Chương 271: I am pleased with your showing

"Hey, guys… Either I'm imagining it or something has shifted. Because there are a lot of very tense people out there in the city. A lot of troubles tonight that we never had a chance to even get close to~," Wander said as the group had gathered in the guild's pavilion. It was early morning, with the groups having regrouped back to plan and wait for more word from Director Temren after having sent her an update of yesterday's revelations.

Only Wander had been out and about like she usually was, and if she described the potential boiling pot that currently was Heavenward as 'tense' then Kite had a feeling that the truth was a lot more severe.

"Anything in particular?" Kite asked, concerned. They had been able to make quite a few forceful interventions so far that seemed to have had the intended effect on the operations of Discord and their allies, but if the pacing stepped up…

"Hold it… I got something over here… And there. And there! Let's see… Duel gone wrong… Vengeance enacted… Lovers discovered mid- wait, scratch that. Initiate killed. Yep. People have started dying~."

"Wait, Discord's agents are killing people? Shouldn't that make it easier for the other gods to act?" Will asked from where he sat at his usual place next to Laevyeth.

"Give me some numbers, Wander. Let me see what we're working with," Braid interjected, the pair spending the next half an hour in Wander frantically summarizing what felt like a complete mishmash of information that Braid somehow managed to not only understand but neatly note down and sort with the help of a few more of Wander's bodies in a marvelous show of experience with all things related to the outworlder.

"While you have been out there doing your interventions, I have kept track of as much information as possible," the weaver stated at last after summarizing his findings for himself.

"There have been the occasional death here and there during the clashes so far, but it has been rare. Enough so that there have been no major waves of ripples because of them even with the tensions. But the numbers Wander is relaying to me… A definite increase, but probably subtle enough so that anyone without our bird's eye - sorry, Wander's eye - view of things would not notice. But if the trend picks up…"

"Then we have to pick up the pace as well," Kite agreed, but Braid held up a hand to forestall him.

"You are correct, but I would suggest that you also take more care with our esteemed Soul here. Because foul play around the contenders seems to have seen the most notable increase now that we are drawing close to the finals."

"With Warrior as my witness, they may try," the celestine noted calmly from where she sat in meditation, Kite and Braid sharing a look.

"Soul, while nobody here doubts your prowess, the forces at work here will probably do anything but come at you directly in the way Warrior would approve of," Kite said, hoping to get through to the battle-mad blessed and her unshakable confidence.

"It is not a matter of you being weak but simply that nobody can be everywhere and notice anything. So while I can't order you, would you please at least allow the two of us that are in reserve to accompany you when you leave?" In response, Soul opened one eye from her meditation to meet Kite's gaze for a moment before eventually shrugging.

"Fine. That is acceptable."

"Thank you," Kite said, relaxing somewhat.

"As today is your first match of the finals, I can imagine that most of us will be there with you anyway. But should you win and advance, there will be a day in between during which we'll make sure to have some of us keeping you company. I'll see if I can manage to finally persuade Vista too." Soul, blessed of Warrior, did not tend to be nervous often. She had long since embraced her life of seeking to become the perfect weapon, doing her best to shed such concepts in favor of more helpful ones.

Still, the mind and spirit weren't too eager to part with such sentiments, at least not yet, and thus Soul found it hard to ignore the slightly brittle feeling in her rising thrill before the battle as she once again entered Heavenward's main arena.

She had fought three previous duels there, but as the finals were now upon them where the last eight silver-rankers in the kingdom would fight to prove their paths before the heavens, the sense in the air was definitely different; there was almost a crackling static to the tension among the stands that felt like an imminent thunderstorm.

Soul had, of course, also heard of her companions discussing the rising tensions and the increasing number of incidents which might have something to do with it, but that was not something she could do much about at the moment. Instead, she centered herself as she let her mana lightly circulate throughout her body, turning her focus completely towards her opponent who had also emerged from an opening across from her.

Impeccable Silver Edge - or Young Master Silver, as Kite had referred to him - was a powerfully built human man who Soul suspected that many of those who cared about such things would find most attractive.

With his dark topknot held in place by a hairpin styled like a silver crescent moon complementing his masterfully crafted armor worn beneath a loose and open outer robe showcasing his allegiance to the Thunderous Soul Sect, he was the very image of a Hua-Xian warrior; a young master ready to assume command of his house and sect, should his path take him far enough. And given his extremely high status within both his sect and the kingdom heartlands, plenty shared this opinion.

