O’Neil was completely satisfied with the new power that had just flooded his body — the life force that had awakened during battle.

  He believed it was an essential ability for handling the current situation. It could be further developed through his own efforts in the future, and it would also be useful in future battles against Beast Hunters!

  Once O’Neil’s body regained its full strength, the three massive Second-Level Apprentice Demonic Beasts finally began to move.

  This confrontation was noticeably shorter than the previous one. The earlier beast had felt O’Neil’s full pressure and therefore did not dare to attack at first.

  But these three giants felt no pressure from him at all.

  To them, O’Neil was merely a walking piece of meat — a piece of meat capable of making these Demonic Beasts, who had not eaten since being captured by the Balotus Tribe warriors, half full!

  However, compared to O’Neil, who seemed ready to move at any moment, there was another, larger and unmoving piece of fresher meat before them…

  A corpse that was still warm!

  Thus, the three Second-Level Apprentice Demonic Beasts, originally released by the Barbaros Clan warriors to attack O’Neil, shifted their attention after a brief moment of tension toward the corpse of their own kind.

  Demonic Beasts did not refrain from eating their own species as humans did. On the contrary, the flesh of their own kind was even more attractive to them.

  They gained evolutionary drive by devouring their own kind!

  Dangerous species evolved through such conflicts!

  “Roar!”

  “Roar!”

  “Roar!”

  The three massive Second-Level Apprentice Demonic Beasts roared, yet none of them attacked the others.

  They wanted to devour the corpse, but feared being attacked by the other two.

  Moreover, the large number of humans surrounding them heightened their anxiety.

  The scene was almost as if O’Neil were the master, and the three Second-Level beasts were cats being fed — the food being the corpse of a cat just killed.

  O’Neil found the scene somewhat amusing and was momentarily speechless.

  He had been slightly nervous — after all, he was facing three dangerous Second-Level Apprentice creatures.

  But this somewhat ridiculous scene allowed him to relax a little.

  As he observed the three Demonic Beasts, his vibrant eyes slowly shifted. No one knew what cunning idea was forming in his mind.

  The Barbaros clan leader was also surprised.

  He had not expected that the three released beasts would choose not to attack O’Neil, but instead confront each other over food.

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  “It seems this situation… is unprecedented,” he muttered helplessly.

  In the past, no youth of the Barbaros Clan had ever faced more than one Demonic Beast in such a trial. This strange scene was a first in the clan’s history.

  In other words, even the clan leader did not know how to handle the situation.

  “My God! It seems this brat escaped again. Ulric’s little spawn is just as disgusting as his father!”

  Rebus stared at O’Neil with jealousy as he stood unharmed in the arena.

  Anyone with common sense knew that under the current circumstances, the three dangerous beasts would eventually begin fighting each other.

  At that point, O’Neil could eliminate them while they were weakened.

  Thus, Rebus was extremely envious. Even if it was somewhat of a shortcut, O’Neil would still gain the glory of defeating three Second-Level Apprentice Demonic Beasts alone!

  Ulric smiled once more.

  He had not expected his son to be this strong — nor this lucky.

  As for Astrith, standing nearby, she was also speechless. Yet she had a vague feeling that O’Neil’s choice would be different.

  She whispered to herself:

  “What are you going to do, O’Neil?”

  ---

  The three beasts stood facing one another, wary of attacks from their own kind and cautious of the silent Balotus Clan members surrounding them.

  When other Barbaros youths underwent their trials, the clan members had shouted, cheered, and even booed loudly.

  But when it was O’Neil’s turn — after the imposing aura that surrounded him upon entering the arena, and after he crushed one beast almost instantly — the Barbaros, who believed in the supremacy of strength, behaved differently.

  They grew quiet, eager to see how this first warrior, Ulric’s child with dark blue hair and deep blue eyes, would handle the coming battle.

  A group of battle maniacs!

  O’Neil observed the three beasts, which resembled wild dogs fighting over food, searching for their weaknesses.

  He would seize the opportunity to kill these three dangerous Second-Level Apprentice creatures.

  Yes — O’Neil would not wait for them to fight first.

