Chapter 357: Constantly Growing Youths
"Did he actually manage to learn a skill which can defeat the crystal demon?"
Ayrin's eyes widened in shock.
Everyone watched as the reddish-purple sapling contorted and transformed into an extremely strange looking vine.
The vine was dark green in color and was covered with long downy hairs, making it look like a long green fox tail.
Countless slender roots writhed as the foxvine immediately tore itself out of the metal fragment covered ground and attached itself onto the crystal demon.
"I've done it!" Stingham exclaimed as he let out a sigh of relief.
He could clearly sense that the foxvine's slender roots had already fully taken root within the crystal demon.
"Boom!"
The air around the crystal demon shook as a green gas spewed out from its hands.
"The crystal demon has copied Stingham's skill! How will Stingham deal with it?" Ayrin shouted nervously.
"Wahahahaha…" Meanwhile in the crystal ball, Stingham stuck his hands at his waist and laughed with glee.
"You idiot, I rolled around this entire time and only found this one usable seed. So even though you have copied my skill, there isn't a way for you to use it!"
Stingham continued to laugh as the green gas released by the crystal demon slowly faded away without any effect and cracking sounds began to emanate from within its body.
"Crack crack crack…"
The crystal demon shattered into countless shards. These shards liquified into droplets and then recondensed into their original crystalline forms within the ground.
"What is he doing now?" Rinloran said in bewilderment as Stingham did not head immediately towards the exit which had appeared.
Instead, Stingham stood in place and looked around, as if to make sure no one was watching.
After several seconds of this, Stingham cautiously began pocketing the Demon Transforming Wax Crystals on the ground.
"This idiot… does he truly think no one would discover his actions! And why take the crystals of all things? Those crystals are completely useless outside of this domain!" Rinloran shouted as black lines appeared over his face.
"Hahaha, Stingham is pocketing some of the Demon Transforming Wax Crystals?" Ayrin and Chris couldn't help but burst into laughter.
"This child is a little too…" All the referees and medical masters were speechless.
At this moment, Belo and Moss successively appeared in their field of vision. The medical squad quickly ran up to the two of them and began treating them.
"Brave warrior Belo! Brave warrior Moss! You guys are so strong!" Ayrin shouted as he waved his fist excitedly towards the two.
"Stingham!"
As Stingham appeared a couple of moments later, several referees shouted his name in unison as they scolded him, "Take out the Demon Transforming Wax Crystals. You are not allowed to take them with you."
"Eh? I've been found out!"
A look of frustration appeared on Stingham's face as he took several crystals out from within his robes.
"Eh? Rinloran, why is your face so ugly? Did you suffer a heavy injury?" Stingham abruptly asked upon noticing Rinloran's dark expression as he handed the crystals over to the referees.
"Idiot! It's all because of you!" Rinloran seethingly replied as he shot towards Stingham and chopped at his neck
"Of Morgan and the others, still not a single person has come out. Mister Clancy, can we obtain the Heart of Fury now, or must we wait for them to come out?" Ayrin asked at this time.
"You guys can have it now," one of the other referees replied immediately, albeit with a complex expression on their face.
None of them had imagined that Holy Dawn Academy's team was so much stronger than the other two teams.
Dragon Breath Academy and River Bend Academy's teams had both encountered difficulty in the previous trial, and thus had only just entered this one. It was likely that they would need to wait at least another half an hour for the first members to appear.
"Heart of Fury?"
Stingham and Rinloran immediately quieted down.
"Just what does the Heart of Fury look like?"
Stingham immediately rushed to the front of the stone pillar which held the box containing the Heart of Fury.
The six youths huddled together around the pillar.
"So it really does look like a heart," Ayrin exclaimed.
Upon opening the box, a heart shaped fruit appeared before them. The outer skin was blue and felt similar to a mango's skin. A powerful energy could be felt beating within.
"Is this really a fruit? Why does it look like the heart of an evil demon?" Stingham muttered to himself. Afterwards, he abruptly asked a referee, "Hey mister, since we came out so early, and because all six of us passed, shouldn't we be rewarded further? Say, why don't you give us another half of the fruit?"
"Idiot!" Rinloran shouted as he felt an urge to kill once more.
"Don't be greedy. Considering the six of you, just this one Heart of Fury will be more than enough to reach your limits," Leonardo replied.
