Chapter 1097 Number One
Olivier Arkland, a.k.a the Sword Saint.
This was the name of the person who towered above every acolyte in the Magus Academy. The man hailed from one of the Grade 5 factions of the Magus Alliance, the Arkland faction.
It was not unusual for such talent to originate from a powerful faction. Hence for the man to be able to establish his excellence amongst the sea of talents of a Grade 5 faction, proved him to be extraordinary.
On the contrary, standing on the opposite spectrum of such an illustrious background, Mahinder Nieves was born and raised in a monastery that was situated deep in the secluded corner of the universe.
When he was found at such an early age, the young monk was discovered to have an extremely unusual connection to divine power.
The two people, both holders of the light element, were about to face off each other.
“I see you have once again made a breakthrough, monk. This will certainly be interesting.” Olivier said in a calm tone, but laced with hints of anticipation.
His opponent’s response, however, was quite lackluster. The monk nodded his head casually and did a salute of respect before starting to chant a string of mysterious words.
“Homai e te Atua te kaha ki te whawhai.”
As that short sentence resounded in the air, even from afar Emery could see Mahinder’s feet left the ground. His body began to rise up and float in the air, while a gentle yet powerful glow of spirit energy cloaked his entire body like armor.
On the other hand, his opponent Olivier also began to prepare himself. The Sword Saint cast a multitude of buff spells on himself as his other hand drew out a one meter long sword, whose hilt was adorned with golden ornaments, and blade gave off a dazzling light.
Mere preparations done by the two of them were enough to generate a pressure vividly felt on the skin of each and every spectator watching the impending clash from a few miles away. Everyone waited with bated breath for the eventual clash between the two giants.
BOOOOM!!!
A loud booming sound appeared for all to hear, and Emery saw Olivier disappear from where he was standing, shooting towards the monk with blinding speed. His eyes widened as he saw him moving at a speed comparable to peak Full Moon magus.
However, even though Olivier was dashing at such an incredible speed, his sword wasn’t crude nor raw. Instead, he left a mesmerizing trail behind as it moved through the air with such gentleness and grace.
The sword moved swiftly as if there was no air, and was aimed straight at the young monk.
Everyone in the audience seemed to be holding their breath when the tip of the sword struck and cut through the monk’s golden robes. They expected blood to be shed, but nothing else happened afterward as Mahinder used both his palms to stop the sword.
BAMMMM!!!
Once again, a burst of rampaging spirit energy emerged from the clash and blew away dust and wind violently, slightly obstructing the audience’s ability to witness the ongoing battle.
Mahinder had apparently used his bare hand, utilizing the divine power he wielded on both his palms, to block and parry all of Olivier’s attacks which were all imbued with razor-sharp sword aura.
Each of their clashes generated a blast of spirit energy that showed their respective comprehension of the Law of Light. All the audience without exception was slack jawed by the sheer power the two possessed.
The monk started chanting another string of words, and suddenly a large translucent figure wearing golden armor appeared on his back. It gave the monk a dozen golden spirit arms that immediately bombarded Olivier, each strike dealing a powerful blow and pushing the latter’s aggression back.
The Sword Saint swiftly tried to deal with the relentless onslaught of palm strikes, parrying them with his weapon. However, his lone sword soon proved insufficient to deal with the storm-like attack and he was gradually cornered.
At that moment, Olivier started making small circular motions with his hands, and the next second, everything suddenly went blurry.
The person standing beside Emery, Jinkan, shouted in a passionate tone upon seeing that.
“There it is, Emery! watch closely!”
Emery had opened his eyes as wide as he could and cranked his Spirit Reading to its maximum limit. However, they were all in vain. Even though he didn’t blink once and his Spirit Reading was at its best, he was still unable to grasp what had just happened.
A split second before, the half a dozen powerful spirit arms were about to hit the Sword Saint. But then, the situation that was in favor of the monk instantly turned against him, as Olivier’s sword already parried all the arms and inflicted a deep cut to his shoulder.
It was as if the moment was stopped and turned the situation into reverse.
“It’s Time Magic!!”
Klea already briefed him in detail about that monstrous, overpowered ability the Sword Saint had. Even so, seeing it directly was a completely different experience altogether. He was dumbfounded by how amazing it was – manipulating time.
Back to the ongoing fight, Olivier didn’t waste the opportunity he had created himself and swiftly launched his second round of aggression. This time, he combined his exceptional swordsmanship with time spells, accelerating his own time to speed up his attacks while decelerating his opponent’s to slow down the counterattacks.
A Sword Master and one who comprehends the Laws of Time; that’s Olivier Arkland, the Sword Saint.
No wonder that man held the title of number one in the privileged class.
However, while Emery thought that Olivier would have successfully defended his number one title, his opponent didn’t seem to think so. From the looks of it, the young monk hasn’t decided to give up yet.
“Kawea mai ki ahau te kaha mutunga kore.”
Mahinder didn’t stop chanting his chants. Even though Olivier continued to cut through the golden energy surrounding him and inflict wounds on his body, the monk still maintained his composure as all was restored once again as if nothing happened.
Just as Emery had Devour and Shadow as his special attributes of Darkness, the two who were fighting also had their own in Light – Olivier, with his comprehension in the law of Time, while Mahinder with his Divinity law.
The monk in particular comprehends the ability to take divine energy from ‘gods’ and use it endlessly. Simply put, it would provide him with an inexhaustible amount of spirit energy, and an infinity of spirit pool.
“Mahinder has successfully perfected his skill!” Jinkan became excited when she saw the sight. “It’s bad news for the Sword Saint, and bad news for all of us!”
The battle continued with the two attacking each other without pause, the surrounding terrain completely remodeled by the after effects of their clash. From afar, the other privileged acolytes were watching with terrified expressions, knowing that none of them was able to take even one blow from one of the two monsters.
After hundreds of exchanges, the Sword Saint abruptly stopped in his tracks and halted the heated battle. Under everyone’s gaze, he sheathed his sword back and said to the monk.
“Congratulations, Mahinder. You win.”
This decision brought a shock to all spectators. With that, the number one rank of the privileged class leaderboard was taken by Mahinder Nieves the monk.
Olivier gave his opponent a respectful nod before turning around and leaving the area.
Amidst the crowd, Emery was standing still, his gaze fixed on where Mahinder and Olivier had fought earlier. His body was drenched in sweat that his body was unconsciously secreting, while his mind was filled with both fear and excitement.