Chapter 103 Mauler: The famed

"What do you mean?" Chris was genuinely surprised by Ben's conjecture. The other boy can tell how clueless Chris was and he probably wasn't acting either.

"Ugh.. Both of you might be quite strong but you seem to lack the basic understanding." Waiting to make sure he didn't offend the boy, Ben continued his line of thought.

"The Gamma trial complex does hold a lot of prestige, but in the end, it's one training ground out of many. Its results are not universal. There are a bunch of other trials like that."

Resting his back against the wall, Ben crossed his arms over his chest. This was his time to shine. So what if these brats handed him his ass on the platter, they were still no more than kids in front of him.

"Then what holds the most value in the academy?" Chris questioned. His recruitment here was done in quite a bit of haste on his master's part. As such, the siblings never got time to properly collect data on the educational institution.

Ben curled his lips in a smile. "Of course, it's the Radiance Arena. You must have heard about the Nebulas." Chris pecked his head in the affirmative.

"There can only be ten Nebulas at once in any academy. You can say they are the best among the best." "Hmm.. I already know that. Why are you telling me that?" Chris interrupted the flow of conversation, much to Ben's displeasure.

"Be patient. I am coming to your question eventually." Ben recalibrated his mind and began once again. "You know about the reward points of the academy.. those guys are the ones who hold the monopoly over most of the points distributed."

"Simply speaking breaking into the list of elite 100 is what you should be aiming for in your first year. If you can manage to do so, you will definitely make a name for yourself." Ben stated with desirous eyes.

"Now coming to your earlier question as to what holds the most value in the academy. Hmm.. if it's like that.." Ben made the moment as full of suspense as he could.

"Then I will say you should focus on participating in duels." Ben reaffirmed his own thoughts with a self-appreciating nod. "I know it's too much to ask a bunch of young boys like yourselves to participate in the duels since the very start of their year. Still, if you want to achieve big.. you should look no further than improving your fighting skills."

Ben looked like he still got a ton to speak off but Chris mercilessly cut him off. "From what you have told me, there is a single list of elite students. Then doesn't that mean the entire list must be filled with a bunch of fourth-year students?"

Ben smirked as if he had totally anticipated this question. "Ahaha.. naive indeed." Putting his head back, he laughed uproariously. Chris didn't savor the sarcastic laugh. Still, if he was to put his unbearably snobbish attitude to the side, this guy did have a lot of useful knowledge to share.

"Life outside these walls is unfair, young friend. When you will face the orcs on the battlefield, they won't ask your age before aiming for your head." Ben remarked in a patronizing tone.

"Cut the bullshit.. just tell me if there is any scope in first-year students in the Elite-100 group you spoke off? I mean is there even precedence?" Chris was ruthless as ever.

Though Ben gritted his teeth at the sheer disrespect thrown to his face, the pain of the punch to the face was still fresh in his mind. So what if he was their senior, Chris could very easily wipe the floor with him. Not to mention, fire magic users are known to have a shorter fuse in their heads.

"Ahem..." Clearing his throat, Ben accumulated the aura lost by him because of the rude interruption. "There is none.. except one. She is the only one who had managed to break into the prestigious group in her first year."

"Who is it?" A first-year student crashing into the hundred most elite students of the academy.. she must be an interesting case. This is what Chris had been waiting for.. a possible rival!

"The name is Hera. No one knows her family name and people say she doesn't belong to our country. She joined this year itself and quickly made a name for herself with the nickname, Mauler."

"Mauler.. such a manly name hahaha.. impressive!" Chris repeated the name. Even the name is so manly.. this got to be the opponent he was looking forward to. "I can't wait.." He displayed an avid smile, rubbing his palms in glee as if he could already visualize the fight in his head.

"How strong is she? Do you have any idea?" Chris questioned back, his interest piqued. Ben shook his head mockingly. "Don't even think about facing her right now. She is known to be violent in her fights. A countless number of bones belonging to the senior students had been broken by her."

Ben felt a chill run down his spine. Having witnessed one such fight himself. He can vividly recall the cries of an unfortunate senior who had confronted Mauler and gotten her back broken in the fight that ensued.

"I am telling you, man. She got a heart of stone. A face made of cold ice. Never displaying even a trace of emotion in her duels, she had won all the fights she ever participated in. Although people compare her a lot with the Divine Nebula if you ask me she got nothing on goddess Rivia. I am telling you, fighting ability is not everything.. having compassion on your heart is equally important.. ... ..."

Ben had gone on a tangent once again. But Chris had stopped listening to his blabbering. "This is it.. this is what I wanted hahaha.. Training alone with the master was so boring."

*Bang* Ben was shocked out of his mind when Chris crashed his fists together. Fire burned all over the boy's body. Even his hair was releasing deep red embers. "Tell me how I can fight her?"

