"Oh, are they going to spar now?"
Adara mused as an interested expression appeared on her face.
’It’s the first ti I’ll see Deadman’s capabilities... I wonder just what the Pope saw in him...’
Even though she had already witnessed Zen casting Contain, which in and of itself was already sothing unbelievable, she still wanted to see more from him.
After all, the Arthur she rembered would not even look at draconic humans— humans with the highest potential— back in the past.
And this was including the fact that the Temple of Fire was in dire need of people.
Thus, Adara knew that for soone— much less a human— to be able to pass Arthur’s standards, he would need heaven-defying talent at the very least.
’And this is the first ti I’ll see him fight after all these years, so I’m very excited~’
Adara’s pupils seed to have a heart in them as she gazed at the Temple of Fire’s Pope in the distance.
...
’Why did I suddenly feel goosebumps?’
Arthur felt strange inwardly, but did not show it on his face.
Instead, he rely observed his one and only apprentice, who was standing in front of him.
Unlike their previous spars, there was a certain sothing that changed.
It was none other than the fact that Zen wore black training attire, while Arthur wore a robe befitting the Pope of the Temple of Fire.
However, at this mont, he was now wearing a robe with great similarities to the one his teacher wears.
Although Zen did not know exactly what it represented, he still felt happy that he had already seed to be acknowledged by his teacher.
He then brandished the two one-handed katanas in his hands, while Arthur stood carefreely with his hands on his back.
The two were currently standing a few ters away from each other.
The teacher looked at his apprentice and spoke, "I’ll let you have the first move. Feel free to attack when you’re ready. And rember this: fight with your life on the line. Oh, and by the way, I won’t use any defensive moves like Burning Ring."
’I really didn’t want to spar with him...’
Zen thought, helplessly feeling that he was about to be tortured once again.
And of all tis, Aunt Ada just had to be watching, making what was about to happen infinitely more embarrassing.
’Well, Teacher’s right. In this final week of training, I want to prove myself.’
He took a deep breath and closed his eyes, ’Now that it has co to this...’
"I’ll just need to do my best." Muttering under his breath, Zen slowly opened his eyes as a chant soon left his lips.
[Absolute Apathy]
Casting one of the subskills under the Heart of Stone, the colours of the world seed to fade in his sight as his brain activity was maximized past its maximum potential.
Arthur slightly frowned as he sensed the changes in his apprentice, but did not stop him.
’Preventing him from using that skill is not sothing I should do. I’d better just trust him in dealing with that skill’s consequences. After all, I’ve given him all the guidance I could give.’
Likewise, in the distance, Adara also sensed the subtle change within Zen, but chose to see what happened first before comnting.
In an instant, countless plans were formulated and discarded inside Zen’s mind.
After a mont, his emotionless voice rang with a chant.
[Fire Weapon Art, First Style: Ember]
Flas surrounded both of his katanas as he instantly waved them over hundreds of tis in the span of a few seconds— a feat that would not have been possible had it not for his stats breaking through 100.
Woov— Woov— Woov— Woov— Woov—
The sounds of fire waves cutting through the air echoed in the air as the temperature in the area rose.
Seeing the waves of flas nearing his face, Arthur smiled and waved his right hand repeatedly while his left hand remained on his back.
Nurous waves of flas, which were larger and more intense than the ones that shot out from Zen’s two katanas, shot out with every hand chop he perford in the air.
Even without a chant, he was able to cast the first style of the Fire Weapon Art: [Ember]
The waves of flas that shot out from his hand accurately t with Zen’s and seed to ’swallow’ them as they got stronger and shot towards his apprentice.
Just like that, the situation was turned around with the hundreds of stronger and larger waves of flas shot out towards Zen.
However, his expression remained calm— or rather, emotionless— as he struck with his two katanas repeatedly once again.
[Fire Weapon Art, Second Style: Burning Ring]
Before the first fla wave touched him, Zen was able to cast the skill a total of four tis as glowing, burning rings surrounded him.
As the Ember and Burning Ring t each other, loud explosions instantly filled the area.
Arthur watched the scene with a subtle smile on his face, "It can’t be that this is all you amount to, right, my precious apprenti—"
Before he could finish taunting Zen, he felt sothing coming from the sea of flas in front.
[Fire Weapon Art, Third Style: Flash Fire]
Arthur soon heard a chant in the midst of the sea of flas, feeling the two swords bout to co out from it.
He slowly raised both his hands and assud the fighting stance brought upon by his Adaptive Combat Technique.
Swoosh—
Soon enough, a large ’ball’ of fire dashed out of the sea of flas as two katanas could be seen peeking out of it.
Arthur frowned, feeling sothing amiss, but the figure covered in flas had already reached him.
Just as he was about to deflect the two katanas that were being thrust towards his chest, his pupils suddenly constricted as he felt a presence behind him.
Who else could it be but Zen?
[Fire Weapon Art, Fourth Style: Heat Glaze]
Along with his chant, Zen’s hands assud a bright colour which was a mixture of red, orange and yellow, making it look like it had just co out of a furnace.
The pain of his hands burning for increased power almost drove him mad.
It would have surely shown on his face, had it not for the fact that he had activated Absolute Apathy.
In the tenth of a second that he appeared behind his teacher, Zen had already activated a skill and driven his ’molten’ fist in the path directed by his Adaptive Combat Technique.
Arthur could only turn his head by a fraction before he made a decision, as a thought instantly popped up in his mind, ’He has reached Adept Proficiency with the Fire Weapon Art...!’
Using both of his hands, he deflected the two katanas flawlessly while stomping his right foot on the ground.
In an instant, a rock formation appeared between his back and his apprentice’s fist.
Unfortunately, the little amount of ti Arthur used to cast his magic made it impossible for it to be robust, as the molten fist destroyed it and continued towards his back.
However, the delay that spanned rely a fraction of a second had already brought him enough ti to turn around in lightning speed as he t his apprentice’s approaching fist with a palm strike of his own.
BOOM—!
A deafening explosion echoed around the area, making the Space Isolation Barrier that covered the training ground tremble slightly.
The intense fight between the teacher and apprentice continued as explosions and flas raged in the training grounds.
Zen brandished his glowing hands as he exchanged attacks with Arthur, both of them having a smile on their faces.
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