The Exalt [Cultivation Fantasy]

The crowd grew silent but trembled in excitement, not wanting even to blink to miss a moment of the much-awaited battle.

Leon unleashed his Ein, deep blue color like the ocean, creating a shockwave that sent waves of winds that blew across the coliseum. Some onlookers, including Oscar and Emily, staggered from the power radiating from Leon.

Oscar quickly regained his composure. He had already experienced similar pressure from Doyle and the Thousand Serpent. Others were not so experienced and were getting increasingly pale.

Ava, the primary elder, snapped her fingers, creating a barrier around the coliseum to isolate the fighters' powers within the platform. The audience sighed in relief as the pressure disappeared.

"As expected from the Ritcher Family!" People exclaimed.

The Ritcher Family was a powerful duchy like the Raevens, situated in the eastern shorelands. Their responsibility was the vast ocean to the east.

Leon smiled fearlessly as his Ein formed into a large sphere.

Inside the sphere formed a creature with a wide mouth lined with rows of sharp teeth with jagged edges. It had two large fins and one protrusion from the back; they were like sharp blades. The eyes were black, locked on Gilbert as though he were its food.

The size of this creature was not small, for it could swallow a man whole.

As it swung around its large tailfins to move, the sphere moved with it. It acted as a pool of water for it to move in.

'Grade Seven Shark Anima.'

Gilbert smiled back at Leon's provocative smirk. He was wholly unaffected by Leon's show of force despite the difference between their realms. Rather, his Ein surged in response, the familiar shining gold of shimmering stars that Oscar witnessed in the Archives.

'I can't feel it because of the barrier, but my body is still tense from looking at it.' Oscar recalled the terrifying power he felt from it before.

Gilbert lifted his free hand to the heavens. His gold Ein shot upward and fell straight down, stabbing into the platform like thunder. This thunder dispersed to reveal a large broadsword similar to Gilbert's Stonescribed Ruler.

'Grade Nine Ruler Anima.'

It was gold with blue streaks of lightning patterns engraved across the blade. It was also crackling with small bursts of blue electricity.

Gilbert lifted his ruler anima with his right hand. The sight of him dual-wielding two massive swords was awe-inspiring to the crowd.

His countenance was like a warrior from the stories. Undaunting, determined, and overwhelming. Many could not contain their admiration for this man.

Oscar gazed at both Leon and Gilbert while taking out a book to take notes. No matter what, he must be thoroughly prepared.

'Leon's elemental spark is water, while Gilbert's seems to be lightning. The difference in the Ein is obvious. Why did Gilbert take on this fight? Does the Grade Nine give that much of a boon?' Oscar groaned as he thought about himself. He was not in a position to judge, having fallen to the same throes of arrogance before Robert straightened him out.

Fight within one's capabilities. He was interested in seeing what each fighter was capable of and what they had planned.

Under Oscar's scrutinizing gaze, Leon gathered a tide of water under his feet. Then the waters moved rapidly, bringing Leon with them. Wherever they swirled, they ferried Leon, allowing him to lift in the air for some moments.

'Grade Two Ebb Steps'

Leon moved rapidly in a zigzag, left, right, up, and down, surfing with the wave under his feet. His shark anima followed along.

"As a greeting, received my trident." Leon stabbed his trident with all his might.

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However, Gilbert did not block but rather jumped into the air. Right where he previously stood, a torrent of water burst out, breaking the ground. The waters were sharp and steamed crazily; it was evident that it was incredibly hot.

'Nice job spotting my 'Grade Two Geyser Eruption', but thanks for leaving yourself open in the air.' Leon smirked and surged his 'Ebb Steps' under him and leaped off its highest reach upward.

Leon brandished his trident to stab at Gilbert. A swirl of water surrounded the trident's tip. It looked like a short lance with the torrential waters swirling around a singular tip.

'Grade Two Maelstrom Spike'

This devastating concentration of a mini torrential calamity tore the air itself as it stabbed toward Gilbert.

'How many Grade Two spells does this man have?' Oscar was astonished by Leon's deep resources. His attention turned to Gilbert in the air. 'As Elite Exalts, they have the Prinstyct, yet Gilbert was forced into the air where he cannot easily dodge this strike.'

Gilbert looked on with his crystal azure eyes. There was not a hint of anxiousness or fear within them. Rather, the same confidence radiated from within.

He lifted his two rulers, posturing to attack.

Leon was faster to react with his Prinstyct. From the back, his shark anima moved to strike Gilbert with its bone-chewing teeth.

