Michail smiled in a friendly manner but a serious glint flashed through his eyes.

"Are you sure you don't want me to just let you pass?"

"I don't need your mercy. My sister would be the first to not approve of me passing in this manner. I have to earn it for this to mean anything." Greyson just snorted impatiently and motioned for him to attack.

"Well, alright then..." Swinging his hand, Michail caused a split in space to appear next to Greyson. Already prepared, Greyson quickly dodged out of the way but part of his robe got caught and ripped off. Seeing the cloth get torn to shreds almost immediately, Greyson could tell that getting caught in that attack would be deadly. No wonder Michail seemed so hesitant. Not wanting to make himself such an open target, Greyson sank into the ground using his dark element. Transported right to Michail's shadow, Greyson jumped out and gave a strong kick towards his back. Lightning burst out and exploded along with the kick, however, Greyson could feel that his leg did not make any contact with anything. In the blink of an eye, Michail was already at the other end of the space.

"Hm? Dark and lightning? That's rare for someone who has Snow Dragon bloodline." He was obviously shocked by his opponent whom he expected the normal water and space element abilities from.

Greyson did not respond and only became more serious. Since Black Blood Hawks were so fast, he knew that close combat would not work. How could he make any damage if he couldn't get close to touching his opponent? Opening his palm, the bow tattoo on his hand lit up as his bow appeared. Gripping onto it, fire and lightning arrows appeared as he drew the bowstring back. Launching them in different directions, all the arrows closed in on Michail. He just chuckled thinking his young brother-in-law did not learn quickly before transporting himself elsewhere. Only, when he reappeared, Greyson did not frown but instead laughed as he surrounded himself in a multi-element shield. All the arrows missed Michail but slammed into each other causing a massive explosion right as the young hawk came back out. Not able to react fast enough, Michail was slammed into the wall by the shock wave. Spitting blood, he could not help but curse inwardly. Glaring over at Greyson, he made a gripping motion with his hands. Greyson could feel his body getting stuck and he lost movement. His body was continually getting crushed, but he tried to think about how to get out of this Space Lock. Suddenly, his eyes lit up with an idea. Closing his eyes, he concentrated on the water elements around him absorbing them into his right arm. Soon, his entire arm turned to liquid and could slip out of the space grip. Not waiting another second, this water arm formed into ice spears that were sent flying towards Michail while Greyson's arm formed once again on his side. As he was concentrating on another spell, Michail was not able to react as quickly. He was also slow because he was shocked that this young opponent of his was able to so adeptly use the elements that way. In order to block the incoming attack, his concentration on his spell was broken. Greyson could sense this and was able to break away.

"Really, Rosalie's younger brother is a real character." Muttering under his breath, Michail felt rather embarrassed thinking about bringing up letting his opponent beat him. His victory was nowhere near guaranteed. Retaliating, Michail sent his own slashes down towards Greyson and the space around became chaotic. Utilizing his wind element, Greyson did not stay and masterfully escaped from the attack.

"How many elements can he use anyways?!" Starting to get seriously frustrated, Michail continued to aggressively attack. Greyson sank into the ground once again as he set up his plan in secret. The angered Michail stopped and started scanning his surroundings preparing himself to attack whenever. However, Greyson did not pop up in the open. He skulked around Michael silently making marking around. Finally, he appeared again in the center of the space. No longer holding his bow, his hand instead held Mesmer. Setting his palm down, all of the symbols activated forming a small array around himself. All of this happened so quickly, Michail did not have a chance to react. Pulling Mesmer to his lips, Greyson started playing dissonant chords that were grating on the ears. Amplified by the array, the sounds were extremely loud and Michail could only try to block his ears. The sounds started blurring his vision and his head began to severely ache. Collapsing down onto the ground, Michail's face turned deathly pale as he tried and failed to stop the sound from penetrating his ears. Even when he blocked out the space, the sounds seemed to leak through. Greyson continued to play smoothly while approaching his debilitated opponent. Smoothly pulling out Genesis, he finally stopped playing the flute and placed his blade right against Michail's throat.

"Do you concede?" His cold voice echoed throughout the room.

"Damn! Okay, yes, yes, I give up. Where did you learn such a nasty trick?!" Still recovering, Michail waved the white flag grudgingly. He knew that Greyson could have managed to kill him earlier, if he did not admit defeat, how shameless was he? Actually, this was not a coincidence. Greyson practiced fighting against his grandparents as well. They were definitely no weaker than the Black Blood Hawks when it came to using the space element. Many times, Greyson was easily defeated because he did not know any good methods on how to beat space magicians. Thankfully, the books and resources of the Snow Dragon tribe were open to him so he began to look for ways to defeat the space element. Just like the time element, the space element took time to show its prowess. Once a magician is strong, however, it is a really hard element to fight against. This array was one of the couple ways he learned to defeat space element users. It allowed sounds to pass through space barriers. Normally, it was used so people could still pass messages even when they are trapped because a lot of cells are usually enforced by some kind of space barrier. Greyson decided to use it differently so that his music attacks could affect even a space magician.

