The Ascension Age

Aire had gone unconscious for ten minutes or so when suddenly, he felt his body turn warm as something enveloped it. Eventually, he woke up once again, just to see in front of his field of vision a bracelet from someone he didn't know glisten with silver light. It was then that he remembered what happened and got up straight away, asking in a hurry, "What happened?!"

Aire looked around and saw that Altina was holding someone else, preventing him from escaping. "Hey, look. The Snow White has woken up."

Kymei and Sera laughed as they nodded, one of them saying, "Hahaha! Indeed. I wonder if he even knows what happened."

Aire then noticed that the bracelet shining with silver light was from a guy from the team that attacked him. It did not take long for him to put everything together, understanding what had transpired. In the end, Altina captured a member of the enemy group, ready to finish him at any time. However, because Aire passed out, they needed Stellar Energy to help him recover.

That being said, Altina struck a deal. Their group would use the Stellar Bubbles they got on Aire, and Altina would let the three of them go. The enemy team was already down one member, so they couldn't afford to lose another one, or they really would be a step behind. 

"Hey, Altina. I've done my part of the deal. He's now awake. How about you let Itol go?" the guy who gave Aire Stellar Energy asked.

Altina smiled before kicking the guy she was holding farther away from them. "I always keep my word. Go, next time we see each other, we'll become enemies again."

The group of three then looked back where their team member was defeated and sighed before speeding away. 

Aire couldn't help but scratch the back of his head as he apologized. "Sorry...I didn't expect the Stellar Suit could suck me dry like that. It's my fault that you had to use the Bubble's energy on me." 

Altina, Sera, and Kymei shook their heads as one of them replied, "You're new to this, so there's nothing wrong with getting used to it. Besides, this is the first time all of us are using Stellar Suits...even if it's just a single part."

Aire bitterly smiled after hearing that. Nevertheless, Aire was curious about something else. "However, why did you do such a deal? Wouldn't it have been better to simply defeat the guy who had the Stellar Bubble and then use it on me?"

Altina shook her head as she answered, "The guy who had the Bubble's energy was the farthest away between the remaining three. If the other two decided to hold us back, he would definitely escape. That's why I captured the closest one first and made this deal. Only then did he come back and pass the energy to you."

"I see..." Hearing that, Aire couldn't help but sigh as well.

Following that, Kymei stepped forward before saying, "Alright, we've already wasted ten minutes in this place, so we're falling behind. We need to hurry up and increase our pace." One must remember that many other teams were still moving to the main area.

Altina, Sera, and Aire agreed with Kymei before they began to run once again. "By the way, Aire. How are you feeling? If necessary, we can slow the pace down so that you can recover more Stellar Energy."

Stella immediately disagreed in the mind world as she said, 'There's no need, Aire. With your new body and the Energy Blood Flow Assistance Skill, you don't need to sit to recover. Just focus on absorbing the surrounding Stellar Energy while you move.'

Aire smiled and then looked at Altina and the others before replying, "There's no need. That Stellar Bubble's energy was impressive. I'm basically halfway recovered already thanks to it." Naturally, only Aire heard Stella's voice, so he had to come up with an excuse while keeping the secret.

Everyone nodded in response, and soon, they increased their speed even more. This time, however, they were much faster than they were at first. That's because Aire was now a lot better at moving between the tree roots than when they started the mission. Sure enough, Stella was right. His ability to learn and adapt was just simply ridiculous! He even surpassed kymei and Sera's speed, both of which were one stage above him in the Riser Path.

Altina couldn't help but point it out, asking, "Aire, how did you do that? When the alligator attacked you, your body didn't even move. But when you were ambushed once again, you acted like an experienced veteran. The ambush obviously worked on you, but you reacted perfectly even though that happened. Not only that, but your ability to move on this terrain has also increased ridiculously."

Aire shrugged his shoulder as he came up with an excuse. "How can I say this...I'm the type of person that would remember any event that had a big impact on me. My body would instantly adjust, making sure it never happens twice. That being said, when it happened the second time, my body simply moved on its own."

Kymei couldn't help but sigh in wonder, muttering, "I guess that's what you can expect from someone with such a huge Stellar Energy Absorption Aptitude like him. If not for his lazy nature, I wonder how strong he would be right now."

Sera and Altina nodded after that. They also attributed it to Aire's own talent, which was a very good thing for their team.

Far high in the skies, Vaxo looked at the enormous display on the airship. There, over a hundred smaller screens were showing video feeds and information of every team in combat. Of course, there were a lot more than just 100 teams. Nevertheless, it wasn't a problem since the school put more people to accompany the development. 

However, there was a screen that caught Vaxo's attention. With his Stellar Riser Level, paying attention to all hundred screens wasn't anything difficult. On the screen, he saw Aire's team make their way to the middle area. 

Suddenly, someone appeared on Vaxo's side, saying, "That boy's quite interesting, isn't he? He obviously had never been in combat before, so he was almost disqualified because of the alligator. Nevertheless, one time was enough for him to learn how to deal perfectly with the situation to the point it's almost unbelievable when it happened a second time."

Vaxo glanced by the side and faintly smiled, saying, "This is just the start. He and his team aren't the only ones with some interesting folk." Vaxo then looked at a few other screens as expectation filled his gaze.