Chapter 299: Petty
Jualim’s gaze swept the scene and then landed on Theron. He looked as though he was about to threaten the latter, or at least fake like he was going to, but Theron wasn’t even looking at him. The latter’s eyes remained closed, his breathing slow and even.
There was a hint of annoyance that flashed in Jualim’s eyes, but he pulled his spear out of Riyan’s gut nonetheless and walked off of the stage.
Theron wasn’t surprised by this. In fact, he never opened his eyes at all. He had just predicted exactly what would happen.
Jualim was strong, but not enough that he could sweep through everyone here. They had already taken a risk in using their underhanded tactics. If the likes of Jualim started sweeping through all of his opponents at once, it would raise the eyebrows of those in the crowd.
It was best to play this sche out more slowly. After all, they had already dealt a blow to Riyan. With that issue out of the way, if their goal was to target Theron, they could do it more systematically now. In fact, it would be best if soone else did it.
“General Jualim has chosen to step off of the stage,” llo spoke as mbers of the Gold Clan helped Riyan down. “Now, I’ll have to ask our other Young Generals if they would like to step forward.”
Inanm of the Firewings was the first to flash ahead. His short stature almost imdiately lit up with a great number of flas, making it look as though he had spread his wings to step onto the stage, red-gold blooming around him in larger and larger plus of nace and power.
“Pufferfish boy!” Inanm roared out.
Theron slowly opened his eyes, looking at Inanm with a hard-to-read expression in his eyes.
The Nightingales and Firewings were allies. This sort of challenge hardly made much sense at all. Even so, Theron slowly stood and walked to the stage, taking a step onto it.
The world around Theron seed to warp. He looked down to his feet, realizing that it wasn’t just the heat in the air forming a mirage. His legs themselves felt shaky.
‘Interesting…’
This area was quite special. Other than llo, who had runes to amplify their voices, none of the rest of them did. This region in the arena projected sound through natural acoustic architecture.
Now, that architecture seed to have been tweaked to ss with their inner ears, distorting their senses.
However, Inanm now, and Jualim before him, seed to be unaffected.
There was a flash in Theron’s eyes as he gathered information about what was happening. How could it be so targeted? Why didn’t he feel it the first ti he stepped onto the stage? How did they direct it, exactly?
Inanm’s fist had already appeared before Theron’s face at this point, a wild sneer on his face as he was propelled forward by plus of fire that treated his limbs like the bodies of engines to be shot out of a cannon.
“I hear you’re already at the peak of Silver Resonance… but so what? Piss off!”
Inanm felt to the deepest depths of his soul that anyone could speed through Silver Resonance, especially if they purposely fused with a weak Echo.
Clearly, Theron had taken advantage of the weak Blue Pufferfish to absorb a stronger Echo than he would have otherwise been capable of. The relationship between a stronger starting Echo and cultivation progression speed was well-docunted—but it was still important to balance an Echo’s talent and its imdiate strength.
Inanm thought he had Theron completely figured out. But unfortunately for him, Theron had already stepped onto this stage once, and if he were to step off of it again, he would lose his second chance at this.
That much was fine… if it wasn’t for the fact he hadn’t quite yet figured out what was going on here.
A fist slamd against Theron’s face, but a ripple of Water Mana had taken shape.
[Shedding Water Skin]
The flas bombarded it until it beca a sizzling mist of steam. However, Theron never moved, his senses carefully probing the region.
At the mont, he also didn’t trust himself to move and cast spells at the sa ti. So against an opponent like this one, it was just better he not move at all.
To outsiders, though, it looked like he was too slow to react, especially when he took a single step back to stabilize himself.
Inanm’s laughter filled the air, his fists bombarding Theron from all sides as he flew around the steam with the agility of a monkey.
“Yes, do what you do best, little pufferfish boy!”
Theron spared a thought toward why Inanm might be so angry with him specifically. But other than Thessa’s existence, he couldn’t really think of anything else.
Either way, the short young man didn’t seem to be the sharpest tool in the shed regardless.
‘I see…’
If it was up to Theron, after figuring these things out, he would just quit. Unfortunately, he had used up his flag, so he couldn’t use it to admit defeat. The only two ways off were to get Inanm to accept his defeat, or to be unable to battle.
He wasn’t going to allow himself to be injured, and Inanm would certainly not cooperate.
‘In that case, let’s move before they up the difficulty any more.’
Theron took a step and his figure flashed.
BANG!
A palm slapped against Inanm’s chest with such montum that his ribs cracked to pieces in a single brief instant of ti. With steam billowing around them, most hardly saw anything at all.
In one mont, there was a heated back and Inanm’s endless laughter, and in the next, he was sent flying out of the arena, coughing up projectiles of blood.
The short Firewing crashed against the ground, rebounding continuously before skidding to a stop.
Theron, though, was already stepping off of the arena.
“I relinquish my rights to threaten.”
He used up his second opportunity then took a seat, closing his eyes to cultivate more. If he continued to fight now, he would have to expose his true strength with the disadvantages he was facing.
It wasn’t ti for that yet.
Even if it screwed over the Nightingale Empire, he really didn’t care. Not only would he more than make up for it in the final round… but he was more worried about his blades tasting blood.
Petty fights between First Years that couldn’t shine his shoes weren’t enticing to him.
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