"Before Warrior and this kingdom, we shall now commence with the first round of the dueling finals in this Grand Proving!" the officiating priest of Warrior called in a somber tone from his dais not far from the king's own box. The slender elf man was one of the higher-ranked priests in the whole kingdom among Warrior's clergy, and would preside over the finals before the very last bout that the high priest himself would oversee.

Anyone with a modicum of martial skill would be able to see that the way he stood and regarded his surroundings was that of a killer who had personally stepped into combat just as many times as those present below.

"Soul, blessed of Warrior himself, represents the Autumn Wanderer's Guild against Impeccable Silver Edge of the Thunderous Soul Sect. Both have already proven their paths, and we shall now let their clashes serve as inspiration for all of us as these are both warriors with the potential to grasp the heavens that so many of us grasp feebly towards. I remind you that these rounds will not be resolved through one clash alone, but that the victor will need to seize the advantage and prevail two out of three times.

One hour of recuperation will be provided between each round. May you both use both wisdom and might as you prove yourselves worthy before Warrior. Now, state your name and intent for everyone to hear!"

"I, Impeccable Silver Edge, accept this challenge to a clash of paths for an opportunity to both temper myself as well as seize victory for the glory and honor of the Thunderous Soul Sect!" Young Master Silver shouted in a clear, strong voice. One could not demand prizes above that, after all, but the young master apparently did not see it fit to throw other jibes or insults in there either, contrary to what Soul had witnessed as well as received during previous bouts.

The rising thrill of battle ringing slightly in her ears, Soul spoke to complete her part of the ritual.

"I, Soul, blessed of Warrior, likewise accept this clash of paths. May we both find tempering and make Warrior proud." She could feel the intense gazes and murmurs of the whole arena directed at her where she stood, dressed in her usual tight-fitting combat garb that left nothing to hinder or movements or for opponents to grab. There were no doubt tensions in this arena today, but with an inward pull of her will, Soul let that fade away as she let her focus narrow down to her foe.

In an act hinting at some wisdom, Young Master Silver had likewise shed his outer robes to leave only his gleaming armor that fit him like a second skin while a long, curved blade sprung into being. Soul had seen the conjured weapon before in a few of the man's bouts while she had been waiting for her own to begin, and while the great sabre's blade quickly started to glow white-hot, she half-dismissed it. It was a nice tool, sure, but that was not where this opponent's true strength lay.

Young Master Silver was not a paper tiger by any means, and Soul could already feel the thrill building inside her as their auras started wrestling for control as they both fell into their combat stances. Its presence spoke volumes enough; this would not be a clash that would be easy. Perhaps not even one she would win. Which, according to Soul, was the best part.

"Begin!" The shout of the officiator had barely the time to reach the whole arena before the two competitors met in the center, both dashing forward in a rushing assault. Soul already had her innate speed, further boosted by a boon she had activated from the very beginning along with plenty of others that drove her already enhanced baseline capabilities through the roof.

This was needed too, as Young Master Silver used some kind of charging power of his own as his whole form seemed to ripple with a heat that was more spiritual than physical.

His well-known wrath confluence, formed from the essences of might, potent and zeal - lent his motions a kind of decisiveness that was impressive even to Soul's discerning eyes, and while she rushed to meet the charge head on she was also adapting as her motions took on the elusive aspect of the Dancing Spider style; a foreign style of which Soul had managed to acquire a manual through spending some of the stipend she received from the guild on an auction.

By proxy, of course, as she could rarely be bothered to attend herself. The style was all about concealed motions and misdirection to set up your attacks, seeming to do one thing while minute changes to angles left strikes landing in unexpected places. It was rumored to be very difficult to learn for anyone below silver-rank as it leaned so heavily on a lot of split-second decisions that had to be processed properly, but Soul had found it a worthy addition to her growing repository of styles.

In this moment, the magic of her Self-As-Weapon Approach further enhanced it with some actual minor illusions that meant that when she met her foe in the middle, her fist did not meet the blade of the weapon head on as it might have looked like.

