Calamity Upon This World

(Hey, wake up, boy.) Sera said calmly.

(Stop napping) Agni said.

(It can't be helped that he was out of his league.) Gionne sighed

(Shut up; he's going to wake up any time now.) Wiz argued.

(Stop being unreasonable, Wiz.) Gionne retorted.

(No, the unreasonable one is you; my master won't lose like this.) Wiz retorted.

(Sure, whatever, buddy.)

While the spirits were arguing inside his head,

William finally regained consciousness, and the first thing that caught his attention was the golden barrier above him.

Which meant that the fight still wasn't over.

'Fuck'

His whole body hurt; he had definitely broken multiple bones; he couldn't even feel his left arm.

The whole world looked red, probably due to his eyes being covered in his own blood.

Speaking of blood, his whole body was bleeding.

Honestly, it was a miracle that he was still alive.

If he were being honest, he probably should have just given up by now.

After all, this test didn't even really matter.

He had already become a B-rank adventurer, and he could start doing missions and gaining merit points for his goals starting today.

While yes, he didn't want to hide too much of his powers for someone who needed to hide his identity, he was drawing too much attention to himself.

And even if he quit now, no one would blame him; after all, he was fighting one of the strongest humans alive right after registering as an adventurer.

Even his performance until now was way beyond what most people could do.

And yet, why was he trying to stand back up?

What was this emotion he was feeling? Was it anger?

Why did he feel this way?

Was it perhaps due to getting beaten up almost to the point of death? or maybe because he was 'humilated' in front of multiple people and treated as a 'joke'?

He didn't know, but he did know that he didn't want to lose and be looked down upon.

He hated that feeling, so to avoid that possible feeling, he stood back up as he announced.

"Who said we're done here?"

Everyone in the whole basement who had considered the fight over already and were preparing to leave were shocked by Edge Lords condition and the words that left his mouth.

His tuxedo was torn in various places, exposing his fair skin underneath it.

His legs wobbling as he barely stood, his left arm completely limp, and blood covered the ground he stood on.

His whole body and especially his mask were covered in blood, and speaking of his mask, it had multiple cracks, and before everyone present inside the hall, it cracked, unveiling the mysterious adventurer.

Lustrous black hair and beautiful black eyes, with a sharp jawline and a small nose.

The masked adventurer turned out to be a beautiful young man, looking no older than in his early twenties. Under normal circumstances, he probably could've given Michael a run for his money in terms of looks.

But the scenario right now was anything but normal; the whole upper half of his face was covered in his own crimson blood due to having his head bashed in multiple times.

~Drip~

It dripped on the ground in a rhythmic tune.

His eyes contained pure, unbridled rage and insanity that sent a shiver down the spines of everyone who observed him.

But despite all this, he was smiling, and that was perhaps the scariest part. As to the people watching him, his smile resembled that of a mad man.

Before it stopped, Edge Lord's expression returned to the calm, stoic one that resembled his vibe from earlier.

And from his shadow, another purple ball launched itself into his hand, which he quickly consumed, allowing it to heal him and properly expose his handsome features to the spectators.

"I wonder why you would hide such a good-" Before Michael could complete his rhetorical question, he felt the ground beneath him being flipped, which launched him into the air in the process.

That's right William had used his skill [Strings of Mana] to attach thin invisible strings made up of mana to the land Michael was standing on, and by pulling it with all his strength, he was able to uproot it, thus managing to throw Michael in the air.

Using the opportunity he created, William attached a small string to Michael's hand, and by pulling on it, he was able to pull Michael closer to him and send himself flying towards him.

Before Michael could even react to what happened,.

BAMM!!

He was punched in the face, sending him flying.

Of course, it did zero damage, but it still hurt his pride to be caught off guard like this.

However, before he could stand up, the ground beneath him started sinking, dropping him deep inside the ground.

This, of course, was the effect of another one of Williams spells.

It was intended to buy him time for his next spell.

This was going to be the first time he was going to use this spell.

But if his theory was right, it was going to be the strongest spell in his arsenal by far.

With that, he activated (elemental burst) .

As William outstretched his hand, Mana Circles of fire, wind, water, and earth materialised in his hand, and from them, a small ball started forming itself.

However, before he could complete the spell,.

Michael muttered.

"(Frost) "

And with that, Williams whole body was completely frozen, his spell cancelled, and himself covered in blue ice.

As soon as Michael cast the spell, Bella deactivated the golden barrier, as she announced.

"Congratulations to Edge Lord on becoming the first ever adventurer at our branch to start out as an A rank."

The time limit was over, and Michael had also cast a spell, thus breaking his end of the bargain.

So now Edge Lord had truly completed Michael's challenge and became an A-rank adventurer.

Hearing her words after a few seconds of silence, the whole crowd erupted into cheers.