Kael had no idea that his brief departure had sparked a conversation among Claire and her friends.
By then, he had already entered one of the private training rooms.
The room was roughly twenty square meters in size.
It wasn’t particularly large, but it was more than enough for individual combat training.
Normally, these private rooms had to be reserved in advance.
However, with most third-year students staying home to prepare for the College Entrance Examination, the martial arts school was unusually quiet.
Kael had managed to get a room without making a reservation.
He closed the door behind him.
Then his expression became serious.
“First, I’ll test my physical strength without using my ability.”
He reached behind his back and removed his spear.
The moment his fingers wrapped around the weapon, Kael immediately noticed something strange.
He gave the spear a light shake.
Clang!
The metal shaft produced a low ringing sound.
Kael frowned.
“The spear feels lighter.”
He quickly understood the reason.
“No.
The spear hasn’t changed.”
“My physique has.”
His physical strength had increased dramatically after spending Ability Points on his Physique.
The weapon that had once felt heavy now seemed almost effortless to wield.
Unfortunately, there was nothing he could do about it.
There wasn’t enough time to replace his weapon before tomorrow’s examination.
Besides, purchasing another weapon wasn’t something he could casually afford.
Ferocious Beasts possessed incredibly tough bodies.
Their hides could withstand ordinary blades, bullets, and even certain explosives.
For that reason, the weapons used by Ability Users were manufactured by specialized weapons companies and forged from high-grade alloys.
The spear in Kael’s hands belonged to the Obsidian Series, produced by Horizon Industries.
It was approximately 2.1 meters long.
The spear shaft was around 1.9 meters, while the sharpened spearhead extended for more than twenty centimeters.
The entire weapon was forged from F-grade alloy.
Its surface was matte black, giving it a simple but intimidating appearance.
Kael had chosen the F-grade material deliberately.
Alloys, like abilities, were divided into nine grades:
F, E, D, C, B, A, S, SS, and SSS.
The higher the grade, the stronger the alloy.
Higher-grade alloys were harder, sharper, and far more effective against Ferocious Beasts.
Naturally, their prices were equally terrifying.
Horizon Industries allowed customers to customize the alloy and weight of their Obsidian Series weapons.
But there was one important restriction.
Only F-grade weapons and F-grade combat suits were permitted during the Combat Examination.
Therefore, Kael had chosen F-grade alloy.
As for the weight…
He had selected fifty kilograms.
The entire spear had cost him nearly 200,000 credits.
It was a painful amount of money.
There was an old saying among Ability Users:
“Knowledge can be pursued with little wealth, but the path of combat consumes fortunes.”
Over the past several years, Kael had spent enormous amounts of money improving himself.
Training facilities.
Nutrition.
Ability development.
Combat techniques.
Weapons.
Combat suits.
Much of that money had come from his aunt’s family, who had always tried to help him.
The rest had come from the savings and compensation his parents had left behind.
After years of spending, Kael had less than 50,000 credits remaining.
There was no way he could simply buy another weapon at the last moment.
“But it shouldn’t matter too much.”
Kael tightened his grip around the spear.
“At most, it’ll affect my performance slightly.”
His eyes became focused.
He began warming up.
Kael had started practicing with a spear when he was twelve.
Nearly six years of training had turned the basic movements into instinct.
Thrusting.
Sweeping.
Striking.
Hooking.
Cleaving.
Tapping.
Every movement had been practiced thousands of times.
The spear suddenly moved.
Whoosh!
Kael’s body shifted.
The black spear became a blur in his hands.
Its movements were fast, precise, and powerful.
His footwork remained stable as his arms and shoulders moved in perfect coordination.
The air itself seemed to be cut apart by the spearhead.
After several minutes, Kael stopped.
His muscles were completely warmed up.
His blood was flowing rapidly through his body.
He looked toward the circular target embedded in the wall.
“Let’s see what my body can do now.”
Kael took a deep breath.
Then he stepped forward.
Thrust!
The spear shot forward like a black bolt of lightning.
BOOM!
The spearhead slammed directly into the circular target.
The target was made from memory metal, a special material capable of absorbing tremendous amounts of force.
Yet under Kael’s attack, it instantly bent inward.
A deep depression appeared across its surface.
Kael withdrew the spear.
