"It's impressive to think that you two despite your age, you were able to easily take down a tier four demon by yourselves!"
Thalion said as he praised his children. "I told you that they wouldn't disappoint you, darling." Nalarinda said passionately as she looked at the two with a warming smile.
"At this rate, they will no doubt be stars in this region and even the whole elven kingdom." Elowen said as he glanced at the two.
Julian was a monster when it came to close combat. His physique was easily present as his muscles were sharp and alluring, making it easy for him to charm ladies.
But that didn't mean that he didn't focus on utilization of mana. He could cast various spells at close quarters to middle range.
His strength was baffling but it was more prominent in his close quarter's combat that it shone.
As for Vivienne, she was another monster to deal with. She could easily deal with anyone at any range.
Close quarters was absolute hell to challenge her in as she had continued to sharpen her spatial talent.
Thanks to this, she also found that her mana recovery absorption rate was greatly bolstered however she would usually refrain from using her spatial skills as it would garner too much attention.
As for longer distances, the same could be said for her prowess to shine. Opponents would be baffled with her attacks as they didn't consume mana in the slightest.
"We can't claim all the credit. We couldn't have made it to where we are without all of your help." Julian said with a tone of respect.
Right now, they were in the garden as they held this conversation.
"You're too kind!" Elowenera said with a small laugh which lightened the mood. "We really do mean it." Vivienne further added.
Their instructors were both on tier three themselves, on the fourth array. They had been great teachers and the two greatly appreciated it.
"Maybe now they can compete in the Sphin trials." Naliranda said as she continued to look at them as she drank a light sips of her tea.
The two wanted to prove themselves and engrossed in three months of training, they were itching to test their skills.
"Very well. I will enlist you both in the Sphin trials. It starts in a week from now. You should take that time to recuperate and prepare yourselves for it."
Thalion said sharply as his eyes landed on the two. He had great ambitions and was sure that the two could easily hold their own in the competition.
The Sphin trials were held annually at the beginning of a year. Right now, they were on the last week of the last month of the year.
"Very well, we understand." The two said in unison. "I don't think that my sister and I have anything else to teach you. You both can hold your own against us and even beat us despite having lower tiers."
"Provided you play smart, it shouldn't be a problem." Elowen said as he got up along with his sister. "Mr. Thalion and Mrs. Naliranda, we will be taking our leave as of now." Elowenera and Elowen finished off.
"Oh, in that case, we will escort you out." Vivienne and Julian said to which they did along with the parents.
"We will meet each other some other time." The pair of instructors said as their figures left the mansion. "Very well. I hope that we meet again." The duo said before the carriage got out of their eyesight.
"I have some matters to attend to." Thalion said as another carriage came about to which Naliranda accompanied him and they took left.
"It would seem that the competition this time will be extremely aggressive." Julian said as the two headed towards their rooms. "Yes, even though we can handle experts who are of higher tiers than us together, that doesn't mean that we shouldn't ignore on our own tiers."
Julian understood what she meant as he gave a small nod. He was at the fourth array while Vivienne was on the second array.
"Very well, I'll be recuperating." Julian said as he went towards his own room while Vivienne went into hers.
Vivienne had a huge advantage thus she hadn't focused so much on her tier cultivation but that didn't mean that she could ignore it.
If she went against a tier four expert of the first array in her current state, it could go either way but a seasoned expert would result in her defeat.
[{Warning!!!}]
A message popped up which took her by surprise.
[{The host has negative motives harbored towards the owner of the system. A penalty will be issued!}]
"Wait!! What?!! Really? This isn't good." She mused as she saw this.
[{Host can either have her talent in spatial manipulation or her mana talent halved! Make a choice in ten seconds!!}]
[{10}]
[{9}]
[{8}]
...
The countdown started as she saw this. To think that she would be put in such a position but she knew that she had to make a choice regardless.
She was flat on her bed as she glanced at her ceiling with discomfort expressed on her face.
"Are you okay, miss?" A maidservant asked to which she waved her off. "Don't bother me!"
Understanding that she wanted to be alone, she left the room leaving her all alone.
[{7}]
[{6}]
'If I choose to half my spatial talent, then my ace will be halved which isn't great but as for my mana, that isn't great either.'
She clutched onto her face as she tried to make a choice of this.
[{5}]
[{4}]
[{3}]
"Ugh! I barely use mana in most of my attacks not to mention even though I have familiarized myself with it, it isn't something I'm fully confident it."
"Not to mention it is depletable while my spatial talent isn't…Andrew you fucker!" She cursed at her predicament.
[{2}]
[{I choose to have my mana talent halved!}]
She made her choice to which the timer stopped counting.
"Argghh!!"
