“Did you guys hear? There’s a challenge happening!”

“Huh? It’s just a challenge, why are you so excited about it?”

“This is not just any challenge, it’s an advancement challenge!”

“What?! Someone is challenging the Wyvern Level?! Who has the balls?”

“It’s that newcomer, Damien. Tsk tsk, he’s only been here for a week and he’s already stacked up enough wins for an advancement challenge.”

“He did it in a week? Damn, this might actually be something to pay attention to!”

Multiple conversations were happening as news of Damien’s challenge spread through the Snake level. Besides those newbies who entered around a similar time as Damien, everyone was aware of the significance of such a challenge.

In fact, it was rare for someone to have the courage to initiate an advancement challenge. Most would instead choose to wait and procure 100 wins before advancing naturally, since it was the safer option.

After all, with their lives on the line, it was best to be cautious about such choices.

So when Damien issued the challenge, practically the entire Snake level congregated towards the arena to watch.

Meanwhile, Damien was standing patiently in the arena. According to the receptionists, after his challenge had been issued, a Wyvern level disciple at his same class range would have to answer it. If nobody answered it, then it would be randomly chosen. Either way, he would be fighting a Wyvern level combatant today.

It took an entire 5 hours of waiting before someone actually showed up. A powerful aura spread through the arena as a man suddenly appeared in the air above it.

His hair was jet black like his eyes, his face was chiseled to perfection, and his entire body was covered in a jade-colored scale armor.

An air of arrogance surrounded him as he looked down upon the Snake level combatants. “Which one of you actually dared to initiate an advancement challenge?”

Damien looked up at the man in the sky and flashed forward, appearing in front of him. “It was me.”

“You? The blood in your body doesn’t even have the qualifications to hold its head up in front of me, and you dare to challenge me? Do you understand what you’re getting into?”

“If I didn’t understand, then would I have challenged you in the first place? Stop talking and come fight me, bozo.”

The man’s eyebrow imperceptibly twitched. Although he didn’t know what bozo meant, it was clear from Damien’s tone that he was being provoked.

“Fine, then. My name is Igor. If you wish to die so soon, I shall grant your wish.”

Boom!

Igor kicked the air and arrived in front of Damien as if teleporting, but from the way the air around him was torn apart, it was clear that it was pure speed that achieved this feat.

A swift fist charged towards Damien’s face. ‘I can’t dodge this.’

Although he could teleport, he was saving that card until later. The element of surprise was always best.

Damien crossed his arms in front of his face, receiving the punch head-on. The impact caused a small bang as he was pushed hundreds of feet backwards.

“You can’t even stand this much?” Igor mocked. “If it’s truly the case, then I suggest you get off the stage right now.”

But Damien didn’t listen to his words. Just like Igor did previously, he kicked off the air and charged forward, his entire body becoming coated in lighting.

His fist shot towards Igor’s face, causing the latter to smirk. He also threw out a punch to meet Damien’s fist.

But just as they were about to connect, Damien suddenly pulled back, drawing an arc of scolding hot electricity as he moved.

Igor was unable to stop his forward momentum in then, crashing into the arc of plasma at full speed.

“Argh!”

The scales on his armor began to melt, exposing the fair skin beneath. He hastily pulled back his fist.

Damien grinned. “What now? You don’t have anything to say?”

Igor gritted his teeth. ‘This kid, he’s not simple. In the first exchange, I’m already at a disadvantage.’

Igor realized that Damien wasn’t someone he could underestimate. At that thought, a jade green lightning began to cover his body.

Whoosh!

The two looked at each other solemnly before flashing forward once again.

Two streaks of light charged at each other, one black and one green, before making impact. Fists connected endlessly and sparks of green and black lighting flew wildly around the arena.

Each time they connected, neither was able to gain an advantage. Igor was starting to feel the pressure. Although he was a Wyvern class combatant, he was also a 3rd class being.

There was no such thing as holding an overwhelming advantage against someone like Damien, who was also extremely powerful at the same class level.

Igor gritted his teeth. “Green Dragon Claws!”

His hand opened and his fingers curled into a claw, sharpening immensely into something comparable to an SSS tier artifact.

He slashed down towards Damien, embedding his fingers into the latter’s shoulders and yanking downwards.

