CHAPTER 56: DISCIPLE CULTIVATION SYSTEM CH56 BATTLE ROYALE PT1.

Valaria dashed down the hallway of the building, her arms tensed and her face vicious for combat.

The first to fall victim to her taste was a timid girl peeking out at the end of the hallway.

Like most students, she had opted to wait the game out until most of the top dogs had their fun, planning to come out and eliminate at least one student. But her luck had run out the moment she crossed paths with Valaria.

The girl had peeked out at the rapid noise, and just as she moved her head around the corner to observe the origin of the sound, a baton was launched at her with impressive speed.

It tore through her head, and before she knew it, her body dissolved into fragments of mana particles, disappearing and leaving nothing except for the baton drilled into the wall behind her.

Seeing how effortless her takedown had been, Valaria concluded the girl must have been a mage.

Those bookworms were mostly glass cannon opponents—if allowed to charge their magic, they could unleash terrible destruction with just a chant.

Unless a mage could use chantless magic or was Headmistress Cassandra, it was always advised to take them out before they could gather their thoughts.

Ofcourse there were also the new variety of mages, called Warrior mages whom delved into spells that augmented the physical body.

It was a relatively new spell so she didn’t expect any students to have encoded it yet.

[Student Valaria has accumulated a point.]

A robotic voice echoed in her mind, announcing her first elimination.

"I wanna fatten you up... blah blah nonsense. We’ll see who has the last laugh, crazy missy."

Pulling her baton from the wall, she playfully spun it in her palm before alternating her gaze between the long row of stairs leading below and the elevator.

The building was probably crawling with students. In such a situation, using the stairs made her vulnerable since the possibility of encountering other students was high—but using the elevator would make her position visible.

The idea of climbing down the walls of the building sounded exciting, but one mistake and she would go splat on the ground.

She wouldn’t die, of course, but the pain would be real, and the elimination afterward wouldn’t hurt any less.

Basic deduction led her to the conclusion that using the stairway was the better alternative.

Before she began her descent, she leaned against the terrace, observing the ground below.

She could see a few students running down the staircase. They were tense, but that was all she could gather.

Without aura, she couldn’t properly decipher their strength, so she let them be and began running down the stairs.

The building had roughly 100 floors.

So her descent was going to last a very long time.

Pacing down the stairs with controlled breaths, she took a step onto the 95th floor—only for a sword to charge straight at her from the front.

She ducked and threw her body forward, slipping underneath the sword, which scraped through the wall behind her, leaving a thick dent.

"I have a problem!"

Performing a roll, she sprang up, her batons raised, her eyes darting toward her new opponent.

"Nice sticks."

The voice—deep and rough—belonged to a handsome green-haired youth with his sleeves rolled up to emphasize his thick, muscular arms.

He carried a delinquent kind of energy, displayed in his improper dressing, but his strength was the real deal.

Val could feel it.

It wasn’t to the extent of Trish’s, but it was heavy nonetheless.

"The name’s Kurt." He retrieved his heavy sword from the wall and casually flexed it over his shoulder.

"Valaria!" she responded, stepping back for assurance.

"You aren’t escaping, Miss Valaria," he smiled, noticing her intention. "Not unless you eliminate me, at least."

His aura exploded from his body, sending a shockwave coursing through the hallway.

"Can’t you give this pretty girl a pass? Just this once," she pleaded, understanding how grim her situation was.

"Haha..." Kurt laughed, patting his chest in amusement.

Valaria laughed along to humor him while slowly stepping back toward the staircase.

"I’m afraid I’ll have to refuse!"

Just as her fingers grabbed the stair railing, a sharp whirlwind blitzed past her and severed her pathway.

A heavy tremor assaulted the building, and the stairs leading below shattered, raining debris of cement down into the abyss.

Valaria’s heart sank, and her fingers trembled as Kurt—having redrawn his sword after the sudden slash—approached her.

"You’re a wolf in sheep’s clothing, Miss Valaria. Why restrain yourself when faced with another of your kin?"

"I have no idea what you’re talking about."

With the stairs now out of service, her options were the elevator or the window.

The first sounded impossible—she’d be eliminated before the elevator arrived. As for the second, it was unpleasant, but it was also her only remaining option.

"Val, don’t chicken out now. Remember, you don’t want to disappoint Master—or that old man either."

Remembering the face of the man who had taken her in as a child and trained her to become who she was now, she stopped retreating and bit her lip.

Another face flashed in her mind—this time, the teacher who had beaten her senselessly the previous day.

Overlapping that image with Kurt, who was walking toward her, she grinned.

"I really hate you."

She darted forward immediately after.

Kurt raised his sword with both hands this time before bringing it down in a heavy slash.

Val dodged to the right, kicked off the wall, and swung her batons down toward Kurt’s unguarded neck.

Kurt, reacting in time, twisted his body—the tip of his sword tearing through the ground before launching upward to intercept her blow.

**CLUNG—!**

Sparks flew as the impact of the clash tore through Val’s body, smashing her deep into the wall beside her.

The whole floor shook, and the ceiling lights flickered off and on.

"Ugh—!"

Feeling the pain shoot through her body, Valaria screamed and dropped to the ground, her body leaving a deep imprint on the wall behind her.