She did not have enough time to go through them all, when Damien called out to her.
"Juliette." He said lightly, and she turned to look at him. They now had three minutes before the appearance of the next opponent, which was barely enough.
"Sit down and relax your mind." He guided her, and she obediently did so. She mentally put aside the notifications in her mind for later.
Gifts
-- Gift
received Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone