Chapter 222: The First Combat Session (2)
The first combat session of Mychael's fell into disarray due to Suji Lasgeor's vicious attack, forcing the class to be delayed by a few minutes while the tanned instructor did his best to clean up the area. In fact, Mychael required the help of many of his students, in order to restore the training courtyard as quickly as possible. After ten long minutes, when most of the debris had been picked up, did the lesson continue.
"Fucking hell! Those of you who have destructive abilities like this asshole over here, tell me immediately! I don't want to fucking clean this shit up again!" Smacking the brown-haired Suji, Mychael warned the rest of the class.
The young fifteen-year-olds looked at each other for a brief moment before shaking their heads in denial. Although many of them were confident in their abilities, none of them possessed the destructive capabilities that the Son of War had.
"Suji, you bloody show-off. You just had to use that attack from the get-go huh?" As the muscular teen returned to the crowd, his close childhood friend, Danroy, scoffed at his behaviour.
"We have to set the standard, Dan." Suji folded his arms and gave a brief answer.
"Hmph! I know that! It's just frustrating that you immediately immobilised that golem while I couldn't even do anything to it..." Biting his dried up lips, a small amount of crimson liquid flowed out from Danroy's mouth and dripped onto the floor.
"Pure devastation is not your forte. You should know that… There are times where I envy your defensive capabilities." Suji raised his eyebrows and consoled the despondent teen.
Danroy's Spirit was the Terrestrial Rhinoceros, and it possessed an immense hide that could even defend against the jaws of the Celestial Dragon. Cultivating the Terrestrial Rhinoceros meant that the Spirit User had to forgo some offensive capabilities due to the slow nature of the Spirit. Nonetheless, Danroy had managed to train his Spirit in both fields and was rather competent with his offensive abilities. Of course, his defensive ability still ranks among the top in the academy as even Suji's Purple Dragon Crescent Blade would have significant difficulties in breaking Danroy's defences.
"Easy for you to say! Look! Everyone here is mesmerised by your attack! Urggh, I really hate that side of you..." Pulling his hair in irritation, Danroy scolded his close friend.
"Like I said… We have to set the standard. Ever since you lost to the Freak, people have been doubting the might of our families."
"Tsskkk, don't remind me of that asshole! He just caught me off guard! The next time we fight, I'll be sure to impale through that midget body!" The moment Suji brought up Shizen Dundlewoods, Danroy felt his boil begin to boil, and an intense hate enveloped his consciousness.
"Don't… Your Spirit is a poor match for his. I told you that multiple times."
"I know… I know..." Rolling his eyes, Danroy didn't pay too much heed to his bosom pal's advice and had begun to scheme his next encounter with the Freak of the Dundlewoods.
While the two friends were busy talking in their own world, Mychael had started to access a number of the remaining class. Some of them displayed exceptional talent and were able to force the stone golem to go on the defensive, while others were only able to barely evade the golem's attacks. However, none of them was able to force the automaton to its knees, like Danroy and Suji before them.
"Next up… Ella Iofiel!" After fifteen minutes, Mychael finally called up one of the trio's names.
"Ella! Good luck!"
"Ella, you can do it!"
To Shin's surprise, some of the surrounding students, mostly girls, came forward to encourage the purple-haired girl. At one corner, numerous boys were also interested in cheering for the alluring young girl but were too self-conscious to make the first move. Evidently, the twins' socialising efforts during orientation week had paid off, and they were rather well-known and well-liked among the freshmen cohort.
"Ermmm, teacher!" Before Mychael could formally begin the session, Ella raised her hands with a question.
"What is it?"
"Could you let me perform the assessment alongside my sister? We have matching Spirits and cultivate in a matching cultivation technique that boosts both our capabilities in battle. If we fought together, we could bring out much more to show you!" Ella informed Mychael of the Crystal Toxotai Mantra and how the twins were a better fighting force together.
"Hmmm, I don't see why not… Emma Iofiel! Do you share the same thoughts as your sister?"
"A-Ah… Yes!"
