As the young master expected, two swords materialized in his hand from his space ring. The swords didn't look like they were forged by a star-level blacksmith. Rather, the sword looked plain and simple.
The young master evaded all of Ghost's slashes easily. He was able to calculate each and every single move of Ghost. While evading a slash that aimed at his chest, the young master landed a kick on Ghost's chest, pushing him backward. With swift movements, the young master jumped back to create some distance between them.
"I'm disappointed Ghost" the young master disappointingly shook his head. He could see the lightning bolts crackling around Ghost's body yet whenever he tried to use his speed spell, the rune the young master placed on the trees stopped Ghost.
"It seems you're just overrated," The young master said. For the first time since he met Ghost, he saw a flicker of anger emerge in Ghost's eyes. When Ghost leaped at him, the young master flicked his wrist as two rounded shields appeared in his hands.
Cling!
Cling!
Cling!
The two shields deflected Ghost's sword slashes. The clash between the sword and the shield produced sparks of fire. Both of them moved at an extreme speed as a normal human being would be able to see nothing but a blur.
Ghost's swords couldn't even inflict a single cut on the young master's body through the two shields. The young master noticed Ghost's movements becoming more and more frantic.
There was no finesse or techniques in his swordsmanship, just mad slash, and dashes.
"I'll give you a handicap, let's see if you can hit me then" the young master snickered before throwing away the two shields on the ground. The very next moment he threw the shields down, Ghost's swords slashed his shoulder. However, the young master never even felt a sting as the Blackwing Saurus armor completely protected him from suffering any damage.
Ghost stopped attacking to take a few steps back,
"Blackwing Saurus armor, interesting"
The young master tapped his chest. Since he wore a mask, Ghost couldn't see the snicker on his face.
"Don't tell me you're gonna blame the armor for your lack of skills?" His disappointment in Ghost turned into anger. He expected Ghost to at least put up a decent fight yet Ghost was hardly a challenge for him.
"It seems like you can only beat little girls" the young master waved his hand as the two shields flew back to his hands. Unlike before, a symbol that looked like wings started to glow on the shields' surface.
Giving Ghost no more time, the young master threw the two shields as they soared through the sky.
Plop!
Plop!
One shield hit Ghost in the face while the other bashed him in the chest. He was pushed back several steps behind after reciting the hit. Blood trickled down from the corner of Ghost's mouth.
After hitting Ghost, the shields didn't fall to the ground but flew right back into the young master's hands like a boomerang. He continued to throw the shield, hitting Ghost again and again.
"Come cast your defense spell" The young master shouted at Ghost to see his defense spell. He studied all of Ghost's arsenal to come up with counterattacks. He used the shields to make Ghost's sword attacks useless while placing the tortoise rune circle to prevent him from using his speed spell. He didn't need to use any runes for Ghost's lightning attacks as his Blackwing Saurus armor would protect him from any kind of attacks of anyone under Soul Refining stage 1.
The only spell the young master was yet to see was Ghost's defense spell.
Ghost looked exhausted while wiping off the blood from his face. Soon, the young master realized the reason behind why he isn't using the defense spell.
After hitting Ghost with the shield for almost the 80th time, the young master stopped for a moment.
"Let me guess, your defense spell will only protect you from the Body Strengthening stage cultivators or below. Not a good defensive spell, is it?"
The young master chuckled. Regardless fighting with Ghost was a disappointment, at least he got to improve his rune mastery as well as write off a competitor who stood in his way to win the championship.
"You should stick only to Alchemy from now on, Ghost. Atleast, you're somewhat good at it compared to your fighting skills. I now know you pulled some kind of trick to win Heaven's gate competition" While Ghost was taking heavy breaths, the young master put one shield back into his space ring.
"Honestly I dont give a damn about Heaven's gate competition, so I won't poke into it too much. But the championship tournaments, I do give a damn, so heed my warning. If you dare step on the ring, I won't be as merciful as now" as the last word escaped his mouth, the young master threw the shield with enough force that sent Ghost flying back. The young turned back, slowly ascending to the air. The shield flew right back to him as he flew into the clouds without even turning back to see Ghost.
