222 No chance. (1/2)

As he closed the door, he noticed the two new rooms built on the side. Though there was no one inside as he felt Raven and Blaze on the floor below.

He had almost forgotten that since they were both Rank-8 Mages now, sleeping every day was useless to them.

The Mana Core of Mages had the property to automatically regulate a small quantity of Mana throughout the body all the time. With a higher Rank, the quantity of Mana regulation increased which in turn caused the Mages to be reinvigorated for days.

Ozul shrugged his shoulders and made his way down the stairs. He would never understand why anyone would stop sleeping just because they can.

For him, sleeping put him in a state where he didn't think of any other worrying matters. That alone was enough to make him want to have hours-long sleep every once in a while.

As he arrived on the 7th floor, all the top brass of the organization were having a meeting. The only difference being that Raven also had a seat on the table.

Blaze, on the other hand, was meditating on the couch placed at the corners of the hall room. Such technical stuff bored him to no end, so he would rather meditate than listen to some complicated reports.

When everyone noticed his presence, they were about to stand up but Ozul motioned them to keep doing whatever they already were.

”Leave it. Follow me to the training grounds. You too, Irvin,” Ozul stated while indicating Raven, Blaze, and Irvin.

Raven and Blaze instantly became anxious and excited at the same time.

Excited because they wanted to show off their hard work after more than a decade of time. But also anxious since they weren't sure if Ozul would be satisfied or not. What if they disappoint him again? It was a question that worried them the most.

Despite their internal anxiety, the two maintained their facial expressions and quickly followed behind Ozul together with Irvin.

. . .

In the training grounds, Ozul stood in the middle with Raven and Blaze standing on his opposite sides.

Meanwhile, Irvin spectated from a distance only. Ozul had told him to wait here until he was finished with those two.

”After all that time, you both should be familiar with each other's attacks, yes?” Ozul asked and the duo nodded their heads in response.

”Alright, attack together...” the words had just left Ozul's mouth when the ground below him started to turn into ice.

Ozul didn't have a moment to look at this because just then, a dagger appeared behind him. But that was not all, Raven suddenly appeared closer to him together with a couple of floating daggers almost touching his skin.

”...” In the distance, Irvin stared at them with his mouth hanging open in surprise. 'Monsters! I only blinked once! How did they go from standing so casually to this in the blink of an eye?!'

Irvin was a peak Rank-8 Mage, but even he was surprised at their speed and abilities.

”However, a Rank-9 is not something they can ever hope to match...” Irvin muttered as he watched the battle with keen interest.

Raven and Blaze smirked at their victory since Ozul was completely surrounded by daggers and the sharp ice, but their smiles disappeared the moment they felt something cold against their necks.

Not only that but when they looked at where Ozul stood just a second ago, the spot was empty!

”Wh-” Blaze was about to ask but he stopped when his eyes swept to the corner of the training ground, near where Irvin was spectating from.

Raven sighed because she realized that they didn't even come near their victory.

Following that, the daggers disappeared in black smoke and the ice pillars emerging from the ground also crumbled down together with the shards floating with Blaze.

The cold feeling Raven and Blaze felt was from needles as thin as hair placed right on their necks, threatening to kill them at any instance.

”You did well. Even if there was a peak Rank-8 Mage at my place, he would have been done for,” Ozul commented in a normal voice. But since the training ground was empty, his words were heard till the opposite corner.

'They will never be able to show their real strength against someone that will completely overwhelm them...' Ozul realized only after they had started attacking him.

He turned around and took the nearest seat with Irvin following behind him like a loyal bodyguard.