Vile Evil Hides Under The Veil

Ranking battles were a huge chance for Eren to get used to his custom-made time-element spell.

The state of epiphany had made him alter the sequencing of the spell's mana points. The changed algorithm had basically made it deviate from the original Sedated Perception, cross the boundaries of a four-star variant, and the rate itself as the sole five-star spell that didn't have any lower star counterparts.

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The five-star spells were special in a way that they couldn't be executed by everybody effectively. Only certain people who were in sync in both body and mind with the creator of the spell could execute the said spell with its five-star alteration effectively.

When a ranker who is not the creator of the spell gets their hands on a five-star variant of it, they would always fail short of bringing forth its true prowess demonstrated by the original creator.

The difference of power and efficiency between a higher star and lower star variants of the spells only increased with the rank.

That's why it got rarer to find higher star variants of the spell the higher you climb the ranking ladder.

The ranking techniques and spells were almost always element bound. That meant almost all of them were related to their respective element.

The potions and artefacts on the other hand were made so that they could be used by all the rankers belonging to the said potion or artefact's rank. Of course, there were exceptions in the cases mentioned above, but they were rare and seldom used by the low-level rankers.

Furthermore, the inherent nature and mana signature of the ranker also affected the spell's execution and end result. It was hard to find two rankers with the same element and inherent nature within their generation. And if mana signature was to be considered, it was impossible to find the matches even if samples from different generations were to be considered.

In short, it was difficult to find a perfectly suitable candidate for a five-star spell that could adapt to it and display its true power and efficiency. If this compatibility were to be ignored, the top star variant of the spell would be no different than a four-star counterpart in its power. The result would get worse with the increasing difference in the compatibility.

This was also the reason why rankers would seldom go for five-star techniques or spells. They wouldn't get their money's worth if they were to fail miserably in getting in sync with the said spells or techniques. It was better to take a three-star or four-star technique which they knew wouldn't cost as much as the five-star one while still delivering the intended results because their compatibility requirements weren't as high.

This was the reason LA's Novice Treasury was normally capped off at four-star variants, that too for a selected number of spells. The auction was the only time the students could get their hands on the four-star variants of their spells if and when Novice Treasury gave them the lame excuse of unavailability to provide the same.

That's why Sedated Perception had become a special spell in Eren's arsenal. He didn't think there'd be someone in LA with a five-star spell in their repertoire as him. Furthermore, Eren's spell had been altered by the insight brought about by the state of epiphany. This was an alteration that was custom made for him only. It might not be related to the original five-star variant of the spell anymore.

That meant Eren wasn't exactly using the original version of the Sedated Perception. And he doubted that the changed sequencing wasn't universal. The spell was limited to a special time-element user like him... made for him, by him!

If he were to record the changed sequencing of his altered spell on a spell scroll and give it to some other time-element user, they might not be able to execute it at all. The spell was going to be Eren's biggest trump card at the time of the pinch in the upcoming future.

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The morning heralded the creation of bubbling excitement and uncalmable anxiety among the minds of LA's first-years.

Eren woke up and practised his ranking technique before getting ready to leave his dorm room with Jake. The duo met up with Steve and Becky before heading to Novice Incipience. The intraclass ranking war was going to take place at that venue.

"There's something changed about you."

Becky commented at Eren when they were walking towards the venue. The latter just shrugged his shoulders and replied:

"We were all someone else yesterday. And we will be someone else tomorrow."

The butcher casually replied with a philosophical sentence.

"Don't try to play dumb, Eren. My element and inherent nature let me feel the warmth of one's aura. And yours has just turned colder for some reason. What did you do?"

"Who knows? It might be related to my current ranking technique that I started practising? Or a spell maybe? I don't know.

Life is ever-changing, Becky. So it's only natural that the living follows in its footsteps. More importantly, you guys, how many spells did you learn and how many can you use ACTUALLY in the battle?"

Eren diverted Becky's interrogation with his bullshittery. He really didn't know what Becky was talking about. But he was just made aware that Becky's element and inherent nature had granted her a peculiar sense. He didn't want to risk her finding more about himself by continuing the topic.

His question was answered by Jake quickly after:

"Most of my time during these two days was spent learning and practising my ranking technique. I could only learn a defence-related spell called Yewiha Mekelakeya. It absorbs moisture from the atmosphere and creates a water shield in front of me.

The spell can be remotely moved and adjusted in its size and shape with my mana sense. So thankfully, it can be used for both offence and defence. But I'm not sure about its execution. I just didn't have enough time to practise it. What about you, Steve?"

"Well, my technique was straightforward like most earth element techniques are. So I didn't have to struggle as much as you, Jake. But learning about the spell was tough for me. I just barely succeeded in executing the spell by staying up all night.

My spell Yemidiri Medafi lets me coat my fists with earth elemental mana, enabling me to have serious punching power. But the mana conversion to earth element takes time as I'm not proficient in it.

I couldn't learn a defensive skill in such a short time. So… *sigh* I'll be a sitting duck till the only offensive spell in my repertoire takes effect."

Steve finished his report about his progress on a disappointing note. He looked at Becky next, nudging her to share her current state:

"Haah! I'm on the same boat as you guys. I have two spells, one offence and one defence. But I'm not sure about executing either of them the way I want.

This ranking war is such a sham. It didn't give students enough time to prepare. It's like LA wants its students to go into ranking wars with shallow preparedness."

Becky seemed frustrated at her progress. She thought LA had set most students up by declaring ranking wars this early in their first academic year. The butcher couldn't agree more:

"You are not wrong in saying that. LA set up the ranking war right after the auction event so that students would be desperate enough to buy techniques and spells for themselves.

But it also benefits the students, you see. They get to know if their technique or spells were suitable for them or not right from the get-go. Controlled battles are the most efficient way to figure things like these."

"Alright, Mr-know-it-all! Tell us about your progress. And speak honestly. Don't play with words like you are used to doing."

Becky looked at Eren with her inspective gaze and the latter could only laugh mirthlessly at her bantering.

"About my progress…"

Author's Note: Brace yourselves. The ranking wars would start from the onwards! ;)