Bahamut walked out of the room Exildra was kept in with a dark face. What he’d learnt from Elder Silvia was shocking. He caused Exildra’s current episode. As absurd and unrealistic as it sounded, there was some truth to it. Exildra was close to breaking through to the next tier, but she was still a bit far off. But their earlier intimacy had triggered the episode, and the cause was Bahamut’s energy. This wasn’t something that always happened, but there were rare cases, and Bahamut was one.

His "essence" had somehow, in some strange way, filled up the mana Exildra’s eye needed to heal, causing it to go through the final healing phase. With this phase also came the awakening of the Visionary, the eyes, or in Exildra’s case, the eye of a Seer. With the awakening of the Visionary also came the evolution of the body to accept the power of the Seer; if it wasn’t up to the level needed, the breakthrough and ascension.

So, all in all, Exildra was going to experience a sequence of changes: The final healing of her eye, the awakening of the Visionary, which came with a special perk of Seers, a Spirit Guide, and then a Breakthrough and Ascension to Tier 2. After this, Exildra would become one of the most powerful disciples in the sect with a huge potential to become more powerful. And this all started from Alana’s mission, where the ghoul attacked them.

Thinking further about it, it didn’t make sense. How could a ghoul attack end up making someone a Seer? As far as he knew, there was no Seer in Exildra’s family, so it couldn’t be the reason for her becoming a Seer.

"Are the gods involv..."

"Hey, Caveman!" A loud, aggressive voice brought Bahamut out of his thoughts. The girls had decided to stay back with Elder Silvia. Unconsciously, he’d walked far away from Henut’s place and was currently at the training section for the outer sect. He looked up, his grey eyes flashing red as his gaze locked onto a red-haired fox-kin guy. He wasn’t with his blindfold currently. He was tall and seemed strong, but that was as much as it went. He was nothing worth his time, or so he thought.

"What do you want?" Bahamut totally ignored his jest and asked straightaway, his patience thinning by the second.

"I want to challenge you. Do you dare accept or decline?!" The fox-kin guy asked with a challenging tone, with a bit of mockery in it. Bahamut looked at him silently, shook his head, and said...

"I decline." He resumed his pace, leaving the boy and the crowd that had started to gather stunned for a second.

"Is this how the strongest of the Strong Eleven is? A coward?" The boy said in a loud voice, drawing more people to the scene. Bahamut could literally feel his patience dropping, sinking like a heavy rock in a lake.

"I didn’t realize you were so stupid. Why would I accept your challenge? Why should I accept your challenge? Next time, make sure to clarify... Idiot!" Bahamut retorted and resumed walking, but this fox guy was proving to be a very huge thorn in his side.

"Apologies! My name is Kurama Rexi, and I challenge you for Kurama Lily!" The guy, who turned out to be Rexi, shouted with confidence, making the crowd gasp in shock. Bahamut stopped in his tracks and slowly turned to face the guy who was smirking as if he’d already won.

"How deep does your stupidity go? What is the point of fighting over a fox who has already chosen a mate? Or perhaps... You are an illiterate to your own way of life," Bahamut said with a confused expression, staring at the guy as though he were the stupidest person in the universe.

"You... I love Lily, and I challenge you for her. Are you trying to say you cannot defend your love for her?" Rexi nearly faltered, but he countered slyly like the fox he was.

"This idiot..." Bahamut muttered as he stared intently at the guy. ’So, he’s one of the idiots in the Kurama family who believe everything must stay in the family.’

Lily had told him about the practices of an ancient family such as hers. To keep their bloodline pure, most of them intermarried. Most, as in 99%. Only a few married other "foxes." But Lily was going for a non-fox, and it wasn’t acceptable. He understood what Rexi was trying to do, and that was why he was smiling. He had challenged him... If he, Bahamut, won, he would have one less opposition. If he failed, and Rexi won, Lily would be taken away despite all the effects of the curse. Worse, she would be forced to give birth to a descendant against her will. Maybe it was just an assumption, but Bahamut had lived many lives to not be optimistic about matters like this. He’d seen too much, and despite the system keeping a seal on his memories, they weren’t completely sealed from him.

"I hope you keep that flimsy excuse of honor and whatever else this challenge is about, Rexi," Bahamut said with a smile and led the way towards one of the arenas meant for duels. It was an official challenge, so they would have one of the hidden instructors of the sect overlooking them.

The rule was simple. No killing.

...

Bahamut had no interest in killing someone at the moment, but giving that person a thrashing? He would gladly do so, and that was evident from what was happening at the moment.

Rexi regretted ever crossing paths with the madman Bahamut. He couldn’t even recall when it started. One moment, he was mocking Bahamut and offering him the first attack. Rexi was already Tier 2, so he was expecting a battle of elements, and with the knowledge that Bahamut had just ascended to Tier 2, he was certain he would win. But he had been stupid to think Bahamut would fight on his turf.

He didn’t know when Bahamut moved. All he saw was a pair of cold, piercing, grey eyes flashing a deep red, and then he was sent flying. Before he could hit anything, Bahamut appeared behind him, grabbed his tail, planted his feet on the ground firmly, and spun. Rexi felt his vision turning and twisting before he was sent flying again with such force that the air cracked.

Rexi forced himself to twist in mid-air, fire covering his feet and tail. With a pained roar, he shot at Bahamut, causing the ground to crack, only for him to trip and fall face-first onto the ground... shamefully. The audience went silent as everyone tried to hold in their laughter, even his friends. Bahamut walked slowly towards Rexi, as if he were taking a stroll in the park. When he reached him, he crouched down, but barely twisted out of the way as a claw ripped past his cheek, drawing blood.

Bahamut jumped back as Rexi slowly stood up with a bleeding nose.

"I will take Lily, and that weak elf..."

CRACK! BOOM!

The crowd went silent again as they felt the suffocating aura radiating from Bahamut. His earlier nonchalant expression had become cold. A man in all black with glowing silver eyes, seated in a small room at the very top of the arena, immediately stood up. He had felt that aura... killing intent, and one so intense that he was already seeing hallucinations.

"Who is trying to get themselves killed?" He muttered as he disappeared from the room.

Down in the arena, the audience shivered in their seats. Some had even collapsed from the hallucinations. Bahamut flashed in front of Rexi with a dark smile, his hand stretched out. Fire burst out of Rexi’s hands, flaring with a roar, but Bahamut passed through it, grabbed him by the head, and punched his face.

"Don’t you dare..." Rexi had really touched a nerve. No, he had touched more than nerves. First Lily, and now Exildra. Who next, Alana? Not happening.

That day would never be forgotten as everyone experienced a total beatdown, which left an inner sect disciple with at least a year of experience in Tier 2, beaten black and blue. He would have died if the instructor hadn’t stepped in.

That day, Bahamut made a declaration with his fists. "No one touches what was his!"

He had also further cemented his position as the strongest new disciple and the 1st ranked of the Strong Eleven. He had totally floored a Tier 2 inner sect disciple from the Kurama clan. If that wasn’t power and strength, then what was?

He had made it clear to all who watched and all who would hear later. He wasn’t weak. Not at all. He was strong and rightfully so, and anyone who dared cross paths with him... in a negative way, would feel his fist on their faces. And Rexi was a perfect example.