In his mind, Ghost was not a worthy competitor to him, he was just another overrated prodigy in Elon. He was not even worried about the recording stones he asked his servants to hide around the battle area. As far as he was concerned, he wasted his time studying Ghost. He knew that he would have defeated Ghost even if he didn't come up with countermeasures for Ghost's spells.
******************************************
"The fuck was that?! Why didn't you kill him?" Although Michael didn't need any assistance, Gaya still came to help him up. She was shivering in anger.
Before even Michael could activate the APD, she tore a long cloth piece from her coat to wipe the blood off from his face.
"Did you do what I asked?" Michael asked. The scratches on his face quickly healed after the APD injected the healing potion into his body.
"Please tell me we're gonna go kill him and his family" despite his wounds being healed completely, she still gently rubbed his face with the cloth.
The love and care in her eyes really moved Michael. He forgot about the ambush for a moment to enjoy the tender care.
"Do you think he's the one who killed Jack?" she asked,
"No. This guy gets off by defeating someone at his level or stronger. If he met Jack, he wouldn't even acknowledge Jack as this clown is too arrogant to notice people like Jack"
"That doesn't mean we should let him live. If you hadn't stopped me, I would have ripped that bastard into pieces"
Because of the eyes of darkness, Michael was able to see the young master's cultivation level. The young master was 5 levels below him, Core Formation stage level 3. Considering his rune mastery, anyone on the same level or a level or two would have a hard time defeating the young master. The young master was prepared to battle Ghost, hence he placed the right runes and came up with suitable strategies to restrict Michael's spells and attacks. If Michael wanted to kill him, he could have simply let Gaya put an arrow through his eyes as they weren't protected by the Blackwing Saurus armor.
"Relax, I just wanted to see what a runemaster could do in a real battle. Anyone who could afford a Blackwing Saurus and Rare Shields must have a powerful backing. If I didn't stop you, you would have killed him and ended up making a powerful enemy but that doesn't mean he gets off the hook easily" a devilish grin emerged on Michael's face.
"What are we gonna do?" Gaya became excited to get revenge on the young master.
"You'll see"
*******************************************
The next morning was a cloudy one. The clouds diffused the daylight to a soft gentle sweetness; even when flying under the clouds, Michael could feel cozy under his clothes. The sunlight moved much like the ocean, showing the blue amid the whitish dove-grey, a medley of silvers that ripple outwards to adorn the sky.
He could have used the runic teleportation to reach the Royal land. However, he wanted to spend more time with Nightmare, Vedora, and Gaya. Therefore, he decided to fly for a day before activating the runic teleportation.
"What are you munching on?" Ayag craned her neck to see what's in Gaya's hand. Currently, Vedora relaxed in Michael's inside coat pocket while Nightmare leisurely rested on Michael's right shoulder.
"No...ing" she looked like a chipmunk with her cheeks bloated due to the biscuits inside her mouth. She was afraid the three of them would steal the cookies so she ate them as fast as she could.
"Don't lie to me bitch, give us half of your hoard" Ayag threatened Gaya. If it wasn't for the other two heads remaining calm inside Michael's pocket, the white head would have jumped outside to steal Gaya's cookies.
"One day, I'm gonna roast you and sell you as a delicacy in our restaurant"
"Come on, give them a cookie" Nightmare said as Gaya rolled her eyes,
"I did give them, like, two dozen cookies. Don't fall for their tiny body, they will eat you whole if they were allowed to, especially that white little shit"
Nightmare's eyes opened wide in surprise,
"Humph only two dozen, not two hundred" Ayag snickered.
They continued to bicker along the way while Nightmare and Michael chose not to interfere between them.. After flying for almost half a day, Michael activated the runic teleportation to reach the Royal land.