Chapter 836 - Advanced More than six thousand acolytes joined the second game that was held three months ago. It was a final screening between the elite class and privileged class. A mock battle of 50 versus 50 acolytes, where the privileged acolytes took the role of commander, the elite acolytes became the captains, while the regular acolytes acted as the troops. At that game, Harlight Faction decided to allow its newest member, an elite acolyte from a lower realm world, to become the commander of its team. It was a decision based on the acolyte's previous games performance. Julian didn't waste such an opportunity and managed to demonstrate his skills in military strategy and leadership in front of the faction and everyone else in the Magus Academy. He was able to lead a seemingly ordinary group of 50 acolytes and made it into the top 5 ranks. This feat of his became the ticket that allowed him to enter the privileged class. "That's amazing, Julian!" Emery praised with a smile. He was certainly happy that more Earth acolytes managed to enter the privileged class. "This is exciting! Are there any more surprises I should know about?" Emery asked as his gaze quickly alternated between his four friends. Along with the question, he also went to check his friends' cultivation realms. [Klea - acolyte rank 9 high stage with 7 pillars formed] [Julian - acolyte rank 9 mid stage with 5 pillars formed] [Chumo - acolyte rank 9 low stage with 3 pillars formed] [Thrax - acolyte rank 8 peak stage] Emery secretly clicked his tongue when he saw how strong his friends had become. It was actually quite surprising for him to see Julian had passed Chumo in cultivation rank. After some thought, he guessed the three months he spent in the privileged class were definitely the reason for this meteoric rise. "Well, at least Emery is also still rank 8 acolyte, so I'm not alone in this." Thrax quipped. Julian glanced at the Thracian and said, "You do realize that Emery has a different measuring scale than us, don't you?" Hearing that, Thrax snorted. "Huh! I know very well I can't beat Emery, but I still can beat your sorry ass anytime!" "I'd really like to see you try!" The small, supposedly heartwarming reunion between the five friends quickly turned into a little duel between the two old rivals. None of the other three tried to stop them. Everyone in the group knew each other enough, so as not to stand on each other's reverse scale. In fact, it had become a mutual understanding it was much healthier for the two nemesis to fight it out physically. [Julian Kaesar] [Battle power: 86] [Spirit force :752] [Thrax] [Battle power: 115] [Spirit force: 500] The two walked into a rather large clearing beside the villa. Of course, the other three Emery, Klea and Chumo followed them out to watch the fight that was about to take place. Thrax immediately started the fight strongly by activating his [Immortal Gate - stage 6]. A cloak of blazing energy swiftly enveloped his body as the skill gave him an additional 64 battle power, coupled with the spear technique that seemed to be burning fiercely. Emery and the other two watched as Thrax shot toward Julian at breakneck speed. Julian activated his own skill the [12 Golden Bell Divine Technique] in response. An almost indiscernible sheen appeared on his body, as if he had run into a metal fortress, the thrust of Thrax's blazing spear was stopped without difficulty. However, the Thracian did not become discouraged seeing his attack was stopped. Instead, the fighting intent in his eyes became even stronger. Combined with his [9 Sun Divine Technique], which basically provided with nearly inexhaustible stamina, Thrax quickly pulled his spear back and launched another powerful attack immediately like the Immortal Gladiator he was known for. They both knew that their fight had only just begun. Meanwhile, Emery, who became an observer together with his other two friends, showed a fascinated look while watching Thrax and Julian exchange blows. No matter how many of their battles he watched, it was still very interesting and insightful. The two had dueled nearly a dozen times, but officially their scores were still one to one. And, this one was definitely not considered an official fight. Hence, after multiple exchanges and realizing the situation was about to escalate, it was finally Klea who stopped the fight. "Alright, no more." The girl said as she stood near the two. "I don't want to see blood shed on such a happy occasion." Upon hearing that, the two immediately stopped and stored their weapons. "Hah, you're in luck, Roman." Thrax quipped, not forgetting the appropriate expression. "Hahaha, my Thracian friend, I was still using half my strength earlier." Thrax was startled and said "Half? Hahhaha I only used a third of mine." While the two seemingly mortal enemies