Everyone turned to the woman — and then their expressions turned weird. On the left side of her face was a big purple bruise shaped like a fist.
The moment Niara attacked, the woman's partner reacted instinctively, channeling energy from his ring into her. That was one of the basic skills a Summoner could have, letting their partner drastically boost their defenses.
But the energy cost for that was insane. That's why it was only meant for emergencies.
If not for that, Niara would've had enough strength to blow that woman's head off without breaking a sweat. Unfortunately, a Summoner was like heaven and earth compared to an ordinary Mannaz.
"Are you trying to solve your problems, or make more of them?" asked the Elder, snorting.
"Celestia Academy has a rule for settling issues between everyone, right?" the woman said seriously. "Anyone can request an Elder to supervise and then start a fair challenge between the parties. The loser has to accept the defeat and take a heavy loss in silence."
The Elder nodded slightly. There were exceptions, but usually, Summoners didn't have many conflicts with each other. Everyone just wanted to get as strong as possible so they could save their universe.
It wasn't about being nice — they just knew how terrifying the Risen were. Even if they didn't like someone, they'd try not to let that get in the way of the bigger goal, since everyone's survival depended on cooperation.
But… the egos of the Spiritual Guardians from other universes were off the charts. They were the ones who always caused trouble. Save the universe? All they cared about was squeezing as many benefits out of it as possible.
That's why Celestia Academy came up with this method: a challenge where one side would lose a huge chunk of resources — exactly what a Spiritual Guardian valued the most.
The Elder looked a bit puzzled. He could tell this wasn't really a fight between Spiritual Guardians. Once he noticed all the Summoners were from the Divine Dragon bloodline, it was obvious this was an internal mess between a bunch of proud folks.
He turned to Niara and Darian: "Your punishment won't be changed. But if you agree to settle this with a proper challenge, you'll be legally allowed to do whatever you want."
"Seriously?" Darian said casually. "Those two aren't trustworthy. Even if they lose, they'll whine and use everything they've got to avoid paying. Why would I risk it?"
"My word is noble and binding, you bastard!" the dragon man shouted angrily.
Darian looked at him with disgust. "So what? Word and honor? That's b— forget it, my partner's got the same blood."
"Don't worry about that. I and the Academy will make sure they stick to the deal," the Elder cut in.
"Perfect," Darian said lightly — but the Elder caught a flash of excitement in his eyes. He turned to the woman and the man. "So, how do you plan on settling this?"
"The challenge has to be fair for both sides. If I win, what can mediocre bugs like you even offer us?" the woman asked, glaring at them with her face twisted.
"I can give you a grave, you bitch!" Niara growled, stepping forward, ready to strike again.
'Fuck! Calm the hell down!' Darian shouted desperately into her mind.
In that instant… the whole hall, along with Niara, froze.
The slug's colorful feathers and eyes flared with a blinding glow. Everything around them responded to it, giving it a much more oppressive presence.
At the same time, Niara felt a jolt. Her body and spiritual root resonated with Darian's, and she felt something completely new.
The man and woman's eyes widened. Then they clenched their fists tightly. That slug was terrifying…
Their partners sent them mental messages. They had to take advantage of this situation no matter what and make sure those two died. If they were the ones responsible, they'd earn bonuses from their race and benefit a ton from the bloodline inside Niara.
But if they gave the slug time… no one knew what it might become. With that level of power, it wasn't impossible for him to grow into someone really dangerous. Even with a mediocre Summoner, he'd still stand out big time.
The two Spiritual Guardians gave the slug jealous stares. To them, that creature was a rival that had to be eliminated.
Don't let them provoke you that easily, dammit. What did we agree on? I handle the talking and planning, you act when I say so, Darian said seriously in Niara's mind.
She huffed, puffed out her chest in indignation, but stayed silent.
"You two haven't used your rookie benefits yet, right?" asked the man beside the woman.
Darian nodded. "That's right."
"We haven't either. Why don't we use that as the bet?" he suggested quickly. "If you win, you take everything from the both of us. Is that allowed, Elder?"
