The Exalt [Cultivation Fantasy]

Oscar followed Celestina; the two rushed deeper into the Vermillion Mountain Range. Despite his feet keeping pace with Celestina energetically, his brows were tight, and his lips formed a frown because of Celestina's objective. He was confused about the nature of her goal.

"Why is this Middle Elite Exalt so important that you must hunt it down yourself? To the point of wandering deeper in the Vermillion Mountain Range." Oscar asked as the speed of their sprint whipped his hair back. His obsidian eyes stayed on Celestina's figure that was speeding ahead.

Celestina glanced back at Oscar with a grin. "As I said, it's a surprise. It'll be something as good as the Preisn Observatory." Seeing Oscar's irked expression, she chuckled. "Just trust me."

"I trust you, but I'm worried you might be too reckless," Oscar recalled her wild last stand against Doyle back in the Floating Islands of Edin. For her friends, she took too much burden upon herself, which Oscar feared might happen here.

"Who do you think you're speaking of?" Celestina let out a mighty aura; the regal demeanor of a princess of a vast empire was in full display as her emerald eyes stared into Oscar's with great confidence and power. "The Thousand Serpent wasn't too bad of an opponent, but it was a stronger Lower Elite Exalt due to being one of the island's rulers, and I injured Doyle despite our difference of power."

"I wasn't disparaging your power. You're the strongest besides Gilbert. But I fear getting into a sticky situation like before." Oscar spoke honestly.

Celestina looked up and around. She stared back at Oscar with assuring eyes. "Don't worry. This time, I didn't give my guard the slip. I learned my lesson after that last ordeal. So we're being watched right now. However, they're not allowed to listen." Right after, her eyes narrowed to a scary degree. "But don't mention Lockwood. After everything I did, I still lost to him. How frustrating."

Oscar pondered as they traveled further. "I understand he irritates you to no end and does not seem to know about boundaries, but isn't he a useful asset for the empire? I wouldn't say you have to be nice to someone like him, but at least keep him at arm's length. I don't like him, but his grade nine is too big to ignore."

Celestina let out a tired sigh and stopped. "We're here. The Middle Exalt Beast should be close by. As for your suggestion, I did think of that initially, but his character was questionable. I saw nothing but endless greed spilling out of him. Give him an inch, and he'll take a mile. The moment I show a sliver of openness to him, he'll try to pry his way to have me like Aurora and Isabella. Though those two are just love-drunk fools."

"In the end, my instincts proved true when you told me about his past with Frederick. Not to mention that he isn't a reliable person. He always causes trouble with others and arrives late after his group has already suffered on missions like a fashionably late hero. If he never left, then they wouldn't be in such unfavorable situations." Celestina scoffed as she recalled all the people telling her of Gilbert's heroism even though he was simply late doing something else, leaving his party to themselves. "I can't tie him to the empire because he will certainly leave to pursue more. It's not bad to want to get stronger and explore the world, but he'll never have the Brilliant Drake Empire as the foremost of his priorities. The most important thing to me will always be the prosperity of my empire and the people. Understand?"

Oscar felt Celestina was pouring all her thoughts and grievances out. Indeed, as the empire's princess, Celestina had many responsibilities and things to consider, and Oscar could not begin to understand how much she was stressed. He reflected on the times they read books together, how she read on with a smile and talked with great passion.

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Those moments were her one solace from the constant reminder that the empire needed her, and she needed to do everything for it. Oscar sighed and said, "That must be tiring. Want to read more books at the Preisn Observatory when we get back?"

His eyes and smile were gentle as if to soothe the ranting princess.

It worked. Celestina put on a bright smile; her emerald eyes sparkled with joy. "That would be wonderful. We still have a lot to read in there."

Oscar felt conflicted. He loved her and wished to cross that boundary from friends to lovers, but seeing her bright smile, his wish wavered. He knew from the start that she desperately wanted someone who could relate to her with books, but not a lover.

Her rant earlier was an affirmation to Oscar that confessing his feelings would do nothing but cause more stress to her. Right now, she didn't need a lover but a friend who could comfort her and let her relax, free from the woes gripping her. Oscar put down his feelings deep in his heart but held onto the hope that one day, she wouldn't be overwhelmed and be willing to allow someone to cross that boundary.

Oscar resolved to stay the way they were now, forgoing his desire to let Celestina have peace. 'Who knows if I'll regret this choice? However, her smile right now is what I want for her.'

"We're on the slope of a mountain right now. The mission target should be somewhere around here." Celestina looked around the rocky mountain slope with barely any plants, only the scarlet ground. She licked her lips from the salty air of the mineral-rich mountain and looked into her surroundings like a fearsome predator.

Oscar watched in the opposite direction. He felt something odd about a particular pile of rocks; he could have sworn he saw one of the rocks shake, but it was motionless at the moment. Oscar threw his buckler to confirm his suspicions, inducing sparks against the rocky formation. "It's here!"

His warning came right as the rock formation shook. The rocks moved but did not fall to the ground. Under Oscar and Celestina's watchful gaze, the rock formation unraveled and opened up to reveal its true form, a large scorpion.

The scorpion appeared like it was made of rocks on every inch of its body. Its pincers were large and resembled large boulders when they were closed, and its curled tail with the sharp stinger looked like rocks linked to each other. It was child's play for the scorpion to use its rocky exterior to mimic a pile of boulders.

"How lucky. That scorpion is our mission's target. Oscar, you handle the scorpion. It's around the same as the Redback Ape but not as strong as the Thousand Serpent, so you should be fine."

"But what about you?" Oscar wondered why Celestina wanted him to fight alone.

Celestina took out her rapier, glimmering with her silver Ein along its blade. The Ein concentrated into an arrowhead made of light.

'Grade Two Lumin Bolt'

The arrowhead extended into a large bolt, similar to the ones used in a crossbow but many times larger. It flew out from the tip of Celestina's rapier, blowing away the air in front, toward another large rocky formation. Her spell was powerful and flashed to its destination.

The bolt created a loud shockwave as a high-pitched clang resounded; the bolt barely scratched into the rock before it fell to the floor. Oscar looked amazed both at her spell's power and the rock's incredible hardness. The rocks trembled and unraveled themselves as the scorpion had.

"On these mountain slopes, the Exalt Beasts are quite good at hiding themselves in plain sight. Their red rocky exterior is a great boon here." Celestina explained as the rocks parted to reveal their true form, a large red creature with ten sharp rocky legs and a large shell-encased body. But the front two legs were different, sporting a pair of large pincer-like claws with teeth-like protrusions in between them.

"This one is my target." Celestina's Ein burst in droves, but the powerful crab was not disturbed and skittered its legs, sounding like blades stabbing into the ground.

Middle Elite Exalt Scarlet Brachyura.

Lower Elite Exalt Petra Scorpion.

These two Exalt Beasts were no friends, but with the common prey in front of them, they opted to stay out of each other's way and devour the person that disturbed them. Their beady and glass-like eyes shuffled around unnaturally, reflecting the two humans.

Oscar and Celestina stood back to back. Their eyes focused on the prey in front of them.

The Exalt Beasts released screeches and rattling sounds and rushed toward the intruding humans. Their pincers and claws sounded like sharp blades.

"Fight!" Celestina shouted. Her Ein manifested her silver dragon anima, which roared and breathed out its signature light beam.

"No need to tell me." Oscar summoned his deer anima; its metal hooves crushed the rocky ground under it as it charged ahead with its antlers.

The mountain slope trembled from the collision of humans and beasts.

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