Ex-Rank Awakening: My Attacks Make Me Stronger - Chapter 327

Chapter 327: EX 327. Art Compatibility
Arts—those were the soul of advancement.

For both Trial Takers and Professionals, there was no rising without one. To ascend a rank, one had to achieve enlightenment in their chosen art. Power wasn’t just about stats or brute strength, it was about comprehension.

Arts themselves were ranked: Basic, Advanced, Superior, and Exalted. Each rank represented how far a person could go but that was theory. In truth, the art didn’t define the man. Compatibility did. Some could take a Basic art and reshape the battlefield with it. Others could master an Exalted art and still fall short.

Simply put, if you’re good, you’re good.

And right now, Adrian Peer wanted to prove that he was.

Lancelot stood before him on the imperial training ground, the faint glow of mana lamps stretching shadows across the field. His tone was calm, but there was weight behind it.

“And why do you want to learn my art?”

He ignored Adrian’s earlier insistence about learning it alone if refused. What mattered to him was why Adrian’s path had to run through his art in particular.

Adrian met his gaze. “Because I felt a connection.”

Lancelot’s eyebrow lifted, signaling for him to continue.

“When I joined the Guards,” Adrian said, his voice steady, “I felt the same connection once, to the Golden Guard Art. Everyone said it was impossible to practice, but I learned it anyway.”

Lancelot nodded slowly. He already knew how Adrian had managed that, he had heard of talent, obsession, and bodies that refused to quit. But this was the first time he’d heard about a connection.

“So,” Lancelot asked, crossing his arms, “how does this connection of yours work?”

Adrian didn’t hesitate. There was no reason to hide it.

“I have a special ability. It’s not a technique or an art, just something I can do. And through it, I can feel which arts… call to me.”

Ever since coming to Pandora, Adrian’s talent—Full Counter, had been acting strange. It kept reacting whenever he was near an art that fit him. Like it was telling him, “this one’s yours.” That’s how he knew lancelot’s art was compatible.

Lancelot studied him for a long moment, eyes tracing the young man’s form like he was weighing both body and spirit. Then he exhaled.

“I can see you’re hell-bent on this,” he said quietly.

Adrian nodded once. Their was no hesitation or second-guessing. Ever since witnessing Lancelot unleash that technique in Harlot’s Paradise, the pull had been undeniable. His talent had practically screamed at him that it was right.

Lancelot’s expression hardened, not with refusal, but resolve.

“Very well,” he said.

His aura flared, sweeping through the training ground like a storm of black flame. The ground cracked faintly beneath his boots as the sheer weight of his presence pressed down.

“You, Adrian Peer,” he declared, his voice cutting through the night air, “will be learning my Exalted Black Star Art.”

Adrian’s heartbeat quickened.

Exalted…

The word alone carried power. But for Adrian, it wasn’t just the art. It was the beginning of something more, proof that he could still climb and proof that he could be of help to his captain.

****

In the heart of the Great Forest, sunlight filtered through layers of emerald leaves, scattering gold across the moss-covered ground. The air shimmered faintly with mana, it was alive, ancient and watching.

Rachel stood before the Elf Queen, Elaine.

When the Emperor had told her he’d arrange a teacher, she hadn’t imagined this. She thought maybe a skilled archer, a battle instructor or perhaps even one of the old elven masters. But standing before the Queen of the Elves, an existence spoken of with reverence and distance made her tense without meaning to.

Elaine’s presence was stillness given form. The epitome of elven grace, dressed in flowing green and gold, her long hair like silver silk beneath the dappled light. A black blindfold rested over her eyes, but somehow, it felt like she saw everything.

Rachel swallowed.

That gaze or whatever lay beneath that blindfold seemed to strip her bare.

The Elf Queen tilted her head slightly, listening and sensing, then nodded once. Her voice was soft and melodic, but it carried an authority that left no room for doubt.

“You are a Bloodborn, indeed.”

The words struck Rachel like a blade of ice.

Her breath caught, as her heart hammered

Elaine felt the tremor in her Aura. “What is it that makes you panic, child?”

Rachel blinked, unsure if she should answer. Her voice came out cautious and hesitant.

“Because… I am a Bloodborn. That’s why.”

Elaine’s brow lifted behind the blindfold, surprise flickering through her tone.

“And what is wrong with being a Bloodborn?”

Rachel’s confusion deepened. “Because I was told… I’m a result of a sin. A child born against the Great Tree Yggdrasil’s will, birthed by lust, and not by the Tree’s embrace.”

Her fists clenched as she spoke. The words tasted bitter. The memories they brought weren’t kind.

But Elaine’s expression changed.

“Yggdrasil? Sin?” the queen repeated, her voice low, almost stunned. “Where did you get all this from?”

Rachel froze. ‘Wait… that’s right.’ This wasn’t the real world. The elves here might not share the same stories, the same shame and the same laws that had haunted her people.

‘But if they’re different… how does she still know about Bloodborns?’

Elaine was still waiting, silent but firm.

Rachel forced a breath. “That’s what I was taught growing up,” she said finally.

The Elf Queen was quiet for a long moment. The forest wind whispered between them, soft but restless. Then Elaine turned away, her voice steady, thoughtful.

“Well, my child,” she said, “what you were taught was wrong.”

She took a step forward, the ground responding to her as roots coiled gently underfoot. “Follow me,” she added, glancing over her shoulder. “There is something I want to show you.”

Rachel hesitated for only a second before following.

Whatever lay ahead, she could feel it, this was where her path as a Bloodborn would finally begin to change.