"Then what are you waiting for?! Get the fuck up here!" Reprimanding the short-haired girl, Mychael forced Emma to scurry up the steps.
Standing fifteen metres away from the stone golem, Ella raised three of her fingers up, indicating for Emma to get into her position. To keep up with Shin's gruesome training schedule, the twins had formulated numerous combination positions and had trained in each of them extensively. They had a plan for dealing with multiple enemies, a strategy for dealing with a single enemy, and a method for covering a retreat path. Currently, the position that they were adopting was for a single enemy that could potentially be much stronger than themselves. Once she read the signal, with one leap, Emma retreated a further five metres.
Congregating their mana, the temperature surrounding the twins began to dip slightly, as two crystalline bows appeared within their hands. A frosty aura enveloped the two captivating girls as their mana output reached its peak. Nocking their ice arrows using their dominant hands, the twins nodded their heads to each other, signifying that they were ready to begin.
"Once you're ready, you may start." Mychael indifferently said.
"Emma!" Releasing her fully drawn arrow, Ella initiated the battle while calling out for her sister. Heeding her cry, Emma jumped up ten metres into the air to gain a better vantage point. Scanning the golem, Emma immediately identified the joints that were vulnerable to attack and fired her arrow straight at it.
Meanwhile, on the ground, Ella was rapidly creating ice arrows at a blinding speed and firing them indiscriminately at the same time. Being hit multiple times by Ella's arrows, the stone golem's body started to freeze as bits of frost could be seen forming on its stone abdomen. However, since it was well-built, the golem could withstand the chill that Ella's ice arrows brought. Unfortunately, its opponent was not limited to the ponytailed girl that was on the ground.
"*Whooosh!!!*." Emma's long-distance shot sliced through the air and landed straight on the right elbow joint of the golem, instantly freezing it and therefore, taking out the right hand in battle.
"Nice shot!" Ella exclaimed and pounced forward. Her Ice Bow began to glow in a dazzling light as a chilling mist was emitted out from its two limbs. From the centre of the bow, where the arrow rest lay, a ball of white light formed as more and more mana was being pumped into the Bow Spirit.
"Icicle Barrage!!!" Ella screamed out as she closed her distance. Dozens, if not hundreds of small but knifelike chunks of ice flew out from the Ice Bow and rapidly struck the automaton, forcing it to take a few steps backwards. Although her attack might be deadly for a regular Spirit User, to the defence oriented stone golem, enduring the barrage was as simple as raising its hands.
Dancing about the training golem, Ella continued on her relentless assault as she circled around the automaton thrice before it got annoyed and launched a massive fist at the young girl. Gasps of horror filled the mouths of the spectators as they expected Ella to become a pile of meat paste after that blow. Yet, only Shin and Emma remained unmoved that their fellow sibling was about to get viciously mauled.
At that moment, an illusory chain of light connected Ella, who was about to get pummeled and Emma, who was flying high up in the sky, defying all the laws of gravity in the process. High amounts of mana were being transferred from Emma's body to her sister via the chain, instantly strengthening the young girl's physique multiple times over.
"*Crystal Body!*." Crossing her arms together, Ella took the jab from the stone golem straight on and was pushed back by the impact. Even though she was driven back, her body remained entirely intact, and it seemed that the heavy fist of the golem didn't even manage to faze Ella as she continued on her agile assault.
"A shared ability?! Those two managed to do that?!" One of the students bellowed out in utter shock.
A shared ability, as its name suggests was a spiritual technique that two or more Spirit Users could create to boost their overall effectiveness. However, to perform such a feat, the Spirit Users must have compatible Spirits, cultivations and a plethora of other variables, before they could even attempt to create such a bizarre ability. Fortunately for the twins, they had been training from the start to do just that. Using the Crystal Toxotai Mantra as a base, the twins were able to link their souls and in extension, their Spirits. Following that, they studied the mantra to the letter and with the assistance from the experts in the Frie Clan, the twins were able to create a famed shared ability, that was rarely seen in the cultivation world.