The memory metal slowly returned to its original shape.
At the same time, a number appeared on the smart display beside the target.
321 Ka.
Kael’s eyes widened.
“321 Ka?”
He stared at the number.
“My physical strength has nearly doubled!”
Ka was the standard unit used to measure attack intensity.
One Ka represented an extremely small amount of destructive energy, roughly equivalent to the explosive force of a basic firecracker.
For most Awakeners, the maximum physical attack intensity they could produce was around 100 Ka.
Before awakening Purple Sky Thunder, Kael’s physical attack had been approximately 140 Ka.
Even when he activated his old E-rank ability, the increase had been insignificant.
But now…
321 Ka.
That was more than twice his previous physical output.
Kael smiled.
“That’s quite an improvement.”
But he wasn’t finished.
His eyes slowly became sharper.
“Now…”
“Let’s see what Purple Sky Thunder can do.”
Kael’s thoughts shifted.
In the next instant…
Crack!
A purple spark appeared beside his body.
Then another.
And another.
Within seconds, brilliant violet lightning began dancing around him.
Crackle!
Crackle!
The air seemed to tremble.
Purple lightning wrapped around his arms, shoulders, and torso.
For a moment, Kael looked almost like a manifestation of thunder itself.
He raised one hand.
A condensed bolt of Purple Sky Thunder gathered at his fingertips.
Then…
BOOM!
The lightning shot forward.
It struck the memory-metal target with terrifying force.
The circular target instantly caved inward.
Unlike before, however, it did not recover immediately.
Five seconds passed.
Then seven.
Only after nearly eight seconds did the metal slowly return to its original shape.
Kael stared at the display.
A new number appeared.
3,012 Ka.
Kael’s breathing stopped for a moment.
“Three thousand Ka…”
His eyes widened.
“That’s almost ten times my physical strength!”
He couldn’t help but be shocked.
A typical Tier One Ability User could produce around 1,000 Ka of attack intensity.
Three thousand Ka was already approaching the level normally associated with a Mid-Tier One Ability User.
And Kael wasn’t even an official Ability User yet.
He was still an Awakener.
Yet an S-rank ability had allowed him to produce destructive power comparable to a genuine Mid-Tier One Ability User.
“S-rank abilities really are monstrous.”
Kael couldn’t help but mutter.
According to everything he knew, Awakeners who successfully broke through were classified from Tier One to Tier Nine.
Each tier was divided into:
Low-Tier.
Mid-Tier.
High-Tier.
The difference between each stage was enormous.
Yet Kael, despite remaining an Awakener, had already crossed a major boundary through the sheer power of Purple Sky Thunder.
It made one thing painfully clear.
The quality of an ability mattered enormously.
An E-rank Awakener and an S-rank Awakener might both be called Awakeners…
But their actual combat potential could be worlds apart.
“No wonder every major power competes so fiercely for high-rank Awakeners.”
Kael’s eyes narrowed.
“The difference is simply too great.”
Then a faint smile appeared on his face.
“But…”
“Three thousand Ka isn’t my limit.”
Kael tightened his grip around the spear.
Purple lightning began flowing from his body and into the weapon.
The black spear trembled.
Violet arcs of electricity crawled across its surface.
Kael lowered his stance.
His breathing became slow.
His eyes locked onto the target.
This wasn’t simply an ability.
It was a Combat Technique.
A technique designed to combine his lightning ability with his spear mastery.
Kael whispered…
“Lightning Gale Break.”
Whoosh!
The spear vanished.
A streak of purple-black light flashed across the training room.
For an instant, it looked like a massive lightning dragon had erupted from Kael’s spear.
Then…
BOOOOOOM!
The entire training room shook.
A deafening impact echoed through the walls.
Purple lightning exploded across the target.
The memory metal, which had previously absorbed thousands of Kas of force, finally reached its limit.
The center of the target melted.
Not merely dented.
Melted.
A deep metallic crater appeared where the spear had struck.
Then terrifying cracks spread outward from the impact point.
Crack!
Crack!
Crack!
The cracks rapidly expanded across the wall like a spiderweb.
Several internal cables were exposed.
Electric sparks flickered from the damaged equipment.
Those cables were connected to the memory-metal target and were responsible for calculating attack intensity.
