Alnea ‘Streamed’ through the ‘Skies’ of the stage the moment that he stopped talking, appearing in front of the purple robed man in the very next moment, unsheathing his sword, revealing its blade covered in a golden and black glow, piercing it towards the purple robed man’s chest as if he was Piercing the Stars. And he almost succeeded in his attack. Almost.
Using a Sword Martial Style biased towards speed, while Streaming through the Skies at a speed that could not be perceived by naked eyes, he was sure that the purple robed man would not be able to react in time. Unfortunately, his enemy was not just any Wanderer. He was a Purplebird heir. And Purplebirds have always been known for their speed. Not to mention the Martial Style that Ryan was using.
Visible manifestations of external characteristics, like the wings of lightnings, could be seen only in High Grade Martial Styles and above. Sky Streaming Style, on the other hand, was just an Intermediate Grade Martial Style. No matter how fast it could let him Stream through the Skies, it could not let him reach the speeds of a High Grade Martial Style specialising in speed…
All Alnea saw was a blur, before everything changed. The Star that he was Piercing, was gone, replaced by a few sparks flying in an empty air, while a strange breath crawled up the back of his neck. A breath that he was very familiar with. Cursing the purple robed man in his head, Alnea stomped his feet on the ground, and rushed away from the claws of lightning reaching towards his neck. He was not fast enough though.
Or at least, not fast enough to completely dodge the lightning flowing around the claws. He could feel the tingling sensation on his neck, turning it stiff, and unnatural. Affecting him, without even touching him… Alnea turned around to look back at the lightning flowing around the purple robed man’s claws. Another High Grade Martial Style…
Ryan Purplebird was strong. Stronger than any Wanderer Alnea had ever fought. Even the Heterodox Wanderers were not worth mentioning in front of him. And he was not even a Peak Stage False Wanderer yet… This was a true genius. His true competition on the path towards the peak of Wanderers. And a man worthy enough for him to give his best.
Exhaling a deep, and heavy breath, Alnea slowed down the release of energy from his Blood Crystals. They did not have infinite energy, after all. Just brute forcing his Blood Crystals to control his bloodstream was nothing short of wasting what little energies they had. So, to more effectively use his Blood Crystals, he made them all resonate with each other. Through the Blood Crystal Pattern, of course.
He did not know how the principle of resonation worked. Apparently, it had something to do with the Blood Crystal Patterns being of the same source. In any case, all he knew was that with the help of the Blood Crystal Patterns, the Blood Crystals could form a network within his bloodstream, and restrain the flow of energy, making it more organised, and orderly. And an orderly flow of energy meant much better control over his blood flow. It could even increase his reflexes to another level altogether.
Unfortunately, in the world of Wanderers, everything came at a price. And the price for better performance of his Blood Crystals was a constant drain on his Spirit Power. Compared to some of the other Martial Styles, the price of Blood Crystal Resonance was not too heavy. But that was in the case that he was not lacking in Spirit Power. Having reached the Seventh Level of the Intermediate Stage just a couple of days ago, he was already at a disadvantage when it came to Spirit Power. Losing more Spirit Power with every passing moment put him at an even greater disadvantage.
He had no other choice though. Ryan Purplebird was just too fast. He was so fast, that even the combination of Blood Manipulation and Sky Streaming Style was not enough to help Alnea bridge the gap between them. If it was not for his keen senses, and an overly cautious attitude, then he might have tasted the claws of lightning already. But he could not keep on dodging forever.
This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.
Whether it was manipulating his Blood, or Streaming through the Sky, both of them consumed his Spirit Power as if it was water. Not to mention the Spirit Power he had to reserve for his attacks. Even if his Spirit Power had reached the Seventh Level of Intermediate Stage, it could not withstand such heavy consumption. And without his Spirit Power, in the face of Ryan’s speed, he would probably not even have the time to admit defeat.
…Since his Spirit Power was bound to be consumed sooner than later, Alnea decided to consume it even faster, and increase his reflexes to a higher level. At least it could give him a better fighting chance…
“Interesting,” Ryan mumbled, with edge of his lips curling upwards in a smile. In the next moment, he was behind Alnea once again, leaving a trail of purplish lightning on his path. This time though, Alnea was finally able to see his opponent. Only as a blur, but that was enough.
Pivoting on his left foot, Alnea stomped his right foot on the ground as if he was Streaming through the Skies, while keeping his left foot on the ground at all times, twirling around just in time to catch the lightning claws with his sword. At the same time, the trail of golden and silverish blue light left behind by his sword on its path also clashed with the trail of purple lightning left behind in the air, making it seem as if the Raging Waves of the West were clashing with the Lightning Storm of the East…
With an explosion of silverish blue and purple lights, both Alnea and Ryan were pushed back by a few steps, forcing them to take a moment to regain their balance. The moment they regained their balance though, they rushed towards each other once again. And this time, instead of rushing towards his back, Ryan attacked him from his front, stretching his claws to his face. It was a simple attack, one with no technique, or finesse. But it was a ruthless attack, nonetheless, fuelled by the purple robed man’s speed, and bursting with raw power.
In response, Alnea just raised his sword, and urged his Aspects to cover its surface, using its face to block the outstretched claws. At the same time, he urged his Aspects to add a little heaviness to himself, increasing his momentum. So, when the claws and the sword clashed, it was the claws that were pushed back. Not by much, but enough for Alnea to gain even more momentum.
In the next moment, while he was still ‘Streaming through the Skies’ of the stage, rushing towards Ryan, he rotated his wrists, turning his sword ever so slightly, so that its edge faced towards the purple robed man, before bringing his sword down on the man as if it was not just a sword, but ‘Meteors Descending’ from the skies. Literally.
The golden light shining along the edges of his sword all rushed towards its tip, as it descended on the purple robed man with all its mightiness concentrated at one tiny point, leaving behind an illusory trail of fire and destruction in its path. Even if the sword did not have the might of a meteor, it was not something that Ryan could pick with just his empty hand. And he was not stupid enough to do so either. For the first time since their battle had begun, Ryan backed away at his own initiative, looking solemnly at Alnea.
“I underestimated you,” the purple robed man said, before rushing towards him once again, taking advantage of the fact that his sword was still down for the moment. But Alnea himself was not too worried. He just took a step forward, and raised his sword from the ground, as if he was ‘Raising the Earth’ itself, clashing with the purple light of the lightning with the golden light of his sword. This time though, neither of them were carrying too much momentum, and were thus sent back flying at the same time.
“You are much stronger than I thought you would be,” Ryan said, stretching out his wings to reduce the impact of the clash, and regain his balance. Alnea, on the other hand, flipped in the air, before stabbing his sword into the ground to stop himself from flying out of the stage, and regain his balance.
“…Thank you for the complement.”
“It is hardly a complement,” Ryan said, as lightning began to flicker around his body at a much greater intensity, forming the vague shadow of a bird behind his back.
“…Are you finally getting serious?”
“You deserve it,” Ryan said, before dropping the solemn look on his face for a grin. “Do not disappoint me, Arena Madman.”
“…My name is Alnea,” Alnea said. “If you have a hard time remembering it, I can help you by engraving it into your Heart as the name of the first person who defeated you.”
“…I just hope that your ability will match your arrogance.”