Sora watched as su ied the Thunder Dragon with a siack, showing overwhelming dominance. He hadn't anticipated his familiar to be so powerful pared to other familiars, not giving the oppo a ce.

  [You have won the familiar duel. +1000 points][Your team won the first match: +2000 points]In an instant, Sora and his teammates found themselves dissolving and reappearing in the familiar waiting room. Without wasting any time, they resumed their interaining, pushing their familiars to the limit in preparation for the group battle.

  "Your phoenix is in a league of its own... How high was your rank i trial?" Klunor asked, uo hide his amazement at su’s massive power despite his strange behavior.

  Sora hesitated briefly, sidering whether to share the information, before replying, "I was rah ohird floor."

  Belinda, the Dragonborn, opened her mouth wide, in shock, showing a terrifying row of teeth. "You’re at the very top! No wonder your phoenix crushed that poor Thunder Dragon..."

  As they returo training before the seatch, Klunor surprised everyone by gifting an [Elemental Fruit] to Sora. The fruit promised to drastically enhasu’s affinity for any chose. Sora accepted it, reizing its potential to elevate su’s elemental trol to a new level.

  Envious of the [Elemental Fruit], Belinda took out twon scales, distributing them to Sora and Klunor who gave her an [Elemental Fruit] iurn. The moment their familiars absorbed the scales, their body-f reached new heights, toughening their physical forms and defense.

  Watg this exge, Brodus eechless. He gnced down at his own familiar and realized he had nothing to offer his team for their familiars' improvement. Regret crept in— should he have brought treasures as well?

  The demon, Sollmunn, the pyer from the Demon Race, stood aside, watg the exge with a mix of envy and irritation. He could see how the [Elemental Fruit] and the upgraded intelligence would boost the others' familiars, allowing their dragons to wield their elements with greater power. In his mind, except for the abnormal phoenix, all of them would waste these resources that were exclusive to sions.

  His eyes lingered on the [Elemental Fruit], yearning for his Balrog to possess the enhanced fire trol and power it could bring. His mind raced with ideas on how he could steal their treasures without punishment.

  Sora noticed Sollmunn's envious gaze and called out, "Sollmunn, if you want to join us in training, you're wele. But if you need something valuable, you'll have to offer something valuable iurn."

  Sollmuated, sidering the idea of being from such a trade. His expression shifted as he sed the items in his iory, unwilling to trade anything of value.

  After a moment, Sollmunn sighed, his face settling into a hardened look, and turned his ba Sora, choosing to ighe offer entirely. He had no iion to help his enemies grow strohinking, 'If those stupid pyers want to feed a human genius more power, it is their problem, not his.'

  In the seatch, Brodus was the only oo lose, while the other four won their fights, adding [4500 points] to Sora's score. By the time the third and fourth matches came around, their familiars had transformed into true powerhouses through sistent training and maxed intelligence. With fwless victories in both rounds, they earned [6000 points] eastead of the usual [5000 points].

  Before the sixth match, Brodus, visibly frustrated by having the weakest familiar, decided to act.

  “You guys leave me no choice,” he decred, a determined gleam in his eye. “There’s no way I’m going to rank st oeam and risk dragging everyone down with me.”

  His teammates, satisfied with their progress so far, turo him in surprise. Sora, curious, watched Brodus closely, sensing the Dwarf’s newfound resolve. Belinda, Sollmunn, and Klunor also turheir attention to him.

  Brodus began by removing his armor—first his chest armor, his greaves and boots—leaving his teammates puzzled. But whearted taking off the clothes he wore beh the armor, one piece at a time, until he was fully undressed in the waiting room, their jaws dropped in shock.

  “Brodus... what are you doing?” Sora asked, his fusion evident.

  Belinda turned away, displeased with the dispy. Klunor burst out ughing, clearly eained by the Dwarf's as. Even Sollmunn allowed himself a smirk.

  Brodus shrugged, unfazed, and grinned. “Laugh all you want now; we’ll see who’s ughing soon.”

  Brodus’s back was to them as he floated just above the ground, eling an energy, unknown to Sora, that pulsed in a slow but powerful rhythm. The smiles and ughter from earlier faded quickly as the others felt the fathering within him.

  Sora observed, his [Mana Eyes] fog as Brodus methodically pushed this energy, that he could not decipher, to a small distaside his body before smming it bato his skiedly, each impact seeming to increase the pressure.