  Because if he waited for them to weaken each other before joining the battle, the surrounding Barbaros tribesmen would say:

  “This boy only killed those Demonic Beasts by exploiting the situation.”

  That did not align with O’Neil’s ambition to establish authority within the tribe and build his prestige from a young age!

  Moreover, he was not lacking in confidence against the three!

  If this had been before he obtained his first Sorcery Art from his supernatural power, he might have been injured facing them.

  But now, things were different.

  So when the three were distracted and ignored him, O’Neil moved.

  He walked slowly and calmly toward the three massive Second-Level Apprentice Demonic Beasts.

  He did not charge forward recklessly. Although his body had improved under his father’s training, he was still a child of the Barbaros Clan. At his age, it was impossible to surpass creatures known for their speed.

  After O’Neil took his step, the three beasts finally shifted their attention to him.

  This was exactly what he wanted.

  Strange fluctuations erupted from his blue eyes. They turned golden.

  Then they met the eyes of the three beasts.

  Activation.

  Yes.

  The moment O’Neil’s gaze locked with theirs, he activated the Sorcery Art he had learned.

  It was the Evil Eye.

  Spiritual Arts were techniques that manipulated rana to impose the user’s will and desired image upon natural mana, causing phenomena that altered the surrounding world.

  Sorcery Arts, on the other hand, used the essence of mana and spell formulas to produce various effects, activated by pouring magical essence into a stored incantation formula.

  Sorcery Arts involved storing the formula within the body, allowing activation at will.

  The Evil Eye was one such Sorcery Art stored within the eye. It could induce an illusion lasting up to one minute in a person or animal. The user determined whether that illusion would be heaven or hell.

  It was an extremely powerful spiritual-type ability specialized in illusion.

  Imagine two masters fighting.

  If one used an illusion technique on the other, less than a minute would be enough to decide the battle.

  In combat between experts, even a few seconds — even one second — could make a tremendous difference.

  However, this powerful ability had significant limitations.

  It could only be used on one target at a time, up to three times per day.

  Its usage was limited and far from absolute.

  Against someone many times stronger than the user, the Evil Eye was nearly useless.

  Against someone slightly stronger or equal, its effect might last only seconds, and any attack could easily break the illusion.

  In short, despite its strength, it was merely a supplementary attack method.

  But that was enough.

  For O’Neil, it was more than sufficient for the current situation.

  After activating the Evil Eye on the three Second-Level Apprentice Demonic Beasts, the creatures fell into terrifying hallucinations.

  Naturally, O’Neil did not grant them pleasant visions.

  In their illusion, they stood before a supreme-tier Demonic Beast. Before it, they were nothing more than food — unable even to think of escaping.

  Thus, in the eyes of the Barbaros Clan members, the scene in the arena became extremely strange — even shocking.

  They saw O’Neil slowly walking toward the three wild dog–like beasts.

  The creatures looked at him in terror.

  Then they collapsed to the ground, trembling, unable to move.

  They stared at him as though he were an unstoppable catastrophe. The fear in their massive eyes was obvious to anyone.

  One of them — perhaps the weakest — was so terrified that it lost control of its bladder.

  Filthy yellow liquid spread across the ground, and a foul stench filled the air.

  “It… it urinated out of fear! Is that still a dangerous creature? That’s a Second-Level Apprentice beast!”

  “Even an ordinary man would need at least five armed fighters to defeat something like that! And now it wet itself because of O’Neil?!”

  The Barbaros leader, like everyone else, was stunned.

  His mouth hung open in disbelief — even more shocked than when O’Neil had instantly killed one earlier.

  “It’s a spiritual-type talent… O’Neil possesses a superior spiritual talent!”

  In this world, there were no officially recognized Spiritual Arts or Sorcery Arts — only talents and supernatural powers.

  That was why Patriarch Barbaros Nick suspected that O’Neil had awakened a spiritual-type talent.

  While the three massive Second-Level Apprentice Demonic Beasts remained paralyzed in terror, O’Neil lifted his small dagger slowly and elegantly, walking toward the three creatures trapped in illusion and unable to resist.

  One strike for each.

  Second Selection Trial: O’Neil versus the three!

  O’Neil wins decisively.