To be defeated by a mage three cyclers lower than you is indeed kind of embarrassing, and no one wants to experience that.

Not wanting to embarrass himself, the middle-aged man waved his magic wand, and the remaining fire he had made earlier rushed out and surrounded Claude, trying to cling to his skin and burn him.

Unfortunately, with a single sword strike, Claude bisected the fire, and he rushed out.

"[Blazing Chains!]"

The mage pointed the tip of his magic wand at the charging Claude, and from it, a fiery red magic circle formed.

From the magic circle, multiple chains of fire flew out, ready to bind Claude at any second from now.

"[Lightning Fang!]"

With the creation of the magic circle, the lightning surrounding Claude's sword surged, and he made consecutive slashes, breaking the chains as a result.

Fire and lightning clashed, sending sparks and magic fluctuations all around.

Chains flew, sword thrusts, and they cancelled out each other. For a moment, no one was gaining the upper hand before Claude changed his stance.

"[Heavenpiercer!]"

The spell [Lightning Fang] was a spell to make sword thrusts multiple times without moving. It is a good counter for magic that forms multiple attacks like the [Blazing Chains].

On the other hand, the magic spell [Heavenpiercer] was a spell that amplifies the user's charging speed and also greatly enhances their piercing power.

In this situation, Claude perfectly executed the change of spell depending on his needs, and in the blink of an eye, he was in front of his sparring partner.

The middle-aged man, not that unprepared, gathered mana into his wand and used it to block the tip of Claude's sword.

A strong impact was endured by his arms, and he was thrown away. Using this chance, the mage waved his wand while still in the air, and he created a tornado.

The other hand that was not holding his wand was used for him to shield his back from the training room's wall behind him, and his body stopped.

Facing the tornado, Claude was fearless. He held his sword tightly, his mana surging as a magic circle formed on his feet.

Lightning crackled, his aura rising to the peak while positioning his sword in front of him. Lightning flashed in his eyes before he unleashed his spell

"[Heaven Splitter!]"

Claude made a single slashing motion in front of him, and his sword released a violent lightning blade energy that severed the tornado in half.

It was even as if the lightning blade didn't lose any strength at all, and it continued, flying at an astonishing speed towards the middle-aged man.

The mage's face paled, and he hastily formed a protective spell.

He erected a wall of fire in front of him that was immediately split in half as if it were paper. Just as before, the middle-aged man thought he would be cut in half, runes flashed inside the training room.

An invisible wave of power blocked the lightning blade slash, and it soon dissipated, much to the mage's relief.

"Young Master Claude, you're indeed a genius disciple of Lord Sage Stormbringer" the mage said in both admiration and bitterness while staring at the other man.

"This is all thanks to Master's guidance" Claude replied humbly.

"No matter, Young Master is still a monstrous genius. Not only did you go from a Mage Apprentice to a Senior Mage in just a single year, but you also defeated me despite our three cycles difference."

Thinking of this, the middle-aged man sighs. In the past year, he was always Claude's sparring partner, but now, in just a year, he had been surpassed by him.

Soon, Claude's Master would definitely have to recruit a mage stronger than him. He is now inadequate to be Claude's sparring partner.

"Hmm, I still have a long way to go" Claude replied while unconsciously holding his belly.

In truth, his lightning-fast progress was all because of his Earth Embryo. What he did back in the Earth Realm was essentially using the remaining origin energy of the realm to condense a World Seed.

After he assimilated with the world seed, he came to possess an 'Innate World,' and this Innate World is directly tied to him.

If Claude progresses, so does the Innate World. If the Innate World progresses, so does Claude.

With the resources he got from his master and the feedback from his Innate World, he rose to the Senior Rank in just a year.

His current talent is thanks to his Innate World and also the guidance from his Master, the Stormbringer Sage.

A Sage... that is both a rank and a title, and not just any mage can reach it, as the Sage Rank is the 6th rank of mages!

At that point, shattering realms are possible. Of course, it also depends on what realm we are talking about.

A realm just like the Earth Realm can he destroyed by such a mage. Even Claude's current power was far from enough to achieve that.

At the very least, he would need to be a 4th rank mage to have the power to destroy a realm, and it would only be the low-level ones.

"Hmm, humility, that is indeed a good trait to have, my disciple, but no need to be so modest" the old mage, who was actually a 6th rank mage, commented as soon as he entered the training room and the two immediately greeted him.

"Master" Claude said respectfully. This respect was 100% genuine.

This old mage had helped him greatly. If not for him, he might not have survived the void, and he wouldn't be here today.

He was also the one who taught the ignorant Claude about this world.

Previously, Claude was like a frog inside a well. His only world was the Earth Realm, and he didn't know much about the rest of the universe.

It was his master, Sage Stormbringer, who helped open his eyes and shed his ignorance.

To be the only disciple of a 6th rank mage is a supreme honor. 6th rank mages are rare. It wouldn't be an exaggeration to say that they are rarer than one in a trillion. In fact, a trillion is a rather low number for this comparison.

With the backing of a 6th rank mage, there was almost no one who could hurt Claude. In fact, he would be a target to be befriended and pleased.

Yet despite being such a powerful mage, his Master was kind and gentle. Claude felt like his master was his blood-related grandfather, who only had one wish, and that was to see him grow up healthy and happy.

"Hmm, your progress indeed does not disappoint. I am pleased. With you as my disciple, it might not take that long before your name terrifies the geniuses of the whole Southern Domain. You might even beat all the geniuses of the arrogant Skywolf Clan!"

Hearing such words from Sage Stormbringer, the middle-aged mage was shocked inside. The Skywolf Clan is one of the four most prominent powerhouses of the Southern Domain

These four factions are basically the heavens and the earth of the Southern Domain, and the geniuses that they have are countless.

Even their most ordinary genius is enough to be crowned as the Holy Sons or Holy Daughters of the common factions in the Southerdomain.

It wouldn't be a lie to say that more than a half of the geniuses of the universe are born or became part of one the four hegemons.

To beat their geniuses means your talent is standing at the top of the Southern Domain.

While it was true that Claude was talented, is his talent really enough for him to defeat the geniuses of the Skywolf Clan? The middle-aged mage didn't think so.

Claude might be a genius and sure, he might be as talented as some prodigies of the four hegemons but he doesn't believe that Claude's talent can beat all the geniuses of the Skywolf Clan.

Considering that the Skywolf Clan is one of the four hegemons, being more talented than all of their geniuses means that at the very least, your talent is at the top 4.

The Sage might only be saying such a thing because Claude is his disciple. What kind of master doesn't boast about the talent od their disciples and hope that their disciples can beat all the other geniuses in the world?

What he doesn't know is that the Sage's compliment was actually said not out of their master-disciple relationship, but it was the Sage's real thoughts.

A mage who assimilated with a World Seed and possessed an Innate World, who, amongst them, didn't become a top genius, given that they didn't fall prematurely?

Even the most powerful mages of the four hegemons would definitely want to make Claude their disciple due to his promising future.

A mage like him was extremely rare, and his future was basically guaranteed to be standing at the apex of the universe as long as he didn't die midway