novelraw Chapter 261 - 260 - Saber Skills
Chapter 261 - 260 - Saber Skills
The audience looking on discarded all fights but 1. Lind Frey versus Cara Furlan. They could not hear what was said but the clear excitement on both their faces showed they would be putting their all into it.
Stunned silence fell as Lind Frey finally summoned a weapon. No one recognized it but it seemed similar to his old one that could extend into a full staff and be hung on a belt in its retracted shape.
All stared at the display as 2 beams of emerald light emerged from either end of the black cylinder. Many in the Divine Sword Sect bolted to their feet in shock. Anyone that studied at the sect knew of legendary weapons.
They may all carry rather humble swords for their realms, but that did not mean they ignored the mythical weapons that were in their histories.
"It can't be. He can make that weapon?" One of the eliminated slot holders spoke next to the healer still tending his damaged arm. He had it crushed in the last round due to not understanding the maze's purpose.
"It must be, nothing else exists like that. This is not an inscription enhancement on an existing blade, but blades of light!" A woman was practically drooling at Lind in the image. His wives were a little put off but then they heard laughter from far to their left they recognized.
"Big Brother is actually going to use it! He can't be stopped now!" Little Fey's voice carried and many eyes swiveled to lock on to her, but her powerful Gold Tier aura combined with her fierce combat skills made many simply look on without being able to ask the many questions they had.
"Begin quarter finals." The booming voice shook them all and everyone began to stare at Lind Frey and his fight.
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Cara zoomed across the open grassland like she had a rocket pack on. Her image blurred even to Lind's powerful Sky Eyes. He had to rely on his instincts and thankfully the Trial of Stone had ingrained battle instincts into him.
Lind dodged while lifting his saber up to block her attack. Cara seemed to evaporate about a meter from him and appear frozen in mid-air just above his head with her sword glinting sunlight as it came down for his throat.
Her power was not small. Despite being a third of his size, her strength was well above Iron Tier. Lind almost stumbled because he was caught off guard. Still, he spun on his back left heel away from her while twirling the double saber to stop any attack from behind.
That was a wise move as he felt the deflection of her sword Qi as it was launched from her as she came back to the ground. The first clash was a draw, a little in Cara's favor but neither were even close to winded.
Lind then stomped with his right foot to launch himself like a missile as the double saber sang in the air. Cara smiled wide as sword Qi glowed around her blade but Lind only smirked back as he cleaved through the white Qi like a hot knife through butter.
Cara quickly rolled back and jumped back to her feet without even losing a beat she launched to his left, thinking he would be weak on that side. If it had been before the Trial of Stone, he absolutely would have had a weak and strong side, but thanks to that Relic, Lind had no weak side!
He jumped up and tossed the saber hilt to his left hand. The twin blades buzzed right through where Cara was heading for but she moved Qi into her robes that dug into the dirt to stop her momentum.
It then pivoted and she moved back in frustration as she understood Lind's defenses were not so simple.
She laughed as she pulled out another sword. Dual blades were not always a sign of better swordsmanship, but with cultivation, they did mark a horrifying level of power. Each sword could launch different techniques or Arts. Lind frowned at the complication but there was little he could do.
"Life & Death!" Cara screamed out 2 words but the effect was obvious as one sword became blazing with an outline of light Qi and the other sword was lost in darkness. Lind was curious because Cara had neither element in her dantian from what he could tell, yet the swords worked perfectly well.
"I have so much to learn, it seems." Lind was smiling as he changed the flow of Qi to his weapon. The arcs of the attacks began to fly but then Cara was left shocked when both shattered like glass!
"Never forget what the realm spirit said. We can use all we have in these fights, so I am not holding back at all!" Very few knew all about him, but Lind knew the nobles and upper echelons likely studied him to see if they could replicate his results.
His talents of Soul Eyes and Soul Touch were likely well known and that they had advanced above his current realm. As such, Cara looked grave as she understood her conjured attacks would effectively be useless.
Lind had access to all the elements and any combination he needed. With his Eyes and Touch, he could also analyze and take apart those attacks in a frightening speed. She then firmed up with her 2 blades as sword Qi blended with her elements of earth and water on one blade and fire and air on the other.
The feeling of threat magnified considerably and Lind felt his blood boil. He felt excited. He had spent years struggling to just cultivate and keep his foundation and cores in balance. He had to rebalance existing Arts so he could use them.
He spent months up to his elbows in ancient scrolls and jade slips to find any clue to keep his road open like every other cultivator. He had been always afraid of revealing what he could do as he mastered elixirs and later Forging.
One mistake, or trusting the wrong person and he would be locked away in some small room simply slaving away for some clan, kingdom, or sect. He had more than heard of such, he had seen it during missions against wicked powers when he was with the Heavenly Maiden Sect.
Little Fey had often taken such missions while he was 'dead' because she hated the idea of it possibly happening to her beloved Big Brother.
Now, however, since he returned from the Relic of the Elements. Lind had been free. The World Realm fonts were integral to advancing his foundation so there was no longer an imbalance to worry about.
He still had to temper his fonts, but his talent no longer pushed disharmony upon him. He could learn and study only what he wanted but to master the World Realm was still a massive amount of catching up for him to do in a single year.
While he had cultivated well in the Relic, he had not been free to do anything but what led to freedom.
For over a year, he had finally traveled the world while learning how to fight, how to use World Arts, and mostly how to wield his Qi as he wished. He had expected it to be troublesome but instead, it was like he was a dry desert given rain.
His mind absorbed knowledge at lightning speed and his comprehension was monstrous.