This meant that when the man added a second special attack that lent a gleaming aura of danger to the edge of his curved sword, Soul's hand had already pushed the weapon enough out of alignment for the strike to go wide while suffering little enough damage of her own for Immortal Fist to handle it. At the same time, her other hand had suddenly scythed in from the side to clip the young master along one cheek before he managed to snap it out of the way.

The brief contact was enough for the transcendent force to take hold though, its telltale flash a known quantity for the audience of Soul's bouts by now. She knew that some thought her path lacking for possessing only that one special attack, but those who did so were fools. If you already had the perfect tool, it was a waste to spend time on other things when you could instead perfect how you wielded said tool.

Having seized first blood, Soul let herself sweep by her foe and the precise kick the man had made against her as a follow-up. Soul could even give her opponent that it was a good kick in both form and timing, and only her great speed had let her avoid it even if that was a short-lived triumph as the pursuit began. Young Master Silver surged with power as he charged again, his speed matching Soul's for long enough to let close combat be joined once more.

Seeing through his maneuver, Soul teleported to his other side to break his momentum, but to her both chagrin and excitement she found a fist already heading her way. The block sent her flying as the force behind it was most impressive, and Young Master Silver kept up the pace with several sword-swings that kept Soul on the defensive while she in turn was letting her special attack charge to its fullest potential inside her body. Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.

This was one of the strengths Soul had seen in her foe's path during the previous bouts; his relentless advance. The wrath confluence shared a lot with her own - onslaught - though it tended to have more exotic means at its disposal while being even more offensively geared. And as Impeccable Silver Edge fought with such skill utilizing both his weapon and his body while reaching strength and speed that could rival Soul's own, this was what Soul found made him such a worthy opponent.

As such, she had also from the beginning decided not to hold anything back as any sounding out of this worthy foe would be done in the heated exchanges and pressured moves, and Soul let her mana flow into another of her self-targeting boons that increased her own movement speed. Combined with changing through a series of more flowing styles she then proceeded to make her own series of counterattacks where her motions seemed almost liquid to the observers.

To flee and create distance would mean death against such a dedicated pursuit, after all, and while Soul was definitely a fan of hit-and-run tactics when the situation called, she did embody the onslaught too, after all. This led to a wrathful, directed offense meeting a shifting dynamic one, one trying to power through while the other looked to disrupt tempo and negate advantages.

"By Warrior, this is it," part of Soul's mind sang as she felt her senses, body and skill being pushed towards their limits as control over the exchanges kept eluding either party.

"Let the hammer fall as I brace myself upon the anvil of conflict!"

"Y-young Master! How can we assist you?" Silver's servants asked nervously, crowding him as he staggered back into the chambers adjacent to the arena where he would be allowed to recuperate.

"Restoration pill and refreshments, then leave me to my meditations," the warrior said while he let his armor slide off his body with a mental command and a small surge of mana. Not that the suit had done him that much good against those transcendent strikes of his foe. As he closed his eyes, Silver thought that he could see them even now, a relentless rhythm that ate away at his life force as well as his body. And that woman…

"So, Student, one round down already?" a voice spoke from a nearby set of seats, causing Silver to quickly rise and bow deeply towards the source.

"Honored Teacher, I apologize for my shortcomings," Silver said to Aeonic Ever-Jade, grand elder of the Thunderous Soul Sect and his personal tutor for the last few years. One of the three gold-rankers of the sect, the draconian man made for an impressive sight as his lustrous green scales looked wrought from exotic, impervious stone.

Silver had found it hard to read his teacher's face during the initial parts of his tutelage, but in time he had grown more proficient in judging the nuances of the reptilian features. And given that he found disappointment and reproach in them at the moment, that was all the more reason to bow just that much deeper.

"Had I not witnessed the skills of this Soul for myself, I would have laughed at the tale of some outcast putting true pressure on one of the sect's most talented and nurtured students. Now, I just find it concerning. That celestine is skilled, sure, but so are you, Student. Your advance should have sundered her defenses even with her powers, but not only did that not happen but she also bested you in the first round with you spending none of your more important finishers.

Pray tell, Student, what were you thinking?" While the draconian's tone was harsh, Silver was also used to this kind of questioning. That last one wasn't rhetorical at all no matter how much that might have seemed to be the case, and Silver already had an answer.

