'Sarah and Charles, before a year and now are like different people. Their progress speed skyrocketed.'
"Huh? Varian, are you alright?" Mia waved her hand in front of him, and titled her head, her green hair bouncing.
"Ah, I-I'm fine." Varian waved his hand and shifted his focus back onto the duel.
He had questions, but this wasn't the right place or time.
"Whoa!"
"Is she for real?"
"She's pushing him back!"
"Wow!"
Under the exclamations of the crowd, Sarah conjured ice sword after ice sword, shooting down at Arman at inhuman speeds.
Arman's body flashed with a red hue, his muscles budged and he kept hacking down the swords.
But like a swarm of insects, they kept attacking him.
The sharpness behind each ice sword cut through the aura heavy air with a whistle and aimed for his vitals.
"Bitch!" Arman cursed, and his muscles bulged.
Sarah's eyes turned colder, but instead of acting impulsively, she increased her offensive, steadily suppressing him.
"Wow! Last year was not even a close fight. Sarah was slowly closing the gap, but I thought it'd take at least three years for her to reach this level. Damn!" William acted as commentary and yelled!
Varian saw Arman dodge the attack and putting his strength into his feet, he jumped off to Sarah.
Varian found it hard to follow his movements, but the next moment, his eyes widened.
Arman, the mighty Arman, the champion of War God Academy, second only to Imperial Defense Academy, was caught in her delicate hands like a chicken.
"Three years, despite you being a year older than me, fought me for 3 years, was it fun?" Sarah's grip tightened as she asked.
"Gah! Y-ye..h." Arman was choked, but he managed to answer.
"Oh? Then I'll have my fun too." Sarah said and a blue light emerged from her body, before flowing into Arman and covering him.
Aman's body twitched in her body but soon, under the unforgiving blue light, he was frozen.
Not just that, but the ice chilled him from the inside.
"...Sarah, her power progressed too quickly."
"She may not be in the top league, but she's not far behind."
"But can she ever catch up? She's a dual awakener."
"Yeah, yeah, I don't think she will."
The audience, gathered in dozens of groups discussed.
In one of the groups, a girl in purple dress stood out. Unlike those around her, there was not even a slight hint of surprise or interest in her eyes.
However, at the last moment when Sarah forcefully froze Arman, she raised a brow and slowly said. "...next year, she could be my opponent."
"..."
"!!"
"?!"
The banquet hall instantly slowed down.
The other duels that were going on also stopped and almost everyone held their breaths, thinking that it was an illusion.
The girl in purple didn't bother to repeat and slowly walked off.
As she left, the crowd erupted into discussions.
At the same time, the barrier surrounding Sarah and Arman vanished.
Dusting her hands, Sarah walked to them. Her combat uniform automatically changed into her one piece party dress.
The marvel of technology.
Varian looked at the frozen guy on the ground being dragged away and gave a gloating smile.
"So, Maissa came, huh." Sarah folded her hands and frowned.
"Uh-oh. And she's a lot stronger." William said with a serious expression.
Dhruv and Mia nodded while Varian looked between them with a confused face. "Who's Maissa by the way?"
"...."
The hall fell silent.
Varian turned around and saw everyone was staring at him with wide eyes. It was as if they were asking 'Are you kidding?' 'Are you living under a rock?' 'Just die already!'
Varian nonchalantly waved his hands. "Stop overreacting to everything. It's just a question."
Immediately, there were sounds of plates crashing, teeth gnashing and fist smashing...
Sarah clutched her forehead and sighed. She should've explained these to him, but she went into 'cold mode' on the way and forgot.
After taking a look around the hall, she slowly said. "Maissa Hall. She's from Uranus Cluster. She's also the top 3 of this generation."
Uranus Cluster was the group of space cities between Uranus and Neptune. So, she wasn't even from a planet, yet...
"Wow!"
Varian felt a stare on his back and turned around. He saw the girl in purple, no, Maissa staring at him with curiosity. Perhaps she never encountered people who didn't know her.
However, it was unimportant for him.
With a shrug, he asked. "Who are the top 3?"
Sarah lightly bit her lip and said. "Charles Xander, Maissa Hall and Ashtarh."
"Each of them are at the peak of Level 6." Sarah explained and saw Varian's confused expression.
"Of course, there are other peak level 6s in the hall too. But they're already past the age of 21. They no longer count." She said, pointing to a few auras.
Varian nodded in understanding.
It was still shocking, however.
To think that even before graduating, someone reached the peak of Level 6.
And there were three such people.
Right when he was about to ask, he heard screams and saw another barrier covering a duel.
"...are we just going to fight? Or is there some other event?" He couldn't help but ask with a smile.
Sarah's eyes flashed as she looked at Williamson, Dhruv and Maya.
"We have some grudges with our peers across the solar system. But we usually don't have the time to repay them. This is the perfect opportunity. All disputes are solved. Of course, no killing is allowed." Sarah shrugged.
"Don't worry, if it's from a higher level, you can refuse the duel." Saying so, she tucked her hair behind her ears.
Varian must be nervous, right? There are a lot of strong opponents here. To not embarrass himself, he must be cautious in picking targets.
So, he's going to-eh?
Contrary to her expectations, Varian's smile widened.
"I can challenge anyone, right?"
Sarah trembled lightly and nodded.
"They won't kill me, right?"
She nodded again.
"Do we get high quality medicine to quickly heal?"
She pointed to the elixir that a bot just delivered and downed it. Her recovery was visible to the naked eye.
Varian threw his head back and laughed.
'Did he lose it?' Sarah signaled to Williamson.
'I knew it. This guy is a nutcase.' He nodded.
'Maybe because of excessive stimulation?' Dhruv added.
'...Maybe a Level 9 Mind Awakener is attacking him? Save him!' Mia added her piece.
Varian stopped laughing and turned around. With a wave of his hand, he said in a cocky voice. "I'm off, guys."
Smacking his lips, he said.. "Time to kick some ass."
