Chapter 327 Invitation
?327 Invitation
"Did you determine the cause?" Osbert inquired, standing next to a dissected corpse.
"We're trying, but prolonged weakness or pushing the body to its absolute limits are the only reasons we can deduce for the body's current state," replied the man in a white lab coat.
He was the head of the Medical Department of the World Association and was investigating clues related to Zephyr.
"We've confirmed the identity. It's Erwin Gerwell, who was expelled from World Academy," the man added.
Osbert's expression remained stoic. To an observer, his indifference to Erwin's corpse would suggest no prior acquaintance with the deceased.
"Keep me updated," Osbert directed, fixing his gaze on the man.
"Of course!" came the immediate response.
Osbert left shortly after, and the man could finally take a deep breath and turn his attention to the report he was crafting.
"He was an S Rank hunter, but..." the man muttered.
In the reports, it was clear that Erwin's body was so severely weakened that even his mana meridians were damaged.
Outside the room, Osbert was making his way to his personal quarters.
Currently, his attention was entirely focused on Zephyr, mainly because they had ties with Erwin.
"It's impossible to reverse the effect, so how?" Osbert pondered aloud as he entered his office.
While settling into his chair, Osbert's eyes drifted to a specific invitation laid out on his desk.
It was the invitation to the End Year Tournament of World Academy, extended to all Seat Holders and numerous others.
However, Osbert wasn't the least bit interested in that invitation.
He had other pressing matters to attend to, but that didn't mean he wouldn't make an appearance at the End Year Tournament.
Even those who hadn't attended previous tournaments were planning to be present this time, drawn by the list of high-profile participants.
Not only were the Elite Families eager to watch, but the three Associations were also keeping a close eye on this tournament.
Over the past decade or so, few students had astounded the world with their talent. However, this time was different.
The World Association had become stable, and Osbert's actions were somewhat limited once again when the Vice Chairman – the one who had departed with Silvus and Dalton – returned after recovering from his injuries.
With someone who could now match Osbert in terms of influence, the Executives found themselves divided once more.
While this shift favored the World Association, with power dynamics stabilizing against both internal and external threats, it certainly wasn't good news for Osbert.
"Contact Wagxon," Osbert murmured, causing the ring on his hand to gleam.
At the World Academy,
Professor Arman was sifting through student data to finalize a report that would be integrated into the Student's Overall Assessment Report.
Many professors were engrossed in similar tasks, computing both theoretical and practical scores. Once the Tournament standings were announced, new student rankings would be derived.
"His affinity might be even stronger than Ivar's," Arman said, a grave expression crossing his face.
The student record he was currently perusing belonged to Asher Greville.
But even having witnessed Asher's advancements firsthand, the figures before him seemed almost unbelievable.
Throughout his teaching tenure at the World Academy, it was evident that no student he had ever taught had come close to Asher's achievements.
Typically, such performance from a mage wouldn't be out of place. But the fact that Asher was a swordsman made the scenario all the more staggering.
"It feels like history is repeating itself," Arman mused, memories of Ivar resurfacing.
Much like Asher, Ivar's entry into the World Academy was like the arrival of a wild storm. Yet, the primary distinction between Asher and Ivar lay in their respective personalities.
Arman vividly recalled his defeat to Ivar in the End Year Tournament. It wasn't a memory he cherished, but that moment marked a significant beginning for him.
"Well, his children will also be coming here, so I can make it up to them," Arman mused, glancing at another sealed document on his table.
With Farnus away, Arman was the only one aware of the Greville Twins' enrollment, apart from the grandchildren of Silvus Grandus.
"This tournament will be a shock for many people," Arman remarked, leaning back into his chair.
He was in charge of managing the entire tournament, and given the unpredictable circumstances, Arman couldn't foresee the outcomes of the End Year Tournament, which was only a month away.
"Well, I should concern myself with other matters," Arman decided, refocusing on sorting the reports.
