Saru’s feet angled upwards, leaving on the tips of her toes gracing the ground as an unparalleled savage and bestial aura dripped from her.
Dyon looked at the majestic elephant in the skies. There was only one way for a body cultivator like Saru to display a manifestation… Whatever her bloodline was, it was at the level of a transcendent level beast at a minimum!
‘Come… huh?’ Dyon watched silently as Saru continued to sink into the ground. It seemed that the arena itself could collapse around her at any moment.
For the first time in this competition, Dyon’s humanoid manifestation made an appearance.
A domineering aura flooded the arena, clashing with Saru’s sovereign path will. It leered over the surroundings, suffocating all those who looked at it.
Arrogance. Confidence. Unbridled contempt for all those who even had the thought of looking at it.
6 flaming black gold circles bobbed gently behind its twin pair of wings as wills erupted around Dyon.
His eyes reddened, carrying flecks of gold and purple as he pushed the Mathilde family’s Asura’s eye boldly flashed into existence.
The world became clear in an instant. Everything was so clear that even with the raging sound of the crowd, Dyon could see and hear the robust beating of Saru’s heart. Her blood pumped so vigorously and with such vitality that her power could not be questioned.
Suddenly, all Dyon could hear was the beating of his own heart. It wasn’t that the crowd had silenced itself, or that he had entered some kind of zone. The sound quite literally could not make it to them.
And then, Saru attacked.
Her speed was blinding, something that even lower level saints couldn’t match up to. She blurred on the monitors, disappearing from sight. And yet, her movement were incomparably clear to Dyon.
His black metal wrist band sprung to life, appearing as a blade six feet in his hand.
Saru’s trajectory didn’t change. Her every muscle flexed in unison, like an engine revving all of its pistons at once.
This time, the air in her palm not only held the ripple of vibrations and her oppressive white energy, but also a flurry of lower level wills, boosting her power directly.
Dyon’s movements were slow, but deliberate. His sword swung with a qi fused perfectly with her sparkling space will, sheering space in half with such power that the distinct sound of tearing filled even their vacuum-like space.
In an instant, blade met palm. And yet, there was no sound. The wills let a muffled groan loose as they both retracted their attacks before immediately continuing in a burst of exchanges.
Saru’s speed was only matched by her nimbleness. Dyon’s sword play didn’t seem to have a style of its own. In fact, it was basic and simple. And yet, every strike held an ease of movement and a calculated lethality that seemed to cut off Saru’s plans multiple steps ahead of them taking action.
The crowd almost wanted to laugh at Dyon’s simple and reserved swings. Was this really what you’d call a sword master? And yet, as their exchanges continued, the less the waves of laughter came.
There was no doubt that Saru was much faster than Dyon, and yet, she had yet to land a solid hit. She felt stifled and stuffed into a box. Dyon sword play wasn’t an art. It was a science.
The space around Dyon’s jet black blade song with a whistling superiority, perfectly countering each of Saru’s attempts.
The swordsman in the crowd didn’t know how to feel. Was this really the discipline they had spent studying their whole lives? It was so… crude…
A simple first level sword and space will danced along Dyon’s blade as he continued to minimize his movements. What few noticed was that as time passed, his movements became more minimalistic. And with every swing of his arm, the wills on his blade became thinner and sharper.
Saru’s features remained calm, but her heart was dancing about wildly. Any one of the things Dyon was doing to her now seemed ridiculous. And somehow, she got the lurking feeling… That he was still learning!
Her palm struck out again, meeting Dyon’s blade for maybe their hundredth exchange.
Saru winced, her foot burying itself into the ground as she explosively retreated.
Looking at her palm, Saru’s features fluctuated for the first time.
Blood slowly dripped from her toughened skin, falling to the ground silently under her gaze.
Dyon raised his sword above his head, causing a reverse pulse of space to accumulate as though it was a heart beat. The air vibrated and oscillated violently, trembling under the pressure.
Suddenly, the space and sword will fusion went under a fundamental change that sent small blades of unparalleled sharpness dancing around the stage.
Saru’s arms crossed her face, protecting it as she dodged.
‘A level two fusion… Truly a wasted genius…’
“Maybe if you were as old as you said you were, you would have won.” Dyon said lightly, taking advantage of the fact their noise was isolated. “This is the first time I’ve met a woman who willfully added years to herself.”
Saru froze, “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
Dyon smiled but didn’t say anything further. “Be sure to say ‘I give up’ in time. I would hate to be the man who erased such a beauty from this world.”
Saru’s heart raced as Dyon’s sword oscillated yet again, ‘No… Third level?!’
How often did Dyon get to fight someone on his level? The sad truth was that it was rare for him. Quite frankly, as his soul strength continued to sky rocket, he found fighting people in and around his cultivation tedious. Their movements were so slow, and his mind calculated so quickly that even if his energy and body couldn’t keep up, he could take shortcuts to succeed.
But, Saru was different. She was the first that he had met since he awakened his energy cultivation that truly pushed him. And because of that, he was able to refine himself and learn.
“Take my attack.” Dyon said faintly as his hand swung down from its lofty position.
