Adjusting his grip, Ulric slowly squeezed tighter as he watched Kael’s figure flail wildly, trying in vain to break free.
The sight made him shake his head slowly as he leaned forward, a whisper slipping past his lips.
"For a peak C-rank being, I must say your power is... disappointing."
As the words echoed in Kael’s ears, his lips twitched rapidly. His face contorted with rage. As if being overwhelmingly outmatched in strength wasn’t enough, his pride had now been shattered as well.
But he couldn’t give up yet. This wasn’t the end.
Tapping his ring, a mysterious token appeared in his grasp. Without a mont’s hesitation, he crushed it.
The results were imdiate. A barrier suddenly ford around him, pushing the dark-robed youth back as he gasped for air, taking multiple sharp breaths.
Ulric’s brows arched slightly. A faint smile carved across his lips as he appraised the shimring barrier that had forced him back.
A defensive talisman. It wasn’t the first ti soone had used one against him. He rembered Thunderblade had sothing similar, the only difference being that this one’s defense was far superior.
Was this the other ans of power he had boasted about before?
Ulric mused, a distasteful expression forming across his face.
Taking pride in strength that wasn’t truly his?
But that didn’t matter now.
The defensive talisman Thunderblade had used hadn’t stopped him, and he doubted this one would either.
Slowly regaining his breath, Kael clenched his fists tightly as he saw the smug look forming on the youth’s face, as if this was no inconvenience at all.
Did he even know what this was?
The frustration welling inside him almost tempted him to step out and wipe the grin off Ulric’s face. But he couldn’t do that. From the few exchanges they had shared, he understood that would be no different from a death sentence.
So he did the next best thing. His lips curled with disdain.
"You think you can defeat using only physical strength?" he mocked, gesturing toward the barrier shimring around him.
"Do you even know what this is? A defensive talisman. You’d need the combined strength of ten peak C-rank beings to even leave a dent in it. I’d like to see how you’ll get through it."
He yelled, a hysterical light flashing across his eyes as he tried to conceal the panic within.
Given its sturdy defense, it could last a few hours before falling apart on its own.
Before then, he had to figure out a way to defeat the black-robed youth.
Perhaps during that ti his energy reserves would replenish, allowing him to fight at peak strength and hopefully level the playing field.
Only this ti, he would use all of his power from the beginning.
The figure before him was no weakling.
He had learned that the hard way and wasn’t keen on repeating the sa mistake twice.
As his thoughts spiraled, they were cut short by Ulric’s amused voice.
"Is that so?"
The words left him dumbfounded. What was that supposed to an?
Did he have other ans he had yet to reveal?
He didn’t have to wonder for long.
His answer ca soon enough as he watched the dark-robed youth extend one of his arms.
In the next instant, a blade of darkness sprang into existence as Ulric clutched it tightly in his grasp.
"Huh? What is that?" Kael breathed.
His eyes stared blankly as he was left speechless.
Even beneath the protection of the barrier, he could feel the monstrous waves of energy continuously radiating from it.
Its appearance was even more striking.
It was shrouded in a mystical dark hue, with runes and sigils bathed in a splendiferous light that shimred across its fra.
It’s beautiful, Kael muttered inwardly, drawn into a trance as he subconsciously lifted his arm as if to touch it.
Regaining his composure a few seconds later, beads of cold sweat dripped down his face as though he had seen a ghost.
What was that just now?
Had a single glimpse of the youth’s weapon drawn him into a trance?
Even if it had only lasted a split second, it didn’t take away from how terrifying it was.
In a battle such as this, a split second was more than enough to decide the outco.
Good thing he was still protected by the barrier. Otherwise, things would not have ended well for him.
Just as the thought crossed his mind, he suddenly froze.
His pupils constricted violently as he watched the dark-robed youth slowly walk forward.
With a slight flick of his wrist, the blade sliced through the barrier’s defense as easily as paper, crushing it entirely as Ulric continued forward.
