"What did you say?" Abel was stunned, not expecting Ellia to actually come to him herself. It was usually the other way around.

However, Ellia’s gaze was much colder than anything he had felt before.

Ellia deliberately stood in front of the Phoenix and Dragon Society. She spoke loud enough for everyone to hear. "I challenge you to a duel."

"!!!" Abel and the rest of the members were stunned.

Ellia was supposed to have evolved not too long ago. On the other hand, Abel was supposed to have evolved one more time than Ellia. His avatar was in that adult form, so there was no way Ellia could win.

There was a two-year gap between them. So, it would be foolish for Ellia to fight him.

Abel suspected something. "You..."

"What? Are you going to run? I guess that’s what I should expect from the Phoenix and Dragon Society’s president. You are nothing but a coward who can’t even do anything by yourself."

"Watch your words, Ellia." Abel glared at her. "There is simply no reason for me to accept your challenge."

"There is no reason? Do you think my eyes are blind? For dragging someone I sponsor and causing all this mess, you actually think there’s no reason? You’ve been provoking me, now you’re going to run away?" Ellia scoffed, looking at him with contempt.

"Do you think it’s fine for you to throw all those baseless accusations?" He gritted his teeth.

"I know you’re a coward, but to think it’s to this extent. Well, it doesn’t matter. If you don’t accept, I’m going to tell the entire academy that you don’t even dare accept my challenge."

"There is simply no reason for me to accept your challenge!"

If Ellia had known about William, she would have used this challenge to let him kick Abel out of this club.

However, she didn’t want to waste her time as well. "So, if there’s a reason, you will accept? Then I can give you a reason. For this challenge, we will place a bet. If you win, you can get what you’ve wanted all this time. If you lose, you’re going to drop out of Grand Magica College."

"!!!" Abel widened his eyes in shock. Ellia definitely knew what he actually wanted, and she planned to use herself as the chip.

"If you don’t dare, then leave. It’s so embarrassing." Ellia snorted.

The people were stupefied. They didn’t know what Abel wanted, but it was clear that there was no reason to reject the challenge either.

Besides, Ellia’s reputation was one of the best in the school, so the challenger wasn’t someone unknown.

It was better for Abel to accept it to protect the club’s pride.

But it looked to them that Abel cared more about himself than the club.

A few people couldn’t help but start noticing what had actually been going on.

If Abel really didn’t accept her challenge, it just confirmed what they were suspecting.

Abel definitely couldn’t afford that. He was currently in a bad predicament, so if he lost the support from the others, the Lightning Emperor would eat him alive.

Still, Ellia only had a juvenile-form avatar. She might have evolved, but she had only been at this level for one month.

Although Ellia was known as someone who could actually defeat someone with a higher-form avatar, it was because Ellia had the mastery as well as more than enough energy to somehow bridge the gap.

However, one month wasn’t enough to close the gap.

So, this challenge would surely end in his victory. As long as he defeated her, not only would he get Ellia, but he would also be able to bring down anyone that dared to aim for him, including the Lightning Emperor. Of course, he would also kill Auric with his own hands.

That was why Abel accepted the challenge. "Fine."

"Then, I will wait for you at 12 p.m. tomorrow at Arena 1."

As if she didn’t want to breathe the same air as Abel for one second longer than she needed to, she turned around and walked away.

Abel gritted his teeth, thinking, ’Just you watch, Ellia. I’m going to make you regret everything.’

Ellia challenged him in front of his people to prevent him from running away. He needed their support, so if he showed any weakness, the club might abandon him.

What Abel didn’t know was that this challenge was actually a trap to bring him down.

Ellia didn’t have the confidence before, but after forming the artificial heart, Ellia finally gained the confidence to defeat him.

Besides, her element had reached 70%. After absorbing the second beast essence, her element rose from 47% to 60%. Then, she absorbed the remaining energy from the artifact, allowing her to reach 70%.

Back when she defeated someone with a juvenile-form avatar before her evolution, her element was at 83%.

It might be lower than the previous challenge, but Ellia had the artificial heart. This artificial heart would allow her to close the gap between her and Abel.

With many people witnessing the challenges, the news about Ellia challenging Abel spread quickly.

Even Auric was astonished when he heard the news.

"Are you going to be fine?" Auric asked.

Ellia nodded with a smile. "I have to do it."

"But aren’t you supposed to do it in a few months?"

Ellia shook her head. "It doesn’t matter anymore. After absorbing all the energy I could, I’ve gained enough energy to challenge him. He might still have the advantage, but I have the artificial heart."

"Don’t use my technique to boost your confidence." Auric shook his head helplessly.

"But it’s true. Besides, I don’t have any plans on hunting beasts any time soon. Beasts with unique elements aren’t exactly common either, so even after a few months, the amount of energy in my body will probably remain unchanged."

Auric crossed his arms. He could probably help Ellia with another gathering technique, but he didn’t want to gamble on this matter. Ellia had 70% element, so she still needed another 30% to evolve.

Auric had created several gathering techniques that gave him 30% element or higher.