“Argh!”

A chunk of flesh was torn from Damien’s shoulder, causing blood to spurt onto Igor’s face. But Damien wasn’t one to take things lightly.

As Igor’s hand entered his shoulder, his own hand became coated in a glove of lightning that then began to superheat. Damien silently used an ability he hadn’t touched in a while to cause the molecules around his hand to vibrate, creating an even denser coating of plasma.

Instead of dodging Igor’s attack, he took it with his body, using the time that Igor took to tear through his flesh to charge his own attack.

And when his blood spurted out, momentarily obstructing Igor’s vision, his hand shot forward.

But Igor wasn’t some newbie without experience. Sensing danger, his claw shot towards Damien’s eyes.

Scratch!

A bloody hash was torn in his face, distracting Damien for a split second. But a split second meant many things in a battle like this.

The pain in his eye forced him to divert his attention from the plasma coating his hand. But this seemingly simple mistake was anything but.

Not only was there supercharged lighting, but also rapidly vibrating molecules around his hand. The mixture of power was largely unstable and only gained stability under Damien’s control.

Boom!

The unstable plasma around his hand exploded, sending Igor flying backward like a shooting star.

“Cough…”

He coughed blood continuously, his hand holding the gaping hole that was formed in his side. Damien’s attack and almost reached him by the time he reacted, so he had taken considerable damage even if he managed to subvert it slightly.

But if Damien’s hand had gone unobstructed, Igor’s heart would’ve already been melted by that insane heat. A hole in his side was nothing in comparison.

The crowd watching the exchange was stunned. The battle hadn’t gone on for long, but the Wyvern level combatant had already been injured to such a degree. In curiosity, some of them looked over at Damien as well.

“Hisss…” The sight caused many people to suck in a breath of cold air.

The unstable plasma around Damien’s hand had exploded without his control, so obviously he would’ve suffered from it as well. Although he managed to quickly erect his Vector Field to offset most of the damage, he wasn’t able to save the hand that had been coated by that plasma.

In place of that hand, there was now a mangled mess of flesh and bone shards that resembled ground beef more than it did a hand. This was a kind of injury that could be considered crippling unless one had the appropriate level of healer around to save them.

Seeing the scene, Igor laughed. “I admit that you’re good enough to become a Wyvern Class combatant with that kind of power, but with your hand like that, there’s no chance for you to make it far.”

He kept laughing. It was funny, his injury was bad but still healable, especially with the accommodations of Wyvern level. But Damien would be stuck in Snake level, where he would be crippled permanently.

Igor had no plans of killing Damien today. In any case, his bloodline wouldn’t be of any help to his evolution. Smiling lightly, he shakily stood up, planning to end the battle once and for all.

But when he lifted his head, fear took root in his heart. Damien had arrived before him in an instant. There was no sound produced by his movements, not even the air had been affected.

Staring at Igor with cold eyes, he spoke. “Crippled? You consider this to be crippled?”

He held up his hand, which had been a mangled mess a few minutes prior. But with the hand this close to him, Igor could clearly see those bones putting themselves back together and the muscles and flesh returning to their original position.

Damien had already begun healing from that so-called crippling injury, and he looked like he didn’t care about it one bit.

Without paying any heed to Igor’s reaction, Damien held out his other hand and grabbed his stunned opponent’s neck.

“Distort.”

Crack!”

Space twisted and bent, concentrating on Igor’s neck. Igor hastily tried to use his mana to protect himself, but it didn’t seem to listen to his command.

Damien had already used his Vector Control to seal Igor’s mana. This was a move that could only be used with prolonged contact, so Damien hadn’t used it much before. But in this situation; it was perfect.

Without being able to use mana to fight back, Igor could only helplessly watch as space twisted around his neck and cracked it in two. In the next instant, his vision went black.

“Devour.”

The second his opponent’s life force faded, a black fog left Damien’s hand and consumed him. That Igor who had once been a Wyvern level combatant had died just like that.

Damien lightly shook his left hand, which had finally reached the last stages in the healing process, before looking at his medallion.

Its color was slowly changing from jade green to gold.

‘Wyvern level, huh…perhaps that’s where the fight truly begins.’