The Exalt [Cultivation Fantasy]

"Serena!" Edward got away from Serena's axes and tried to retreat, but a pair of hooves kicked him in the face, breaking his nose. Oscar's deer anima grunted and trotted around Edward, who was struggling on the snowy ground. Edward's Ein exploded out, and his lion anima swiped at Oscar's deer anima.

Oscar wanted to see how his deer anima would match up against the lion, so he sent it to clash against the lion. But as he expected, the claws of the Grade Seven lion anima sparked against the antlers and soon cut through them. Oscar coughed out some blood from the backlash. 'Without extra Ein to combat it, the deer anima can't match up.'

He saw Edward cling to his lion anima and dodge Serena's throwing axes. Edward's face was a mix of disbelief, anger, and hatred as his green eyes stared at Serena.

"Serena! What the hell is this? Did you already have contact with Oscar?" Edward screamed. "My conditions should have been good. I even offered to let you keep the Frost Orb and Azure Feather. What offers did he give you."

From what it appeared, Edward had made a prior deal with Serena to draw Oscar here with an enticing deal and then betray him. Oscar couldn't help but laugh inwardly at the sudden turnaround in which Edward was on the back foot.

Serena unleashed her 'Tidal Surge' and sent a surging tide of water that reached chilly temperatures in this cold. "No offers. I didn't even make a deal with Oscar."

"Are you kidding me?" Edward's hands lit up into flames that swelled and gathered into a large flaming ball in his hands. With a single step forward, he cast the fireball toward Serena's tidal wave. The fire and water mixed and exploded into a cloud of steam that quickly froze into tiny bits of ice. "What sort of idiocy is that? We may have had our differences in the past, but this was a business transaction, a deal! I don't believe you'd betray the surefire benefits for nothing."

"You can think about it back at the Outer Hall." Oscar's indifferent voice came up behind Edward.

While Serena and Edward were fighting, Oscar made his way around to Edward's exposed back.

Oscar sighed. "I can see why Serena is the better merchant. She reasoned out and thought of alternative actions when she ran into me in the labyrinth."

"Shut up!" Edward hated being compared to that crazed merchant, but he could not understand why her behavior shifted.

Edward's lion anima roared and charged at Oscar. Oscar encased his arm in 'Steel Drill' and attacked together with his deer anima's antlers, now coated in powerful Ein. Their combined attack with 'Shattering Wave' obliterated the lion anima into nothingness.

Off to the side, Edward vomited out blood and was dumbstruck. Serena's fist came next and slammed into his face, sending him reeling back. She stuck her tongue out at him mockingly.

"What a good day!" Serena laughed. "I got to see you and deal with that persistent idiot who always tried to outsell me."

"So what happened?" Oscar asked.

"Just a moment." Serena looked in Edward's pouch and took out his Frost Orb, Azure Feather, and Snowbell Fruit. "How's the other battle going?"

Off to the side, Mary and Lucy were working together to defeat Adam. Mary didn't realize Lucy was on their side, but she backed out right when they were about to clash, following Oscar's previous hint. What shocked her was that Adam's strike missed her by a hair but even more shocking was when Adam angrily shouted at Lucy for doublecrossing them.

"That shithead Edward! He thought he was so clever!" Adam coughed out blood as Mary and Lucy hammered down on him. He glanced at Edward's side and was astonished to see him on the snowy floor. Adam clenched his teeth and shouted, "I give up!"

Mary and Lucy halted their attacks. Adam's mace anima faded into nothing, and he put his hands up to surrender.

"Accepted." Serena walked over to Adam and punched him in the stomach, knocking him out. "But I can't have you awake. That's a danger."

She turned around, whipping her wavy red hair around, and ran to Oscar, embracing him in a hug with a smile. "Looks like I made the right choice."

Mary and Lucy stared with mouths wide open, eyes nearing popping from their sockets, and cheeks flushed. Lucy stammered, not able to understand what was happening right now.

Mary, as well, couldn't believe this was happening. Why was Serena hugging Oscar?

"Enough." Oscar forcibly got Serena off of him. "When are you going to stop doing these things?"

"When you decide to go out with me." Serena smiled cheekily. Her arms were trembling, and her face was flushed with hot breaths. She hadn't felt the amazing feeling of Oscar's muscles for a few days and could barely hold in her excitement. "But if we go out together, we'll do these with more enthusiasm, wouldn't we?"

After seeing Serena's sparkling green eyes, Oscar felt like he had lost all his stamina and went down to the dumbfounded Mary. "Snap out of it. We have to climb soon."

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Mary blinked once and shouted, "What the hell is going on between the two of you?!"

Serena went down and hugged Oscar's arm. "Can't you figure out from this?"

Mary shortcircuited again. The person she looked up to and respected was together with her hated enemy. The realization was too much for her to bear.

"We're friends," Oscar got out of Serena's hold. "But she won't stop trying to do things like this." His eyes pierced at Serena. "Can we have some modicum of distance, please?"

Serena saw the seriousness on Oscar's face and sighed. "Alright. I need to get Lucy back. Lucy!" She grabbed Lucy's shoulders and shook hard.

"Oh, Serena?" Lucy came to her sense. "What on earth is going on with you and Oscar?"

"As he said, we're friends," Serena harumphed, and her lips turned to a mischievous smile. "But I'll bridge that gap soon enough."

Lucy's eyes twitched, not knowing what to say to Serena's confident face.

On the other side, Oscar explained to Mary what happened between Serena and him, that he didn't desire a romantic relationship and wasn't working with Serena against her. He felt it was awkward to explain it, but he didn't want any misunderstandings to spread and wanted to nip this in the bud.

