Dreadwolf, Lord of Runes

Fortunately, with Mira taking her loss and electrocution with grace, there was little resentment towards Luna within the crowd. If anything, her ingenious use of abilities showed she was far more than just her already impressive weapon skills. Thus, the awe they felt only increased.

Aelia quickly moved to grab the staggering Mira after she left the platform to try and help her, but the ramling quickly waved her friend away with a smirk. "I'm fine, Aelia! I can still walk on my own, you know!"

"Fine, my ass!" a frustrated Aelia exclaimed. "You were smoking!"

"That was just the stone," Mira shrugged dismissively, before she groaned and sat down to lick her wounds. "I just need a few minutes for the pain to subside, and then I'll be good as new."

Knowing Mira was far too stubborn to accept her help, and also knowing she really was fine, Aelia sighed and nodded. "Fine… But we still need to get you a new shield," she then continued while pointing to the blackened piece of split open coal that used to be her shield.

Yet, once again, Mira waved her hand with a mysterious smile, "Oh, there's no need for that… I was going to get rid of it soon anyway."

"What do you—" a confused Aelia began, but then interrupted herself. "Oh!" she exclaimed and nodded when she remembered the one new thing Mira had received that might provide her with an alternative.

Meanwhile, Luna's second-to-last challenger was about to enter the arena, when Kane suddenly showed up next to her. "Ah!" Anna exclaimed with a hint of fear when the insane amount of repressed lust she felt for him began to crash against the borders of her mind.

Yet, before anything else, Kane quickly touched her shoulder, and then retreated again. Anna blinked. Instantly, she realized her lust had returned to normal. Once again, she felt only the usual amount of desire for everyone, including Kane.

Before she could ask, Kane explained with a small smile, "This time, I redirected your lust away from Luna. Should make this as fair as possible, after all, and I didn't want you to get distracted if you glance my way during the battle."

"Ah!" Anna exclaimed once again, but this time in realization. Then, she smiled softly, "Thank you," before quickly entering the arena. She still felt slightly uncomfortable after knowing how much control he had over her lust and needed a little more time to decide what she wanted.

Meanwhile, Luna was sitting on her side of the small battlefield with closed eyes and crossed legs as she meditated to recover her energy. Despite electrocuting Mira for less than a second, it had still cost her a decent chunk of aether.

As for Anna, she waited for Luna to finish, having no interest in an unfair victory against a lord's Valkyrie. That said, she did hop from foot to foot nervously.

In her right hand she held a glaive that was about as tall as she herself, the bud of which rested on the floor. It wasn't an impressive weapon, being not much more than a curved blade on a sturdy wooden shaft.

But this wasn't the first time Kane had seen less than impressive weapons among the his new subordinates. 'Getting new weapons, or perhaps even a dedicated blacksmith, is an important next step,' he mumbled thoughtfully to himself.

Finally, Luna was done and she quickly stood up before once again crouching down and holding her swords in the usual style. Once again she was grinning confidently.

Yet, there was a clear increase of tension in her body. Anna was her first opponent with a core in the fifth rank, and she knew this was going to be her hardest battle yet.

Still, Anna's fifth rank core was the soul core, while blood and spirit were only at the fourth still, so she wasn't too worried. Only a fifth rank blood core like Aelia's would truly make her take notice.

Seeing that Luna was ready, the hareling quickly stopped hopping from foot to foot and gripped her glaive tightly, yet she still looked uncomfortable.

"U— Uhm… I— I'm really sorry about this," she stammered slightly while her eyes wandered nervously. "I'd rather not disrespect a Valkyrie, b— but I don't want to let Aelia and the others down, either, so…"

At that point, she quickly grabbed her glaive with both hands and brandished it fluidly, until the bladed end was pointing towards Luna, "S— So I'll fight with all I have!"

A glint of appreciation passed through the catling's eyes, and her grin widened. "Don't be so nervous," she giggled mischievously. "The real disrespect would be if you didn't do exactly that." Then, she beckoned Anna tauntingly with her hand, "Now come on, and prove your worth to me!"

Exactly what she meant by that was unclear, but hearing Luna's words caused Anna to sigh in relief, before her eyes hardened. "Good, then here I come!" she exclaimed, filled with determination.

Once again, Luna was content to let Anna take the lead by getting closer. At first, her grin remained confident and relaxed, but that quickly changed when Anna revealed her technique and element.

Suddenly, a kind of light green aura exploded out of Anna's body and stuck to her like a flickering flame. At the same time, her speed increased, and Luna's grin made way for another sombre expression.

"Spirit element! Interesting…" Ella mumbled curiously. "Another mid-tier element. It's no wonder these girls are a part of the most powerful among you."

Next to her, Aelia chuckled, "Hehe, that's right. If Luna thought she'd be safe from fifth rank blood cores until she faced me, then this must be a rude awakening."

Despite its name, the spirit element was related to the soul core, not the spirit core, and many soul core elements, like Kane's shadow, dealt with more metaphysical aspects than the brute power of, say, fire, rock, or force.

So was the case with the spirit element as well. Rather than directly attack or defend, most spirit techniques instead focused on enhancement of the wielder, or debilitation of the enemy.

In this case, Anna was clearly being enhanced, which made her fourth rank blood core suddenly become that much more dangerous.

With no time to waste, Luna quickly changed her combat stance. Rather than her crouching down with one sword in a regular grip, and the other in a reversed one, she now held both swords in a standard grip and pointing forward, with her body straightened a little more.

Her previous stance was a hybrid form that she usually favoured against weaker or equal opponents, but now she felt the need to use something more versatile and defensive.

Things were about to escalate.