"I guess you could say that your luck is bad. I just happened to specifically practice at how to defeat space element users." Shrugging his shoulders nonchalantly, Greyson was secretly jumping in joy that he had spent so much effort learning some of these methods.

"You even used so many elements! How many was that... dark, lightning, fire, water, wind... five elements?! Life is so unfair, sometimes. Most magic beasts only get one element unless they are the rare variants. Obviously, all I have is the space element..."

"Hmph, if other people heard you say this, they would for sure beat you up. The space element is already so strong especially at your level!" Greyson choked for a second before rolling his eyes in response. It was like the pot calling the kettle black.

"Hey, I used to be really weak pretty much until I reached this level. The space element was only useful for quick teleportation, running away, and sneak attacks. It only qualitatively changed recently now that I can use that Space Cut attack. Space is too hard to control." Pouting indignantly, Michail did not agree with Greyson's statement.

"You are strong now, that's all that matters, no?"

"Well-" Before Michail could respond, his body disappeared.

"Battle has finished and victor is decided. You may proceed to the next level." This time is was a female's melodious voice that spoke. Another familiar black portal appeared next to Greyson. Plopping down onto the ground, Greyson decided to use this chance to recover once again. That attack actually had drained a lot of his mana. Instead of meditating, he decided to just sleep. Although, at his level, meditation was equal to sleep when it came to giving his body rest. However, there was definitely something more psychologically gratifying about sleeping. Since no one else could come into this space, he believed there was nothing for him to worry about and let himself rest peacefully without leaving his guard up. While he was deeply asleep, a shining red eye opened in the top of the space and stared down at the defenseless Greyson. It glittered with amusement as it observed Greyson from head to toe.

"How interesting. I'm pretty sure this is a first." A voice giggled aloud. However, no action was taken as the eye just closed once again before dissipating silently and Greyson was left alone once again.

It was not until a healthy number of hours later that Greyson once again opened his eyes and got up from the hard ground. Dusting himself off before looking down at himself, Greyson felt like crying. His clothes were already tattered after the second level test, however, after his battle just before, the outer robe was pretty much useless. All that was left is his loose white undershirt and brown pants with his boots. But even these clothes were starting to show rips. He started to seriously feel concerned over whether he would have anything left covering himself by the time he leaves this Earth Altar. Sighing, he knew he could do nothing about it now so he just pushed the issue to the back of his mind and walked through the black door.

...

"AHHHHH! So frustrating! I'm finally free but it is under such disheartening circumstances. I can't even feel happy now..." A certain youth was now outside of the Earth Altar shouting and stomping his foot angrily. All of the magic beasts in the surroundings backed away and avoided him thinking that this person had gone crazy.

"Young Master! You're out!" A black blur appeared next to Michail almost immediately. It turned out to be a large Black Blood Hawk. When everyone saw the beast, they backed away even further because they finally figured out the identity of the youth. The rumors about the young master of the Black Blood Hawk tribe were all terrible.

"Scram! I'm in such a bad mood right now, I don't want to hear your annoying nagging on top of that." Glancing over in disdain at the hawk that just arrived, Michail did not bother saying anything else before walking away. On his way, a bunch of trees were kicked down and innocent magic beasts sent flying for being "in the way." Releasing a sigh, the servant still followed and flew behind his immature young master. Apologizing and compensating the magic beasts who came to harm in Michail's wake. Responding in such a smooth and rapid fashion, everyone could not help but pity this servant who obviously was responsible for such things often. Sadly, some unlucky beasts were attached to bad masters since their birth.

"Young Master, what has upset you so much this time? How far did you get in the altar this time around? Did you finally reach the sixth level?"

"...ird level..." Michail muttered incoherently.

"What?"

"Third level!"

"What about the third level?"

"I. ONLY. GOT. TO. THE. THIRD. LEVEL!" Through a tight jaw, Michail slow spit each word.

"How is that possible? With Young Master's prowess, you had a chance at getting to the sixth level let alone the third."

"I got set up in a fight... and lost."

"You lost? Who did you fight? The young master of the Yellow Rock Crows?"

"Him?! Who do you think your young master is to lose to such a wimp?! No, I lost to Rosalie's brother."

"Rosalie? Lady Rosalie from the Snow Dragon Tribe? Since when did Her Lady have a brother?"

"Since now!"

"He was that strong?"

"Hmph! Although, he used a slightly cheap trick, he did legitimately control five elements. Therefore, yes, he is powerful."

"Five?! That many?"

"Yes, it seems that the Snow Dragon has received another genius in their midst. That dragon Elbianth really has a way with children. They are both so talented and good-looking, especially Rosalie." Thinking back to when he first met that beautiful half-elf girl, he sighed in sweet nostalgia.

"Well, that makes sense then. Thinking of it, I did see Lady Rosalie and her usual group of friends all head into the Earth Altar. I did not look closely so I did not see the new addition."

"Rosalie is here, too?!" Eyes widening in joyful surprise, Michail turned tail and ran back to the altar. "I must go over and wait for her to come out then! It has been ages since I last saw her."

"Wait, Young Master, the Old Master told me you need to go home right away! Young Master!" Following in distress, the servant tried to stop him.