As Haydson led his group to the peak of the mountain, they saw Ace standing behind Lauriella and three other experts of the ninth rank.
Normally, mortals like them would be all but ignored by saints like Haydson and Kenyon, but after experiencing Wukong’s power, they refused to underestimate anyone else from this secluded faction, especially as two of them, similar to Wukong, were in the ninth rank as both a warrior and a mage – a feat only achieved by the most talented of experts.
“Ace,” Wharton shouted as he jumped off the back of the hawk that brought him here. “Do you intend to just hide like a turtle behind your instructors?”
“You’re not my match,” Ace said indifferently as he glanced lightly at the young Dragonblood Warrior.
Looking at those dark eyes filled with nothing but disdain, Wharton couldn’t help but think back to the last time he saw those eyes.
It was on the day of their assessment. It was just revealed that Ace didn’t have an affinity to any of the elements, news that made Wharton ecstatic.
As a Dragonblood Warrior, becoming a saint was all but guaranteed for the young scion of the Baruch clan. In his head, it didn’t matter that Ace was stronger than him at the moment. In the future, he would be a lofty saint that all mortals had to look up to, and Ace would be nothing but a distant memory.
But as their eyes met, the joy he felt was instantly doused.
Instead of seeing the unwillingness he expected, the only thing he saw was disdain. It was as if Ace genuinely believed that no matter how hard Wharton tried, he would never surpass him.
It was those same eyes that had haunted him every day for the last six years. It was those same eyes that drove him to drive his body to its limits every single day and then get up and do the same thing the next day.
He was only 11 now, but he was already nearing the peak of the fourth rank. That alone put him near the top of his peers in the War God’s Academy, but when you added his bloodline ability and everything he’d learnt from Haydson over the last few years, he was practically unrivalled in the academy.
And still, Ace looked at him with those same contemptuous eyes.
But before Wharton could reply, Killian stepped forward.
“If you want to fight Ace, you have to beat me first,” the dark-skinned youth declared whilst glaring at Wharton, unable to suppress his roiling killing intent.
Ace and Lance weren’t the only ones angered after finding out the truth about Milianna’s past. Ever since they met back in Wushan town, Milianna had been the closest thing to a mother Killian had ever had.
Even though he promised not to kill Wharton due to the promise Ace had made to Linley, he would still use the little dragon warrior to vent his pent-up emotions.
“We came here for Wharton to challenge Ace,” Haydson said coolly as he looked at Lauriella. “Not some ignorant no named brat.”
Even though they were in ‘hostile territory’, Haydson still had his pride. He was Haydson, the monolithic sword saint, and Wharton was his disciple. They came so Wharton could challenge Ace, not a random unknown youth.
Though it was extremely impressive that Killian was at the fifth rank as both a mage and a warrior, he could sense that the boy was a few years older than his disciple. Plus, as far as he was concerned, the only way he believed Killian could reach such a level at his age was if he focused all of his time on cultivation and none on gaining experience.
“Who invited you?” Lauriella replied, her voice ice cold as she stared the man referred to as the strongest saint in the world dead in the eye. “Either have your disciple fight Killian or scram!”
He knew there were saints out there more powerful than him, but there was still a reason Haydson received the title of the strongest. His strength was the real deal.
He’d had many fights since becoming a saint all those centuries ago, many of which he had come close to losing his life, but not once had anyone he’d gone up against treated him in such a manner.
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He had half a mind to reach for the sword on his back, but he was under no delusions. Between Lauriella, Wukong and those two saint-level magical beasts, if he tried, it would mean the deaths of all of his party, potentially even himself.
“Wharton, go and defeat that boy,” Haydson commanded, ignoring the look of unwillingness on his disciple’s face. “The sooner you beat him, the sooner you can fight that Ace boy.”
“Yes, master. I understand,” Wharton said as he stepped forward to meet the axe-wielding teen as his muscles began to expand, and azure scales began to protrude from his body. “Remember, it was you who asked for this.”
“Destroy him,” Lina snarled from the rear of her group as she watched her approach his first opponent.
At the same time, Joel and the others arrived just in time to watch the show.
“The bloodlines of the descendants of the four supreme warriors are the real deal,” Yulana sighed as she looked at the war blade wielding azure dragon warrior who had jumped straight from the fourth to the sixth rank after transforming.