This particular End Year Tournament was unique since almost every Elite Family had their offspring competing.
Fast forward three weeks,
"Did you get in touch with him?" Amelia inquired.
"I did," Damian confirmed.
"What did he say?" Amelia pressed as they walked into the sparring room.
"He said he was going to the Great Forest," Damian informed, stretching his arms.
"Well, he has the luxury to roam freely," Amelia remarked, taking her position.
To Amelia, Asher, a Rank C- Hunter, was unrivaled among the First-Year students. Thus, she felt it was inconsequential if he spent his time in the Great Forest.
"You've achieved D Rank too, haven't you?" Amelia asked, eyeing Damian.
"Yeah, but I couldn't advance beyond that," he admitted.
Both had dedicated weeks to utilizing the mana gem to enhance their ranks before the tournament. However, once they felt they'd reached their peak, they stopped their efforts and decided spend that time training.
Damian was freed three days ago, so when Amelia became available today, she immediately asked Damian to practice with her.
Venessa and Sam would have joined them, but both were still training in their rooms.
"Well, he did say that he would spend about a week there, or something along those lines. I think he received permission a few days before he entered," Damian replied.
"Is he a fighting maniac?" Amelia asked Damian.
Damian was going to decline immediately, but after a moment's thought, the idea began to resonate with him.
He quickly shook his head, not wanting to entertain such thoughts about his friend.
"Maybe, unlike us, he doesn't have someone to spar with," Damian suggested, but Amelia just shook her head.
"Wait, seriously, I mean, I'd get bored too if I had no one to spar with," Damian tried to clarify to Amelia.
But he stopped when he saw Amelia suppressing her laughter.
It irked Damian slightly, prompting him to raise his shield against Amelia.
"Well, why don't 'we' begin our spar as well?" Damian inquired, his irritation evident in his tone.
"You asked for it," Amelia retorted, conjuring a wall of fire around them.
She had gleaned many insights from the books she acquired from the Sanctuary of Mages. Although she hadn't finished even one, they had been tremendously helpful.
At this time, in the Great Forest, Asher was sitting in the middle of the forest.
His limit inside the Great Forest were increased again, so this time, there were chances of Asher meeting some peak C Rank Monsters.
"This is not enough," Asher said as he looked at his sword.
From a few days ago, Asher sensed that his Sword Art had gotten stronger. And with the few encounters where he almost gave in to his urges, Asher had to stop training his sword art.
Although his Sword Art wasn't enough to hurt A Rank or above hunters if they had a good Sword Art themselves, but it wasn't the case for people he was going to fight in the tournament.
Asher wasn't confident in the fact, that he would be able to hold himself back in the tournament, so he was decreasing his urges while hunting in the Great Forest.
But these monsters weren't enough for Asher, as he could easily kill them now.
Only peak C Rank Monsters were the ones that put in a fight, and even the experience he was getting was reduced quite a bit.
D Rank Monsters and below didn't even give him any experience at all now.
There was another option, that could suppress his madness but it was something that Asher didn't wanted to rely on too much.
Using the system, was the last thing Asher wanted to do, and the only options that were left were to use his killing intent and drain his bloodlust here.
"Will you be able to disable it?" Asher asked.
"Yes, I can freeze the tracking device on ID Bracelet for 2 hours." Tom replied.
"Do it," Asher said.
Although Tom didn't have the full access of the Security System of the World Academy, but he was able to tamper the ID Bracelet that Asher worn, and also mess up the tracking device that detected his location.
The only issue was the detecting runes in the boundary that divided territories of higher ranked monsters.
But it wasn't the issue for Asher right now, after all he could just use the new version of Blink he made, from putting together the knowledge he gained from all those books.
He stood up, as he looked behind at the dense forest and started sensing the space around them.
"It's done" Tom's voice came out of the Communication device and in the next instant, Asher disappeared from the spot, leaving behind numerous monster corpses that he hunted the past days.
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