"What…? Who the hell is that?

Blake had lost his composure a bit from the surprise as he let a few unsuitable words come out of his mouth before he quickly returned to his usual calm complexion as he slightly understood what was going on…

'Did someone from the Elemental Divisions break into the 2nd rank?'

Mono-element users who were part of the normal divisions were indeed not considered as valuable as double and triple element holders, but that didn't mean that they were all useless, they were naturally some greatly capable ones between them so Blake guessed it might be the action of one of these apprentices.

While it didn't seem to be the original 5th ranker as Blake was already familiar with his names, it wasn't far fetched for it to be someone from under the top ten which he didn't usually bother looking at. If the ranker did hold back and learn two new techniques at the span of a few months and only challenge the tower now for suspense like he held his best element to the last, then it was indeed possible.

It was true that most would refrain from doing so as achievement points that they obtained could be exchanged resources as well as new technique, but if he depended on the points he obtained from the first challenge and bided his time to achieve this surprise then it seemed to be somewhat worth it to Blake.

"Hey, junior apprentice sister, do you know who this new rising ranker might be?"

Turning around to one of those girls that usually gathered around him every time he appeared, he decided to ask her, he naturally didn't feel threatened of losing his rank considering the difference as he only did so to satisfy his curiosity…

"Oh, Senior Blake, I didn't notice that you left the tower already… Congratulations for consolidating your position!"

"It's nothing… Just tell me about the new 2nd ranker if you know about him."

"Of course! I heard from the crowd that he is the new addition to the central division that disappeared as soon as he joined the sect, everyone thought that he was just testing the tower mechanism, but he actually wasn't! He had already finished one tower challenge and is estimated to have obtained over 3400 points… he is even attempting another tower challenge while we are speaking!"

'It was actually that guy…?'

"The latest increase is exactly the same amount for perfectly clearing the basic mastery test, he has actually practised the second technique to this extent as well!"

Just as he was still digesting the new incomprehensible fact that he heard, another apprentice threw another bomb over his head!

'Just… what kind of monster has this tournament brought…?'

He had obviously known about the new recruit but didn't pay him and heed, after all, his position as the top candidate was already established and he was going to strengthen it once again, but it seemed like he underestimated this new 'genius'.

They were all mind-blowing geniuses as the apprentices of the Central Division of the top sect, so there was supposedly no need to be wary of a new addition, but…

"Impressive isn't he? Half the gathering is already impressed by him and are churning their brains to think about how he managed to achieve such a feat. Of course, you are still number one in both the ranking and my heart senior!"

Ignoring the apprentice's attempt to prove her loyalty to him as her idol, Blake steeled his heart as he cleansed all the primeval stupid ideas that appeared in his brain, making his inner demons' attempt to mess his mind fail prematurely.

'Let's wait and see then.'

If this genius was as great as they mentioned then even if he wasn't capable of surpassing him now, it wouldn't be long before he did, and even if he didn't, achievement points were naturally not the only parameter the sect master would make his choice based on. While Blake wanted to deny to fight back to keep his position, he realized his talent had finally met its match… or even more like its suppressive contender…

'I should at least take a proper look at this junior who has managed to do the impossible and take us all on…'

`~~`~~`~~`

[ You have been defeated! Calculating the amount of points according to your performance… ]

[ You have received 1229 points! ]

[ You can no longer proceed to the next test as you haven't fulfilled the requirement… ]

[ You will be expelled from the 'Tower of Comprehension Testing' in 1 second! ]

I once again found myself outside of the gate with Light who seemed to have slept out of boredom on my shoulder, while I didn't manage to get a draw, the result could be considered satisfying.

Facing Ian.0024 who had much higher skill than me in using 'GreatSword of Retaliation' forced me to face the same strategy that I played against Ian.0023, which naturally ended in my premature defeat, not even lasting 10 minutes like Ian.0023 did as I barely brushed the 5 minutes point before I found myself out of the tower

Without even taking a look at the board, I already knew that I have reached the total of 5824 which has already surpassed the top ranker's number, but just as I expected a quick look at the ranking board on my way to the overseer showed me that he has already surpassed it as well.

However, I could already see that there was a luxurious apprentice who had a chair to set on and a glass cup with some juice in it standing in the middle of the ranking… it wasn't hard to tell that he was the top ranker that everyone seemed to be crazy about.

His being here meant that he already ended his challenge, and he didn't seem to also have another technique to use, so considering that I still had another challenge to do in my pocket, surpassing him was only a few minutes away.

Conversing with the Overseer to use my second tome entry slot for the third challenge, I noticed that this 1st ranker called Blake seemed restless before he relaxed his tension once more, it was as if he wanted to do something but decided against it.

Of course, while it was a bit confusing for him to do so, I didn't dally much longer before I headed straight to the gate once more... It was time to get done with this troublesome tower challenge once and for all!