I regained my composure, flew out of the deep crater created by the attack earlier, and walked forward slowly. The echo of my footsteps was swallowed by the strange silence of the arena.
The seven Elental slabs were pulsing faintly beneath my feet, so they flickered as if they were holding onto their breath.
Now on the surface, I gripped my sword and looked around once again.
Although I couldn’t see them yet, my instincts told they were watching to see what I’ve got.
The seven sentries forged from seven elents of fire, water, lightning, earth, air, darkness, and arcane were not living the low glory as it was described in ancient tales.
The reality of their attacks had really shown not only but also the onlookers out there how formidable the demon Master was.
And as such, hinted at how invincible my father should be for taking him down.
’Yet, he abandoned us just like that!’ I roared in my mind.
Nevertheless, I set aside the hatred that was beginning to grow in against my father and rather focused on what was before .
I had a goal to achieve.
And to achieve that goal, I needed to pave off any stumbling block in my path.
One of these stumbling blocks is the Sentry, which is hidden sowhere in the empty air around , waiting for their turn to defend my attack.
"Hmm..." I smirked, setting my sword aside. "How about a warm-up?" I said firmly.
"NO ISSUES!" the voice bood.
"Very well. Then, I will start," I whispered, and the silence in the hall tightened around like a knot.
It wasn’t a hindrance anyway as I exhaled and lowered my stance, shifting my sword sideways. A faint ripple of blue light ca to life, shimring around the blade, spreading down my arms.
In my mind, I activated my swordsmanship skills and dashed forward.
"Surface Ripple: Solo!"
Imdiately, my feet moved with soft and barely audible taps, forming a light pattern. The scenario was like I stepped on the surface of a calm lake without causing it to break.
Every motion did yield better results than when I had learned the skill newly, sending gentle ripples across the ground.
"Nice one," I muttered, and just as the final motion of the skill ended, I swung my sword.
First was a bright flash of blue light. Then, a clean horizontal arc sliced through the air, cutting its way through to the wall corner above.
FWUUUUUSH!
As expected, my predictions were right as to the possible hiding location of the sentries.
"How did you find ?" the voice shook from the direction I had struck.
I smiled and took out my hand in explanation.
"Isn’t it common sense? Hiding in an open or plane surface will make it easy for to sense, since it only hides your body.
But co to think of it, people are less likely to walk directly into a corner than along an open wall. In that way, not only is your body hidden, but your possible locations as well."
I flung my sword downwards again, feeling myself for having discovered the location of the hidden sentries.
"And I couldn’t underestimate an artifact created by a demon Master any longer," I said, tapping my lips with my index finger, looking around the hall.
"But co to think of it, isn’t this setting a little more revealing too?" I said and laughed ticulously.
The arena into which these sentries have transported was indeed sowhat strange. But one unique trait they had failed to demolish was the existence of their characteristic populace.
Put simply, they made the hall in such a way that it bore heptagon corners, representing their number.
I was done speaking, and the first sentry, which I attacked, seed to have neutralized my attack.
Now, we got serious again.
The invisible field around rippled like a basin that had been struck by a stone, and suddenly—a figure appeared.
Unlike the candle-stand-like form they had initially taken, this figure was a burning humanoid shape.
Its body was made of swirling flakes of fla and molten cracks, while its eyes glowed like a furnace opening.
The elental sentry, fire!
It raised its hand instinctively, and a wall of fla burst upward, intercepting a second cut I had unleashed against it upon unraveling its complete form.
SHRIEEKSHH!
The mont the fire touched the water energy of my blade, steam exploded around us.
Without further ado, I handled my sword with both hands, pointing it forward as I lunged, activating a new sword skill.
"Surface Ripple: Footwalk Ladder!"
In response, my feet tapped rapidly in a rising pattern, each step as if I was climbing an invisible staircase into the air. As I shot upward, I twisted midair at the sa ti and descended with a vertical slash.
But the Sentry was already ready to engage the attack but wasn’t able to nullify it completely.
It crossed its arms. Sparks burst out as my attack collided with it, sending it backward.
Then, SHUUUUM!
