"I take it that you don't want to kill this monster with me." Julian said grimly as he was about to make his exit.
"..." Hearing no answer from Vivienne, it was logical to think that she wasn't going to help him and a part of him felt helpless in the situation.
He didn't even know what he was going against to begin with and now, he doubted whether the artifact would help him.
At first he was confident but now, that wasn't the case. His opponent already knew where they were and instead of making a move against them, he took the initiative to help them become stronger.
This was much more than an insult, it was proof that they couldn't cover the infinitesimal gap that was between the two.
'Maybe she is right. Offending him wouldn't be ideal.' But the fact that he could you with them and dispose them like playthings didn't sit well with him.
For now, what he had to focus on was getting stronger and seeing that he would do this alone, he was more motivated than ever.
'I'll show you sister that not everyone is invincible.' He mused as he made his way towards his room and meditated, laying a strong foundation for his strength.
A day prior to the Sphin trials, the streets were bustling with people chattering about the event. Some looked forward to it because of various reasons, some for profit, others for a good show while others came for other reasons.
The mysterious nature of a sentient being was a charm that was both lethal and captivating about them. It could be used to bring out beauty or cause calamities.
The duo however didn't bother going out to the shops and focused on their own agendas. Julian engrossed with his array strengthening while Vivienne was fast asleep.
Plunged in a dark and dreary world, the only source of light that was present were two bodies. One being a titanic void monster while the other was Vivienne's soul.
"It seems that you have failed to convince your brother. For now, his fate is in the hands of the magnanimity of Andrew." The void creature spoke to Vivienne telepathically.
For the four days, her soul had been trapped here as she tried to infuse the spatial rift that had been gifted to her by Andrew.
During the procedure, a notification had popped up which she found skeptical at first.
[{A hindrance has been detected slowing down the assimilation rate, does host wish to get rid of this?}]
[{Yes}]
Her voice screamed of despair as she was trapped in this purgatory. She had already eaten the poisoned food and now, she only had the option of licking the plate clean as her fate was already set into motion.
Strangely enough, she didn't feel any pain this time thus she dismissed it. However after waking up, she realized that her mana pools were gone and felt something weird but couldn't quite pinpoint it.
A faint glowing orb which had a bizarre shape floated in front of her. Looking at it for the first time, a pang ran through her existence but it faded as the assimilation procedure began.
[{Assimilation at 65% and rising...}]
[{Just do it all together}]
She said with a passive and faint voice.
[{Increasing the assimilation rate by removing unnecessary features about the host}]
Curious, she asked.
[{An example?}]
[{The host's formality of humanity will be reduced from 98% to 20%}]
[{Host will experience emotions such as apathy and at times malaise at times, also a permanent withdrawal of the experiencing pain}]
[{Fuck it}]
She commented as she looked at this before dismissing the panel as a cube enveloped the rift making it smaller. She could feel getting stronger.
Strangely enough, that was the only thing that she felt. She stopped feeling pain and the thrill of getting stronger till the only thing that she was left feeling was nothing.
"My work here is done." The void creature spoke. She recalled it being the dragon from when she had gone to Russia as one of the three creatures that were there.
The creature was enveloped in a dark golden light before warping out of this time space.
[{Assimilation at 70% and rising...}]
...
She finally withdrew from her sleep as she looked at her panel.
[{Assimilation at 99%}]
For some reason, it never crossed that figure as it concluded there. As if now, she couldn't tell how strong she was as she couldn't feel anything but recalling that the Sphin trials were about to commence, she readied herself.
The excitement of making her 'parents' proud was no longer a thought in her head. The only thing that she was focused on was making sure that she won.
As if how, that was unnecessary for how she did it. The need to win was faintly there as the retraction of her humanity wasn't all the way deleted.
She could tell that it would no doubt grab a lot of attention but that was merely superficiality for her. The fame, recognition and attention to her was a bother more than anything.
She was dressed in dark dress coupled with a black veil that covered her from her forehead to her eyes and up to the lower parts of the bridge of her nose.
However it didn't restrict her breathing and her face despite that was easy to recognize. She seemed that her attire was more fitting for a ball rather than a fight.
Her hair was hanging carefree behind her back but it was well catered for by the servants as she was in the carriage along with her brother.
There were strands of her hair that fell right in front of her eyes disguising the hazy veil.
Looking outside, there were numerous carriages that were present which headed towards a moderate battleground.
It had architecture from ancient Greek which she dismissed while Julian found peculiar.
The entrance was massive however that was for the regular, the nobles had their own passage way which was to the side of it.
