by Daman
Detecting the newcomers’ presence, the teens sparring at the courtyard stopped in their tracks and curiously observed Calron and his group. Within the crowd, Asra’s eyes widened in surprise when he saw Calron appearing inside the Raizel clan’s mansion.
They let an outsider in!?
Asra raged inside, still bitter about the scolding that he had received from his grandfather when he ordered an attack on Calron.
“Why are they here, uncle?”
Asra shouted from the courtyard, seeing that it was his uncle, Kail, that was escorting the strangers.
“You will find out soon anyways. Get back to training and I’ll come to observe your progress in the evening.”
Kail responded, indicating for Calron to continue following him.
“Wait, you never let me bring my friends inside, so this is not fair!”
Asra complained, as several other youngsters nodded their heads in agreement. They had to follow the strict rules of the clan and were not allowed to bring outsiders inside the mansion, so they echoed Asra’s sentiments.
“Yeah, who are they? They don’t seem to be our clan members as I’ve never seen them before.”
A pony-tailed girl standing next to Asra stated in an accusing tone.
“Are you trying to anger me?”
An intense pressure of violent aura erupted underneath Kail, his cobalt-blue eyes glaring at the youths in front of him.
The teenagers trembled under the pressure, but Kail immediately withdrew his aura before it hurt anyone.
“It’s fine, Uncle Kail… they will find out soon enough anyways.”
Calron smiled at the man before him, and suddenly exploded into a smoke of crimson cloud as his body reappeared in front of Asra.
The reason that Calron chose Asra was because he could sense that this teen was the pseudo-leader of the youngsters, so it was better to manage him first.
Meanwhile, Asra raised his eyebrow at Calron’s use of the Blood Mist step and let out a snide chortle.
“I see that you have a problem with me entering the house. I wanted to tell you tha- “
Before Calron could finish his sentence, Asra abruptly struck a powerful punch towards Calron’s face.
Acting entirely upon reflex, Calron dodged the incoming strike by a hair’s breadth. His azure eyes flashed with a trace of coldness as he gazed at Asra’s smug face.
“Not bad… I just wanted to see if you could handle that weak punch.”
Asra commented, ignoring Calron’s intense glare.
Calron detected that Asra was at the peak of Vajra stage and close to breaking into the Saint stage, so the teen’s strength was definitely above his own. Judging by the looks, it also appeared that Asra was not much older than him as well.
“Sigh… ”
Calron breathed out, realizing that the teen in front of him bore a hidden grudge against him. He could sense that grudge shadowed within his previous punch.
*CRACKLE*
Gusts of wind spiraled around Calron, as dozens of violent bolts of lightning gathered around his body. His azure eyes glowed brightly while the golden lightning continued to revolve around him.
The onlookers let out gasps of shock and astonishment, finally realizing that the stranger before them inherited the same bloodline as them. Which meant that he was part of the Raizel clan!
Asra’s thoughts furiously swirled inside his mind, as he gradually understood why his grandfather was so angry with him ordering an attack on Calron.
Shaking his head with a smile, Asra finally let go of his hostility against Calron. Regardless of their previous situation, Calron shared the same blood as him and was hence his family. Although Asra might be reckless in his actions, he still held the clan and its members above everything.
“Sorry for my rude behavior.”
Asra lightly bowed his head, causing Calron to now stare at him in surprise.
“However, since you are a clan member, I would still like to test your strength.”
Asra interjected, a competitive spirit rising within him.
On the side, Kail closed his eyes while a small smile crept through. Ellie tightly held Roran’s hand, inaudibly whispering for Calron to win.
“Sure.”
Calron composed himself, taking this spar seriously. He was on the threshold of breaking into the ninth rank, so this spar with another lightning cultivator might prove to be extremely beneficial for him.
*swish*
The moment that Calron agreed, Asra bolted straight at him in a flash as wild static lightning surged behind the teen.
“Pay close attention, brother.”
Asra smiled, his face instantly appearing in front of Calron.
“Wha- How?”
Calron coughed out a mouthful of blood, slowly glancing down to see Asra’s fist submerged into his gut.
Chapter 45 – The Young Generation
“That little fu- “
Roran roared, about to charge straight at Asra.
“Wait. It is just a flesh wound and not fatal. Asra might be impetuous, but he would not try to kill a family member. This is just his way to gauge Calron’s strength and seeing if he is worthy of being a part of our clan.”
Kail placed his hand on Roran’s chest, preventing him from moving an inch further and calmly explained.
“Let big brother go! And I won’t let you hurt Master!”
Ellie growled and bit Kail’s steely arm that was holding Roran back.
“Just watch.”