A cold sensation flashed to my right.
The second sentry had impatiently left its hiding zone, dropping its invisibility like a curtain.
Just like fire, it had taken a humanoid form, its outline made of crackling white-blue electric arcs as it descended midair.
At the sa ti, a second noise followed.
WOOM!
The third sentry appeared behind .
It took the sa form, but as a fluid figure. Its entire body shimred like the surface of the sea at dawn.
"I see. I wasn’t thinking the warm-up was only going to be worthwhile with you, but your brethren have joined," I murmured, and without hesitation, I spun.
A battle glutton had suddenly flared within , causing to only think of defeating the opponents before .
"Deep Current: Continuous Cutting!"
Like a mad fighter, I began to swing my sword furiously. Its blade blurred into a stream, creating a flowing surge of slashes with no breaks between them, slicing the air in circular motions.
The three sentries were sohow able to evade my attacks, but one of them thought it was going to be an advantage against .
Water Sentry!
It launched a wave toward , but the mont the wave reached my range—it froze, then shattered into harmless mist.
"You can’t use water against ," I said simply, acknowledging within the unique power that had taken effect on that vein: Aqua Dominion.
At that point in ti, the appearance of the fourth sentry made reason that I am poised as a threat against them.
Its presence pressed down on my back. And then, a fifth breeze touched my cheek.
It began taking place simultaneously.
As Earth and Air had surfaced, darkness followed suit. The presence caused an embodint that slithered along my spine.
And finally, a presence that felt like it didn’t belong anywhere joined the crew. The last of the elental sentries, Arcane, surfaced.
One by one, all Seven Sentries shimred into existence around , forming a loose circle.
They maintained the forms of humanoid shapes, bearing their unique elental colors and features.
For a fleeting mont, silence shook the surroundings.
They didn’t speak, nor did they move.
They only stood there, hovering mid-air around .
"Fine. The warm-up session is over. So, you will listen to my story," I whispered, and lit my face into a wild smile.
"My story will be about the boy who was granted the fate to remain a ’weakling!’" I declared, gripping my sword tighter.
...
As the storm was growing inside the test zone, the spectators were all seated outside watching its outco on the big screen.
Not even a single person was able to keep a settled mind as each mage bore their various feelings as to the situation at Mobix’s hand.
There were those who regretted having the wrong impression of his title, the Threat of Doom. As ironic as it may sound, this set of people still saw Mobix as a threat of Doom, but no longer with an evil intent.
"Isn’t that the boy who just awakened?" was the question they found themselves asking no other person in particular but their thoughts.
At the sa ti, there were those who felt pitiful. Seeing what Mobix had to pass through all because of their misconception now battered on their various consciences.
The high mages were, however, not left out with their mixed feelings.
The Emperor silently wanted to regret annulling the engagent between his daughter, Sandra, and this mysterious being of a boy called Mobix von Seafrost.
’He could have been a considerable protection for Quadraxis,’ the Emperor thought.
Yet, he would rather not fall for this thought. Instead, he cald himself and widened his gaze at the screen with a clenched fist.
"In no ti, he will serve his purpose," he muttered with a coarse voice.
Maria, who sat beside the Emperor, heard those words but didn’t give much aning to them. Her eyes were shifting from Mobix’s screen to that of Lyra’s screen.
"Then what will happen to my daughter?" she said with a sober voice, bearing in mind that the ti was almost elapsing.
anwhile, Muna sat at her end and wished it was a physical test so that she could jeer her brother to keep up as he would win.
The situation was giving her unsettling vibes anyway.
She couldn’t quite fathom why her brother had to go through such a brutal test.
"Young Master said not to act rashly in public. Hence, I shall wait for his permission to deal with those examiners!" Vera declared among her fellows, leaving Bonnie and Lovina to nod in approval.
Linda was not left out. Instead, she regretted not being able to stop her Master from partaking in the test and so, silently, offered her prayer of success.
The tension in the atmosphere, however, increased as Magister Dango rose from his seat with the stopwatch held high to the visibility of everyone watching.
"The ti is up!"
And so, everyone waited to see what happened.
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