Now they were damaged beyond use.
Kael slowly lowered his spear.
He looked toward the smart display.
Nothing appeared.
No number.
No reading.
No result.
Kael wasn’t surprised.
“This is a primary training room.”
He glanced at the destroyed target.
“The memory metal here can withstand attacks from a High-Tier One Ability User at most.”
“And it just broke.”
His eyes narrowed.
“In other words…”
“My attack intensity has already reached the limit of this machine.”
Kael’s lips slowly curled upward.
“My strongest attack is comparable to a High-Tier One Ability User.”
His gaze fell on the spear in his hand.
“That’s the power of a Combat Technique.”
Lightning Gale Break was currently the only Combat Technique Kael possessed.
But he had deliberately chosen it because it perfectly complemented his fighting style.
His spear techniques provided the physical foundation.
Purple Sky Thunder supplied the destructive energy.
Lightning Gale Break combined both.
The result was far more powerful than simply using either one independently.
Most powerful Ability Users relied on Combat Techniques specifically designed around their abilities.
A fire-type Ability User might have a technique built around flames.
A water-type Ability User might specialize in techniques that manipulated pressure or currents.
A swordsman might develop a technique that enhanced the destructive potential of his blade.
For Kael…
Lightning and the spear were one.
He looked at the ruined training equipment.
A faint smile appeared on his face.
“Tomorrow’s Combat Examination should be interesting.”
Kael placed the Obsidian Spear across his back.
Then he walked out of the training room.
The training rooms at Thunder Martial Arts School had dedicated maintenance teams.
Damage to equipment was repaired quickly.
More importantly, Kael wasn’t required to pay for the damage.
After all, people capable of damaging the school’s training equipment were precisely the kind of students the martial arts school wanted to attract.
Meanwhile, in another corridor of the building…
Claire and her friends were walking through the third floor.
One of the young men glanced around before speaking.
“After looking around for a while, I still think Iron Bear Martial Arts School is better.”
He shook his head.
“The training rooms here are smaller, and even the strength-testing equipment isn’t the newest.”
Another young man laughed.
“Of course it isn’t.”
“Do you think our annual membership fee of one hundred thousand credits is for decoration?”
The group laughed.
Sophie stretched her arms.
“Honestly, this is getting boring.”
“We came here to relax, but we’ve already seen almost everything.”
The young man wearing the silver earring suddenly grinned.
“Then why don’t we go to the combat room and have a few rounds?”
The others immediately became interested.
“That’s not a bad idea.”
“Let’s go.”
“At least that’s more interesting than walking around.”
They began heading toward the combat area.
Then…
BOOM!
A violent impact suddenly exploded somewhere nearby.
The floor beneath their feet trembled slightly.
Everyone stopped.
The smile disappeared from the young man’s face.
His eyes widened.
“What was that?”
He was the one among them with a C-rank Spiritual ability.
His spiritual perception was extremely sensitive to fluctuations in energy.
He could immediately sense the extraordinary force contained within the previous attack.
“That energy…”
His expression changed.
“That was the power of an Ability User!”
Claire looked at him.
“An Ability User?”
He nodded.
“Definitely.”
Claire’s brows furrowed.
She looked toward the direction of the sound.
“This floor is supposed to be reserved for high school students.”
That was strange.
The students who had already broken through the Awakener stage among Redhaven City’s high school population were extremely rare.
And almost all of them trained at Iron Bear Martial Arts School.
Why would someone at that level come to Thunder Martial Arts School?
Sophie frowned.
“Could one of those people have come here to train?”
“Or…”
The young man looked thoughtful.
“Could another high school student have just broken through?”
The possibility immediately caught everyone’s attention.
Among the hundreds of thousands of high school students across Westhaven Province, only a handful could break through to become genuine Ability Users before graduation.
Anyone who achieved such a feat would be considered an exceptional talent.
Claire’s eyes narrowed.
“Let’s go take a look.”
The others immediately agreed.
Their curiosity had completely replaced their earlier boredom.
The group quickly turned toward the source of the disturbance.
None of them knew that the person responsible for the terrifying explosion had already left the training room.
And they certainly didn’t know that the person they were about to investigate…
Was the same E-rank Awakener they had just been discussing.
Kael Veyron.