The Exalt [Cultivation Fantasy]

The fist came crashing in with the presence of impending doom. Oscar could see the air being torn and forced away in powerful winds from its knuckles. With nothing else he could do, Oscar held his buckler and put all his Ein into it along with using 'Edureisclad' and 'Steel Scales'

Suddenly, water wrapped around him and pulled him out of the destructive path of the Crystal Guardian's fist. Oscar canceled his abilities and stared at Serena, who was breathing in relief and smiling at him. They were saved by her quick use of 'Water Whip' to wrap around one of the marble pillars to pull them out.

But they weren't out of danger yet; the other fists were incoming and sought to crush them like flies. Serena focused and maneuvered her 'Water Whip' to wrap around the pillar, taking them behind it for cover. The Crystal Guardian's fists slammed against the wide pillar but could not put a single dent.

"Like I thought." Serena's chest was heaving up and down from exertion. "I thought it was strange the light beam didn't destroy the door. This entire room is sturdy and built to endure."

"That's good to know," Oscar's eyes shone with faint hope. "We can do something by using the pillars as covers. But it's time to keep moving."

Serena let out a cry as Oscar moved fast. Several fists rammed into where they were. The Crystal Guardian used its extending joints to punch around the pillar; it turned with its spiky legs and moved toward the retreating Oscar and Serena.

"Any other plans?" Serena asked while clinging to Oscar to avoid falling from his fast, erratic movements.

"Observe it. There must be a clue or indication of what we need to do. Observe it closely." Oscar continued to dash from pillar to pillar, but his feet were getting tired. He was almost at his limits for 'Adamasreis' and needed to slow down to recover.

With a final release from using up the stored Reis, Oscar went over the Crystal Guardian and got a nice distance away. He summoned his blue deer anima and got on it with Serena sitting in front. A vast amount of Ein poured into its hooves, and the chase continued.

The blue deer anima darted with its four legs like an expert. With Oscar's Prinstyct and Serena's timely uses of 'Water Whip', they were evading the attacks. But soon, their Ein and stamina would be gone.

Atop the blue deer anima, Serena and Oscar continued to observe, scrutinizing every detail, but nothing was out of the ordinary. Oscar clenched his teeth, knowing something had to be there. There was no way the Pavilion put an impossible task in front of them.

Serena also started looking around the room, but only white marble was all over the place; nothing else was distinct for her to pick up on. She shook her head in frustration and said, "Oscar, I can't find anything."

Oscar didn't reply as his eyes locked onto the Crystal Guardian. He thought of many different ideas in his head and settled on one. "Maybe it's not a waiting game."

"Pardon?" Serena was confused.

"Use your water whip and hold onto one of the pillars from high up," Oscar instructed. "I'll attack it and see if it invokes a reaction. Keep an eye out."

"Wait, what?" Serena was shocked. But before she could say anything else, she was thrown high up into the air with a scream. She had slight tears in her eyes from the rush of air and dust. "You actually threw me?!"

Oscar smiled and said, "Watch closely."

He also leaped off his deer anima and created another 'Steel Drill' to attack the Crystal Guardian. He weaved, dodged past the flurry of fists, and tried to plunge his 'Steel Drill' into the Crystal Guardian. However, like before, his piercing blow could not even nick the Crystal Guardian.

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'This material is too hard. It's far beyond the mutated Wendigo and the Thousand Serpent. But it's not on the same level as master's.' Oscar remembered the invincible feeling from his master when he landed his punch on Draven. He felt like all the sharpest weapons in the world could not pierce through Draven's skin.

The spherical head of the Crystal Guardian rotated like an owl and stared at Oscar. Its fists opened as if it intended to slam Oscar with its palms.

Oscar leaped away and far from the Crystal Guardian. Even though its toughness was out of this world, its speed wasn't that fast. A water whip wrapped around his arm, and he tugged, pulling Serena off the pillar towards him.

Serena smiled and wrapped her arms around Oscar in a hug. Oscar had no time to stop her as the Crystal Guardian skittered toward them with its spiky legs. He recovered and focused Adamasreis in his legs to bolt away.

