The Exalt [Cultivation Fantasy]

Gilbert's declaration of victory set the crowd ablaze. The Legacy Hall was silent but was observing with great interest. Even they would have been hard-pressed to win in Gilbert's situation; in what manner would Gilbert win?

On the other side, these words enraged Leon, who would not tolerate such disrespect from a junior. Leon was a prized student of the Inner Hall who had many achievements.

He tightened his grip on the trident to the point of drawing blood, which dripped down to the sharp blades of the trident. He looked venomously at Gilbert, who was waving to the cheers.

But Leon wasn't a fool; he quickly calmed himself down and activated his Prinstyct. Whatever moves Gilbert made, it would be within his vision.

Leon's face twisted as he leaped to the side. A sudden blast of thunder scorched the ground, missing Leon by a hair. Leon could not process what happened as he foresaw Gilbert's Ein moving out.

"KUH." He tried to dodge another one, but it caught his hand. His hand was burnt to dark color as the skin cracked. Leon panted heavily in a cold sweat with a pale face.

'Too fast! I can see its direction with Prinstyct, but its speed surpasses my movements. If that's the case!'

Leon erupted more 'Geyser Eruption' to force Gilbert to move. It was dangerous to let Gilbert safely cast his fast spell; he also needed to keep Gilbert busy. But instead of scurrying around like a rat, Gilbert charged ahead.

"Can you handle my next move? Senior of mine?" Gilbert brandished his two rulers above his head in a fearsome stance.

Leon cursed inwardly. He could play the diversion tactic if he wanted to, but doing so against a junior Lower Elite Exalt was shameful, especially since Gilbert's declaration had riled up the crowd. He would no longer be able to hold his head high in the Pavilion.

The more pressing matter was the fact that Gilbert wasn't losing as much Ein as he was.

"Fine. Bring it on, Gilbert. I'll take your Grade Nine and trample it to the ground." Leon jumped and mounted his shark anima. His 'Ebb Feet' extended to the entirety of the shark as a mass of water covered Leon and his shark.

He streamed ahead and invoked the maelstrom tip. This one was more massive than before. It was a cone of torrential fury formed from the waters surrounding the shark anima, able to encase both of them.

This large spiraling maelstrom contained all of Leon's Ein. His last trump card combined the powers of his anima, his weapon, and the spell into a devasting blow.

'Don't think you can dodge this. This spell follows along my shark anima like the waters that surround it. I will hunt you down the platform if I have to.'

Gilbert's Ein surged to its utmost in response as the golden colors concentrated on his two rulers with the crackling of thunder laden all over. He had no intention of running but smiled fearlessly against the shredding waters.

'Grade Two Thunder Strike' 'Grade Two Thundersaw'

The familiar saws of thunder appeared on the edges of his rulers. But two powerful bolts of thunder surged outward from the rulers. These bolts were the same that had attacked Leon with rapid speed earlier.

One 'Thunder Strike' blasted against the maelstrom, struggling to break through. Although the electricity coursed through the waters, Leon was wise to create a buffer of Ein surrounding his body and the shark.

But soon after, Gilbert's ruler was swung along the same course as the 'Thunder Strike' and combined its razor-sharp blade with the bolt of thunder. The thunder seemed to fuse into Gilbert's ruler and an explosion of thunder sliced into the maelstrom.

"Impossible!" Leon's face was severe. This was the Ein of a Middle Elite Exalt! Even though the ruler was stopped, it still managed to cut into his maelstrom.

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But his woes were unending as the second 'Thunder Strike' struck, followed by Gilbert's second ruler. Gilbert shouted powerfully as the two rulers crossed into an 'X'. Once they touched, their thunders merged and exploded.

'Heavenly Cross Thunder'. Gilbert's self-made technique drew from the sequence of spells and actions.

Two large bolts of thunder extended into the sky, stopped by the barrier, and to the ground in an 'X' with Leon's maelstrom in the center. In mere moments, the maelstrom broke apart, to Leon's horror.

"Go!" Leon refused to give up as his shark anima moved to chop down on Gilbert. It was his only shot left.