"Emma! It's your turn!" Ella shouted out to her younger sister, who was descending onto the earth like a holy valkyrie. Although Ella could continue her barrage on the stone golem, there would come a time where even she would run out of mana.
"Yes!" Creating yet another ice arrow, Emma shut her left eye as she pointed her bow straight at the training golem. The nocked arrowed started to shine in a radiant light, as the temperature surrounding her dipped drastically. Mana flowed from the depths of her soul and into the crystal ice bow that Emma had in her hands.
"Freeze for me, Permafrost Arrows!!!" Emma shot the bright bolt of light in her hands and it raced straight at the training golem that was distracted by Ella's constant bombardment.
While Emma was in the sky, she wasn't simply spectating her sister's actions. Being the markswoman of the two, Emma was finding the weak spots of the golem such as the vulnerable right joint that she had just fired. All in all, after observing the training automaton for a few seconds, Emma had narrowed down her targets to eight parts of the golem's body.
"Split!" As Emma hollered out her command, the single bolt of frosty light divided itself into eight parts and darted straight at the targets that Emma had singled out earlier on. As expected, the arrows easily pierced through the stone body of the golem as it began to freeze from the inside.
In less than three seconds, the training golem that was unable to withstand the external assault from Ella, and the internal permafrost arrows from Emma, collapsed. For the second time this afternoon, the indomitable stone automaton that was said to be able to endure relentless punishments, felled to a bunch of freshmen.
Jumping next to each other to celebrate, Ella and Emma embraced each other as the remnants of ice fell from the sky, making it seem like a rain of crystals were enveloping the twins.
"Fairies… Those two are fairies..." One of the female students who adored the twins unconsciously blurted out.
"You're right… They are fairies..." A male student shared his compatriot's sentiment.
Unbeknownst to Shin and the twins, a new fandom had been founded on that day. The Fairies of the Hail. That would be the names that the twins would be referred to in future. With her dexterous footwork and vicious assault, the ponytailed fairy that wouldn't bow down even to the toughest of attacks. The Blizzard Fairy Sharpshooter, Ella.
With her mighty strikes and eagle-eyed vision, the gentle short-haired girl that could explode into a potent force that could fall even the most resilient enemies. The Glacial Fairy Markswoman, Emma.
Those two names would be forever etched into the history books of Imperius Academy, and bards would be singing the tales of their exploits for years to come. Of course, the two of them just didn't know it yet...
"Hey! This is a close-combat class! Why the hell are you flaunting your long-range powers here?!" Mychael moved forward to the twins and reprimanded them heavily. "Save that for your long-range combat class!"
"Sorry!" Emma timidly apologised, while Ella simply bowed her head.
'What the hell?! These girls are most definitely Star Class material… Where the hell did the Iofiels come from? That bastard Shin and now these two young girls...' Even though on the surface Mychael was furious, deep down, he was appalled about the talents that the trio displayed. He hadn't even heard of the Iofiel family before and yet, the three Iofiels he knew were all talented enough to reach the Star Class of Imperius Academy. 'Whatever, I shouldn't care too much...'
"Next… Shin Iofiel! You're up!" Mychael called up the next name, and almost instantaneously, a commotion broke out among the crowd.
"Shin Iofiel! Rank number two in the school! It's finally his turn!" One excited student muttered.
"Iofiel? Is he related to our fairies?"
"Yeah! I heard that they were cousins."
"What?! A family of talented Spirit Users? How come we never heard of them?!"
Numerous discussions were being shared between the students as the heard the infamous name being called. Even though Shin's cultivation level had only been revealed earlier in the day, almost the entire freshmen cohort had heard of the Rank 18 black-haired boy that outranked the Silver Spoon, the Son of War and the Freak of the Dundlewoods.
"He's next… That mysterious Shin Iofiel." Danroy casually remarked as he watched Shin step up the platform.
"Yeah… I wonder what surprises he has for us." Suji, like many of his fellow classmates, was curious about the combat ability of Shin. After all, no one really knew where the young teen came from and wanted to gather as much information as they possibly could about their competition.
"Hopefully he doesn't disappoint..."
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