But it wasn’t guaranteed. It would be safer for Ellia to raise her power all the way to 90% before Auric helped her.

"You don’t have to worry about me." Ellia nodded gracefully before a sly smile appeared on her face. "If you are still worried, how about helping me with a small thing? It’ll increase my chances of winning against him."

"Really?" Auric thought for a moment. He also wanted Abel to leave, so he nodded. "Sure, I’ll help."

...

The next day.

Arena 1 was packed to the brim. Students from every year came to the arena. Even professors took their time to witness the match.

Abel might be a genius, but Ellia’s talent was probably the highest in terms of combat. They pitied Ellia for having a unique element, but at the same time, they still expected a lot from her in this duel.

Eric politely bowed to the two elders. "Teachers."

"Eric, you’ve come. Sit down." One of them waved his hand, gesturing for him to sit between them.

"Yes." Eric nodded politely. "Teachers. The area looks so full today. Is the match really that important?"

"You may not know about this, but in the Combat Department." Professor Chris from the Combat Department raised one finger. "Ellia Stroph Astler. She is a genius who is said to have the potential to become one of the strongest in the world. Unfortunately, she has a unique element."

"Her talent is that high?" Eric raised his eyebrows, not expecting Ellia to be this monstrous. She might be similar to Auric in that regard.

"Yes." Professor Ollie from the Element Department nodded. "Before awakening, she was practically the most talented person with a sword. She had defeated all her competitors using only her sword. People expected her to awaken a powerful avatar, which would lead her directly to the top."

"Unfortunately, she awakened a unique element. At that time, people felt pity. She used to have an invitation to the most prestigious university in our country. After her awakening, they retracted the invitation." Professor Christ sighed.

"Wanting to prove that she is not going to be buried by the so-called talent, Ellia walked away from the spotlight and came to Grand Magica College. You should watch her battle because it may benefit you a lot."

Eric nodded with a serious expression. "I understand."

The others were also curious about the result of this battle.

"Is Ellia going to win today?"

"But she only evolved a month ago. She shouldn’t have progressed far enough to be able to challenge Abel."

"Why would she challenge him? I don’t think she’s this reckless."

The students were quite confused about the motive. They thought she was confident of beating Abel. At the same time, the gap between them was simply too wide.

Milinda was sitting quietly among the crowd. While looking at the arena, she couldn’t help but think, ’I will watch this battle carefully to see the gap between us.’

Milinda was once defeated by Ellia. Although it wasn’t a direct defeat, she still felt frustrated about it.

Hence, she wanted to see the real gap between her and Ellia.

Of course, the betting pool was opened again. Although it wasn’t as much as the battle between Eric and Simon, the bet tipped in Abel’s favor. They just couldn’t think of the reason why Ellia would be able to bridge the gap between them.

It was even more apparent to them when Abel arrived at the arena first and stood there with a confident face.

There were a lot of controversies going on in the past week, so they were wondering if this match was related to the controversies.

Abel crossed his arms, looking at the tunnel on the opposite side of the arena. He was waiting for Ellia to appear.

In his position, he could actually see a silhouette gradually appearing from the tunnel. Surprisingly, it wasn’t just one silhouette. There were two.

"!!!" Abel widened his eyes in surprise. He thought it would be Arina, considering Arina was Ellia’s childhood friend.

Yet he couldn’t help but realize the person accompanying Ellia this time was none other than Auric.

"!!!" Abel started clenching his fists, but the anger was still not apparent in his eyes. He would surely show who was better among them in this match.

Ellia once again surprised him by stopping for a moment and turning around. Auric widened his eyes in shock as Ellia rose slightly on her tiptoes as if she were trying to reach his face.

With the distance between them, it was clear what actually had transpired.

However, that was only because of the angle.

Their faces might be close, but Auric and Ellia were still separated by a few centimeters.

"This gives a rather ambiguous picture." Auric chuckled.

Ellia smiled. "This guy has been annoying me all this time, even though I’ve lost count of how many times I’ve rejected him. I’ve been waiting for my chance to annoy him back. Besides, no one will be able to see us at this angle except for him.

"It’s not like he will reveal what happened here, right? His pride won’t allow it. So, I’m not taking advantage of you." Ellia winked playfully. 𝚏𝐫𝚎𝗲𝕨𝐞𝐛𝕟𝚘𝐯𝚎𝗹.𝕔𝐨𝗺

"Well, I feel like that guy is about to explode."

"You should know that it’s easier to fight someone controlled by his anger than a cunning enemy." Ellia had set one last trap to take the rationality away from Abel.

It might not be much, but this seed would definitely mess with Abel’s rhythm and increase Ellia’s chance of victory.

"In that case, I wish you luck."

"Yep." Ellia turned around and started walking to the arena.

Seeing Abel’s eyes already filled with anger, Ellia licked her lips as if telling him that she enjoyed everything about it.

Abel gripped his arms tightly as veins started to bulge on his forehead. He screamed inwardly.

’ELLIIIAAAAA!!!’