"Who are you again?" Stingham asked as he turned his head and looked suspiciously at Leonardo.
"He's Cocktail Grandmaster Leonardo," Ayrin explained.
"Ah, so it's that person who Teacher Liszt defeated," Stingham replied as a look of comprehension appeared on his face.
Leonardo's face abruptly darkened as he thought to himself, "No wonder Jean Camus took the initiative to beat him up. This fellow really has a knack for ticking people off."
"Mister Leonardo, you said that this Heart of Fury is enough for all of us to reach our limits. But how should we split this thing? And does it contain a powerful toxin like a Poisonflame Emperor Egg? Teacher Liszt once said that if a person ate an entire Heart of Fury by themselves, their heart would directly explode," Ayrin spoke.
"It will be fine if we split it into six even parts. They will help you guys do this," Leonardo replied as he swept his gaze over a couple of the nearby referees and medical masters. Afterwards, he looked back towards Ayrin and said, "What Liszt said is correct. The Heart of Fury is able to greatly increase the body's strength. However, shortly after eating the fruit, one's heart will be stimulated by the fruit's unique properties to beat many times faster and harder than normal. If one eats too much, the heart will burst, resulting in death."
"So dangerous?"
Stingham's eyes widened as he said, "When we eat it, let's let Ayrin go first."
"You are a complete idiot!" Rinloran uttered.
"Is that it? So if we split it into sixths, there will not be any danger?" A look of excitement and desire appeared on Ayrin's face as he said, "Then I shall go first."
"These youths of Holy Dawn Academy have such contrasting dispositions."
A somewhat speechless medical master walked forward at this time and withdrew a small knife made of extremely pure crystal from their pocket.
Relying on only his hand, which acted like a perfect scale, this medical master cut the Heart of Fury into six pieces of uniform weight.
"The insides are just like this? There's no seed?" Ayrin exclaimed as he saw the fruit's fiery red flesh. The flesh looked extremely juicy, yet not a single drop of liquid had flowed out during the cutting process.
"Let's do it together."
Before Ayrin could test the waters, a glint flashed through Belo's eyes as he impulsively grabbed a piece and stuffed it into his mouth.
"Okay."
Ayrin immediately followed.
"It tastes pretty good," Ayrin exclaimed.
The Heart of Fury contained a mix of sweetness and tartness, making it taste somewhat like a strawberry.
"Boom!"
Before long, Ayrin could feel a violent energy rise from his stomach and flow into his heart.
"Thud!"
It was so loud that everyone could audibly hear it.
"Isn't this a little too strong?" Stingham's eyes widened as he watched Ayrin and Belo's chests thump with every heartbeat.
"Such strength!"
Ayrin's eyes turned blood red as crimson steam began to rise from his body. He could feel each and every one of his blood vessels reaching their limits.
"Thud! Thud! Thud…"
His heart continued to thump wildly.
With each heartbeat, blood surged through his body with unparalleled vigor and his blood vessels began to rupture.
But instead of simply leaking blood into their surroundings, these ruptured vessels began to grow and extend their reach further into the surrounding muscles.
Ayrin felt his body surge with strength as many particles within his body began to receive more nourishment than they ever had before.
Energy surged into his body as his blood vessels and muscles continuously ruptured and repaired.
"So much energy… like this, my body will become many times stronger than before…" Ayrin thought to himself in glee.
"They won't die right?" Stingham's mouth hung open in shock.
Because Ayrin and Belo's appearances at this moment were downright shocking. Their eyes had turned completely bloodshot and countless fine capillary-esque blood vessels had emerged all over their skin. Some had even ruptured the skin, spewing blood everywhere. To the others, it looked like their bodies were unable to endure the pressure and were on the verge of exploding.
"Idiot!" Rinloran shouted as he grabbed a piece of the fruit and ate it. Before anyone could react, he grabbed a second piece and shoved it down Stingham's throat as well.
"Rinloran, you!"
By the time Stingham recovered, he had already swallowed.
"I've gotten stronger again!"
As Ayrin's heartbeat gradually returned to normal, so did the redness in is eyes. A feeling of great satisfaction pervaded Ayrin's mind.
He could already feel that his body had become stronger.
Each and every muscle within his body was tougher than before and had become filled with an explosive strength.