Suddenly, the barrier of sound completely shattered. An incomparably large gash of space and sword qi twinkled with a dangerous light, prepared to halve Saru’s perfect body.
There was only one thought Saru’s bestial instincts screamed through her ears.
“Danger!”
Saru’s white eyes flashed, “Shruti’s Stomp. 3rd Performance!”
The five headed white elephant looming behind Saru trumpeted into the skies. The space shook violently as Saru clasped her hands together.
Beasts with weaker bloodlines trembled, bowing in agitation to the appearance of their queen.
Suddenly, three massive elephant feet appeared in the skies, layering atop of one another and sending a tempest of air rushing outward from itself. Its movements seemed slow, and yet maintained an air of suppression and dominance that threatened to shatter even Dyon’s level three fusion.
In an instant, they clashed. Ethereal white leather matched an unrelenting slash, both not giving way. And yet… Dyon raised his arm again…
His arm slowly swung downward, sending yet another careening toward Saru’s already struggling features.
Blood seeped from her mouth as she struggled, unwilling to relent.
“Shruti’s Stomp. 4th Performance!” Saru grit her teeth, pushing the words out even as she fueled yet another stomp.
However, there was only so far she could could pus herself.
Much like the soul and meridians, the body tires. When a body cultivator like Saru makes use of a manifestation, she was tapping into an innate technique of her bloodline, namely her defensive technique ‘Shruti’s Stomp’. However, the problem with doing such a thing, especially when Saru was so young, was that it worked to heavily fatigue her – she lacked the stamina and efficiency to use this technique for an extended period of time, let alone having the ability to use it to as high a level as she was now.
A low cry escaped from Saru’s lips as her manifestation shattered.
Her delicate figure was blown away by the impact before being immediately chased into the distance by two space cleaving sword qis.
“Victor: Dyon Sacharro!”
Dyon stretched out his hand and shattered the sword qi. It was clear that Saru had lost consciousness, but, he flashed forward as his eyes shone a purple gold. Before anyone could see, a concealment array blossomed around Saru’s still figure, but the glimpse of perfection Dyon saw caused his nose to redden before he turned away.
Saru had, of course, been relying on her transformation to hide her naked body. And, now that she had lost consciousness, it was suffice to say that that transformation hadn’t lasted.
‘I guess using any kind of manifestation in such a way is highly dangerous…’
It was clear that the reason Saru had lost consciousness was because of the shattering of her manifestation. Since it wasn’t soul based, Dyon couldn’t use devour on it, but, that didn’t stop him from overwhelming it anyway.
In the end, it became clear to Dyon that with greater talent and techniques, risk came along as well even when learning them was easy. Manifestations couldn’t reach their peak usefulness unless they could materialize into the real world. And yet, almost ironically, it was that very materialization that put them at the most risk.
Dyon’s eyes dimmed as he looked at Saru, but he quickly averted his eyes, placing the blanket he had created over her before shattering his concealment array and walking away.
It was clear to everyone in that instant that Saru was in the nude, and yet, there were mixed feelings about Dyon so quickly covering her up. That said, it was a clear sign of respect. Especially considering he hadn’t extended the same courtesy to Iris Ipsum.
“Thank you,” A soft voice came from behind Dyon as he walked away.
Looking back, Dyon smiled lightly before flashing away from the stage. Coincidentally, he landed beside Vidar who was apparently fuming in anger. It shouldn’t have been so easy to beat her! Even if he understands music will, there shouldn’t be anyone alive who could conquer her so quickly.
Seeing Vidar’s face, a light smile played Dyon’s feature, “Forget ten moves… A single swing is probably enough at this point.” He said lightly before walking away.
By the time Vidar had realized what was just said to him, Dyon was long gone, of in the distance and leisurely sitting cross-legged with his focus focused. However, he couldn’t say anything. He could only watch and accept…
“Next Match!” Elder Den boomed, “Arivata Shruti vs Jace Clyte!”
Arivata was already on the stage, gingerly helping her cousin down from the stage as her name was called. In the next moment, she had stepped forward, prepared to battle.
In the skies, Dyon had closed his eyes in meditation. He had truly learned a lot from his fight. Namely, he had learned that with his increased soul strength, he could finally fuse wills beyond just the first level!
In addition, he was able to control the output of his sword-space fusion into finer and finer detail, such that the sharpness would be concentrated and therefore all the more potent.
Time and time again, he found that his soul gave him an unprecedented advantage in terms of comprehension ability. And yet, he had yet to fully grasp just why that was as the battle between Arivata and Jace erupted.
The soul was of unprecedented importance to the martial world despite its being neglected. Despite what the pursuit of energy and body cultivation might tell you, both of those were just a means to an end, and both were just as fleeting. What truly connected you to this world was your soul.
When ancestors of clans slept to increase their karma during reincarnation, it was their soul that tethered them to this world and gave them an opportunity. When you reached the pinnacle of mortal cultivation, it was your soul that aided you in forming your dao. When you transcended above it all, it was your soul that housed your cultivation, forming faith seed and passing it along as you saw fit.