“He’s still not Killian’s match,” Faye snorted.
After their time in the wild, she knew better than anyone just how strong Killian had become. In her eyes, other than Ace, Amira, and Julius, there was no one stronger than him in their class, and that included Alissa.
Killian watched calmly as Wharton charged in his direction like a bloodthirsty demon. All though he could defeat most beasts and warriors at the sixth rank, he could tell at a glance that Wharton had comprehended one with his sword, putting him well above your average sixth-rank warrior.
Ordinarily, Wharton would definitely be able to give Killian a decent fight, but if Aiden’s plan was to work, they needed to win every fight in the most domineering fashion. As such, not only could he not afford to hold back, but he also had to use his brains.
To Brutus and Lina, it looked as though Killian had frozen in fright with Wharton rushing towards him, which put a smile on each of their faces. Unfortunately, they couldn’t have been further from the truth.
As soon as Wharton reached a distance of two meters away, his opponent’s cold, calm voice entered his ears.
“[Earth Wall]!” Killian said calmly.
Wharton snorted disdainfully when he saw a wall of stone was erected between him and his opponent.
With a casual wave of his blade, the stone wall was chopped in two, but by the time he reached the other side, his opponent had disappeared.
‘Movement Technique? Without battle-qi?’ Haydson thought to himself as he calmly watched Killian skilfully enter his disciple’s blind spot.
Between his Insta-casting of a fairly powerful spell and the skilful use of a movement technique to put himself in the best possible position to counter his disciple’s attack, Haydson had to admit he underestimated Killian; he definitely had more experience than he originally believed. Still, he wasn’t worried.
If, after all his training, his disciple could be caught off guard and defeated so easily, all the training over the last few years would’ve been for nought, or at least that’s what he believed until he watched Killian make his move.
“[Supergravity Field],” Killian called out as gravity seemed to double for Wharton catching the young Dragonblood warrior off guard.
Whilst Lina could barely keep up with what was going on, Brutus being a warrior of the seventh rank, had no difficulty following, which was why he was so shocked to see Wharton suddenly being put on the back foot. Still, his shock paled in comparison to Kenyon and Haydson.
Both saints of the O’Brien Empire knew how talented one had to be to insta-cast a spell of the same rank with such skill, but the thing that really took them by surprise was that as Killian’s axe descended, they could clearly see he was ‘wielding heavy as though it were light’.
Wharton was barely able to react, being caught off guard by Killian’s sudden burst of power. Still, after his hellish training with his master, if there was one thing he knew, it was that he couldn’t afford to lose his composure.
Killian’s axe moved like a blur, but he was still able to raise his sword to block just in time, and as he was a warrior of the sixth rank when transformed, he was able to hold his own in a clash of strength even with all the disadvantages his opponent put him under.
Unfortunately, Killian wasn’t done yet.
“[Destructo-Pulse]!” Killian roared as a spherical wave of grey mage force exploded out of him, sending Wharton skidding back with both the blade of his sword and the scales covering his forearm cracked.
This was one of the best parts of having Mathias as a master. As a saint, his insights into the laws of destruction were so profound that despite being an edict that those of the Yulan Plane didn’t understand much about, he was able to create a multitude of different spells for the mortal ranks from scratch.
Although just a spell of the fourth rank, after breaking through to the fifth rank, Killian was able to successfully increase the power of the spell to the fifth rank, and as the element with by far the most destructive force, its power wasn’t to be underestimated. The fact that Wharton escaped with such minor injuries spoke volumes about the defensive capabilities of a Dragonblood Warrior.
Wharton had just looked up, only to find Killian having appeared directly in front of him with his twin-sided battle axe resting by his neck, looking at him just as disdainfully as Ace had.
Killian was fully aware that if they were to fight again now, he would never be able to win as easily as he had. Still, since Aiden’s plan required them to inspire shock and awe, Killian had to take full advantage of the fact that Wharton was underestimating him and used that momentum to crush him, and thankfully he was successful in his mission.
“Is this the quality of the ‘War God’s’ Academy?” Killian asked as he turned to Brutus. “I guess it’s a good thing I didn’t listen to you back at the assessment after all, seeing as all of you at the academy are nothing but trash.”