"That's good." Mary heaved a sigh of relief. "That moneylicker isn't someone you should think about dating or being a partner with."

"Why is his romance your concern? Little squirt, you don't have any feelings towards him while I'm in love." Serena was angry and strode over to Mary. She was a head taller than Mary and looked down at her with indifferent green eyes.

Mary laughed, but her laughter didn't reach her round brown eyes. She gripped her staff and stepped right in front of Serena. "You know, instead of all these words, let's settle it with our fists. No bets of anything kind; just decide this once and for all."

"Nothing held back and no regrets?" Serena said with interest.

"Yup." Mary held her hand out. "Oscar said we should settle this as Exalts rather than the plays we're doing with each other."

Serena stared at Mary's hand and then at Mary. She shook Mary's hand. "Very well. There's still some time before we need to climb. Let's fight as Exalts."

"Serena?" Lucy didn't understand why any of this was happening.

Oscar came by Lucy's side and said, "This is going to take some time; let's get to the cave and watch from within."

With her mind still puzzled, Lucy followed Oscar into the cave. He lit a fire, and the two sat while looking outside.

Edward and Adam were teleported out a while ago due to their disqualification. The degree of injuries would not have been enough, but due to their loss of consciousness, the blue frost would have overtaken them if not for the Pavilion's interference. Due to this, Edward and Adam could no longer pass the exam and would have to try again next time.

Outside, Serena and Mary fought fiercely against each other, exchanging many blows with their axes and spear. Mary's disadvantage was her short stature and Grade Five Anima. Serena's disadvantage was her lack of movement spell, and her use of axes was not up to par with Mary's spear mastery.

A crash of water and lightning erupted the snow and cracked the ground underneath them. Over time, Serena's lack of movement and usage of large spells cost her too much Ein as Mary's zipped around with her controlled 'Electric Steps', using her spear to deflect and counter Serena's axes easily.

"Little pint!" Serena shouted as she threw her axes with the crisscrossing streams of torrential water. One ax, a graded armament, had her 'Water Whip' tied to its handle. Her 'Tidal Surge' followed behind the axes. "Are you going to scurry around more or face this head-on?"

This was her last gambit. She was furious and swore to get a movement or defensive spell after this. But she was sure Mary would meet her blow instead of dodging.

"Coin sniffer!" Mary utilized all three of her thunder spells, cladding her spear, feet, body, and bear anima in lightning. She bolted like thunder across the ground, stabbing straight with her spear. "I'll show you."

The waters crackled with lightning that coursed through it. The axes rang clear as they clashed against the sharp spearhead. Using the 'Water Whip', Serena pulled herself to her axes and gripped them to add more power, ignoring the crackling lightning that coursed through the waters.

The two put forth all their Ein into this final exchange. Serena, a year younger, being able to contend with Mary was a testament to her Grade Seven Exolsia Core.

The ground quaked from their collision. An ax and spear flew into the air and landed on the ground. Oscar watched the snow settle, knowing the two weren't in actual harm from the cold because they both held the Frost Orbs.

Mary had gripped Serena's hair with a vice grip. Her bear anima was fading away from the extreme damage.

Serena also had her hands on Mary's brown hair, breathing heavily as parts of her skin were scraped and scorched by lightning.

"It was your fault that time." Serena gripped harder and tugged.

Mary made a groan of pain, but her eyes lit up. She pulled Serena's hair as well. "No, it was yours."

"Stop pulling my hair! You already ruined some of my skin, but leave the hair! How am I supposed to attract Oscar without them." Serena shouted and pulled harder.

"Shut up!" Mary shouted and reciprocated. This time with a punch to Serena's face.

"You!!!" Serena balled her other hand and punched Mary's small face.

After several punches, Mary and Serena plopped to the floor, exhausted.

"Do…" Mary grabbed Serena's attention. "Do you really believe it was my fault? I only did what I did so we could survive after your blunder. That's the problem with you merchants. You build up well but think eating up losses is fine, but what if those losses are lives."

"You say blunder, but you didn't trust me enough to let me finish and forcibly changed the situation, which put us in danger. You made it a blunder in your mind, but to me, it was a surefire victory. That's the problem with law practitioners. You only see what's on the paper and manual, not what can be seen outside."

The scene became silent as the two panted.

Mary sighed. "Maybe I was too rigid in my thinking."

For the past two weeks, she had been through a lot for the past two weeks and traversed this tundra with Oscar in their nonsensical direction. Yet they were fine and made it here due to their trust. In the end, she didn't trust Serena as much during the mission.

Serena, hearing Mary relent, was taken aback and felt embarrassed. "Maybe, I should have talked to you first and tried to convince you. I did needlessly put you into a scare."

Her time in the safe zone trial taught her that watching someone else do something potentially dangerous was hard. She could barely do it for Oscar and nearly ran forward despite their plan. She thought maybe Mary felt the same.

"Let bygones be bygones?" Mary held out her hand.

"Let's." Serena grasped Mary's hand. "But my Exolsia will allow me to shoot straight past you next time. So contemplate on this draw because it'll only be losses for you from here on out."

"Nice to see the two of you have made up." Oscar smiled and picked Mary up into his arms. "We'll see you at the top."

"Why not carry me?" Serena pouted. She felt a yearning to be held by Oscar again.

"Lucy's got you." Oscar turned around and flew up with the Azure Feather.

Lucy picked up Serena and followed Oscar's team up the mountain. Finally, they reached the very top and saw the three elders waiting for them.

Great Elder Robert smiled. "Congratulations."

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