"Did you see anything?" Oscar carried Serena around.

"I did!" Serena was delighted. "When you attacked it, two crystals on its legs reacted."

"The crystals?" Oscar was dumbfounded.

Serena nodded. "For a moment, they shone a different color. They were the first leg on its right and the last leg on its left. What do you think?"

Oscar was silent and continued to dodge with Serena's 'Water Whip' as support. He smiled and said, "That sounds like a weakness. I would like to say we should try it, but I'm running low, and so are you."

"Indeed, it's hard to keep moving around with the 'Water Whip', but what can we do?" Serena's face darkened.

"The entrance has a zone around it." Oscar pointed to the entrance that had an outline drawn in an area around it. This outline wasn't there before, but it appeared and had the word 'Retreat' written in the area.

Oscar retreated with all he had and landed in the retreat zone. Once they were in the area, the Crystal Guardian made a humming noise like a bee buzzing. It transformed, returning to its inactive form and hiding the crystals over its body, and became motionless.

Serena looked relieved and tired.

"Ok, you can let go now." Oscar put Serena down and took her arms off him.

"Aww. Can't you carry me back?" Serena looked like her favorite toy had been stolen.

"No way, if anything, I should be the one asking to be carried back. I was the only one moving around." Oscar sighed.

"Ok! I'll gladly do that." Serena was excited, with sparkles in her eye.

"That was a joke…."

…….

Elder Dustin stroked his beard with a smug smile. He couldn't contain his laughter which sounded more like the cackling of a witch. "That boy finally got the comeuppance he deserved. His attacks can't do anything to the Crystal Guardian!"

Ava Jones sipped some tea, looking at Elder Dustin as if he were garbage. "I don't get how you have so much pride in a construct built to the level of a Knight Exalt not being damaged by a student. If anything, I say it's shameless of you to think of this as some kind of victory."

"Pish posh!" Elder Dustin shouted. "Any victory against someone who disrespects others' hard work and is a fabricator is a good victory no matter how it was achieved."

Ava Jones grew tired of arguing with this stubborn elder. No matter what, he was so set in his ways that there was no convincing him of anything he didn't agree with, even coming up with such an outlandish reason for enjoying a victory against a Greater Apprentice Exalt.

Though for herself, she couldn't stop the pounding of her heart, looking at Serena and Oscar. Oscar had Serena in his arms to dodge the entire time while Serena provided support. She stared on like a nosy mother at their little interactions with great enthusiasm.

'How nice….I wonder if I'll ever meet someone. My sister is married and has a cute niece, but what am I doing? Meanwhile, these two are so ambiguous it's killing me! Are they going to get together or not? Ah, but what about my niece?' Ava Jones realized that she felt lonely. 'Maybe I should ask the family if there are any prospects for marriage. Maybe I should have been more involved when I was a student.'

…….

Oscar and Serena returned to the resting area and bolted for the showers.

In the showers, Oscar sat down, breathed in, and removed his inhibitor. The onslaught of pain flooded his body, but because he was prepared this time, Oscar managed to pull through. The shower waters flooded out his heavy breathing.

After regaining his composure, Oscar dried himself and wore a fresh uniform. He exited the shower to find Serena waiting for him at the dining table, which had refilled on food.

"Oscar. Are you alright? You took a while in the shower." Serena asked.

"It's nothing," Oscar sat down. "Why didn't you start eating?"

"Waited for you," Serena said cheerfully.

Oscar smiled weakly at Serena's attempts to sway him. He took a piece of bread and began his meal. After finishing the meal, Oscar noticed two thin, foldable mattresses with pillows and a blanket.

"It's already nighttime?" Oscar didn't notice that much time had passed. "Then tomorrow will be the third day."

"Let's rest up and gather our energy for tomorrow," Serena smiled and took a set.

For some reason, Oscar felt a cold chill and looked at Serena.

Her green eyes turned to Oscar with a teasing look.

"Want to sleep together?"

Somewhere, a female elder choked on her tea.

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