The Exalt [Cultivation Fantasy]

Oscar followed Elder Saul. Unlike the other times when Elder Saul carried him and flew at high speeds, Oscar took slow steps to match the elder's slow pace matching his aged appearance. For an unknown reason, the elder decided to take the scenic route through meadowy plains into Azure City.

Looking at the elder in front of him, Oscar noticed he hadn't changed a single day since they first met about five years ago, as though the passing of time did not affect the elder. For an Exalt to look old meant they passed well into the late years of their long lifespan; advancement recovered one's youthful appearance. Thinking deeper about it, Oscar realized Great Elder Robert's old appearance was strange because he and his master, Draven, were part of the same generation along with the youthful Margaret Ward and Aunt Rosett.

"Your thoughts are quite muddled," Elder Saul had his hands behind his hunched back. They passed through the gates into Azure City. "Stop thinking of useless things and focus. Use your Prinstyct to look at me."

"Yes," Oscar kept pace with the elder and activated his Prinstyct to stare at Elder Saul. However, his eyes wandered about in a spasm as if he had lost control of them while trying to focus on Elder Saul. Within the distorted world of the Prinstyct, he saw so many different intents, movements of Ein, and ripples from Elder Saul that they overwhelmed him.

"GUH!" Oscar ran into a nearby alley and threw up. However, Elder Saul did not react and continued walking, creating a distance from Oscar, making Oscar spit out in frustration and rush out to catch up. Suddenly, a voice resounded in his mind, Elder Saul's.

"First rule, don't follow me without your Prinstyct activated. If you cancel your Prinstyct, stop and adjust. However, you must find me if you lose track of me."

"So the training starts now?" Oscar grunted and panted in a cold sweat. People passed by him, staring at him with weird looks, but he didn't care about how strange his behavior seemed; the only thought that ran through Oscar's mind was to follow Elder Saul. His Ein flowed and activated his Prinstyct once more, and his eyes shifted from person to person, twitching from the constant shifting until he locked onto Elder Saul in the distance.

The same sensation brought about by the countless nonsensical, incomprehensible visions of Elder Saul buried itself in Oscar's eyes, burning through them to his brain. Oscar contained the throes of pain trying to escape his lips and took a heavy step forward and another, but he fell to his knees on the third. Looking back, he saw he barely moved from his original spot.

"This will continue until you can finally reach me. If you waste time, it will only become harder." Elder Saul's voice resounded in his mind again. "An early Prinstyct is amazing, but you are still too immature in its use. You can run, but no Ein or Reis; I am moving at an old man's pace."

Oscar stood on shaky legs, his hands grasping his knees, and breathed in to calm down to assess the bizarre training. He could run while Elder Saul walked, but his Reis, Ein, and Anima were banned. The trouble was how hard it was to focus on Elder Saul past the numerous bystanders who got in the way with their distortions; to jump from one person to the other with Prinstyct stressed him; even when he managed to fixate on Elder Saul, his Prinstyct overloaded.

"There's nothing to do then," Oscar mumbled while others slowly avoided him. His obsidian eyes gleamed, staring straight ahead. "One step at a time."

His eyes burned like hot magma poured into them, his back drenched wet from sweat, and his legs trembled with each step. Oscar stomped one foot at a time, chasing after the hunched back of the Elder. Everything seemed fine, but the distance between him and Elder Saul slowly widened.

With a forceful grunt, Oscar dragged his feet, but he knocked into someone and fell on the floor. Normally, his tough body should have remained sturdy, but his legs had severely weakened from the training. He said, "I'm sorry."

"Watch your step!" A loud voice scolded Oscar loudly and angered, but no one stopped to stare and simply rushed on their way away. "What's your problem?"

Oscar stood up to see a fellow student with a pissed-off look. He scratched his head with an awkward expression; it was his fault for being so focused on Elder Saul that he couldn't see the other person. With a bow, Oscar hoped to alleviate the person's anger. "Sorry, but I'm training here to maintain my focus. I did not see you coming."

The person scoffed and wanted to shout more, but someone stepped in between them. She had flowing orange hair and orange eyes and stared at the man with an indifferent face. Her beauty made the man flush, and he stammered, wondering who this person was.

This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.

"Sorry for my friend's mistake, but it was a simple bump. There's no need to get so fussy about it." Emily had her staff on her back, not wanting to fight. "Let it go, and we can go our separate ways."

"O-ok." The man had an entranced look, and he stepped toward Emily. "However, you will have to accompany me on a date."

"Bastard." Frederick came from nowhere and grabbed the man's shoulder. His yellow eyes held a cold glint, and his other hand hovered over his short sword. "She's my partner. What do you think you're doing?"

"Hah?!" The man's face twisted in anger. However, another hand grabbed onto his shoulder. The force of which made him feel fear.