"Honored Teacher, by the time I found myself mentally reaching for them, the battle was already too far gone. Neither Limit-Breaker nor Hell-rending Reversal would have saved me, only spent more resources that I would not have been able to reclaim during this hour of rest."

"Is that so? And it wasn't just because you were too busy admiring your opponent and wanted to spend a bit longer sandwiched between those legs?" the draconian asked dryly, gesturing to forestall Silver's indignant protests.

"Boy, the attraction you seem to feel is leaking through your aura like a sieve for an old hand like me. Gah, you young brats. You're just like my nephew, following that shimmering young beauty - the one bound to that Pathbreaker - around like he wished for nothing more than to become her actual tail."

"I- Teacher, I assure you that my opponent's looks will not impede me in the slightest during the second round," Silver managed to stammer, feeling like a teenager again and hating it.

"Make sure of that, Student. You may be talented, but I do not know how well the sect leader would take one of our two finalists being knocked out of the Proving by an outcast. The loss of face alone…"

"Of course, Teacher. I will give the next bout my all."

"Then center yourself, Student. There is a carrot to complement the metaphorical stick," Grand Elder Ever-Jade said as he rose and made for the exit.

"Send this outcast guild packing, and you will have the next elder's seat that becomes available, letting you champion our sect for many years to come as we do our utmost to nurture your transition to gold rank." Then he left, leaving Silver to try and do his best to forget the way this Soul-woman moved and the indomitable look in her eyes that made his heart thud faster. He needed to prove himself to many people in the next clash. His elders first and foremost, but… Perhaps his foe too, and Warrior through her."

The arena floor gave off a screeching rumble as it failed to resist the descending blade that churned with barely constrained power and fury, detonating upwards along a cascade of ripping magical destruction that left a wide and deep scar in the enchanted stone. It was only through the timely reset of Soul's personal teleportation power that she was able to completely evade the powerful swing that had struck like lightning from a clear sky.

Where the first bout between her and Young Master Silver had been one of constant pressure that had eventually let her wear her opponent down as they met like opposing flows of directed violence, this second round was more like a cataclysm unleashed. The man had apparently held out on her during the first, initiating the second one by activating some kind of very potent boon that saw his capabilities skyrocket while his strikes went from precise and forceful to calamitous.

All of this was still wielded with the same skill though, and it had forced Soul completely out of the tempo she had built up during the first round, costing her some time, effort and damage to regain an even footing in this new reality of the arena. Part of Soul wished for an ability like Kite's to snuff out this new and potent power which she suspected came from the essence of the same name. The rest of her though? The rest was completely in her element." Skyfall Style."

A vaulting snap-kick that managed to land, though it cost Soul a glancing blow to one leg." Path of Shimmering Tiles" Lightning-quick footwork following a winding, imaginary road to find safety among the carnage. Two punches given, one and a glancing blow returned as Young Master Silver showed a power of his own that was capable of dealing transcendent damage. A lot less frequently available than Soul's own, but a lot more powerful as it forced Soul to expend more energy to use her boons of recovery.

"Way of the Reaping Mantis!" Soul felt like she had to put most of her collection of gathered martial insights on display, sometimes trying to emulate more than one concept at a time. While her Self-As-Weapon approach may just give one of them that magical enhancement, some of the motions held great utility on their own when it came to navigating the battle of destruction that had become more a contest of which one of the fighters could out-trade the other in slashes, strikes and kicks.

The constant, intense stream of blows and attacks also carried them through several laps around the arena, with Soul's superior footwork letting her keep both balance and pace with her foe. It was as their running battle had led them to run up and around the lower edge of the wall of the arena that Soul found the opportunity she had been waiting for.

The incredible speed and balance of the two peak silver-rankers had let them easily keep their pace even along the vertical surface as Young Master Silver's steps and swings left a trail of rents and debris that were occasionally lit by the light of Soul's strikes landing. But while their superhuman capabilities allowed for the rather absurd battle, the wall was as good an example of poor footing as they were likely to find. And it was at the moment when Young Master Silver wobbled ever so slightly that she struck.

To call it a stumble would be like calling a light tap on the forehead a hammer blow, but given the pace and tension that both combatants were putting on one another, it was enough. Changing her stance, Soul suddenly dug in her heels in the stone below, their speed and force enough to leave a pair of furrows as she ground to a halt. In the next moment, a supercharged blade of rippling energies came for her throat only to be deflected by an uppercut.