He turned to the old man, who nodded and said, "It can be done. But this Spiritual Guardian was just summoned. He barely had time to pick a blessing. For the match to be approved, you've gotta choose something that's actually fair to them."
"Alright, we'll bet our resistance in the Tower of Mind's Darkness, the Valley of the Celestial Roar, and the Lake of Primordial Blood," the woman said flatly. "Having a usable blessing or more time to develop doesn't make a difference, right?"
The Elder nodded. "Indeed. Those three places test the Invoker's mental strength, physical endurance, and bloodline."
Everyone turned to Niara and Darian. He nodded, understanding.
"All three of us will enter those places individually. The total time we manage to stay inside—coming out alive—will be the basis of the match. If you last longer, you take everything. Deal?" the woman explained, eyes sharp.
"Nope," Darian replied, completely unfazed.
"Those places test the Invoker, sure, but obviously their Spiritual Guardians can help them hang on a bit longer if they burn their power. I just got here—how the hell is that fair?"
"That's true," the Elder said calmly, "but using that method is extremely costly. Since they only have one ring, the best they could do is keep their Invoker alive for about three extra seconds. That's just enough time to trigger the escape inscriptions and get out safely. I can subtract those three seconds from both of them at the end, to make things fair."
"They can escape in an emergency and I can't?" Darian asked with a touch of outrage.
The woman panicked a little and said, "No problem, we'll both take off three seconds."
But seeing that Darian's expression didn't change—he looked dead set on refusing—she quickly added, "You're right. To make up for it, we'll add more to the wager. I'll put in 150,000 chaos crystals."
She turned to the man beside her, who widened his eyes at that number. That was everything their family had given each of them to help them grow fast at the academy.
"I... I'll put in 150,000 too," he said, taking a deep breath.
"You hear that? That's 300,000 chaos crystals, plus our newbie perks, if you win," the woman said coldly.
"Hmmm... now that's a bit better..." Darian muttered, almost mocking.
The two Spiritual Guardians narrowed their eyes. The couple clenched their teeth so hard they nearly broke them.
Darian enjoyed the glorious moment for a good five seconds, then said, "Alright, I'm in."
The Elder nodded. "Good. I'll be the witness and judge."
Since newbies usually didn't last even a full minute in those places, they could use the facilities right away. The Elder pulled out a grayish crystal and looked at the three standing in front of him.
"We'll go first," the woman declared.
The Elder looked at Darian, who shrugged. Then he moved the crystal, and a gray aura wrapped around the woman. Within seconds, she vanished—teleported to a faraway part of Celestia Academy.
Everyone stayed silent, extremely focused. The outcome of this match would be decided in just a few minutes.
If Niara and Darian lost... even with that freaky slug, it was hard to imagine them surviving a fight against the Risen. Their life was already rough—now they'd be losing the only perks they had? This was literally a life-or-death gamble.
Seconds later, the Elder waved the crystal again. Everyone understood she'd been taken to the second location. He repeated the process one more time, and then she returned to the hall.
She was drenched in sweat, looking completely exhausted.
But that wasn't all.
Everyone felt something strange in the air—her Dragon bloodline was going crazy.
The Elder turned to the man, who nodded. He was also taken away and returned less than a minute later.
He looked exactly the same—sweaty and wiped out—but the Elder didn't seem surprised. Like he'd expected it.
Darian's eyes shifted when he saw that. He thought of something... and got excited.
"She lasted 25 seconds in the Tower of Mind's Darkness, 13 seconds in the Lake of Primordial Blood, and 4 seconds in the Valley of the Celestial Roar," the Elder announced. "As for him, he lasted 22, 20, and 2 seconds, respectively, in the same locations."
The Elder looked over at Darian and Niara. "Subtracting the three seconds from both, we've got 39 and 42 seconds."
They both nodded, and the Elder continued:
"Each of those locations has a big escape inscription etched into the ground. When you can't handle it anymore, just pour a bit of energy into it and you'll be kicked out. You can move a tiny sliver of power from your ring, right? That's all you'll need. Just don't hit your absolute limit, and you'll be fine."
With that, he waved the crystal, and a gray aura surrounded them, sending them into the first trial.