Emily stared coldly into the man's eyes. "What sort of imbecile are you? Why should I have to go on a date with you? Are you that much of ****** that you have to coerce women like this?" her foul mouth revealed itself, and her Ein slowly pressured the man.

"Hieeee!" The man backed off and ran away.

"What a spineless wimp." Emily dusted her hands as if removing the stain of touching that man.

Frederick laughed. "Well, you're so beautiful that people lose reason around you. Too bad for them that you're already taken."

"Idiot." Emily scoffed with a smile.

"So, Os? What's going on with you? We just arrived back from Emily's home to find you here, sweating bullets." Frederick helped Oscar to remain steady. Instead of going to his cold family home, he joined Emily at her small home, sharing a drink with her father. However, he didn't expect to find his best friend in such a situation.

Oscar patted off the dust from his clothes with a pale face. "Thanks for helping me out. Elder Saul is giving me some odd training."

"Training?" Frederick and Emily grew more curious than usual because it was the enigmatic Elder Saul.

After explaining the training, Oscar looked around with a blank face. "I lost him. Dammit. Where did he go? I'll see the two of you later." He rushed straight ahead to the last direction he saw Elder Saul go.

Frederick and Emily sighed and smiled.

"We should get back to our training. There are only six months." Emily dragged Frederick, who smiled weakly, knowing of the torture he would endure. However, his fist pumped out toward Oscar's back, wishing him the best of luck.

…….

"Found him." Oscar spotted Elder Saul in the distance but halted his feet. To keep walking without the Prinstyct ran against the training's purpose. With the glow of Prinstyct, his eyes faced the same dilemma, but Oscar forged his path ahead.

The most troublesome part was the sheer focus it required to lock onto Elder Saul made him blind to everything else, which resulted in the altercation earlier. Oscar had to find a way to focus on Elder Saul's ripples and intent while keeping track of the regular movements of others.

He often stumbled over something or bumped into someone, apologizing many times to many people. In the end, many people started a rumor about a strange person who couldn't keep his balance while walking. At the end of the day, when night fell, Oscar avoided the gazes of people who looked like they were enjoying the show.

"Tomorrow, you will come here as well." Elder Saul appeared from a nearby alley.

"Wait, Elder Saul. I have a tight schedule." Oscar explained everything he trained in.

The old man laughed as if he had heard a ridiculous joke. "You're serious about this? Alright. You'll spend your weekends here training with me all day. You can handle your other fields on the weekdays."

"Thank you!" Oscar bowed in relief.

After saying his farewells, Oscar ran to the Neptune Archives. He saw Celestina there, reading her book, but when she stared at him, her lips quivered, trying to hold back her laughter.

"I heard you walked all over the city." She said as short bursts of laughter escaped her mouth.

Oscar looked so embarrassed and spent the rest of the night reading to get it out of his mind.

The next morning, Serena also could not control her laughter. "The stumbling Exalt." The people gave that title to Oscar, and it reached everyone's ears.

"Are you kidding me?" Oscar chomped on his food, chewing loudly with his teeth clanking. "It's training!"

"I know, I know." Serena held her hand over her mouth while her green eyes trembled from tears of laughter.

"I hope this training is worth it," Oscar grumbled while finishing his food and peeling Serena off him from her usual hugging attempts.

The time quickly passed by. Oscar focused on nothing but honing his skills.

His Adamasreis reached 80 percent completion, leaving only his chest untransformed. The raw physical power from such muscles, together with the stored Reis, made his heart feel more pain, but he trusted in Draven and Rosett's words that it was bearable until the Knight Exalt realm.

He continued to fail at the last step of Reis Forging, unable to fully coil the lined block around to be ready for armament creation. However, he made leaps and bounds, passing his two-star fabricator examination, and wearing the badge proudly on his chest.

After training so much with Elder Saul, Oscar managed to get closer to Elder Saul, and the distance between them never widened as he learned more control. After another long training day, Oscar panted on the ground while Elder Saul watched.

"Elder Saul," Oscar coughed out his words.

"What?" Elder Saul munched on some fruit. His old voice provided a sense of comfort to Oscar.

"Why are you so attached to me?" Oscar pointed to himself. "You gave me advice many times, and now you're training me."

"Interesting."

"?"

"It's because it's interesting. It came from a whim with me doing many things to see what would happen, but you grew well, going beyond my expectations." Elder Saul laughed. "So, I'm still waiting to see what you do."

"That's not a very heartwarming reason," Oscar spoke blandly. "But I guess I should be glad you had that passing whim."

"Indeed. Now get up and rest well. You have a week before Ashen Grove." Elder Saul disappeared.

Oscar stared up at the night sky. "A week…."

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