Right now, they were tailing their parents' coach and as soon as they arrived, their coach immediately left the scene as more pulled in with new faces appearing.
The family of four made their way towards their assigned seats which was way above the rest of common folk.
It had comfortable seating, proper roofing and multiple arrays of protection. Not to mention there were personal servants assigned to each room.
There were a numerous rooms for all the twenty family nobles and the esteemed guest of the royal noble.
They had yet to arrive this they had to wait for their arrival.
"I've heard that Isilindil Starwhisper and
Lirale Frost bloom will be participating." Narandial said as she noted the developments.
Isilindil Starwhisper was the male heir of the royal noble of this district of Bramblewood. He was one of the two who had a tier four ranking along with one other competitor, Lirale Frostbloom.
She was from a noble family who was on par with Isilindil Starwhisper. The two had A grade discs this having a greater advantage over the others.
For one to have such a grade, they would have to be blessed by the heavens it have extremely exceptional luck and background to secure their survivability.
Should some random nobody birth an A grade child, either they would be killed secretly as it was perceived as a threat to the nobles, hired and made slaves or given a somewhat favorable position.
However in a dog eat dog world, should such talents fail to compromise and yield to those higher, then they were usually killed off young to prevent future complications.
"You don't have to win. We already know that you are both capable and talented individuals." Thalion said as they kept on waiting.
Other than these two, it was these two who had a higher chance of winning. To think that three months ago, they could barely fight and here they were, almost unmatched by their peers.
"Alright!! I would like to welcome everyone to this year's Sphin trials!!" A rapture or roars came from the audience, ready to see what was in store.
There were eyes everywhere and those with sense knew this and that was why Thalion was slightly worried.
Whether those eyes were favorable or unfavorable for his family was something he couldn't control.
"Finally?" "I can't believe it!" "This year's batch looks more promising that last year's!"
"That's because in this year, there are two tier four experts unlike last year which didn't have any!"
Numerous conversations came from the audience as they all made their own speculations looking at the facts presented to them.
"I would like to welcome the royal noble family, the Starwhisper family!" An image of the family was projected onto a screen which was in presence of the full audience.
Regardless of where one was, they would easily the image, on it was a man, charismatic charms but what was terrifying about him was that he was a tier six.
He was the top of the food chain in this district having a near omnipotent power which of course was heavily monitored by the queen who herself was at tier seven.
It wasn't known on what exact array she was but it was known that she was potent without a doubt.
Several standees would be sent from the capital to monitor the Sphin trials in each district however they came much later on.
Beside him was a beautiful lady who could enchant any man who laid eyes on her, she was a tier five expert while the last two figure present were Isilindil and another lady who was tier three.
There were jeers and screams coming from the audience expressing their love for the family. They had managed to keep a safe and protective environment for all kinds of legal trade. It was natural for such a reaction.
The governor then proceeded to give out a heartwarming speech of how content and glad he was about his position, able to cater for everyone in his district, giving thanks to the queen.
The image was then retracted before the commentator proceeded with his speech. "And now, the part we have all been waiting for, let's get ready for the clashes!"
The matches were off to a slow start as it was started off by two tier two combatants. Betting in such premises was a common practice with several gambling shops open.
As for the rules of the game were that one was to knock off the other off the platform. Unlike the one Julian used for training, this was much better than that and that of the school they had sparred in.
Once a person was knocked out, they had the chance of coming back in the game by knocking someone else out and taking their place.
However if one couldn't accomplish this then they were permanently out of the match however there were exceptions that would allow one to continue participating however those were extremely rare.
One of them was if the standees sent from the capital personally chose someone to keep on fighting regardless of their ranking but that was rare not to mention such people could not be bought by the nobles.
"Argghh!" One of the two screamed as they were kicked off the arena. "The winner of this exchange is ******"
The crowds exclaimed their expression as Vivienne sighed in disinterest. 'This is a complete waste of time.' She mused as she got off her seat and went out for a small walk.
"Stay safe." Narandial advised as she understood why she would dismiss this. For her, she didn't need to regulate her mana usage which was considered a leg up for her.
As for strategies, all tactics planned against her would crumble in front of obsolete power thus this was a waste of time.
She wasn't going on to fight today as this was meant for the selection of tier two to pick each other out before the real course of the battles begin, the tier three combatants.
She wasn't accompanied as she made her way out of the coliseum as a carriage was ready to pick her up.
And with that, she made her way back home and kept on sleeping in her dark room leaving one of the most anticipated events as casual as walking.