continued to throw mud at each other, the Egyptian queen standing at the side finally couldn't hold it in anymore and threw two loud smacks at the back of their head before the bickering came to a stop. The rivalry might seem unhealthy, but Emery knew better, it was one of the reasons the two had advanced so much. While Klea busily scolded the two, Emery turned to Chumo, "What about you, Chumo? How have you been?" In response to the question, the Asian young man looked at Emery with glee. It was at this moment that Emery realized his friend Chumo didn't get any divine technique from their fortuitous opportunity back on Earth, nor did he have any institution or organization standing behind him, specifically supporting him. "Don't worry about me, Emery. I'll definitely catch up with all of you." A pondering expression appeared on Chumo's face before he smiled mysteriously and said, "Actually, I have a surprise… You'll see later." "Nice, I can't wait!" Emery proceeded to tell the group about what had happened to him over the past four months. Starting from the mission in Kulturmak, being stranded on an island in a godforsaken planet, being locked up in the Ouroboros and also the fortuitous encounter with Lord Izta during his return journey. He also told the group about the plan of establishing their own faction and Lord Izta's suggestion of meeting the Eastern Sage. There was also the planned meeting the headmaster arranged with the Nephilims after the mid-test. Having finished saying all that, Emery realized there was concern in the eyes and expressions on his friends' faces. But, before he could say anything, he suddenly felt a powerful surge of bone-chilling aura come crashing down from beside him. Emery turned his head on instinct, and his gaze was immediately met with a wicked smile and fiery glare. "An island with two girls you say? How interesting…" This particular question quickly established itself as one that managed to make Emery's heart skip a beat, as his mind suddenly stopped on a certain incident. The intuitive Klea quickly said, "Why are you suddenly nervous, Emery?" Emery didn't think that now was the right place and time to talk about this matter, but if Klea really wanted an answer, Emery was ready to answer truthfully To his complete surprise, however, Klea suddenly said, "Hahaha, Of course I know what kind of person you really are, Emery." The girl said with a chuckle "I actually feel sorry for her. I hope you don't break her heart too much." Hearing that, Emery's mind immediately recalled his last moments with a certain white hair girl and he involuntarily let out a long sigh. "See?" Klea smiled faintly. "You are an open book, Emery." The girl seemed to have misunderstood, but before Emery could explain, Julian grabbed his shoulder and interrupted with a serious expression, "Emery, I was hoping to discuss the Nephilims and the possibility of creating a faction, but right now the most pressing thing for you is the mid-test. How much have you learned about it?" "Not much at all," Emery responded quickly, before changing what he just said. "Actually, close to nothing." Julian's face darkened when he heard Emery's answer. "This isn't a game anymore, Emery. The test is going to be set on a planet in a calamity stage. There's going to be a lot of risk involved" Unbeknownst to Julian, hearing this made Emery even more excited. He actually didn't worry much about a real life test, especially after everything that had happened over the past four months. However, Julian's expression looked like he hadn't finished delivering important news. Emery also finally realized that Klea's expression also changed. This quickly gave Emery a bad feeling, his hunch was proved right when he heard Julian's next words. "Emery, for the mid-test, all the teams were already briefed and registered last week. We all here already have a team. I'm afraid that you will have to fight alone. You should quickly inquire about this." —------------ Author Note: Dear readers, with this chapter, the month of March is over and I thank you for your support in buying the privileged chapters. I hope you all had an enjoyable read. A slight preview for April chapters; Emery will have his two weeks of preparation before going to the midtest, we will see his place in comparison to the other privileged acolytes. Will he be able to advance before the test? What kind of test will it be? What does a calamity stage planet really mean? I hope you will join me again for the April chapters. PS: With a recent rise in rank, I wonder if we can finally reach the top 10 golden ticket rank in April. If we do, I plan to publish a mass release every weekend. Extra mass released if we can do it by the end of the month. I would love to have one of those golden badges on the Novel main page. Thank you very much.