The Gene Gamer

While narrowing his eyes, Arthremis asked "Are you sure?... Your aura is unstable and you seem to be injured…" 

"Yes, I'm sure. I can't just let you beat my vice leader and get away with nothing" saying, he put up a vial of potion before gulping it down his throat. 

The potion immediately took effect as his aura started to stabilize more and more before coming to the usual aura he had, even exceeding it a little bit. 

"Alright then" sensing the aura of Fikkun, Arthritis immediately tensed up. This enemy wasn't one he should underestimate. 

Glancing a look at Cylius within one of the corners, Fikkun gulped his saliva before proceeding to walk to the area designed for the battle. Seeing his gaze, he wasn't one to give up easily nor ignore his subordinates. 

"Ha!" along with his shout, Fikkun's body started to enlargen in size, becoming much bigger than it initially was. Many red strings also started to come out of his body, revolving around it just like a barrier that protected its owner. 

He could be considered to be even more powerful than before. 

The previous time, he had acted a bit too careless and didn't get into his serious form. Of course, this form or that form, it didn't matter to Cylius. He still would've flung him off with a finger. 

Seeing Fikkun, Arthremis was also getting ready. Now, he was radiating a ghostly aura with faint white circles around his body. There were seven different circles in total, all of them as if they were on the edge of the spirit world and the material world. 

He also had his longsword out, except that this time, the longsword looked a bit strange and also more powerful. 

.....

One hour later. 

'As expected. Fikkun lost miserably. Although Arthremis also suffered some injuries, his injuries compared to Fikkun's is light. 

Fikkun now has a severe injury in his body which was the case of the fire elementals within his body changing nature and becoming another type of elementals; this had resulted in those remaining elementals being in conflict with the new type of elementals which led to him being in an unstable condition for a while. He would now have difficulty comprehending his runes since he's in a confused state. 

It's hopeless for him. Even if he recovers from this, he might fall from his status as a semi convert since this had even affected his soul and runic comprehension. Even Arthremis won't be able to change this back. 

With their loyalty, it is now decided that they would betray him later. With no other possibility.'

This was the conclusion he had. 

"Who is the third participant? Or are there none?" still with the arrogant look, Arthremis muttered. 

Just as the sound of Arthremis came out, the place was engulfed by silence once again. Everyone turned to look towards Cylius, sitting within one of the corners. 

"Me. I will be the third" a quiet yet also stable voice rang out. 

"Tuk, tuk, tuk" the sound of the boots knocking on the floor echoed through the metal room as everyone waited in silence; even Arthremis was no exception. He had noticed the abnormality of the surroundings. 

These people had suddenly become quiet, why? 

Was this third opponent special or something? 

It's too late to think about it now. He will just see for himself. 

With this determination, he once again got into his combat mode. With the white halo-like things circling around his body along with the sudden eight different balls composed of various elements floating above him, he looked just like the sorcerer from the legends. 

He didn't use his saber this time though. It got thrashed by Fikkun and wasn't usable now. 

"So you're my third opponent? Seeing the surrounding silence, I guess you are special? Who are you? Were you the one who injured Fikkun? Are you here to fight?" Arthremis asked cautiously. 

"No no, Mr. Arthremis. I'm here today just to greet you and notify you about something. I see that you have advanced very fastly during a short span of time of three years." 

"Cut the crap. What are you here for? To ruin my match? You're the third match so I guess beating you would make me win the bet? If so, submit defeat before I make you"

"I guess a tiger needs to be tamed in order to be used..." the eyes of Cylius narrowed a little bit as a feeling of coldness seeped through his mask. 

Even through the full face mask, one could feel the indescribable chilliness coming through. 

Arthremis shuddered unconsciously. 

Still, even in the face of Cylius, he didn't step down one bit nor feel discouraged. This aura he was feeling was far worse than the third-stage monsters he had encountered before. Therefore, he wasn't afraid. 

"Then I'll see your strength!" saying this, the eight elemental balls shot out towards Cylius. These elemental balls were composed of eight different elements, and although it could be annoying, it wasn't powerful. 

It could be easily taken care of. 

Well, it was too early for Arthremis to face off against Cylius. It was only an investment for the future now. 

He'll be powerful enough to be of use when the academy's finished and some time passes by. 