Kail gently smiled at the little girl trying to bite him, and turned his head to face the two youths on the center.
“You might think that you’re strong because you have only fought against normal cultivators, but the blood of the Raizel clan is different. We are stronger, faster and have animalistic instincts. If you simply think of me as a peak Vajra stage expert, then you have already lost.”
Asra drew back his fist and stared down at Calron.
*cough*
Calron spat out the remaining globule of blood from his mouth and wiped his mouth against his shoulder.
That actually hurt quite a bit…
He mused, still feeling the pain within his gut.
It has been a while since I’ve met an opponent on par with me. Looks like I’ll have to get serious.
Calron flashed a bloody smile at Asra, and slowly stood up straight.
“Haha, you finally understand.”
Asra laughed, seeing the expression on Calron’s face and charged at his opponent once again.
*sha* *sha*
Calron rushed towards Asra and swiftly launched several strikes against him, however, the teen had nimbly dodged all of them without a scratch.
“Calron is still hesitating.”
Kail murmured from the sidelines, while Ellie remained latched onto him.
“Normal punches won’t work, brother. Why do you not use your lightning?”
Asra inquired, stopping Calron’s fist a hair’s breadth away from his face.
I did not realize until now… why am I not using my lightning?
Calron pondered. In truth, after the earlier episode with the Azure Lightning trying to push out of his core, Calron was worried about what might happen if he triggered his elemental core again.
“You better bring it out quick or you won’t be unscathed by the next attack.”
Asra advised, bolts of lightning erupting near his fist until it gradually shaped into a golden gauntlet.
BOOOOOOOM!
An earth-shattering explosion resounded in the area, as gusts of wind pushed out the rubble and dust from the ground.
As the dusty cloud settled down, two fists were glued against each other while their owners gazed intensely into each other’s eyes.
*crackle*
The golden gauntlet was stopped by a similarly golden-scaled claw, while static lightning wildly darted on top of them both.
“This… ”
Asra whispered in astoni
shment, seeing the scaly claw that was Calron’s hand. Even the gathered group of teens all stared in amazement at the current unfolding of the scene.
“Isn’t that the shape-shifting ability of our clan? I thought only the Elders were capable of utilizing that technique… ”
The pony-tailed girl voiced with excitement, her eyes twinkling when she observed Calron’s claw.
“Hmm… ”
Kail smiled contently.
“Mmbrinthnbenn Behonahlby!”
Ellie mumbled her words while still biting down on Kail’s arm. No matter how hard she tried, her teeth couldn’t even make a dent on his muscled flesh.
Kail raised his eyebrow down at the girl, curious as to what she was trying to say.
Sensing a stare on her, Ellie turned her head up to glare at Kail and finally let go of his arm.
“Master is the best, and he already won!” The little girl claimed proudly, putting both her hands on her waist.
“I wouldn’t be so sure of that. Asra has not revealed his true power yet.”
Kail chuckled at the little girl’s antics, and then proceeded to point at the two boys in front.
“Impressive, but that is not enough to defeat me… ”
Asra smirked, letting go of his gauntlet.
Before Calron could respond, Asra’s body had already vanished from sight. All of a sudden, Calron sensed someone’s presence behind him.
“My strong suit is not my physical strength, but my speed.”
Asra’s voice echoed behind him, but when Calron glanced back, the teen had already vanished.
“Lightning comes in a flash and before you can even see it, it has already destroyed everything in its path.”
Asra’s leg came flying towards Calron’s midsection, but it was already too late to dodge the attack.
“Kugh!”
Calron felt the air expel from his chest as his opponent’s kick knocked him down to the ground.
“You are stronger than me.”
Calron spat out, bitter at feeling so helpless against the teen.
“You are wrong, brother. I am not stronger than you… I am faster than you. The element of lightning is not meant to be used for raw physical strength. The power of it lies within its speed, and that is something which you must train for.”
Asra stated while glancing at Calron.
“Again.”
Calron suggested, his eyes burning with determination.
“Come at me.”
Asra laughed, pleased by Calron’s mental aptitude.
Even though Calron knew that he was currently no match for his opponent when it came to using the power of lightning, he still wanted to try to defeat him. Asra was someone who had grown up learning how to control and use the lightning’s power, whereas Calron had to learn all of that by himself.
Just as the two boys were about to clash again, a tall figure abruptly teleported right between them and calmly stood there in the center with his arms folded across his chest.
“I think you two punks have destroyed enough of my mansion!”
The deep voice thundered throughout the area, his grey-white beard fluttering with the breeze.
The Patriarch had finally appeared.
………………………………
“I hope I am wrong about this… ”
Balis was seated on top of a bare cliff, several kilometers away from Selior city. He had retaken his human appearance, as the place where he was going to required him to reveal his true strength.