The sa unfazed smile hovered on his face as though what he had done was insignificant.
Kael didn’t have ti to dwell on it.
A great pain suddenly flared across his entire body.
Now unshielded by the barrier, he was exposed to the full might of the blade.
His body was slowly falling apart.
Disintegrating into motes of light.
Almost giving him the illusion that his very existence was unworthy of sharing space with the blade.
The sensation was stifling and terrifying in equal asure.
But that wasn’t what occupied his mind.
Now that he looked closer, he could see and feel the blade’s might, even if only a fraction of it.
Only a single thought echoed repeatedly at the back of his mind.
Death wrapped within beauty.
The concept itself was entrancing.
But soon none of that mattered.
He could feel his consciousness fading away, leaving him no chance of resistance.
Death was inevitable.
Perhaps at this point he should have been overwheld by countless emotions as he reflected on his life choices.
Instead, he felt... nothing.
His eyes drifted toward the sky for a brief mont, catching sight of the grey-robed elder.
A faint chuckle slipped past his lips.
If he wanted, he could have saved him.
But he didn’t.
It didn’t take a genius to understand why.
Kael had overreached.
The life-and-death contract they had agreed upon in exchange for sharing the rewards of recruiting a supre genius would now benefit only one person.
Their contract only specified that neither could directly harm the other.
It didn’t account for a third party.
Had all this been a setup?
Part of the academy instructor’s plan?
Looking back, Kael couldn’t help but smile wryly at his own naivety.
No matter how this ended, he would always have died.
Multiple conflicting thoughts circled repeatedly through his mind.
But he discarded them all.
He didn’t care anymore.
There was only one thing he wanted to know.
Drawing in a strained breath, he muttered,
"Tell ... that last attack... what was it?"
Staring at the figure sprawled across the ground, Ulric’s brows lifted slightly before he glanced down at the shimring blade clutched in his grasp.
"Blade of Entropy," Ulric muttered, unable to hide the glint of surprise flashing across his eyes.
This was the first ti he had witnessed its true might.
And it was shocking.
Its re presence was enough to erase a peak C-rank being entirely?
It was absurd.
"Entropy?" Kael mumbled beneath his breath repeatedly.
A thoughtful expression crossed his face.
Before he sighed quietly.
"I see."
In the next mont, his entire body exploded into wisps of light.
The motes hovered briefly in the air before him, but not for long.
Buzzing faintly, they all flowed into the blade and were instantly absorbed.
Its glowing light intensified.
Ulric watched everything unfold, a curious glint flickering across his eyes.
Before he suddenly paused as he felt sothing stir within him.
It seed the blade didn’t absorb all the energy for itself.
Instead, it channeled part of it back to him.
But that wasn’t what triggered his reaction.
He could feel the aether flowing continuously through his body suddenly stir at the influx of energy.
"This... how... I..."
Ulric muttered, his breath growing heavy as the words caught in his throat.
He could feel the aether moving to incorporate the incoming energy.
Breaking it down. Restructuring it. Refining its essence to birth more aether that was then drilled into his body.
As the realization dawned on him, he couldn’t suppress himself anymore.
He broke into a fit of maniacal laughter as he felt his aether reserves double... triple... and more in real ti.
His once pitiful reserve of three drops surged to an astounding thirteen.
He could feel subtle changes occurring throughout his body to accommodate the increase, including the regeneration rate of his aether being cut in half and so much more.
This wasn’t a temporary boost. It was permanent.
His natural reserves had increased to thirteen drops of aether.
Pausing for a mont, Ulric stared at the Blade of Entropy clutched in his hand.
Then he chuckled softly in understanding.
The blade had allowed him to absorb a portion of the mana within Kael, which his body had converted into aether.
"Hahaha... interesting," Ulric mumbled.
It seed the answer to all his questions had been resting in the palm of his hand all along.
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