“Alright. Give me 5.”

Eren said casually. Miranda scrunched her nose before saying.

“Take 20. Take a long hot bath. Come to the guild’s duel arena when you are done.”

Miranda said and added with a smirk.

“Working out and dueling as a ranker are two different things, Eren. Let’s see how much potential you bring out in a serious duel. I’ll not go easy on you, you know.”

Eren flashed a cunning smile but didn’t say anything to her in return. She didn’t know that his last life-and-death duel had allowed him to advance into the official rank and claimed three lives in the process. For the most part, he wasn’t even an official ranker during that incident.

Rumi had done her job well in keeping Eren out of harm’s way. Stan and his friends were just labeled as missing after a while without any alarms getting raised.

After that, Rumi left for her expedition. Leaving Eren to find his own way as a Meta and finding his own ranking path.

Eren wouldn’t be spoonfed everything. He had to earn everything from now on. Especially after becoming a ranker. Ranking resources were not cheap. Even his mana-infused drink cost too much. And that wasn’t even considered a ranking resource.

Therefore, joining Miranda’s team was Eren’s priority. But words alone weren’t convincing enough. He’d rather show her the improvement in his actions than brag about his progress.

Miranda walked away from Reece and Eren turned in the opposite direction, leaving the speechless Reece alone. She hadn’t said anything to him and neither did he say anything to her.

For a brief second, Reece thought Eren was going away from her mentally. But in the next moment, something covered her entire face while she was still dazed looking at Eren’s departing figure and his exposed back.

“What in the world…”

Reece lifted the thing with a pinch as if she were picking up a dead mouse by its tail. It took her a while to realize that it was the same cloth Eren had just used to wipe off his sweat. He had thrown it in Reece’s face while she was still dazed looking at his body.

“That scoundrel…”

Reece flared her nose when she realized how Eren had chosen to interact with her. She was about to throw the towel away. But then she looked around and found herself alone in the corridor.

Reece had a blush on her face as she brought the cloth closer to her nose and inhaled it. A known scent. A known connection.

The woman smiled and put the white towel in her storage before adjusting the back of her hair for no reason whatsoever. Then she followed in her captain’s direction while whistling an unknown tune.

Eren’s odd way of showing affection convinced Reece that her worries were groundless. She then criticized herself for thinking too much. Eren was changing while keeping the core characteristics that made him who he was the same.

***

A large and spacious battle ring is located at the back of the Stardust guild’s building. The afternoon sun was making its presence known. The day seemed hot and ideal for the two rankers to have their duel.

“Eren, tell me when you feel like you can’t take it and we’ll stop, alright? After entering the official rank, you must wait a minimum of three months. But there’s no cut-off period within which you have to pass the test to go to the Numbered Oasis.”

Miranda said to Eren in her mana-imbued voice. They were both standing at a safe distance from each other.

The duel arena also had an audience booth that was raised higher than the ring, allowing for a better view. There were only a few rankers there at this time of the hour. All belonged to Miranda’s team.

“You think he’d last for three minutes?”

A dusty blonde tall young man asked someone who was sitting beside him. His stature measured well above 6 feet, and he was very handsome. He had dark gray eyes and a sharp jawline.

He was a Rank 1 Meta. But unlike Eren who was in his first stage of Rank 1, he was in the fourth stage of the same rank. Meaning his core was in a liquid state.

As a Meta ranker, this dusty blonde bloke had a fit and muscular body even without doing anything excessive like Eren. The rankers didn’t need to work out to get in shape. The mana they harnessed would purify their bodies and give them an ideal shape. This was true for most rankers.

So unless there were special circumstances or any other factor at play, all rankers had the most desirable version of their physical appearance. This was why Miranda and Reece didn’t understand Eren’s workout regime that he had continued even after entering the official rank.

“Sure, if the captain is generous, sure. But she was never known for her generosity on the battlefield, Ekay. So I think our rookie is going to fold his hand in about a minute. Hehe.”

Ekay Mayne adjusted his shoulder-length dusty blonde hair with his hands and pursed his lips at the young girl’s prediction. He would have agreed with her. But there was something about Eren that Ekay couldn’t quite put a finger on.

“I don’t know Rhea. I think Eren is about to surprise us.”

Ekay scratched his neck and concluded. Rhéa thought it was interesting that Ekay had begun measuring Eren to such a high standard. Frankly, Rhea didn’t have any hope or respect for Eren. The guy was used to serving rankers like a well-trained waiter. Everybody on captain Miranda’s team knew and saw him as such.

However, Ekay was known for betting on winning horses. Meaning his decisions were often right.

Rhea played with her orange-gem studded earrings and tucked her black hair behind her ears. She flashed a subtle smile before coming up with a plan to break Ekay’s winning streak.

“I bet 50 Mana quartz on our rookie losing within 3 minutes. In or out?”

Ekay was taken aback by Rhea’s sudden gambling bet. He wasn’t surprised that she had placed a bet. Betting was the norm for duels like these. But he was surprised by her stakes.

Ekay was planning to reject Rhea’s bet. 50 Mana quartz was not something he was willing to bet on a rookie ranker who had not even advanced to the second stage.

Plus, it’s barely been a month since Eren had gotten access to his elemental spells, post signing the mana binding contract with the Stardust guild. Even prodigies would find it difficult to master all the basic spells within a month.

Ekay Mayne was about to tell Rhea to drop the idea. But then he saw Eren manifest his lightning mana around him and the words froze in his mouth.

Ekay’s eyes shone with cunning and he smiled broadly at Rhea before speaking a simple word.

“In.”

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