Calron had told him that they would talk after he returned back from the clan, but Balis decided that he shouldn’t put so much responsibility onto the shoulders of an unknown youth.
Take care of yourself until I return, kid.
Balis thought about the young man that he had left back in the city. Originally, he had wanted to ask for Calron’s help in convincing the Raizel clan to stand against Zarvel’s plans, but Balis soon realized that it was unfair to put the boy in that position.
It was a matter relating to the Order of the Guardians, and hence it was their responsibility to stop this.
Balis still had time before the princess’s birthday, so he only prayed that he would be back in time to stop whatever plans that Zarvel had.
The image of Zarvel smiling before he had left still lingered within Balis’ mind.
Chapter 46 – Truth Behind The Six Towers
“I’m sorry about destroying your tiles… ”
Calron said apologetically, bowing his head down.
“I got to see a good battle today so I’ll let it pass this time. So, why did you finally decide to see us?”
The Patriarch winked at the boy sitting in front of him, and poured him a cup of green tea.
The two people were currently sitting on the floor opposite each other, with only a short table in between them. The Patriarch had told the others to stay outside while he talked with Calron, so Kail took Ellie and Roran to show them the rest of the Raizel Mansion.
“Thank you. I wanted to ask you about cultivating lightning and the fastest way to break into the Saint stage.”
Calron politely took the offered cup and sipped a bit of the hot tea.
“Hmm… that’s a tough one, boy. You see, the lightning of the Raizel clan is vastly different to the lightning element of other cultivators. Each member of the clan focuses on their unique cultivation path. Asra is a kid who decided to follow in the path of lightning’s speed, so he trains his essence to release quick bursts of lightning to gain an agility comparable to a lightning bolt. Do not cultivate just to become stronger, but choose a path that you want to shape your lightning into.”
The Patriarch looked seriously at Calron and explained in a somber tone.
“A path… how many paths are there?”
Calron inquired, a frown etched on his face.
“There are currently five main paths that we have the cultivation manuals for. The path of agility, where you focus entirely on reaching the speed of lightning, the path of weapon manifestation where you condense weapons made of lightning essence, the path of armor where you shape a whole suit of armor made of lightning, the path of elemental destruction where you summon your lightning directly to attack enemies but this consumes a large amount of your essence. And finally, the path of balance where you train in all of the four paths but don’t focus entirely on one path. Choosing a path will increase the speed of your cultivation, but even then it will take some time before you will be able to break through into the next stage.”
The Patriarch took a long gulp of the tea after he finished.
“May I see the cultivation manuals so I can decide which path to take?”
Calron nodded his head in contemplation after hearing the Patriarch’s explanation and asked a question.
“Sure, but you cannot take the manuals out of the mansion so stay here until you finish.”
“Understood.”
Calron quickly replied with a smile on his face.
“Now that you’ve asked your questions, it is my turn now.”
The Patriarch flashed a grin, his left hand slowly stroking his beard.
Calron placed the empty cup down on the table and waited for the old man to speak.
“How much do you know about our ancestor, Raizel, and the place that he came from?”
The old man’s eyes glowed as he stared at Calron.
Seeing no reason to lie or to hide what he knew, Calron calmly answered the Patriarch.
“I don’t know much about him, but I do know that he came from the Divine Realm, a different dimension from this mortal realm. Our ancestor, Raizel, was not human as his true form was that of a colossal golden bird of lightning.”
“Correct. Our bloodline has been diluted for many generations and there are very few members in the clan today who can completely shape-shift into a beast. Judging from the golden-scaled claw that you brought out in the fight with Asra, I’m guessing that you are already capable of wholly tr
ansforming into the golden bird.”
The Patriarch chuckled at the expression on Calron’s face and continued.
“It has always been my deepest wish to visit the Divine Realm and see our ancestors, but I cannot imagine the level of cultivation one must have in order to shatter the boundaries of the mortal plane and enter the Divine Realm. I know that I will never achieve that stage…”
The Patriarch whispered at the end, a forlorn emotion hidden within his eyes.
“Why do you stay in this city and tie yourself to the Royal family? With the strength of Raizel clan, I do not see how they could defeat you in battle.”
Calron did not know how to respond to the Patriarch’s longing mood, so he changed the topic.
“You got that wrong, boy. We are not subordinates of the Royal family, but are allies against a common enemy. The Raizel clan has the most powerful combatants amongst all of the towers and the Royal family, but our numbers are simply too few. The Royal family is the only entity that can manage the ego clashing of the six towers, so we decided to follow them so there is no in-fighting amongst the allies. Our enemies are boundless, so we have no choice but to be united.”