"Idiot, I'm a Grade Nine. Do you think your Grade Seven can measure up in its current state?" Gilbert swung his ruler anima. It bore down on the shark anima like the hand of god on mortals. Even the shark anima seemed to stagger from fear.

It was no contest; the ruler anima easily bisected the shark anima. Its two halves cracked and crumbled apart into nothing. The effects of the Anima's destruction rebounded on Leon, who fell to the floor with a mouthful of blood.

His trident clattered to the ground.

"Leon is out of commission. Gilbert is the winner!" Ava declared the winner to the crowd's out-of-control cheers. Their shouts shook the coliseum itself.

In response, Gilbert lifted his ruler high in a victorious stance. He smiled in gratification and stared at Celestina.

In response, the princess showed an indifferent expression. To look away would be a mockery of herself.

"He's getting ahead of himself." Celestina's knuckles cracked as she clenched them hard. But she could not deny the feat he had just achieved. He defeated Leon, a realm higher than him, including the differences between their Prinstycts. "If he ever betrays the Empire, what can we do?"

She remembered Frederick's past as told by Oscar. It was a concerning point how Gilbert easily abandoned his past friends. The obvious solution would be to marry Gilbert to tie him to herself, but Celestina desperately wanted to avoid that.

"He's already with Aurora, but she's a part of the Alchemist's Guild and not directly tied to the Empire. According to Oscar's accounts, I figure Isabella has no loyalty to her home." Celestina closed her eyes in pondering. She was sure the other nobles would be moving to entice Gilbert to them.

"Assassination is a fool's errand. There's no telling what protection the Pavilion has around him. There are also the other empires' worrying movements, so we need him." With a loud sigh, Celestina got up to leave the coliseum, drowning out the cheers around her. Her back looked weary from all her worries about her empire and home.

Oscar and Emily had also left early. They saw no point in staying amongst the loud cheers. Their faces were laden with worry after seeing Gilbert's power.

"I can't let Fred go against him."

"The only option would be to assassinate Gilbert, but can you even assassinate him? He was never off-guard even walking up the platform." Emily's brow furrowed from what she witnessed. Ordinarily, she would be excited to witness such strength but not this time.

"Do not speak of such things in public. We have to find Fred first. The best chance is the next Grand Gathering; he has to be in attendance unless he's entered the Inner Hall." Oscar pinned his hopes on the next meeting.

With depressing thoughts, Oscar and Emily made their way to the Archives.

"Celestina?" Oscar called out to Celestina, who was also deep in thought.

"Oscar and Emily? What a coincidence!" Her face brightened up instantly like a beaming sun as her emerald eyes glowed joyfully. "Are you here to get your free spell as well?"

"The timing was proper with going here for Gilbert's match. Thankfully, there are not too many people around since they're all in the coliseum." Oscar looked around to see not even a single person except for the guards. "We can choose our spells in peace."

"Lockwood's match…." Celestina sighed with a tired expression.

"Is everything alright?" Emily was worried for her newly made friend.

"There's a lot on my mind. Hopefully, everything can be resolved without too much trouble. But every moment that passes adds a new worry." Celestina rubbed her temples as if she had a migraine.

"Indeed. I think a new spell can help cheer us up." Oscar went forward to the Archives with Celestina and Emily. All the worries in the world would drown them unless they had the strength to stay afloat.

"Welcome back, Oscar and princess. How can I help you today?" The same elder librarian smiled at them.

"We have this." Oscar took out the token Elder Saul gave to him, to which the librarian reacted weirdly.

"Where did you get this?" She traced her fingers across the token to determine its authenticity. It was a token for a grade-one spell.

"From a mission." Oscar did not give out details because it concerned Elder Saul and what happened to Celestina.

The librarian was silent but nodded. She took out the index book of spells and let them peruse.

Oscar looked carefully through the index, reading the descriptions of each spell. He had decided on what type of spell he needed, an offensive one. The 'Stone Gaze' provided a surprise and auxiliary factor, while the 'Steel Scales' were defensive.

Although his offense by itself was strong with Reis and 'Ein Awaken', he needed a true offensive spell for better use in combat.

His hands stopped turning the page as something caught his eye. He traced the sentences with his finger, reading carefully.

'Grade One Steel Drill'

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