Chapter 4: Sparring(2)
"Very well, Here I come" Luke shouted and immediately darted towards Noah.
In the blink of an eye, Luke appeared before Noah and swung his sword directly at his neck hoping to catch him off guard since according to him any person would be too tired to react to a sudden attack when they are exhausted and in most cases, they will go on their backfoot in a defensive position...
But-
What happened next surprised him...
Noah didn't move from his spot and just twisted his wrist carrying the sword at an unbelievable angle blocking the attack.
*clank*
Metal hitting metal sound could be heard and Luke had to move 1 step backward since to him it felt like he just hit a mountain. 'Such strong body!! What does he eat??'
Luke didn't have time to think too much since at this moment Noah moved forward and slashed his sword towards Luke's waist and Luke tried to block it but Luke again had to move 1 step backward.
*clank*
*clank*
In the eyes of a normal person who does not cultivate barely 2 seconds have passed but Noah and Luke have exchanged hundreds of blows since the perception and speed of cultivators who cultivate mana is higher than that of non-cultivators.
Each time they exchanged a blow Luke would have to move 1 step backward.
To him, it looked like he was fighting a mountain but to spectators, both Imperial guards and Ares were looking at the spar with awe and were at loss for words.
Noah's attacks were precise and pinpointed towards the weakness and blind spots of the opponent.
Noah was not using any additional strength, it was just the result of the expert swordsmanship that targeted the opponent with surgical precision due to which each attack will have maximum momentum with maximum power output and damage.
It was this accuracy because of which Luke was getting pushed back and was forced to take a defensive stance.
Luke's expression turned grim, 'Dammit! Dammit! I have trained my swordsmanship under the tutelage of Imperial Ancestors for the past decade and yet this brat is suppressing me! ME!?'
*clank*
'SHIT! I am almost at the edge of the arena' Luke thought.
The situation was grave so Luke didn't think twice before infusing his entire body and sword with the [Metal] element.
He used his technique [Full-Metal Guard], A thin silvery layer of metal covered Luke's body and sword increasing his strength & defense several times.
Numerous thin and small spikes emerged from the bottom of his shoes to get better footing.
Luke slashed his sword towards Noah while trying to hit him with his bare hands that had a thin silvery shine over them.
If Noah was hit by Luke's sword or punches even once he would have to feign light injuries and concede defeat.
Noah raised his eyebrows in astonishment. Comprehending an element is completely different than using the element with precision.
The technique that Luke was using requires a lot of focus since it is extremely intricate and delicate, 1 moment of distraction and the entire technique will collapse immediately..
...adding to the fact that Luke was using an advanced element like [Metal], unlike [Fire],[Water],[Earth]&[Wind], [Metal] is much harder to control.
Noah moved back 10 steps to create distance so that he could catch his breath. "Huff...Huff..." Noah breathed heavily and it looked like he was thoroughly exhausted.
It looked like he may collapse any second.
"Prince Noah, do you concede defeat?" asked Luke nonchalantly.
Since they didn't decide the rules of the spar, they were allowed to use any technique.
'Hehe, you are almost out of mana...Let's see how long can you hold!' Luke thought while grinning from ear to ear.
But-
Noah just shook his head and activated his technique [Thunder-step].
[Lightning] is the element that helped the Imperial family to ensure their rule over the Delos Empire for centuries.
Most descendants of the Imperial family gain a natural affinity towards [Lightning].
Although affinity and comprehension of an element still depend from person to person.
Incase of Luke he gained a natural affinity towards [Metal] which comes from his mothers' side.
A [Immortal] has a lot of free time so even if they don't have a natural affinity towards an element they can still comprehend the basics easily after thousands of years of research.
[Lightning] was an element that Noah wasn't good at, Yet it was more than enough to use and to create his own techniques to overpower mortals. [Thunder-step] was one such technique.
Violent-purple lightning started enveloping Noah's feet, Crackling sounds could be heard. Noah took a step forward and-
*Boooom*
The ground where he was standing cracked before he vanished into thin air, only a purple-colored blur could be seen rapidly advancing toward a man in silvery armor.
Luke squinted his eyes into needlepoints and felt a chill down his spine, after all his perception was much lower than his natural perception since he was suppressing his cultivation to D-rank.
Noah's unbelievable speed surpassed the perception of a D-rank by a long margin, even C-rank practitioners will have trouble facing such a technique.
Ares and the Imperial guards who were at C-rank and higher respectively stared at the scene before them with wide eyes since this sudden burst of speed didn't miss their eyes and they were awestruck and amazed.
"I win," said Noah with a tired expression as if he was on the verge of collapse while taking deep breaths as beads of sweat rolled down his forehead.
Luke felt the violent purple lightning raging from the tip of the sword that was pointed at his neck ready to tear apart his throat.
He has never felt such dread and terror from someone at the same rank of cultivation.
All he saw was Noah vanishing into thin air and the next moment his sword was aiming at his neck, he had no time to react.
*Clap* *Clap* *Clap*
Several rounds of clapping and applause came from the spectators.
Luke's expression turned unsightly but he was still a Prince so he managed to force a smile...
"Prince Noah's swordsmanship has sure improved by leaps and bounds. Once your cultivation increases, the entire Delos empire will be very proud of you!" said Luke.
Noah scoffed inwardly but still retracted his sword and replied with an 'honest' smile "It is my honor to make Delos Empire proud."
How can someone like Noah, an old sly fox miss the meaning of Luke's words?
He didn't accept defeat and subtly pointed at the lower cultivation of Noah which is still at D-rank.
Although his progress is still above average, it is nothing compared to a genius like Ares who achieved C-rank at age 16.
Luke on the other hand achieved C-rank as soon as he turned 17.
Noah is not much far behind Luke since he will turn 18 in 3 months and he has been pretending to be stuck at a bottleneck ever since he turned 17.
"I am very drained Prince Luke, so if you will excuse me.." added Noah with a weary expression.
"Of course! Prince Noah, It was an interesting sparring session" replied Luke, turned around, and left with a benevolent smile while internally he was infuriated and enraged.
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