"A human?" The young female Veshari jumped back, narrowing her eyes as she summoned her dual wakizashi and pulled them out of their scabbards. "How did you get here?"

Daru instantly did the same, assuming a combat stance as he gazed hostilely at the other party.

He glanced at the Veshari's nameplate:

==

Asipha

HP: 950 / 950

==

"An A-ranker, huh?" Daru muttered, though he found his opponent a bit too fragile, working with only 950 hitpoints.

Nonetheless…

"This should be fun…"

A faint smile appeared on his face, causing Asipha's brows to furrow.

Both she and this Otsuna of the human race were A-rankers; how could her opponent be so confident?

'Hmph, is it because I'm a Veshari?' she sneered inwardly.

This was the most likely reason, and if it indeed was, then this novice bladeborn of an enemy race was in for a rude awakening.

Otsuna could only be a novice, based on her hit points of 1,400.

A rookie-tier A-ranker of her race would already have at least two thousand hitpoints.

Since they were universally known as the most fragile race, a human of the same tier and rank would probably have at least 2,500 hitpoints by now.

Vesharis might be fragile, but they were smart.

Asipha deduced all of this almost instantaneously.

Naturally, since she was against another novice of the same rank as her, why would she chicken out?

The young, white-haired Veshari took the initiative and rushed forth after a moment of silence, zigzagging nimbly and unpredictably.

'Hoh, she's quite fast.' Daru's eyes narrowed.

It seemed that Veshari bladeborns were indeed swift and agile.

Unfortunately for Asipha, he had long fought stronger and faster foes.

'But not fast enough.'

Daru quickly charged right back, zigzagging like his opponent. The young female Veshari panicked.

'Impossible!'

How could a human of the same rank be faster than her?!

Unfortunately, a moment of hesitation caused her to lose focus, failing to keep up as Otsuna jumped.

She quickly looked up.

However, before her eyes and brain could process what had happened, her vision was already spinning.

'What's…happening?' were the only words she could think of as the world turned upside down.

The next thing she knew, she was already standing in front of a long-eared war god statue.

Asipha froze as a realization settled in. She…had been defeated in a single move…

Meanwhile, back at the Gloomy Forest.

Daru smiled, reading through the notifications that appeared in front of him:

[You've slain a level [32] [Novice] [A-ranked] Bladeborn of the [Veshari] race.]

[You've obtained 500 (+250) Experience Points.]

[You've obtained the accessory item: [Ring of Grimsmoke].]

[You've contributed (1) War Medal to your race.]

He didn't know what was going on, but he was pleased to have fought and defeated a bladeborn of another race, though he couldn't deny he was a bit disappointed at Asipha's incompetence.

'Why is a Veshari here, though?' he mused, equipping the B-tier ring accessory he just obtained.

There were ten ring slots—one for each finger, so there was no need for Daru to think about whether he should wear it or not.

He acquired four agility and three dexterity from the [Ring of Grimsmoke].

Warm energies once again coursed through Daru's body, making him exhale in comfort.

He always enjoyed this feeling.

A few moments of appreciation later, he slashed with his tachi once, familiarizing himself with his slightly improved physical abilities.

***

**

Meanwhile, in a massive castle with a modern touch and vibes at the heart of an extremely developed medieval city, huge ancient stone slabs stood inside a dimly lit hall.

There were quite a few of them, carefully supported by metallic beams.

Written in the ancient Racial Ranking Stones were ranks, and right beside them, the names of the bladeborns of the human race.

Only those from the first generation and the higher-ups who have earned access to such information knew that these stones were personally delivered by [The Overseer] in the early days of the Sword Trials.

There were three sets, now kept in three different human fortresses.

In front of them were six desks manned by low-ranking bladeborns.

Five of them instantly turned to look in utter bewilderment as one of the Ranking Stones—often empty—suddenly hummed as an ethereal pen appeared and began writing something.

"T-The Novice Warmedal Ranking Stone!"

It was almost impossible for the novices of all four races to meet each other, as they were limited to the novice zones of their respective continents.

The sight of the active ancient stone was an extremely rare one, something even the most senior of the watchers had only witnessed for the second time in her life.

"Is it because of the current event?!"

"Yeah, most likely…"

The ethereal pen wrote patiently, unaffected by the pressure of father time and the mundane gazes.

The watchers could only wait until the divine instrument finished.

To their bewilderment, it seemed that even the ethereal pen was confused, writing unreadable letters.

Then it happened.

For the first time, an ethereal eraser appeared…

It erased the engraved runic syllables on the Novice Warmedal Ranking Stone before disappearing.

The ancient pen then appeared once more, writing a name beside the ranking of first, one that was readable this time:

"On…"

Before it could finish, the head watcher had already taken her Whisper Sigil out, connecting to the frequency of the appropriate superior to contact.

A chat window then appeared out of thin air.

==

Boss PDD: What happened?

==

Head Stonewatcher Amanda quickly typed her response, heart racing, hands trembling.

She didn't know if what she would be reporting would be good news.

On one hand, the name that was somehow not in the database and had disappeared as quickly as it emerged, had reappeared.

But on the other, this meant that the said novice was now highly likely on another continent, fighting for their life.

"The Novice Warmedal Ranking Stone is active!"

Boss PDD frowned, thinking: 'So it has begun, huh?'

"I believe the name that appeared is weighty?"

"Yes, sir! It's Onimaru Kunitsuna!!"

The boss blinked once, staring at the whisper like an idiot for a moment before all the hairs on his body stood on end.

'Sh*t!!' PDD cursed in horror.

The representative of their race in the previous novice event?! He quickly closed the whisper window and reconnected to another.

This was an urgent matter that would result in him being demoted, or worse, fired if he didn't report fast enough.

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