The declaration did not seek approval from any of them, and the crowd stared at the man as if he was insane. Yurirl stood in front of his junior with confusion and doubt, wondering how he had missed such a character.

Alexie Linan can be summed in one word: unambitious. All of their time here, he spent it being lowkey and not seeking any fame or attention. Yurirl even knew that he was in disguise, but he never revealed it.

It was then that Yurirl snapped his eyes open as he looked at Alexie Linan again. However, unlike before, he could not sense the usage of any artifact or a disguise at play. Instead, Alexie Linan was a normal human being to him, so ordinary that he wondered if he was even an awakener.

"My invitation is extended to all those who wish to join me," he said while turning to the world. "You don't need to be powerful to believe in your abilities."

And with those words, Alexie Linan started walking toward the stairs he ascended from. Yurirl wanted to stop him, but he could not attempt the futile.

'Ascent,' the name was concise, and it made his blood boil with excitement. 'A small guild started by a student declaring it would become the world's strongest.'

The odds were abysmal, but that fact made his declaration even bolder. What kind of courage and confidence would a man need to declare that he would become the strongest man in the world?

"I have not... lost..." rose Arlo to his feet while blood spilled from his mouth. Yurirl stared at him and realized this man was far from being sane. His eyes were glaring at the departing Alexie with such rage that he might as well be a monster. "Alexie... Linan... I will defeat you!"

As he roared, Arlo's mana exploded to cut through everything and turn its owner into a metallic monster. The silver giant shouted before it rushed toward Alexie, and Yurirl had the mind to stop him from attacking Alexie.

"The duel is still ongoing," said the teacher as he appeared in front of Yurirl. "Furthermore, that Alexie is far from being worried about," he said while glancing at the small blonde figure.

The crowd roared again as the metallic monster destroyed the arena in its craze to tear Alexie apart. However, even when he heard the giant coming for him, Alexie was far from concerned.

"Dodge!" a shout came from the destroyed balcony, and Yurirl raised his eyes to see it was the daughter of Agard warning Alexie.

"You have to believe in me more, my future queen," said Alexie as he stopped. Then, he turned to face Arlo, who was about to attack him with a speared arm. "You should have given up, Arlo Starli."

Yurirl watched Alexie raise his palm toward the monster. His ability activated on its own to warn him of imminent doom if he kept standing in that place. His eyes met those of Alexie, and he saw a knowing smile.

"We need to escape!" shouted Yurirl as he grabbed the teacher and jumped to the side, rolling off the arena and into the grassland.

After falling from the arena, Yurirl looked back and watched Alexie standing on one side and the giant on another. Their sizes were vastly different, and Alexie looked like a toddler in comparison.

"Please change, Arlo," whispered Alexie low enough that only Yurirl heard him. Then, a light flashed from his palm, and a light blinded everyone's eyes. 

Yurirl never closed his eyes, but he couldn't see what happened at that instant. His Divine Sense slowed time to the extreme to see what happened, but there was no explanation.

Arlo disappeared from his spot and was sent flying to the other side of the coliseum and crashed into the walls. However, the power behind that single attack made the arena disintegrate under absolute power.

Yurirl could have sworn that it was the first time he witnessed an attack of pure destruction. There was no ice, fire, or any sort of destructive elements. It was as if the man had demanded the world be destroyed in the face of his attack, and it obeyed.

As the light blinded everyone's vision, there was no one to tell what Alexie did to Arlo. However, the aftermath left everyone in a speechless ovation.

The arena had disappeared, and Arlo was sprawled on the other side of the coliseum. As for the bringer of destruction, he jumped off the arena and walked away into the same gate he appeared from, not willing to linger for his glory.

As the person who witnessed what happened, Yurirl was the first to react and rush toward Arlo. He feared that Alexie disabled him or killed him, which would turn Orland against Ascent even before its birth.

Arlo was lying on his chest without moving, and his steel was gone not because he ran out of mana but because it could not withstand the attack. Yurirl crouched beside him and sensed his pulse, which was weak but steady. A relieved sigh escaped his mouth as he felt the referee walking towards him.

"He is alive and not fatally injured," reported Yurirl, and the teacher nodded before raising the broadcasting artifact to his mouth.

"Alexie Linan has won this duel, and no penalties will be enforced. The ranking will be adjusted accordingly in an hour after considering all the factors. Thank you for watching, and... be safe."

***

There was a specific limit to the amount of chaos a Jerano student could cause. However, the case is different when that student is the owner of First Ranking Store who wipes the floor with the first ranker, obliterates the arena from existence, and challenges the top guilds in the world.

This was the kind of news that the media used to garner the public's interest. Furthermore, the destruction scene was being replayed repeatedly by the people. Then, the world watched and broadcast Alexie Linan's invitation and the declaration.

It was hard to understand how a student would be this bold, even if he were stronger than the first-ranker. His strength won the admiration of every guild there is, but his words made everyone assume he was too arrogant to be invited.

Furthermore, God's Blade was furious at his attempt to invite Yurirl into his unknown guild. Their standing as a top-tier guild meant that no one dared to cross them, not to mention a nonexistent guild.

Yurirl was the sole person who supported this unknown guild and even did an interview where he explained that ambitious awakeners like Alexie were needed to make humanity evolve further.

The support of the Divine Swordsman made God's Blade unwilling to take any action, lest they sully his face or dishonor his words. However, there was one other bit that made the public speechless.

Ever since its creation, Jerano never had a student leaving without graduating. Of course, there were cases of students dying or being expelled for misconduct, but a voluntary leave from the college was unheard of, and it caused a viral sensation.

This brought greater attention to Ascent, whose name appeared in the Guilds List as suddenly as its owner did. After one incident, Alexie Linan and his top-ranking store became the focus of interest and hatred in the world.

"I believe you heard the news," said Henrick with a smile as he looked poured the man in front of him a cup of tea. "Your disciple has created quite a mess."

"I train dragons and tigers only," replied the bald man as he took the cup and sipped on it. "However, I can't say I'm not surprised. Alexie has always been a cautious person."

"That is my impression of him, too," replied Henrick with a sigh. "It would be a great blow to Jerano that one of its students decided to leave. Has something like this happened when you were the headmaster, Master Ronin?"

"The awakeners know that Jerano offers benefits more than any other establishment in the world," replied Master Ronin with a smile. "However, it is not bad that the current generation does not need us. Is this not our final goal as educators?"

"You are as insightful as ever, Master," replied Henrick with a smile. "I fear that Ascent won't have an easy time in the future. Arlo Starli has the backing of Orlan, and Prince Caleb seems to be pulling some strings too."

"We are destined to have enemies as we walk down this path," laughed Master Ronin as he stroked his beard. "I have faith that Ascent will change the world one day."

"And we will be the place that gave birth to it," laughed Henrick. "I wonder what will happen next since a new fish has jumped into the lair of sharks."

As the two enjoyed their tea, a knock arrived at the door. Henrick received a letter from Runera that contained the list of participating runemasters.. Among them was a name that seemed to be haunting him these days: Alexie Linan.

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.