'If this is how you are defeated, it's pitiful and a waste of a Grade Nine.' Leon sneered. Then in the views of his Prinstyct, he saw that Gilbert would continue to strike forward while Ein would spill from his back. All of this in the next split second.

"Retreat!" Leon commanded his shark anima. Right as the shark stopped, a wall formed behind Gilbert. The 'Grade Two Thunder Wall' was a powerful defensive spell that rebounded the enemy with great electrical shock.

Gilbert's two rulers bore down on Leon with immense force. A loud grating noise could be heard from the two blades.

The source was the other spell Gilbert invoked. Along the edges of his rulers were many sharp teeth of thunder moving rapidly and constantly like a chainsaw. The 'Grade Two Thundersaw' was the upgraded version of Oscar's previous opponent's, Mary's, 'Grade One Lightning Edge'.

The swirling 'Maelstrom Spike' clashed against the buzzing 'Thundersaw' to a devastating result. The air exploded outward, but Gilbert and Leon stayed firm as they dropped to the ground with their weapons still colliding.

"Impossible!" Leon exclaimed. The sawing of Gilbert's thunder was a match for his torrential water. They were canceling each other out. His Ein, the Ein of a Middle Apprentice Exalt, was being matched by Gilbert.

Oscar clutched his ear. The two spells were in constant motion and met in an unpleasant high-pitched sound. He was particularly sensitive to these high pitches ever since losing his ear.

But he remained focused on the battle. The platform was of incredible quality as it did not cave in from the tremendous Ein exploding between Leon and Gilbert.

'Gilbert is a realm below Leon, yet he is keeping up? Does a Grade Nine Anima give that much of an advantage? Or is there something else?' Oscar observed carefully.

"The 'Ein Awaken'...." Oscar figured it out. The 'Thundersaw' was incredibly dense and so sharp it was thinner than paper at its edges due to the control under 'Ein Awaken'. As it continued to buzz, Gilbert absorbed more Ein from outside to minimize the losses. Although Gilbert was burning through Ein, he wasn't losing as much as Leon.

Oscar was in disbelief. Not from the fact Gilbert was using the 'Ein Awaken' but rather from how long he could maintain it. Oscar would have stopped a while ago from reaching his limits.

But Gilbert was showing no signs of discomfort. Under the constant control of 'Ein Awaken', his 'Thundersaw' continued feeding crazy amounts of Ein into its ever-sharp edges that tore against the maelstrom.

Leon quickly stomped his foot. A large torrent of water erupted under Gilbert, who managed to sidestep it in time. He smirked at Leon, who was still in shock.

'Forget it! I still have a better Prinstyct than him. I have to counter him at close combat.' Leon strode forward, unleashing a flurry of stabs and swings from his trident while maintaining his 'Maelstrom Spike'.

When he saw Gilbert's future actions, he quickly changed up to counter and hit at the open angle. But every time, just barely, Gilbert deflected or diverted away the attack.

His shark anima kept swirling around to fight, but Gilbert kept putting up more 'Thunder Wall' to deter the beast. Every time, Leon got increasingly frustrated as he put up more 'Geyser Eruption' to try to catch Gilbert under his feet.

But even with the two massive rulers, Gilbert moved swiftly and freely as if he were a bird. His entrancing figure as he dodged swayed the hearts of many young girls watching.

"Gilbert!"

"Gilbert!"

"Gilbert!"

The audience could no longer contain it as they cheered out for Gilbert. To fight to this extent against a Middle Elite Exalt was worthy of admiration and worship.

"Bastard!" Leon did not like these cheers. It was as if he was all alone in the Pavilion, regarded as a villain. "I don't believe you can keep this up."

"That's where you're wrong. I can keep this up for a while." Gilbert struck back at Leon. "Your Prinstyct is closed. Did you lose your calm?"

"!!!" Leon was so preoccupied that he didn't realize he had lost his Prinstyct. Before he could bring it back up, Gilbert launched his series of powerful blows. The rulers carried immense weight with each swing, launching Leon to the other end of the platform.

'Thirty. That's insane.' Oscar's face was grim. He counted all the moments when he believed Gilbert had used his 'Ein Awaken'. To his estimation, Gilbert was able to maintain it for thirty seconds. 'With that, he can keep it up. What in the world is he? Is Grade Nine that blessed?'

On the platform, Gilbert looked at the retreating Leon. "I suppose it's time to end this. Do you have anything else?"

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