The hum of his dual saber brought him back and he was chagrined to note that he had deflected attacks automatically while lost in thought.
"Apologies, I lost myself in reminiscence." Cara's eyes narrowed as she had been swinging her 2 swords to no avail but now Lind was stating he had been distracted and able to keep up with her on instinct alone.
"Don't belittle me!" Her harsh words made Lind bow slightly in apology. He then became grim and his aura changed. Before was mostly testing and seeing what she could do.
Cara was powerful with a single sword, but with 2, she became downright terrifying. She used her 4 primary elements well by blending the 2 complementary primary pairs to each blade. If she crossed those swords, it would make an impact even Lind would find troublesome.
His emerald sabers began to change.
While Lind would love to claim he had recreated the favorite weapon of all science fiction fans everywhere, it was still a cultivation weapon. It was also a massive Qi sink.
The trade off was absolute control on the elements flowing in each blade.
"You have excellent control, but don't forget what I can do." Lind's sabers changed colors. One blade became a burning sun of air, fire, and light while the other became the feeling of death with darkness, earth, and water.
Cara jumped back out of instinct as the emerald light was powerful but it seemed to empower rather than harm. The new blades, however, felt far more powerful than hers. How could pure Qi sabers be more powerful than real swords?
Further, the feeling of the man in front of her had changed. Lind usually gave off a serious but amicable aura from her experience. Even when facing anyone at camp, he only seemed to be analyzing and comparing, but what was in front of her now was a warrior.
The sabers blazed as her eyes were caught off guard. She raised her swords to cross them to create a shockwave but the dual saber seemed to suddenly come between her swords!
She let go of her hilts and flipped backwards as the saber crashed into the earth. Dirt and grass flew everywhere as Cara had to stabilize herself while looking for her swords. While the Divine Sword Sect focused on sword skills, they were practical.
Cara's hands glowed as she released her full strength to create lightning arcs and conduct it along a stream of water. It instantly vaporized and filled the air with Qi to confuse her opponent…she hoped.
Her swords were imprinted with her Qi so she honed in on them but the buzz of the dual saber made her roll to her right as Lind suddenly appeared! How had he found her?
His sabers cleanly sliced the ground where she had been standing but then he reversed like he had not just missed and the black blade closed in on her! Cara felt desperate and used air with earth to buy some time.
The saber sliced the earth shield like it was nothing and while air pushed her back, the flow changed around her as she was pulled towards Lind!
She quickly changed her mind and moved into the pull which caught him off guard. He was not in the right position to slice and could only use his hilt to deflect her fist. Lind actually felt pain but his skin did not break.
He smiled at her adapting to his tactics but it would not be enough.
As soon as he stabilized his footing he found her with one of her swords ready to fight once more, but it was time to end it. Lind was running out of Qi and he knew this opponent would not let him down an elixir.
Cara was about to charge when she felt a change in the air. Pressure was dropping and clouds were forming! How was he doing that?!
Suddenly, stories came back to her. Rumors that as a Soul Realm, Lind had thrashed the powerful demon Prince Ryu at the Lotus Academy not with a conjured Art or technique, but the wrath of Heaven!
She moved forward quickly while using earth to ground herself. Anyone that faced lightning cultivators knew what to do but she was stunned when the lightning crashed not around her, but around Lind!
The dual saber stopped the bolts of lighting but instead of deflecting them it seemed to absorb them until the quality of Qi changed. Shock flooded her heart as she understood what he had just done!
"Prepare yourself!" Lind roared as the pressure from his saber skyrocketed far past Iron Tier into Gold Tier! He had improved the quality of the Qi by using a quasi-Forging right in front of her to grade 4 on the Qi blades themselves!
How had he thought of that?!
The blades were no longer pure and strong but wild and unstable. Even so, they were coming at her and she activated every defensive array in her robes and infused the blade with pure earth like never before.
The 2 clashed but that time Cara was sent flying as her robes lit up with various protective arrays. Lind also began to channel Qi out of his hilt as it was smoking. The Qi blades were improved, but his hilt was still only peak grade 3.
Cara's sword had shattered and the hilt fell not far from Lind. He looked at it forlornly as the blades finally dispersed.
"Winner: Lind Frey." Light enveloped them both as they were transported back to their audience seats. He moved far faster than any could believe as he brought an elixir to Cara's mouth. Her other sword had appeared next to her with the broken shards of the other one.
The Recovery Elixir did its work and he used low grade 4 to be safe. Her flesh healed from the many burns but her robes were practically destroyed. They still worked as clothes, but as a cultivator's protection they were useless cloth.
"G-good fight." Her words made Lind look at her with a worried expression but he held the broken blade in his hand and swore he would fix her up with new ones later. He nodded back to her.
"You were able to hurt me and push me to fight harder than I wanted to. I was saving that last attack, you know." His words made her smile but she passed out. He looked up to see the healer of the sect finally nearby and handed her off. He then tried to stand up but the world tilted.
Many noticed his weakness but before any could intrude, a roar reminded them he had 4 guards that would kill anyone that threatened him without any remorse. Ethry gently encircled Lind as gentle arms picked him up.
"Rest, husband. There are 2 more rounds to go." Qing took over healing Lind as he had indeed been hit a few times, but his tempered body was already taking care of the worst of it. Honestly, his last attack did more damage to him than Cara did the entire fight.
Still, all would agree that the idea of Lind only being a scholar was forever laid to rest. Regardless if he made it to the finals or not, his place as a true cultivator was cemented in all the witnesses there.