  With each cycle, Brodus’s skin grew redder, the process intensifying as his muscles visibly strained against the energy c through him.

  Gradually, his skin tone ged from a clear color, to red before being an arming blue, his face twisted in clear agony. Despite the pain, he tinued, driving blood and energy to a single focal point—his right fiip.

  Brodus’s determination was almost as intimidating as the limitless energy he was holding inside his body. A single drop of blood began to take form at Brodus’s fiip, suspended in the air and radiating immense, trated power.

  The aura it emitted made the familiars notice it, their heads turning toward the Dwarf, their instincts reizing the drop as a treasure that held limitless potential for their future.

  Sollmunn’s earlier amusement was long gone, repced by a sour expression as he muttered, “Another Dwarf who’s mao push this far in bloodline refi… Damn it.” His mood was evident as he realized Brodus’s potential.

  Brodus moved from his spot, positioning himself he [Bck Tortoise], aended his hand, allowing the powerful blood drop to float slowly toward his familiar.

  Just as it was floating towards the excited Tortoise, the Balrog disappeared from its spot, reappeariween the [Bck Tortoise] and Brodus with arming speed. Brodus reacted instantly, recalling the blood drop ba, narrowly avoiding Sollmunn’s attempt to intercept it.

  Turning to the demon with a furious gre, Brodus demanded, “What in the hell do you think you’re doing?”

  Sollmunn shrugged, a sly grin pying on his face as he ughed it off. “Just figured it was worth a try,” he said, his voice dripping with unapologetic amusement.

  Brodus ched his jaw, his anger barely held in check. He should have known that Sollmunn might pull something like this, yet he was still caught off-guard.

  Resolute, he moved closer to his familiar, his eyes never leaving the demon as he brought the blood drop forward once more, carefully guiding it into the [Bck Tortoise] while keeping a sharp wat the demon.

  Sora, these events, couldn’t shake his curiosity. ‘Bloodline refi,’ he thought, recalling the demon’s muttered words.

  ‘This energy feels dense… so different from anything I’ve entered. And my [Mana Eyes] ’t see through it…’ The thought sparked a deep desire within him to uhe secrets of this new power.

  Watg closely, he saw the words above the turtle familiar begin to ge:

  [Bck Tortoise - Level 146][Bck Tortoise - Level 147]...

  The levels climbed steadily, eacrease deepening the familiar’s aura ay.

  [Bck Tortoise - Level 150][Bck Tortoise - Level 151]The familiar’s shell glowed, its form now more imposing and resilient. Even from where he stood, Sora could feel the transformation. The [Bck Tortoise] had asded to a level that had allowed for somethiraordinary.

  ‘It feels like his familiar grew stronger, as if his talent level was multiplied by 10. And now, it seems that he’s even going to [Evolve]…’ Sora thought, awe and realization showing on his face. He sighed, suddenly uanding why Brodus had been so fident about ging the team’s dynamics.

  As the [Bck Tortoise] tis transformation, the process stretched on for aire hour, ultimately costing the turtle a match due to forfeit in the sixth round.

  The whole team watched as Brodus chuckled in embarrassment, scratg his head. “Sorry, everyone. I’ll make it up to you,” he offered sheepishly.

  Klunor, the Dark Elf raised an eyebrow, clearly envious. “If you’re truly sorry, maybe you could share some of that blood essence as a sign of goodwill.”

  Brodus shook his head, sighing. “It’s not like I just refine Blood Essenytime I want. The cost… It's steep.”

  Sora, curious, asked, "Why didn’t you do this during the week ohird floor? You’d have ended up in the first tier for sure."

  Brodus sighed, gng at his familiar. "Don’t you see I dropped from level 155 to 153 doing this? I had no idea the fourth floor would be a PvP format using familiars. I didn’t want to lose levels when I o be at my peak. After all, I wasn’t ting on Shelly to carry me in battles. Maybe your phoenix is powerful enough to defend you from others, but I’m still strohan Shelly."

  Sora chuckled at his respohinking, 'People are really uimating me because of my level.'

  The team carried on, battling match after match, seg victory iy straight rounds.

  Through all these rounds, Sora entered no familiar faces; out of the 400 teams, they had only cshed with twenty so far.

  As they prepared for the twenty-first battle, training in the waiting room, a notification suddenly appeared.

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