The Minotaur really didn't deserve the treatment it received. It had been summoned and knocked out, and the moment it woke up, it faced another battle.
Luckily, it was not gifted with the sentience to understand the woes of its existence.
Its only goal was to kill, and kill it tried.
However, its opponents had other plans.
August found that his fighting style wasn't as much of a problem as he originally expected. He needed to focus more on the depth of his laws, so that he could have a more diverse arsenal to enter battle with.
As for Valerie, while her power was more than enough, her ability was extremely limited when she didn't have the support of the earth.
It was a weakness she never would have discovered on her own. Now that she'd realized it, she wasn't planning to stop until she fixed it.
The best way for August to train was just to fight.
He took the main role, keeping the Minotaur's attention and tanking most of its attacks. He rushed around its body, continuously attacking in every fashion that he could imagine.
He was causing damage, but it was healing just as fast. The Minotaur only got angrier as it continued fighting, so its attacks became stronger and stronger.
While August did an endurance trial with the beast, Valerie stood back and focused on controlling her power through her body.
She was able to pass her Universe Baptism with the sheer power of her laws when she was on the ground. She understood so much about the law of wood that it was almost preposterous that she was only fifteen.
However, she had never actually tried to use the wood element to focus on things other than trees.
Sure, control of vines and other similar structures came naturally because of her understanding of trees, but she couldn't use them effectively without the prerequisite of creating a forest.
If she hadn't been lucky, she might've never caught them when they were falling through the sky earlier. They truly might've just hit the ground and died.
The threat of death helped her perform to the best of her ability and unlock the potential.
Now that she had another environment where she could properly grow, she could focus on a deeper level and gain true control.
The ground was already covered in vines. Valerie's residual power caused a great change to the cavern.
Instead of focusing on them, she had all of her attention on her hands, where even smaller, barely visible plants were growing.
Wood was a versatile element, because it didn't just relate to wood on a physical level.
It was an element filled with vitality and something of a subset of Life. People who reached great heights with wood laws were indistinguishable from their fellow life practitioners, if not for the fact that they had a slightly less varied arsenal.
Instead of "wood," what had been helping her most in this game was the power to sense vitality.
That was her focus. It would take a bit before she could join the battle in full, but she was using her vines to help August restrain the Minotaur when he needed it.
The main concern was Melania.
She was a person who didn't necessarily know her own path.
She was a trapper, but was that the right path? She knew she could succeed in it, but she didn't know if it was enough for her to keep up with her current company.
Was she even good enough to be friends with geniuses of that caliber?
Doubts plagued her mind no matter how much she tried to push them down.
It wasn't that she was insecure. That wasn't the case at all.
Rather, she looked at the future practically and couldn't see her keeping up with them. Rationally, her talent and methods weren't enough.
'At a certain level, traps become irrelevant, don't they?'
Unless she could turn an entire region into a trap, but she was not a void dragon or anything. She was an earth dragon, and her methods were restricted to the earth.
Earth dragons were already the least talented of their species.
They were the most common, so their bloodline was spread quite thin. Their connection with their element was usually worse than what a human could produce, and mana took much longer to move through their bodies than anyone else's.
But there was a reason for that.
Melania didn't know it yet, but earth dragons were completely untalented not just because of their bloodline, but because of their physiques.
Their species was especially gifted in another area, but that was her to find on her own.
She hadn't quite been in a situation that could unlock that potential, so she had no idea.
It didn't help that there were no noble earth dragon clans that could be used as an example.
The three had their own worries, and at this point in their friendship, none of them were quite willing to ask each other for help.
One had to remember that no matter how it seemed, they had only known each other for a week at most and less than a day at the least.
Their connection was still new, and though Damien was giving them a slight push to help them bond faster, he wasn't able to make them completely trust each other immediately.
Melania was with August because of gratitude. As for Valerie, it was curiosity and duty.
For those feelings to turn into genuine trust and friendship, they needed a lot more time together than just this.
But, if they did happen to share with each other, they definitely would've been able to improve at a faster rate.
That was Damien's main reason for trying to rush their bond.
These two would have a positive impact on August's growth if it all went as planned.
Still, the "plan" could barely be called that.
Damien had seen the results of excessively controlling parents. He didn't want his son to detest him.
As stated before, it was just a slight push.
If they managed to do it, then they did it. If they didn't, then he would leave it up to time.
'More importantly, they have two weeks, huh.'
August couldn't see his schedule because he hadn't bound his emblem yet. Damien, on the other hand, could see it, because he had found a way into the system.
August and Valerie would be competing two weeks from now.
As for Melania, she wouldn't be included in the heir wars for another month and a half.
She had some more time to figure out what she needed to do. At least for now, she was still too confused to be of any help.
August and Valerie continued to harass the Minotaur for several hours before they finished.
And, when they finally put it out of its misery, they were once again left in the cavern alone.
There was no immediate teleportation and no obvious clue that told them what they earned from defeating the beast.
As the other two went to investigate the cavern in depth, Melania turned around and looked at the staircase they came from.
She immediately froze.
Those few beings that had been forgotten as the trio focused on the Minotaur...
They'd now returned to haunt them.