Ben can see flames of passion burn in Chris's eyes and can galvanize that the boy was pretty serious about this. "Ufff.. don't tell me I didn't warn ya!" He sighed regretfully.

"Well is it even a question to be asked? You can just go around searching for her at the girls' hostel. But if you want to defeat her officially and want her rank on the Elite-100 list. Go to Radiance Arena and put up a challenge against her name."

Ben rubbed his chin taking the posture of a wise man. "All students on the list must respond to the challenge within a week, provided they are in the bounds of the Academy grounds and not on some expeditions."

"Radiance Arena.." Chris whispered to himself. He already knew the location. Looking outside he can see the sun had already gone down for the day. Added to that they suffered an intrusion today.

"Hmph.. I will do it tomorrow morning." Ben felt like he was looking at an idiot. "Oi.. oi.. What do you take this as? You think you can walk in and they will allow you to post a challenge to an Elite-100 directly?"

"Please don't tell me you have lived your life out in the wilderness, brother." At this point, Ben was on his way to becoming the babysitter of these new brats.

The flames surroundings the boy effectively calmed down as he scratched his face. Ben was right it would be stupid to think the academy will allow such a thing.

"You must be in the top 200 to officially fight the students in Elite-100. Similarly, to fight someone in the top 200, you should first make it to the top 300 ranks. And so forth.." Ben rubbed his temples, hoping some sense will seep through the thick skull of his young friend.

Chris fell back, resting his back against the wall, disappointment evident on his face. "Shhh.. tell me about unofficial fights between the students? What if I challenge Mauler for a duel outside of the Radiance Arena? Can I incur any penalties?"

Ben knew he was dealing with a madman here. If this guy was too eager to end up in the hospital ward who was he to stop him? "It's a no-brainer. You will be punished heavily if you initiate a confrontation. Still, if you can convince the girl to fight it out you, Academy can't do anything. Simply speaking there are no penalties as long as both parties agree to the duel."

"Awesome..!!" Chris cheered. "Only thing remaining now is to locate this person haha.." Just thinking about facing a worthy opponent was making him jump in joy.

"One more thing.. What about her abilities? I mean which type of magic she is fluent in?" Chris was eager, but not a fool. Considering how much Ben knew about things around here, he was sure to keep tabs on this matter as well.

Ben revealed a smug smile. "Hehehe.. I guess you are not totally stupid either." Watching Chris frown, he hurriedly retreated. "You might not believe it, but it is what it is. Almost in every new fight of hers, the girl had displayed a different type of magic affinity."

"Earth magic, Fire magic, Water magic, Wood magic, Summoning magic, Divinity magic.. and along with that some form of Necromancy as well." Ben explained with a prideful expression.

Even after so much praise from Ben, Chris was not expecting such a thing. Even someone like him can't help but feel his heart tumble. What kind of monster were they facing here? He was struck speechless.

Ben can see the loss of enthusiasm on Chris's face and scoffs. "These are just the affinities she had displayed in public. There are rumors that this is not even a limit.

"She can use even more?" A human usually possessed affinity with one type of mana. If they are lucky, they can manipulate two types. Even luckier guys who are fortunate to be born in the nobility can sometimes control three magic types. But this Mauler guy seemed to be on a different level altogether.

Ben nodded and then looked around as if he got some secret information to share with him. "From what I know, she  actually possesses a variation of Earth magic, much more powerful and devastating than normal Earth spells."

"What is it?" Chris was quick to respond to his question. But Ben shook his head. "No clue. The only thing we know is that she has not yet displayed all her cards yet, as such if you are planning to fight against her, be careful at all times."

Chris nodded, this time his expression quite a lot somber than earlier. This opponent was not going extremely hard to deal with. Right now he was only armed with the affinities for Divinity and Fire magic.

Water magic mostly overpowers fire magic and Divinity magic can be somewhat countered by Necromancy magic. This fight.. it was going to be the hardest one in his life. Who can imagine such a force of nature existed here?

And to think this was only the first-year students he was talking about. *Creak* Beside him, the opening door distracted him. "Thank you for your patience boys. There is nothing to worry about here. Academy will make sure such an event doesn't happen again."

Mrs. Yana stepped out, followed by Aron. "There were some damages to the room but I will talk to the authorities and tomorrow they will fix things up." She explained before beaming a smile back at them and taking her to leave.

"The title of princess does suit Mrs. Yana the most." Ben remarked astutely. "There is no one else who can compete with here, neither in beauty nor in strength."

Too bad, his heartfelt words had been completely ignored by the rest of the two boys. "What exactly happened here, brother?" Chris began pestering Aron as soon as he came out and as such the three boys walked inside their new hostel room.

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