Absolute Soul
33. Snow and Ice II

Awakening, a term that refers to the 'resurrection' of a Blazer alongside Soul Arc. Resurrection here does not mean to rise and defeat death, but rather the rise of strength and the sixth potential of a Blazer.

Awakening is an event when someone reaches this stage, then his soul power will increase far from before and sometimes followed by the ability of Soul Arc to mutate into something different from what he had known.

This stage is usually also followed by a change in the physical appearance of the Blazer, the most common example being that their hair and eyes change color, as is the case with Salvia today.

The existence of Awakening is not a secret, but not many know because this stage is not something that is often found in the world per-Blazeran.

Awakening can only be achieved by Blazer who is determined to devote everything to a certain reason that is valuable to him, a pent-up force that lies dormant within everyone.

True, Awakening can actually be achieved by all Blazers, but not many humans have a determination as hard as steel even in the world per-Blazeran though. Salvia was one of these people.

"Awakening: Snow Valkyrie." Salvia's hair and iris have been completely pink, it can be seen clearly by everyone both present in the arena and watching at home.

When Edward was still stunned by the change, Salvia unceremoniously deployed a large amount of pink snow to attack the ice-capable young man.

Edward's consciousness returns when Salvia launches an attack. He soon formed an ice wall as before to hold Salvia's snow, but thanks to the increased strength of the Awakening, Edward's ice wall could not withstand the snowfall, destroy the giant ice man protective Edward and throw the young man a few meters back.

"Snow can beat ice?!"

"It's an unusual increase...."

"Salvia's increase in strength must have something to do with changes in the color of her hair and iris."

Most of the spectators and disciples present here did not know the existence of Awakening, differing in reaction from the representatives of small and large Guilds. They stood wide-eyed unable to believe Salvia's change, while Haikal and Heru reacted no differently from Guild representatives.

"Hey, isn't that Awakening? Are we dreaming? Haikal, answer me...." Heru tugged at Haikal's clothing sleeve asking for an explanation to feel that he was dreaming.

Haikal could not answer or see Heru's reaction, he himself was busy being stunned by the extraordinary power that Salvia had never shown until now. He understood that Salvia had an unusually strong power because not only was she a genius from birth, she was not lazing about in training.

Both Heru and Haikal know the existence of Awakening which is actually not widely known to people. They have been practicing and aiming to become Blazers for a long time so they are quite active in finding out information about the world per-Blazeran, which is why Awakening is not something new for them.

But to witness directly with his own eyes, let alone the person who reached Awakening this was the girl who had spent a whole month training together, the two could not believe this just like that.

On the other hand Edward who was Salvia's opponent looked annoyed. Since this tournament began he had not been hit by attacks because of his strength and reliable ability, of course as someone who had high self-esteem seemed to be unable to accept this humiliation.

Despite feeling so upset Edward understood that this was a fight, not a practice with straw dolls, "Good too, Snow Princess." Edward then stomped his feet creating large chunks of sharp ice one by one towards Salvia intending to avenge him.

Salvia exhaled her breath of steam inside her snowman and exerted her giant snow legs smashing all over Edward's ice without exception, leaving the young man and the audience wide open.

Previously invisible Salvia had a chance to face the ice Edward, but now the position is reversed? How could there be a change in the flow of the match so quickly? At least that's what many people think.

Edward and Salvia are still seen attacking each other using their respective abilities, but it can be seen that Edward's attack is not so useful against the snow Salvia has experienced Awakening, which is not the case, even Edward was forced to continue to survive so strong Salvia attacks.

"Heh, it's pretty good for someone who was able to reach Awakening before becoming an official Blazer" Edward said, setting his breath wild thanks to the previous intense exchange of quick attacks.

Salvia herself still looked fine, different from before she entered Awakening who seemed to struggle and laboriously resist Edward's attack, "I won't let you take a breath." He then attacked again with his snow in droves regardless of Edward's words.

Salvia realized that Edward was trying to buy time to regulate his breath, so he continued to attack making Edward continue to avoid or resist his attacks using ice, draining Edward even more.

It had been about twenty minutes since the battle of the two began, but neither Edward nor Salvia had any intention of giving in. The remaining ten minutes, if in that time no one wins or loses, the fight is assessed as a draw and an additional round will be held to determine the winner of this match.

If only none of Edward or Salvia won and lost, it would be difficult for both to continue the next match because their condition is not prime.

After some time of continuing to dodge and conserve soul energy, Edward could see his efforts coming to fruition.

Salvia's breathing started to fall apart, her soul energy was already on the verge, her snow speed and strength were no better than before, even stopping her attacks several times. This made Edward's eyes sparkle.

"You're on the verge, aren't you?" When Salvia's attack completely stopped Edward's big, haughty smile curled back on his lips, aware that Salvia's soul energy was running out, "Give up, that way I won't hurt you any further."

Salvia did not reply to Edward's words but focused on regulating the breath and restoring the soul's energy, but Edward was not as good as waiting for Salvia to recuperate. Edward raised his hand and floated a few ice spears, "Frost Javelin."

Salvia clucked resentfully realizing she could neither recover her soul energy nor energy, she then lifted the snow to catch the ice spears dampening the thrust and smashing them into pieces like breaking a glass.

Edward's smile grew more and more felt he had won, while an annoyed expression could be seen adorning Salvia's face. Some spectators were also upset at Edward's attitude that did not reflect the man's attitude, but no one dared to protest.

Edward was part of the Ghaetas family, one of the nobles of the kingdom of Wileshia. Salah speaks a little then the stakes are not one life, but their families can be affected.

In addition, talking that can not cause disputes with the Ghaetas family, then can trigger disputes between countries that can lead to war. Of course no one wants that to happen.

"Alright, I'll give you a gift for having successfully cornered me up here." Edward closed his eyes concentrating on his soul energy creating a great opportunity for Salvia.

Although her pride as the Blazers of the Volksky family refused to take this opportunity, Salvia's desire to win was greater than her pride. Salvia also turned her giant snowman into a large amount of pink snow and lifted him up, then formed dozens of—no, hundreds of snow spears with no small amount of soul energy.

"Hey hey, you're kidding me, aren't you?"

"Don't this girl miss the genius?"

"Creating hundreds of spears like this arguably equaled the abilities of an Expert-level Blazer...."

The entire person who witnessed Salvia's abilities could not stop clucking in admiration. How not? At the age of just a dozen years already have the ability of Blazer Expert level, how will it develop in the next ten years?

Indeed making hundreds of snow spears takes time and soul energy is not small, but Salvia believes his efforts will be paid. With this belief Salvia then threw all her snow spears at Edward who still closed his eyes, "Snow Edge Rain!"

Hundreds of snow spears immediately shot towards Edward who showed no signs of resisting as if he was giving up, but just before the snow spears of Salvia touched him a huge burst of soul energy pressure blew away all those spears, sending everyone watching the match into a great flight.

Salvia herself was much more surprised than all the spectators. He was certain that the hundreds of spears contained his full power, yet Edward's burst of soul energy was able to destroy his attack in an instant? It was impossible for Salvia to believe.

"What's up, Snow Princess? Is your fight over?" Edward's voice sounded slow and quiet, but was able to make Salvia's body creep.

There, Edward was standing straight, folding his hands in front of his chest as if nothing had happened before, but something had changed for him. Her hair that was originally pure white now turned dark blue, while her irises were dim red.

Salvia's body trembled violently seeing Edward's change in appearance, especially the thin dark blue aura that carried a gripping impression around Edward's body to her.

Witnessing Salvia's seemingly terrified response, Edward curled a faint smile at her lips, "Do you think only you can reach Awakening?"