With his luck, he was sure he would get something good. 

The eight elemental balls were of the element - fire, ice, wind, lightning, acid, light, void, and darkness.

Still, he wasn't fazed at all. Using the dimensions, he stopped them in place one by one until all of them were stopped. 

From the outside, it looked just as if the elemental balls were stuck in the dimension as if it was restricted to move. 

This scene had caught the onlooking people unexpected as they exclaimed and muttered among themselves. Arthremis too was also surprised by how it developed. After all, he used all his power in this attack. 

To see Cylius stop it with such ease, he didn't feel good. 

Since his casting skills weren't of use, he would approach another way. 

'I need to at least touch his body! If I could do that, I could gain the upper hand by messing with his form on the inside. So now, I will use a feint and then surprise him by attacking with my elemental weapon" with this thought in mind, he moved into action. 

He first seemed as if he was gathering the surrounding elementals and mixing them up in order to form an even more powerful element. 

Cylius didn't do anything, he had been standing on the same place they had started fighting up until now. With his hands behind, he looked on as Arthremis' demonstrated his abilities. 

He wasn't worried though. 

After gathering them into one big ball, Arthremis didn't attack Cylius with it, instead, he unexpectedly threw it into the floor. The ball disappeared just like that as changes started to happen to the floor made out of metal. 

It changed forms now being like mud as it moved according to Arthremis' will. 

The metal used to make the floor was special metal reinforced with energy; therefore, Arthremis had to use extra effort in order to control it. 

As the floor moved like a wave, it went in Cylius' direction trying to reach him. In the case of this, he only set up a dimensional barrier that rejected the wave's approach. No matter how hard it tried, it wouldn't be able to invade it. 

He was still in the same place. 

However, during the split moment he had set up the dimensional barrier, Arthremis had closed in instantly and bent the dimensional barrier to enter. 

Right now, he was right behind Cylius, with a dagger that was made out of various elements mixed together. It was a one-time weapon that would only be of use one time and then disappear. But the power it held was huge.

Arthremis surely spent a lot of his energy creating this weapon. 

Right as the dagger was going to land on his back, a dimensional shield came up, blocking the attack. The dagger penetrated only 1 millimeter deep before stopping in place. 

Even though it wasn't much and dealt no damage to Cylius, being able to achieve this was astonishing. After all, their cultivation difference was huge.

A peak second-tier and a semi convert, the former would be able to kill the latter quite easily if the difference in the quality of their runes weren't large. 

If he and Arthremis were on the same level, Arthremis would be easily able to injure him. Even killing him might be possible for Arthremis. That would mean going through a lot of trump cards he had prepared which included the sacrifice of Fey and also the immense spiritual energy he had in stock. 

'As expected of a destiny child...' he sighed. 

This person was truly a destiny child, his powers were abnormal and also strong at that. He had the strength to leap through ranks to fight even in the second-tier where every small difference had a huge gap. 

Well, his only specialty was his perception which fortunately made him able to predict all the moves of Arthremis. It wasn't much useful in fighting except the not so powerful telekinesis. 

"This is the end" grabbing the throat of Arthremis by telekinesis, he lifted him up from the ground. This person was dangerous. Dangerous but still useful. He could be a convenient tool to use. 

Fortunately, his spiritual matter rune wasn't so developed, otherwise, even he would've had a hard time. After all, he was still half evolved and not fully evolved. His soul was powerful compared to the average but not powerful enough to resist a spiritual matter rune developed to the semi convert realm. 

"B- bastard" struggling, Arthremis barely blurted out. After all, he was being choked and it wasn't easy speaking. Not to mention his soul was also kept in check by Cylius. 

"Do you understand? You are powerless in front of absolute power. Today, I'm only here to greet you and also give you a warning. There is a much more powerful person out there.

He is also special, just like you. Eventually, he will cross your path and so would the entity behind you. He is much more powerful, more powerful than you can imagine. So, we need to unite in order to stand against him.

So grow and grow. Advance in power so you could have a chance. I will notify you when the time comes... Until then" saying this, Cylius walked out through the door, right into a space tear. 

'Even though he is a tiger, he's still young after all. A baby tiger may have the dignity and potential of a tiger but not the power of one...'