The Exalt [Cultivation Fantasy]

"That little brat!!!!"

Elder Dustin lost all pretenses and shouted while swiping at the image of Oscar as if he could tear him apart. He couldn't believe what he was seeing. The steel construct broke apart before Dustin's teary eyes, but the destruction of the artificial core was the most shocking.

"That was a spell he used. The artificial core should have activated its failsafe and restricted the Ein of the spell. How was it still destroyed?!" Elder Dustin stared at Oscar with bloodshot eyes.

Ava turned from watching her niece, Mary Jones, sighing at the frenzied state of Elder Dustin. "That spell was 'Steel Drill', a spell with high penetration but is supposed to be heavy. However, he moved quite fast with it."

"Heavy? Yes. Sharp tip? Yes. But that doesn't explain how the steel construct broke apart in that strange manner." Elder Dustin slammed his wrinkled fists on the table. The cracks that formed over the constructs were certainly not from a sharp attack.

"Perhaps you made a mistake with the defense setup of the artificial cores." Ava Jones stated.

Elder Dustin was about to retort when the doors opened, and an attendant ran inside, accompanied by a Judge. His face brightened up as he beckoned the Judge forward. "Let's see what this brat has been doing so far."

Ava Jones stood by the side and read along. Her eyes narrowed when she read the part about Oscar in prison. "He's been to the Abyss Prison twice? The records say he was punished for minor crimes but wouldn't the Pavilion have done something with multiple infractions?"

"The second time was six months. This is strange, he had an estimated seven months total in the Abyss Prison, yet he's still this strong as a Grade Four." Elder Dustin read on but found nothing else noteworthy on the records. "Incomprehensible."

Ava Jones heaved a sigh and returned the record to the Judge. "This is highly unusual but thank you for coming here."

The Judge nodded and left.

Elder Dustin paid close attention to Oscar, fixated on him alone. "If he reaches the last wave, he'll have to reveal his tricks."

…….

The chakram construct was defeated, and the bow construct was still trying to unfurl out of the thread. Oscar stared down the three other constructs. The two with shields and spears stomped loudly and slowly advanced while the sword construct was in between.

It was a good formation to enclose Oscar, who was by the corner of the room. Oscar breathed in and out to recover during their slow crawl. These were constructs, and they didn't notice his current state.

The use of Adamasreis and 'Steel Drill' consisted of him utilizing the 'Dual Awaken' to perfect the attack even further. However, this left him somewhat weakened and unable to use either 'Awaken', so he could not draw up Reis. If they attacked fast, they would gain the advantage since Oscar's strength wasn't just his Ein but the combination of Ein and Reis.

Thankfully, they continued their slow trek with a hint of cautiousness. With this, Oscar regained the use of his 'Awaken'.

Oscar smiled and used Reis to tug the bow construct. His threads spun and untangled, letting the bow construct free, but it was above the shield construct.

The bow construct had no expression, but it fell hard on the shield construct that caught it. This move proved fatal to both as Oscar rushed with his deer anima.

He moved very close to the shield construct and swung his buckler upward in a ferocious uppercut. His deer anima did the same with its antlers. The bow construct was helplessly flung in the air again, but this time with its shield construct companion.

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"It's your turn." Oscar readied another 'Steel Drill' and stabbed at the sword construct but didn't forget the shield construct. His deer anima locked onto it with its wide antlers and refused to back down despite being stabbed with the spear.

Oscar felt pangs of pain from his anima's injuries, but it didn't disturb his spell and Adamasreis.

'Shattering Wave' x 'Steel Drill'

The sword construct tried to dodge, but Oscar was too fast for it. Oscar sent his drill through its head, obliterating it into dust. The sword construct broke apart as its sword clattered to the floor.

But there was no respite from this victory as Oscar felt more pain in his chest, a slight trickle of blood ran down his mouth. His deer anima was holding on despite the stabs.

The shield construct was a nuisance.

Oscar stared coldly at the construct and focused a lot of Ein on his deer anima's hooves. This provided an immense boost, and the deer anima kicked off in a devastating charge with the shield construct still locked by its antlers. The wall crashed as the shield construct was slammed into it.

At this moment, the two other constructs crashed to the ground. The shield construct that was pinned down began to lose luster and went still, as did the bow construct. Oscar looked confused.

"They turn off like that? Why did I have to waste so much effort in destroying them? I wonder what the elders were thinking."

Under the bow construct, the last shield construct forced itself up and stared at Oscar. It was a construct, but Oscar felt as if it was staring hatefully at him.

"Then let's do this." Oscar unsummoned his deer anima. There was no further need for it to help against this lone shield construct. "I always wanted to fight against someone else with a shield. Phillip mentioned it before, but he said he ended the fight too fast."

The shield construct kept its stance with the broad shield covering its body and the spear looming from above with its long arm.

'Adamasreis'

In response, Oscar empowered his hands and feet. The 'Shattering Wave' was not strong enough to burst through this shield to get to the construct. This one would be a battle of smashing metal.

But he held faith in the buckler that Draven had crafted for him.

Oscar bolted ahead and bashed his buckler against the shield construct's shield. His immense physical power forced the shield construct backward as his deer anima did. It was on a crash collision with the wall and would suffer the same fate.

But then, the looming shadow of the spear came closer to Oscar, but he was unfazed and let out a final burst of Reis in his feet, accelerating the crash course. While his momentum carried him forward, Oscar invoked one last spell, 'Steel Scales'.

The spear could not pierce through Oscar's tough skin, and the shield construct crashed into the wall, losing its energy and freezing up.

"It had a strong front, but the back was very lacking. Maybe that was the point of this wave." Oscar looked at the ruins of what he had caused. He had grown stronger to the point of defeating these mindless constructs, but what about a person?

The banner changed its wording, snapping Oscar out of his thoughts.

"Third Wave will start in one minute. You can leave the room if you wish to stop."

Oscar sat down and meditated to recover. The scroll in his hands reflected that his points were now at 250. This second wave had given him 200 points.

"I wonder what the last wave will give."

…….

Elder Dustin wiped the sweat from his brow. "Thank goodness he realized he could beat them into submission. I would have made a complaint if we kept losing the cores."

Ava Jones sighed, thinking why she was paired with this elder from the Palace of Whirpools, the home of alchemy in the Pavilion. "I wonder why the weakness was the back."

"Ask those idiots at the Foundry! They said since this was a trial of waves and groups, there should be some weaknesses that the constructs would cover for each other. The ranged ones were supposed to deter attacks to the back."

"But this young Exalt went straight for the ranged ones. He's only a Grade Four, but he's already using his anima well and in conjunction with himself." Ava Jones praised Oscar but didn't forget to give one last remark to Elder Dustin. "He's also a one-star fabricator."

"No wonder he's so insensitive and unruly." Elder Dustin cursed, but his gummy smile appeared. "But what will he do about the last one."

…….

The third wave was about to start.

Oscar stood up, having recovered a bit from the damages of the second wave. However, he was confused when the three gates didn't open.

Instead, a fourth gate appeared. It was larger, and Oscar felt a more ominous aura spilling from it. The gate slowly opened.

Oscar's eyes narrowed as the construct stepped out. This last wave wasn't a group but one enemy. However, this construct differed from all the others, and Oscar tensed up; this would be a harder fight.

The lone construct had two short swords and a more defined face with a nose, eyes, and mouth. Unlike the other constructs, it hopped around and swung its swords with agility and flexibility.

It was gold in color with silver armor. Its eyes shone with blue light and did not wait for Oscar to come. It dashed out on its own and slashed its swords.

The last enemy had come.

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