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After a few minutes of training, or meditating, to be exact...

"I did it!"

Raven succeeded in keeping his presence under his control!

Releasing his presence to the max output really did make his training much easier just as Ruby said.

Anyway, Ruby approached Raven...

"You\'re amazing, you learned so fast."

Then she said that.

Ruby is genuinely amazed by Raven\'s ability to take in others\' teaching like how a sponge would greedily absorb water.

After hearing her voice, Raven faced Ruby.

He then put on a sweet smile on his face unconsciously...

"It\'s all thanks to you."

And mumbled those words sincerely!

"Grgh..."

Raven\'s words tickled Ruby very well!

Her ears are getting red, and she\'s even struggling to keep herself from smiling like an idiot!

So in the end...

"Heh! Of course, I\'m great at teaching!"

Ruby turned her back against Raven and boasted.

But in reality, she\'s just hiding her smile from Raven.

"You\'re really amazing."

Raven knows that, so he continued sending sincere compliments to Ruby!

"And by the way, you look beautiful today as well."

"Krghh..."

Ruby, on the other hand, was enjoying every word coming out of Raven\'s mouth like they were some kind of drugs!

...

Anyway, after a while...

"Ruby."

Raven called out for Ruby.

Ruby, who has calmed down, looked at him with questioning eyes.

And after doing so...

"Can we spar?"

Raven asked that out of the blue!

"?!"

Ruby was surprised that Raven suddenly asked her for a spar.

Though, she already knows what her answer is.

So without hesitation...

"Of course."

Ruby replied to Raven with a mischievous smile on her face.

***

[Raven\'s POV]

"Huu..."

After letting out a deep breath.

Fwoosh-

I took out [Emmeranne] from my spatial storage...

Then I took my fighting stance after.

I\'m standing at one end of this rectangular training ground.

While Ruby is standing on the other end, she seems really relaxed while holding a training sword provided by the academy.

"Ready when you are."

Ruby then said.

And as a response, I just nodded my head.

I requested a spar from her to test how well I could fight against a <S> rank awakener at my full strength.

So I plan to give it my all right at the very start.

And without further ado...

"<Thought Acceleration>"

I activated one of my skills.

Swooooosh–

Then I started circulating mana all over my body.

Bzzzt- Bzzzt–

Soon, electric particles started appearing around my legs and [Emmeranne]...

Fwooooh–

That was followed by a swirling gust of winds appearing in the same place!

My preparation didn\'t end there...

Fwish-

[Celestria] climbed up my torso and clung to my body.

Then...

Fwaaaah–

It transformed into a pair of black majestic wings, attached to my back!

After that...

Crack-

I deeply planted my feet onto the ground, resulting in small cracks appearing below me.

But I ignored them...

I tensed every muscle in my body.

\'<Strengthen>\'

\'<Accelerate>\'

Then I used buffs on myself.

After that, I tightened my hold at [Emmeranne]\'s hilt.

\'Now, let\'s try what this skill can actually do.\'

I thought to myself...

"<Emperor\'s Aura>"

Then I activated my newly evolved skill!

Though this time, I didn\'t release an overwhelming presence...

Shwaaaa—

Instead, the <Emperor\'s Aura> materialized itself.

And engulfed [Emmeranne]!

Immediately after doing so, I got chills as I\'m currently 100% synchronized with [Emmeranne].

I can feel that the blade of it got several times sharper.

And that I can wield it much better right now!

Looks like Ruby sensed something troublesome too, I caught a glimpse of her looking at my sword with wide eyes.

Anyway, I was done with my preparation.

So I looked straight at Ruby and opened my mouth.

"<Vicious Lightning Sword Technique>"

Then I mumbled those words without an ounce of hesitation.

After that...

I dashed toward Ruby.

Though I didn\'t hear any sound, my sight got blurry.

And when it returned to normal...

"Eh?"

I found myself looking at Ruby\'s beautiful face, I was just a meter away from her!

FWOOOSH-!

A strong gust of wind followed my trail soon...

Then I saw Ruby looking at me with surprised eyes!

Well, I was quite surprised too by what just happened...

But that\'s no reason for me to stop moving.

So with my right hand, coming from below...

"<Soaring Slash>"

Fwish-

I swung my sword diagonally up, aiming at Ruby\'s neck!

TIIIIIIIIIIING–!

Though, [Emmeranne] didn\'t reach her.

Ruby nonchalantly blocked my attack using a training sword enveloped in her mana!

She even did it with only one hand!

"Fuck."

I mumbled.

But I\'m not done yet...

I already expected Ruby to block my first attack, to begin with!

So what I did next is...

"GRRRGH!!!"

I forcibly twisted my waist to the left, and dragged my whole upper body with it!

Then I used that momentum to continue my <Soaring Slash>!

"HAAAAH!"

TANG!

Blowing away Ruby\'s right hand, along with her weapon!

"Wha–"

Ruby was genuinely shocked by what I did.

And I didn\'t miss that chance!

"<God of Lightning...>"

I mumbled.

Then I immediately aimed my empty left hand toward Ruby\'s chest like I was holding a gun...

Fwish-

And [Nyx] appeared in my left hand out of thin air!

([Nyx] came from the [Quick Slot].)

"<Clap for me.>"

After saying that...

Psh- Psh- Psh- Psh- Psh-

I pulled the trigger 5 times!

But as a response...

Slosh–

Ruby used her water-attributed mana and formed a shield in front of her!

Blop- Blop- Blop- Blop- Blop-

And that shield absorbed the bullets I shot like they were just pebbles!

I looked at Ruby straight into her eyes, and she looked back at me.

She\'s grinning like a cute idiot.

And seeing her like that...

A sly smile broke out of my face, I wasn\'t able to control it.

Zhuuuung–

And when I heard that noise...

"<Lightning Strike>"

I finished my chanting!

FWOOOSH–

The whole training ground was painted in white...

BZZZT–

Then a big pillar of lightning fell directly at Ruby!

BOOOOM!!!

That was followed by an ear-deafening thunderclap!