An explosion occurred, and Azure, transformed and even more injured, emerged from the smoke and kicked Enrico, causing him to fall into the abyss with no mana at all. Enrico managed to grab some rocks to stop his fall, but Azure was already coming from above with another kick. At the last moment, Enrico dodged, causing Azure's foot to become stuck in the wall. Taking advantage of the opening, Enrico grabbed the ordinary bow from that dungeon as well as the spear.
"Great, now that we're in the abyss and his foot is stuck, he can't move."
He placed the spear against the bow and fired at Azure's core. The attack hit its target, destroying the core and causing the monster's body to dissipate into the air.
"Finally, fuc—"
Before he could finish, Crimson appeared above him and punched Enrico, who fell into the abyss and lost consciousness.
'Damn it.'
Enrico got up from the bed sweating and bit his finger.
"I got excited because I managed to do it and let my guard down."
He stood up, still a little dizzy as he remembered the pain. The only good thing was that, whenever he was about to die, he was brought back. At least, even after being defeated, he could still take advantage of the benefits of the pact.
"At least I got the first 2%."
[Hmph... Enjoy it, because this only works once for each of the six.]
"I can feel your irritation from here."
[Of course I'm irritated. You exploited a loophole.]
"It's not my fault if you didn't specify it."
Enrico's smile looked like that of a demon.
[You... You're lucky the Constellations liked your strategy and that this only works once.]
Three weeks had passed since all of that, and what irritated the system so much was precisely the way Enrico had exploited the loophole. When he entered the fake dungeon and was defeated, everything had happened exactly as she expected. The real problem came afterward, when he realized that he could use the rule to his advantage.
Enrico had entered on a Friday and, when Monday came, simply said:
"The week has passed, so take me to the fake dungeon again."
Immediately, an argument began between the two, and the system had to back down and accept it by order of the Constellations.
Enrico then checked his status.
Name: Enrico Solcren Ferreira
Magic: Fire – Circle Zero – 70%
Mana Capacity: 91
Ability: Elemental Clone
Soul: 60
"Thanks to this, I've improved quite a lot, but it's still not enough."
Just the day before, after seeing the statuses of Kai, Valença, and Serenya, Enrico realized that all three had reached the First Circle, creating a considerable difference between them. While the others advanced, he still needed to find a way to keep up with their growth.
'It's decided. I'm going to the Mana Zone this Saturday.'
Enrico stood up and began packing a backpack. The idea had already been decided in his mind, and he didn't intend to change his mind.
[Mana Zone?]
'It's a dangerous place where there are several Nartheis of Ranvil level.'
[Wouldn't that be suicide?]
'Yes, but if I want to improve my mana and reach the First Circle, I need to go there. The next arc is the ranking competition. We were supposed to face Class C, but since we're already in Class C, we'll face Class B.'
In Class B, half of the students were already in the First Circle. If Enrico wanted to have a good fight and not fall behind, that was practically his only option. Although he didn't want to face someone from Class B. He wanted to face someone different, but that would depend on his level.
[But why doesn't anyone else go? If this zone increases circles, why not send someone strong with the son to improve?]
"Because it's poisonous."
Enrico finished speaking and put the backpack under the bed. The expression on his face became more serious.
'That place poisons the user's mana. That's where the Nartheis that devoured Tolen's father's mana was born.'
[Then you could lose your mana... I'm sorry, but I can't allow that.]
'Don't worry. I'll get a protection that the protagonist was supposed to use: a restoration necklace.'
[He was supposed to? Wait... You're using the protagonist's items?]
'Yes, but with me, he will quickly surpass the level he would have reached using that item, so don't worry.'
It was an item that the protagonist would use to reach the Second Circle after becoming trapped in a cave inside the Mana Zone. The magical poison would corrupt his mana, but that item would be able to restore it to normal.
[That's cheating. You can't use that.]
'Relax. It's a single-use item. He gets it after defeating an old man in a game of finding a stone using illusion magic. And even without being able to see the illusion, it's easy because he always leaves the stone in the middle.'
Enrico finished arranging his things and lay down on the bed, preparing to sleep.
[Who is this old man?]
'A Ninth Circle mage. Now I'm going to sleep. I need to wake up in four hours.'
Enrico turned off the light and closed his eyes while outside, a girl in armor ran nearby with an irritated look.
'Why did I say that I could train now? Damn it, because of this I have to run two more laps before going to sleep... I hate my leader.'
Well, at least she would get her eight hours of sleep as always after the last two laps.
"Let's finish this already. I want to sleep."
The next day, an old man was sitting, watching people pass by. In front of him was a small table with six cups, and from time to time, he invited someone to try to find a hidden stone among them after six movements.
"Here."
A man pointed to the fifth cup. The old man lifted the cup and showed that there was nothing there.
"What? But I was sure I saw the stone go into this cup."
The man was confused, sighed, and began walking away. He just didn't complain anymore because it was a free little game to pass the time.
"Sorry, young man, but you failed."
The old man arranged everything again and waited for the next participant. The reason for doing that was simple: he was looking for people with the potential to reach the Ninth Circle and, besides that, he also did it for fun.
'I've been doing this for months and no one has managed to see through the illusion.'
For a Ninth Circle mage, that illusion was quite simple. What he did was create an illusion in layers, essentially forming a small dimension. The stone wasn't inside any of the cups; it remained in the center of the table the entire time. The stone that people saw was merely another illusion.
It was a magic he had created that transformed an illusion into reality, allowing someone to actually hold the stone. After the person returned it, he dispelled the illusion and made it seem as though he had placed it in another cup.
In truth, he didn't even bother moving the cups quickly. He only wanted to make sure that people saw the illusionary stone and believed that it was being hidden among them. The test didn't depend on speed, but on realizing what was happening behind the illusion.
The problem was that, until that moment, no one had managed to do it.
The old man continued waiting for someone who could see through his magic. He needed to find an interesting person, someone who could demonstrate enough potential to awaken his curiosity, but he was already beginning to doubt that he would find anyone.
'When is someone interesting finally going to appear?'
"What an interesting game. Can I try?"
A boy appeared, dressed in the Astrong Academy uniform.
'He looks quite young, he must be around fifteen or sixteen years old. So he's probably a first-year student.'
"Of course, boy. This game is for everyone."
The old man did what he always did. He created the illusionary stone and handed it to the boy, expecting him to hold it to confirm that it seemed completely real. However, Enrico refused, seeming quite surprised by the offer, which made the old man raise an eyebrow.
Then, he began moving the cups slowly, fast enough only for the boy to follow the movement of the illusionary stone. After completing the six movements, he stopped and looked at Enrico curiously.
"Where is it, boy?"
Enrico looked at the cups for a few seconds and began by pointing to the middle cup.
'I already knew.'
Damian was already about to become disappointed, but before he could say anything, Enrico lowered his finger and pointed to the area directly in front of the cup, directly at the position of the real stone.
"Is it this one, sir?"
Enrico's smile was filled with challenge.
Damian became completely motionless.
It was the first time someone had pointed at the real stone.
After months of conducting that test, he had finally found someone who had managed to see through his illusion. And not only that: the boy had completely ignored the stone he wanted everyone to see and pointed directly at what was actually hidden.
"What is your name, boy?"
"Ah, my name is Enrico Solcren Ferreira. Nice to meet you, sir. So... is there a reward?"
Enrico's smile grew even wider as Damian Hiei stared at him in complete disbelief.
Finally, he had found someone capable.