"Congratulations! Your element is awesome!" Bella sincerely praised him, which he accepted graciously by thanking her.
Oliver also gave his set of praises and let Daniel finish.
"Woah, dude! I can't wait to spar with you!"
"Next, Amber, come forward," Alisa said as Amber stepped forward, drank the potion just like Alphonso did, and started meditating with crossed legs.
Soon, she also managed to awaken her own element.
"I did it! It's the earth element! A great match for me, hahaha."
She cheered joyfully as she, a tool exorcist, was best suited with the earth element for crafting and forging techniques as per her clan's nature.
"Earth element is indeed suitable for you. Get in line now. We will prepare for it accordingly."
Again, she was cheered up by Bella and Evelyn. Oliver also added a few perfunctory words.
But he failed to notice Amber's disappointed look as she heard his superficial praise. She silently gritted her teeth; it seemed she was still not worth anything in his eyes.
She did not understand why, but she was determined to see a hint of seriousness for herself in his eyes. She had not felt better ever since the mountain climb challenge She had been overthinking that Oliver was probably looking down on her due to her using tools to aid her climb and not her own strength while he was far above everyone.
Was she seeking validation? She did not know, but she wanted him to acknowledge her seriously.
'Just you wait…'
In fact, Oliver did not even know what she was thinking about; his only focus so far had been mostly on Evelyn or Nadia.
He was quite busy thinking about his future plans here with Alison and what sort of training they might be undergoing.
There were too many things; he did not even bother thinking about Amber at all. He never looked down on any one of them either.
It was something she was making up on her own and deceiving herself with it.
She did not realize this, and neither did Oliver, who was now intently looking at Nadia, whose turn was next.
"Next, Nadia, come here and repeat what others did," Alison said as she handed her the Honorable Stars' Essence. Nadia narrowed her eyes; she remembered this seaweed green-colored potion.
It was the exact same thing Oliver had wanted to give her when he visited her last time in her courtyard.
At that time, she did think it was a rare potion given its glow and shine, but she could have never expected him to get his hands on an essence as rare as this one.
She had some questions in her mind as to how he got his hands on something like this and stuff, but she was too cold to ask him face to face. She could only remain curious.
She could not help but feel her heart pumping faster; he wanted to give her such a precious potion at that time even after knowing its benefits and uses?
She did not know why, but her throat felt as if there was a lump in it; she could not turn her head and look at him for some reason.
'No, I must not think about such trivial things. I need to grow stronger.'
Her eyes turned sharp as she gracefully sat down, opened the vial, and slowly drank its contents with a slow and steady gulp.
Oliver noticed everyone's attention was focused on her, so he nudged Daniel slightly.
"Hmm? What is it?" Daniel asked curiously; this was the first time that Oliver spoke to him.
"I have got nature's call incoming, so I need to leave momentarily. The teacher is busy right now, so if she asks, tell her this. I will try to be back as soon as possible. Thanks."
Oliver did not give a chance to speak and directly rushed back towards his room with silent footsteps.
"…." Daniel was truly speechless. He shook his head and focused on Nadia instead; he wanted to know what this powerful girl was going to awaken as her element.
Bella also sensed movement behind her and saw him leave silently. She frowned. Where was Oliver going at this moment?
Did he not want to see his sister's element?
____________
"Huff… huff…"
Oliver quickly entered his room, closing the door shut, as he quickly assumed a meditative pose. It was about time.
[Ding! Target has awakened an espera element after drinking Honorable Stars' Essence! The Ice Element.]
[Ding! Obtaining 10x benefits. The Eternal Winter Physique obtained!]
[Constitution will be awakened in the host…]
"Kuh-!"
Oliver bit his lips as a strong and chilling sensation spread right in his heart, quickly spreading and reaching every part of his body.
His brain felt numb due to the sudden coldness that exploded inside him.
He felt his body temperature drop significantly; it was as if he was slowly freezing—slowly freezing into an ice sculpture.
The chill produced was terrifyingly cold; he was experiencing frostbite in every part of his body.
The pain was maddening, and he would have already gone crazy had it not been for his Level 5 strength that his physique and body were improved, and he was able to endure it.
This did not mean he was completely fine. In fact, if it was possible, he would have screamed out his lungs.
But he knew better than to do it actually, given Alison was just below with the others.
His chest felt particularly cold and numb, and he could feel that his heartbeat had slowed down significantly as if he was in a cryogenic chamber.
The ultra-cold sensation had spread through every bit of his body right now.
The freezing sensation was literally penetrating into his skin, inflicting a painful experience.
But Oliver remained steadfast and endured all of it slowly.
He could feel it calming down and a new icy-cold sensation flowing through his body…
___________
[Eternal Winter Physique]
[Description: The superior form of the ice element! You now have the special body constitution! The ability to plunge entire regions into deep freeze, create and manipulate icebergs, and generate blizzards is just the tip of the iceberg.
Upon greater mastery of the element, you can even manipulate the temperature to absolute zero, and once gaining absolute control over the element, it is possible to create ice creatures.]
____________
"Phew…" he exhaled a long breath as his eyes opened slowly.
No sooner did they open, he was met with an extremely strange scene in front of him.