Chapter 83 - Luna vs gray
We stood on opposite sides of the arena.
I looked at Luna and broke the silence.
"I hope we have a good match."
That was all I said.
Luna met my gaze and gave a small nod.
"I hope we have a good match as well."
On the sidelines, the Empress watched our brief exchange with a smile before turning toward Mom.
"Seraphina."
"Who do you think is going to win?"
Mom calmly studied both of us for a moment before replying with a single word.
"Gray."
The Empress raised an eyebrow.
Even Isabella and Elena looked at Mom in surprise.
Then the Empress chuckled softly.
"Oh?"
"You’re that confident in your son?"
"But don’t underestimate my daughter."
"She is immensely talented."
Mom nodded.
"I know."
"But I trust my son."
"At his age..."
"He was even more talented than I was."
Those words sent a wave of surprise through everyone present.
They all knew just how talented Seraphina Starlight was.
She stood on equal footing with the Empress herself.
For someone like her to claim that her son had surpassed even her own talent at the same age...
Naturally, it shocked them.
After a brief silence, the Empress asked,
"Then..."
"What is your son’s talent rank?"
Mom answered calmly.
"SS+."
The Empress thought for a moment before smiling.
"I see."
"The same as Luna."
"This should be interesting."
Meanwhile, Elena leaned closer to Amy.
"Who do you think will win?"
Amy proudly puffed out her chest.
"Of course it’s Gray."
"He’s sloppy most of the time..."
"But the moment a battle starts..."
"He becomes a completely different person."
Elena still believed in her sister.
She smiled mischievously.
"How about we make a bet?"
Amy’s eyes immediately lit up.
"Sure."
"What are we betting?"
Elena thought for a moment.
"Let’s keep it simple."
"One hundred thousand."
Amy nodded without hesitation.
She certainly didn’t lack money.
And who was she to refuse what she considered free money?
Watching the two girls, the Empress smiled in amusement.
"Amy."
"You seem to have absolute confidence in your brother."
Amy nodded proudly.
"He’s really good at fighting."
"And he’s incredibly tricky to deal with."
"He always comes up with strange moves that catch people off guard."
The Empress chuckled.
"Well then..."
"Let’s see."
The next instant—
The cheerful atmosphere completely disappeared.
Luna and I both gripped our wooden swords.
The match had begun.
Without hesitation, I sprinted toward her.
I tested her defenses with a straightforward sword strike.
Clang!
Luna blocked it cleanly.
Almost simultaneously, she formed an Ice Spear and launched it toward me.
Using Dimensional Awareness, I calmly sidestepped it before counterattacking with an Ice Spear of my own.
Unlike hers, mine was infused with Darkness Mana.
The battle continued.
Sword after sword.
Spell after spell.
Every attack Luna launched toward me—
Whether it was an Ice Spear or a sword strike—
I narrowly avoided them all.
Dimensional Awareness truly was a cheating ability.
On the sidelines, the Empress watched the battle with growing interest.
She carefully observed how Gray avoided every attack Luna threw at him.
Then she remembered how he had watched Amy and Elena’s spar earlier with complete concentration.
She turned toward Seraphina.
"What kind of perception skill does he possess?"
Mom looked at her and answered without trying to hide it.
"It’s called Dimensional Awareness."
"A very powerful perception skill."
The Empress quietly repeated the name in her mind.
"Dimensional Awareness..."
"It certainly sounds impressive."
Then she asked,
"What rank is it?"
"And where did he obtain such a skill?"
A proud smile appeared on Mom’s face.
"It wasn’t obtained from a Skill Scroll."
"He created it himself."
"In fact..."
"He dislikes relying on Skill Scrolls or techniques created by others."
"Every spell..."
"Every technique..."
"And every art he possesses..."
"He created with his own hands."
Those words immediately piqued the Empress’s interest.
Creating ordinary spells was already difficult.
But a perception skill like this...
It was clearly no ordinary creation.
"So..."
"What elements does he possess?"
Mom answered simply.
"Ice."
"Darkness."
"And Space."
The Empress’s eyes widened slightly.
"Oh..."
"So he possesses three affinities..."
"And one of them is Space."
She looked back toward the arena.
"Now I understand where your confidence comes from."
Then she smiled faintly.
"But even so..."
"Creating a skill like Dimensional Awareness at his age..."
"...is truly remarkable."
Her sapphire-blue eyes remained fixed on me.
"Let’s see..."
"What other surprises your son has in store."
Then Luna created some distance between us.
She calmly gathered her mana before raising her hand.
More than ten Light Bullets appeared around her.
With a wave of her hand, they shot toward me from multiple directions.
I could have simply used Blink to avoid them.
Instead...
I decided to test one of my abilities.
A black vortex suddenly appeared in front of me.
Devour.
The swirling darkness swallowed every Light Bullet one after another.
Not a single attack reached me.
Instead...
The mana contained within those spells became my own.
Luna’s calm expression immediately changed.
She hadn’t expected anything like this.
Without giving her time to recover, I immediately converted the absorbed mana into my next attack.
Several Ice Spears infused with Darkness appeared around me.
Then, using Space Affinity, I teleported them directly beside Luna.
The spears weren’t aimed at any vital points.
Instead, they struck the ground around her legs.
Crack!
Ice instantly spread across the floor, freezing her feet in place.
The Darkness hidden within the ice emerged moments later.
Dark vines shot upward and tightly wrapped around her legs, completely restricting her movements.
At that exact moment—
Blink.
I instantly appeared in front of her.
My wooden sword stopped just inches from her throat.
I looked directly into her eyes.
"You lose."
Silence filled the training hall.
On the sidelines, the Empress had witnessed the entire exchange.
She noticed that throughout the battle, I had never once aimed to seriously injure Luna.
Every spell had been used only to restrain her.
The moment victory was certain, I immediately ended the match.
A faint smile appeared on her face.
Her impression of me improved considerably.
Nearby, Isabella silently observed everything.
She realized that my greatest strength wasn’t overwhelming power...
It was how efficiently I used every ability.
Every action had a purpose.
Every spell flowed naturally into the next.
There wasn’t a single wasted movement.
Luna remained silent for a few moments.
She knew the match was over.
After taking a deep breath, she gave a small nod.
"...I lost."
Although disappointed, she wasn’t discouraged.
Instead, she silently promised herself—
Next time...
I’ll be prepared.
Hearing her admit defeat, I immediately dispersed the ice and dark vines before lowering my sword.
I smiled politely.
"Good match."
Then I walked back toward Amy.
Without hesitation, I took a bottle of orange juice out of my Space Storage and prepared to drink it.
Before I could take a single sip—
Amy snatched it from my hand.
"You brat!"
"You gave me water..."
"And you’re drinking orange juice yourself?"
"Do you even have a conscience?"
Before I could react, she drank the entire bottle.
"Hey!"
I immediately reached for it, but she effortlessly held it above my head, laughing proudly as she finished every last drop.