The Minotaur really didn't deserve the treatment it received. It had been summoned and knocked out, and the moment it woke up, it faced another battle.
Luckily, it was not gifted with the sentience to understand the woes of its existence.
Its only goal was to kill, and kill it tried.
However, its opponents had other plans.
August found that his fighting style wasn't as much of a problem as he originally expected. He needed to focus more on the depth of his laws, so that he could have a more diverse arsenal to enter battle with.
As for Valerie, while her power was more than enough, her ability was extremely limited when she didn't have the support of the earth.
It was a weakness she never would have discovered on her own. Now that she'd realized it, she wasn't planning to stop until she fixed it.
The best way for August to train was just to fight.
He took the main role, keeping the Minotaur's attention and tanking most of its attacks. He rushed around its body, continuously attacking in every fashion that he could imagine.
He was causing damage, but it was healing just as fast. The Minotaur only got angrier as it continued fighting, so its attacks became stronger and stronger.
While August did an endurance trial with the beast, Valerie stood back and focused on controlling her power through her body.
She was able to pass her Universe Baptism with the sheer power of her laws when she was on the ground. She understood so much about the law of wood that it was almost preposterous that she was only fifteen.
However, she had never actually tried to use the wood element to focus on things other than trees.
Sure, control of vines and other similar structures came naturally because of her understanding of trees, but she couldn't use them effectively without the prerequisite of creating a forest.
If she hadn't been lucky, she might've never caught them when they were falling through the sky earlier. They truly might've just hit the ground and died.
The threat of death helped her perform to the best of her ability and unlock the potential.
Now that she had another environment where she could properly grow, she could focus on a deeper level and gain true control.
The ground was already covered in vines. Valerie's residual power caused a great change to the cavern.
Instead of focusing on them, she had all of her attention on her hands, where even smaller, barely visible plants were growing.
Wood was a versatile element, because it didn't just relate to wood on a physical level.
It was an element filled with vitality and something of a subset of Life. People who reached great heights with wood laws were indistinguishable from their fellow life practitioners, if not for the fact that they had a slightly less varied arsenal.
Instead of "wood," what had been helping her most in this game was the power to sense vitality.
That was her focus. It would take a bit before she could join the battle in full, but she was using her vines to help August restrain the Minotaur when he needed it.
The main concern was Melania.
She was a person who didn't necessarily know her own path.
She was a trapper, but was that the right path? She knew she could succeed in it, but she didn't know if it was enough for her to keep up with her current company.
Was she even good enough to be friends with geniuses of that caliber?
Doubts plagued her mind no matter how much she tried to push them down.
It wasn't that she was insecure. That wasn't the case at all.
Rather, she looked at the future practically and couldn't see her keeping up with them. Rationally, her talent and methods weren't enough.
'At a certain level, traps become irrelevant, don't they?'
Unless she could turn an entire region into a trap, but she was not a void dragon or anything. She was an earth dragon, and her methods were restricted to the earth.
Earth dragons were already the least talented of their species.
They were the most common, so their bloodline was spread quite thin. Their connection with their element was usually worse than what a human could produce, and mana took much longer to move through their bodies than anyone else's.
But there was a reason for that.
Melania didn't know it yet, but earth dragons were completely untalented not just because of their bloodline, but because of their physiques.
Their species was especially gifted in another area, but that was her to find on her own.
She hadn't quite been in a situation that could unlock that potential, so she had no idea.
It didn't help that there were no noble earth dragon clans that could be used as an example.
The three had their own worries, and at this point in their friendship, none of them were quite willing to ask each other for help.
One had to remember that no matter how it seemed, they had only known each other for a week at most and less than a day at the least.
Their connection was still new, and though Damien was giving them a slight push to help them bond faster, he wasn't able to make them completely trust each other immediately.
Melania was with August because of gratitude. As for Valerie, it was curiosity and duty.
For those feelings to turn into genuine trust and friendship, they needed a lot more time together than just this.
But, if they did happen to share with each other, they definitely would've been able to improve at a faster rate.
That was Damien's main reason for trying to rush their bond.
These two would have a positive impact on August's growth if it all went as planned.
Still, the "plan" could barely be called that.
Damien had seen the results of excessively controlling parents. He didn't want his son to detest him.
As stated before, it was just a slight push.
If they managed to do it, then they did it. If they didn't, then he would leave it up to time.
'More importantly, they have two weeks, huh.'
August couldn't see his schedule because he hadn't bound his emblem yet. Damien, on the other hand, could see it, because he had found a way into the system.
August and Valerie would be competing two weeks from now.
As for Melania, she wouldn't be included in the heir wars for another month and a half.
She had some more time to figure out what she needed to do. At least for now, she was still too confused to be of any help.
August and Valerie continued to harass the Minotaur for several hours before they finished.
And, when they finally put it out of its misery, they were once again left in the cavern alone.
There was no immediate teleportation and no obvious clue that told them what they earned from defeating the beast.
As the other two went to investigate the cavern in depth, Melania turned around and looked at the staircase they came from.
She immediately froze.
Those few beings that had been forgotten as the trio focused on the Minotaur...
They'd now returned to haunt them.