Without a soul, you were disconnected from the world in a way that could only be described as tragic.
Dyon’s meridians trembled during his meditation, but he forcefully supressed it once again, unwilling to have a break through in his energy cultivation right now. He could almost sense his individual meridians slowly becoming a bottomless death… As though they were approaching a limit of infinity. But, he calmed himself, knowing that the process would take much longer than it seemed.
Arivata and Jace’s battle seemed to last the longest. Arivata was a body cultivator, much like Saru. But, she didn’t have the same bodily transformation Saru did. It was either that her bloodline wasn’t potent enough, or she hadn’t tempered herself enough to be able to.
That said, it didn’t stop her vibrational wills from being potent.
On the other side, though, Jace was clever enough to use his own form of counter. As a wind will expert, he was capable of copying Madeleine’s methods in creating a vacuum to not allow the oscillations in the air to effect him. It was quite possible that had Jace never seen Madeleine’s battle, he would have never understood this point. But, on the other hand, he deserved credit for being clever enough to figure out just what Madeleine was dong, why she was doing it, and how she was doing it.
In the end, though, Arivata managed to outlast Jace. Because of her body cultivation, her stamina was just that much better. Jace wasn’t used to Madeleine’s technique, and as such, was much less efficient and wasted a lot of energy. In the end, it was a recipe for his failure.
“Victor: Arivata Shruti!”
The battles continued until everyone had fought five total battles. Because Dyon had been called so frequently to begin with, he was conveniently not called up again. It was becoming very clear to everyone that these “random” matches, weren’t so random after all.
Vidar boasted a single win against Dyon forfeit, and another against Thor’s forfeit. However, he was clearly unhappy with it because aside from those two forfeits, he couldn’t seem to buy another win. Even Caedlum who had conceded his other four matches decided to fight him and won!
After his fight against Vidar, Caedlum took that opportunity to pre-emptively forfeit his remaining matches along with Thor, leaving the two of them as the tenth and ninth ranked for the tournament. Thor, of course, being tenth and Caedlum being ninth.
Because of the two of them, everyone else had at least two wins, and would as such be ranked above them.
Coming into the final stages, Jace Clyte had 3 wins, having been lucky enough to receive three forfeits since he was one of Dyon’s opponents during his absence.
Dyon also had 3 wins, two were forfeits, and one was up against Saru Shruti.
Because Dyon had held back, Saru was able to fight again after receiving treatment. Although she didn’t seem to be in tip top shape considering her manifestation had been shattered, she had already been running through the competition even without her body transformation. In her current state, she was still confident in ranking within the top 5. But, her gaze seemed to shift over to Dyon much more often than she’d like to admit to herself. She couldn’t help but think about not just the battle, but also Dyon’s pointed statement about her true age…
The top contestants had yet to meet each other aside from Zabia and Tau. However, that match had been quite lack luster, resulting in Tau’s win. Dyon had found that match odd himself, but he was busy trying to consolidate what he had learned.
Among the remaining contestants, only Tau Aumen and Lionel Belmont remained unblemished by losses. With there being a 4 ways tie for wins between Dyon, Vidar, Jace and Arivata, many thought that the rankings were fairly set when it came to the very top.
However, that was only until Arivata and Dyon were both called onto the stage and Arivata directly conceded in gratitude for Dyon protecting their young mistress’ dignity.
With that, Dyon, Saru and Zabia became tied, each with four wins, with only Lionel and Tau above them with five.
Then, Saru and Zabia fought. It was a great battle, but it was once again odd… Saru won, moving ahead to five wins. But, Dyon couldn’t help but once again feel as though there was something off about Zabia. His eyes seemed cold… Too cold. And yet, his killing intent wasn’t being unleashed on his opponent… He seemed to be waiting for something… No… Someone…
The wins and losses no longer mattered to him… Again and again he ran over in his head what he had learned just earlier that day, but he couldn’t seem to focus his anger… Not when it was on the wrong person.
Just earlier that morning, Zabia had been elated. His mother had accidentally let it slip that a few months earlier, she had sensed life within his wife, Ulu. However, she had chosen not to say anything because that was a moment a husband and a wife should share together. Often times, married couples would withhold such information from the public until a proper amount of time had passed – only then would they share it with family and friends.
But… Zabia’s mother was beginning to get antsy. ‘It’s been almost three months now.’ She had said. ‘Why haven’t you two let me know I have a grandchild coming along.’
Her words had been so cheerful and teasing. It sent Zabia into a frenzy, complete happiness overwhelmed his senses as he too playfully berated his wife for being too cautious and reserved.
‘You’re too calculating little Ulu. How could you not tell your husband!’ He had laughed so uproariously, playfully putting his ear to his wife’s stomach.
He hadn’t noticed Ulu’s lips tremble. He hadn’t noticed her countenance pale. And by the time he had, and the stinging pain assaulted his senses… It was too late to take any of it back…
All of his joy… All of his anticipation… All of his plans…
All of it came crashing down…
“Next Match. Dyon Sacharro vs Zabia Jafari.”