Ascension of the Primalist [A Tamer Class, LitRPG]

The annihilation of Kastal's Rank-40 bracket was somehow currently faster and even more brutal than that of the Rank 60s. The first combatant of the empire, the axe-wielding Warrior who had defeated Brandon, went on to humiliate a Rank-40 Rogue from the Oskon Academy before finally being taken down by one of the Sidera students. The second and third Bridani fighters crushed two and three opponents respectively, ensuring that each left with a scar or an injury.

The only bright spot for Kastal had been Elena. She was currently in the ring, facing the fourth combatant of the Bridan Empire, a Rogue called Floria—the woman with the pale scar and a striking resemblance to the Rank-60 Dark Assassin. She had started the fight with a barrier almost full. And yet against all odds, Elena was winning.

In the ring, the noblewoman's crimson hair was like a fiery banner in the midst of her cold domain. The Rogue swung her daggers and unleashed a flurry of sharp, cutting gales, but Elena parried them without much effort. Walls of thick, opaque ice erupted from the sand to block the attacks, and frigid gusts howled from her staff, which pushed her opponent away before she could get any closer.

Without wasting time, Elena began channeling one of her signature spells—one everyone would have thought impossible for her to cast in a one-on-one duel. Yet as Floria ran to circle the frozen rampart, a barrage of ten-foot-long ice spears materialized above Elena and hurled straight at her opponent.

The scarred woman darted to the side to dodge, but it was useless; two of the massive projectiles still slammed into her. She gritted her teeth through the pain and triggered a burst-of-movement spell, pulling back to her left to dodge the rest of the volley. The azure barrier wrapping her body had thinned to barely a fifth of its original thickness.

Seth grimaced, causing Nightmare to stir inside his pocket-realm.

'Why aren't you happy for her?'

'I am,' Seth answered as his gaze moved to Director Cranner.

The man had likely kept him for last, hoping Kastal would already have secured the victory by that point—or that the event would have concluded before the 'disgraceful commoner' ever set foot on the stage.

Seth's eyes locked on Bridan's final combatant: another Rank-40 Rogue. The young man wore a perpetual smirk on his face as his fingers drummed restlessly against the hilts of his twin daggers.

'I wanted to face him while his barrier was still full, but now it seems Elena might thin it up,' Seth added through Link.

'Why?' Nightmare asked. 'You'd still have that Eldric guy's book even if you don't have to fight at all. Why show your spells before the war begins next month?'

'That's true, but—' Seth began before stopping mid-thought. 'Don't tell me you're just hoping I won't have a chance to use Mantle of Terror?'

'Nahhh, don't be ridiculous,' the direwolf answered, his voice poorly hiding his lie.

In the ring, Elena unleashed a series of ice shards, which hammered into the Rogue's failing barrier and consumed what it had left of its aether. As the scarred woman dropped to one knee, Elena stood tall and kept her chin up. Her own barrier still glowed intensely with what seemed to be a bit more than half of its initial strength. She'd given the best performance of Kastal's combatants by far, and the fact that she was only Rank 36 made it even more impressive.

Taken aback by how well the noblewoman had done, Seth focused his gaze on her and cast Intermediate Identify.