A sharp and indescribable pain attacked her in her chest. She tried to use mana to negotiate the pain but this seemed to make the pain worse thus she stopped.
The pain being too unbearable for her to handle, she finally fell unconscious from the pain.
*Four days later*
'She still hasn't come out of her room?' Julian thought as he made his way towards the dining hall.
He had managed to make a small breakthrough to the fifth array and in due time, he would finally break through into the infamous fourth tier.
A lot of experts which were usually looked up to would usually be in this tier on higher tiers. It should have been considered a blessing for one to make a step into this league.
However in the elven kingdom, individuals found in the fourth tier were not that uncommon however the most common were usually in the second and third tier.
Their race allowed to live longer in comparison to humans thus people having higher tiers was a natural phenomenon and for them, it was an advantage over the humans.
Despite the demons who occupied a huge piece of land on this continent, most of it was barely used or running amuck with ravenous creatures.
In second were the elves who were under the rule of the queen, a tier seven monstrosity with an iron fist while humans came in third occupying a small area in comparison to the first two races.
But that didn't mean that it was small itself, there were several kingdoms belonging to the humans located in between the demons and the elven territory.
The elven kingdom however was separated into five districts evenly spread out with the queen residing at the middle of it all, where the capital was.
These districts however had a tier six leader who was a member of royal nobles. As for the Sphin trials, it would occur simultaneously in all the five districts and finish off in the capital.
It was one of the few anticipated events in elven culture, as it was demonstration of the strength and power of their race not to mention it acted a gauge to determine the development of the elves.
Of course there were more purposes for it which greatly benefited the higher elites of society.
"Where is your sister?" Naliranda asked as she saw Thalion coming in alone in the hall. Vivienne had remained in her room undisturbed all this time and no one had yet to access it.
"She is still training." Julian said casually as he sat down. "She shouldn't push herself too hard though." Nalarinda said as she noted at Julian's strength.
"It seems that you have managed to break through into the fifth array. I've already arranged some potions to help you with breaking through into the fourth tier but that will be for later."
Naliranda said with a smile. "Hahaha!" Julian laughed it off. "Thank you mother but first, I have to fully stabilize this array properly before I can make a breakthrough into the fourth tier."
Nalarinda smiled as she reveled in her son's brilliance. "I think a small spar is in order though." Julian said as he stood up.
He made his way to his sister's room to which he found a butler waiting patiently guarding the door.
"I want to see my sister." The butler respectfully stepped aside as he opened the door. Julian stepped inside to note the darkness of the room.
The curtains were all closed plunging the room into darkness from a source he couldn't pinpoint. The door was opened and yet the darkness in the remained regardless.
He used his mana to cast a wind spell and push aside the curtains and open the window to which blinding light filled the room.
Looking at the bed, Vivienne remained motionless as her figure was half covered by blankets. Realizing that something was wrong, Julian immediately dashed over to her and find something surprising.
"Vivienne! Are you okay?!" His voice filled with worry permeated through the room. The butler had already figured something was off and had already left to call Nalarinda and the physician.
There was no response from her figure and it was now that he realized something.
'What?! Her mana pools are completely gone?!' What did that mean? It meant that her sister was now mortal, just like some random stranger. In this world, being powerful was costly and an arduous task but being weak was even worse.
Such people could be harassed, bullied, robbed, raped, killed without a care in the world, sold off as slaves and no one would care but for elites, the case was different.
Sure they had protection due to their names and statuses but that didn't mean that they had it easy as well. Such people would usually be looked down upon and in some cases, they would be kicked out of the family in some cases.
Seeing that she wasn't responding, he started to diagnose her body in search of any poison or foreign materials but nothing propped up.
Seeing that nothing was working, he decided to personally look for her mother to sort this out. "L-l...li-...light..." A faint whisper came from her lips jolting Julian's attention back to her.
"What about it?" He asked frantically. "It's... too bright..." She said weakly to which he returned the curtains back to the way they were.
In an instant, an unfathomable darkness emanated from Vivienne's body which filled the room in utter darkness which didn't extend beyond her room.
Naliranda came to the room to realize that it was complete darkness but she could easily sense the two in the darkness and went over to them.
"What's the matter?!" Naliranda asked to which he explained shortly after. She diagnosed her and similar to Julian, the results were the same.
She couldn't find anything wrong with her. "I'll call Virelindra!" Naliranda said as she made her exit.
"...Yvette..." Julian said softly as he clutched her frame. He was shocked to see what had occurred and yet he wasn't able to do anything to help. A waterfall of emotions overwhelmed him.
Weakness, helplessness and despair as he knew the root of all of this. "Don't worry sister, as long as I have that, I'll protect us." He murmured beneath his breathe as he delicately held her face.
It was hard to see it but he couldn't introduce any form of light either making it hard for him to see it.