A few weeks passed by in relative peace–relative…
Aurora would sneak through the window every other day to absorb some of Rain's cold mana under the guise of darkness, and Eve was none the wiser to it.
Meanwhile during the day, Rain would study magic. He had found a specific interest in studying and would spend most of his days in the library. However, despite this, he was still classified as a servant and could not further his knowledge, only residing on the rudimentary first floor.
"Rain, I've been looking for you." It was Eve.
"What is it?" He looked up from his book about basic arrays and materials.
"There's a competition soon amongst first years in the second stage. The winner gets to make one request to the vice-principal and she will do her best to grant it."
"And? You don't want me to watch, do you?" Rain responded.
"No, silly, you can participate!"
"Me?"
"Yes, although most servants don't compete due to their master's orders, it is technically allowed by school rules as long as you meet the other two conditions."
"When is it?"
"In one month, so you better prepare."
"Then can I leave?" Most facilities are unavailable to servants."
"Yes. Just don't get into any trouble. Here." Eve tapped her tablet on Rain's.
"You won't have any trouble leaving now, just don't get into any trouble and come back in time."
"Mhm."
And Rain was off to beyond the academy barrier.
He already had a place in mind.
*********
Far North of the Cambrian empire lay the Northern Barren overlooked by a small handful of war-hardened houses, but primarily the Velfords.
Rain had spent two days traveling at full speed, using his new knowledge of enchantments to bolster his speed. And it was only now had he finally seen the snow.
It was cold. Just how he liked it.
A light breeze brushed past his face as he looked up towards the sun. The light rays reflected off the mountain side, blinding him slightly.
There was nothing in sight but mountains and snow.
A small ratlike creature with fur covering everything except its snout emerged from its burrow beneath a leafless tree.
With one quick motion, Rain dashed towards it without breaking the layer of snow above the dirt and stone. He seized the little rat, channeling his dark mana into the little rodent as it squealed in pain.
Soon, it stopped, and Rain laid it back on the ground.
Go look for any beasts and treasures. He commanded it with the spell he had just placed onto the mole rat.
Rain had read about the Northern barren once. It was an expansive land that stretched far beyond any land man has ventured. And right in the center of it all was the Great Ascent, a mountain so enormous it pierced far beyond the clouds. Myth has it that anyone who could make the full ascent would ascend to godhood.
No one has made it more than twenty thousand meters up, and the land past it has never been explored. Some daring adventurers have gone far, but journeys, even for eighth rank superpowers often take years, and are met with the vicious attack of the creatures of the Northern Barren.
Despite all its dangers, the base of the Northern Barren is well established. Protected by the Velfords and its accompanying houses, the people here live well as hunters and pelt merchants, hunting the furry wildlife for their unique hide that is renowned for their beauty and insulating properties.
Rain was not near the Dukedom. He didn't want to be spotted by humans in his devil form, but he wasn't far either–two days walk at most. Still, he was here: the beginning of the Northern Barren.
It was an uncommon location for beginner adventurers, but it wasn't dangerous. The outer levels of the Northern Barren generally housed tier 1 and 2 monsters, with occasional third tiers as you entered the outer medial zone. It was the perfect location for Rain–and he liked the cold.
Walking atop the snow, he channeled a soft layer of mana over his body to stop himself from making footprints. Along the way towards the outer medial zone, he controlled more white mole rats to scout the land for any monster or treasures.
Something's there.
A rat had picked up the scent of a monster. It was an ape-like creature with white fur and a long monkey tail at the pinnacle of the second tier.
Sneaking up behind it silently, Rain formed a dark-ice spear in his hand and lunged at the creature.
He could feel the improvements to both his mana capacity and control with the addition of the core in his body. And without any resistance, the spear pierced through the back of the apes throat, shattering its spine in a mini crystalline explosion of black icicles.
Its head crackled like breaking glass and crumbled to the ground.
This was the first time Rain had fought since going to the academy, but that natural instinct was still with him it would seem.
Swiftly, he dug out its heart and dined on its blood and core. He realized that instead of all the energy automatically circulating around his body, it first took a detour to his core where it then spread out.
Is this how humans do it?
It felt unnatural in a way. It didn't flow as one cohesive stream, and he would have to fix it soon. Currently, it had little effect on his strength, but he knew that this could not persist as an impeded flow of mana would hinder the magnitude of his metamorphosis in addition to the creation of a "mana heart" at the fourth stage of the human progression.
But this was not the main issue at hand first. He needed to reach the pinnacle of the second stage. He needed to hunt. He needed to refine his skills so he could win the tournament. And the only way to grow stronger was to hunt the strongest creatures he could plausibly win against.
It died.
It seems a mole rat was killed by something. He steadily moved through the snow, using a light refraction and lightening enchantment to shroud his movements before he arrived at the scene.
There were a pack of those apes he had just killed. The leader was evidently third tier. It clearly wasn't a third tier powerhouse, but its presence was felt.
But Rain knew there would be no gain if there was no challenge, so without any care for danger, he shot out a handful of black-ice bullets that blinded a group of smaller apes.
Then, pushing off of a nearby tree, he leapt at the ape leader with a half-cast spear in his hand.
The big ape wasn't entirely stupid, and it too leapt up into the air, over Rain, raising both its hands to the sky for an overhead slam.
Rain chucked his spear up in the moment, grazing the ape's leg, and fell to the ground where he swiftly moved away.
BOOM!
A cloud of powdered snow erupted as the ape landed on the ground. Its strength was immense, leaving a crater of compressed ice where it struck.
But despite its strength, it lacked intelligence as did most lower-rank creatures. The snowstorm it had created blinded itself, and an ice spear struck its other luck from a blindspot.
With its movement heavily impeded, it roared, commanding the other apes to cover for him as he ripped off the ice from its legs.
Heeding the leader's call, the ape minions charged at this white devil in a frenzy, swinging wildly and tossing up even more snow.
Using the smokescreen his enemies had just created for him, Rain extended his black talons and covered them in a dark-ice extension, tearing through the apes one by one as they met the meatgrinder.
Soon, bodies scattered around Rain, staining him and the snow with freshly drawn blood that quickly froze and turned into crimson ice.
The ape leader was still in desperate shape. It had torn off all the ice stuck to its body, but realized that the black-ice continued to spread through his body like a disease. With time, it only got worse, and it was weaker than ever.
Any second rank creature would have perished by now, but with the ape's greater mana pool, it suppressed the spread to only its lower legs. But still, he had expended too much mana.
In one final gambit, it charged at Rain.
Rain only stepped back, dodging the apes every approach. He knew it was on death's door, and that it would forego any sort of defense in the slight hope that he would land a fatal hit on its opponent. So, he just had to wear it out.
And once the ape was truly on its final legs, Rain struck its head. The ape that previously stood almost three meters tall fell into the snow, its body strewn with black veins and ice.
The whole battle had been easy, controlled, and reactable. One hit from the giant ape would have nearly swung the battle, but Rain never let it. That was his style, one that was birthed from his natural physiognomy.