Some damage still leaked through the protections of Immortal Fist, but that was acceptable as Soul used one of her brief, speed-increasing boons to find her grip on the man before she heaved.

"Calamitous Hurricane stance." Two things had Soul choose this course of action. First, she had long since deduced that the young master's destructive state had a cost that had to be nothing other than his own life force. While it left him with an impressive offense and momentum, the ongoing cost of health should have left him quite weakened by this stage in the battle. Soul was too though, leaving it to something akin to a coin toss as to who would be left standing if things continued like this.

Hence the need to change things up. Second, she had so far seen Young Master Silver perform many impressive moves and charges, but he had yet to show any sign of being capable of flight or similar feats of airborne prowess. She did not doubt that the man possessed artifacts or the like to help, but those were often either external things like mounts or something that might not be as available and intuitive as an essence power. Thus, she deemed this gamble worth it.

The Calamitous Hurricane stance was an odd style mostly consisting of different ways to utilize a creature's own momentum into devastating throws, and by now both Soul and the young master had quite a lot of that. That was why Silver's eyes widened slightly in alarm as he realized what was about to happen, but with Soul's leverage and strength in place, he was also powerless to stop it.

The circular throw sent him flying out above the arena with enough force that he would probably slam into the other side, had his momentum been allowed to run its course. This did not happen, however, because as he was about halfway across Soul suddenly appeared above him through her short-range teleport, and the brilliant flash of transcendent light heralded the man's sudden and abrupt change of direction as the axe-kick she delivered sent him straight down to leave a new crater in the arena floor.

Soul wasn't done there either, letting the fall claim her as she used it to dive after her foe. Debris still flying around them, her heavy initial blow struck the young master hard on the brief rebound, and then came the next. And five more in quick succession as Soul aimed for the man's arms and face most of all in a brutal onslaught of strikes where she added her only special attack as often as possible.

Fiery retaliatory damage struck her in return as the young master managed to activate some kind of protective artifact, leading to Soul herself activating her Armband of Elevenfold Unity for the first time during the whole Proving to boost her own recovery in order to help power through. Then, as abruptly as it had begun, the violence stopped; Soul standing frozen in place with her glowing fist just a handspan above her foe's head.

Because even through the thrill and razor-sharp focus of becoming the weapon, of reaching perfection, Soul's sharp senses had also managed to pick out the words.

"I- yield." The officiator apparently also understood the meaning of the abrupt stop of the furious violence, and after a brief inspection of the auras of the combatants to confirm his interpretation, the elven priest spoke once more.

"Soul, blessed of Warrior, is the victor of the second bout and therefore this round. You-" He stopped, however, suddenly falling to his knees, everyone else present with even a modicum of aura senses did the same as an overbearing divine presence - bearing imagery of the clashing of steel, the desperate struggle and the glory of seizing victory through one's own strength - descended upon the arena." I am pleased with your showing!"

Warrior's divine voice was as gruff as it was approving, the clarion call of a champion lifting one's blade high. Then the presence receded, the silence breaking soon afterwards as the excited murmurs of the onlookers spread like wildfire as the deity's presence and brief message washed away some of the previous tension. Soul took the moment to right herself, letting her foe reclaim his feet without offering assistance.

A warrior of Young Master Silver's caliber deserved to find his feet by his own might, after all, proving that while he was defeated, he was not broken. The man did, a bit wobbly as his empowering essence power left him and he had to readjust to his ordinary capabilities.

"I… Want to meet you again," Young Master Silver stated with clear conviction, to which Soul regarded him for a moment. There was something odd about his aura she found hard to interpret, some emotion unknown to her, but the steel in his eyes and set of his jaw spoke enough.

"Worthy opponents are always welcome to my arena at the guildhall in Boundary. I shall await you there," she replied with a simple nod - the only response such an obvious request for more sparring warranted - before Soul turned and strode from the arena. She might have been the most injured she had been after a clash in many years, but that only made her smile all the wider.

This victory might take her one step closer to the finals, but as she felt a familiar feeling in her spirit as if something was about to burst or bloom in streaks of golden light, Soul already felt like a true victor.