The Exalt [Cultivation Fantasy]

"The winner is Orden Aesn," Gol-4 announced, but Orden and Oscar did not react with the winner's enthusiasm and the loser's distress. Orden put away his hammer and held his hand toward Oscar, and Oscar returned the handshake with a nod. From the beginning, they both had an idea of who was better, but they wished to know how good the other was.

"Good match. You're an amazing fabricator." Oscar smiled.

"You as well. Who would have thought that you'd be this good? Your formation is like a work of art, and your refinement is not perfect but incredible." Orden smiled back and put away his hammer, but he couldn't help but glance back at Oscar. "I thought you would have reacted differently. Aren't you frustrated?"

Oscar took up his newly forged green sword armament and held it by the blade with the hilt facing Orden. "I am frustrated, but isn't it amazing? In the end, I was only a step behind a genius like you. I was behind in every aspect, but I made you feel a slight loss, did I not?"

With a scoff, Orden held the hilt of the grade-two green sword, seeing his reflection upon the blade's surface without a single blemish or scratch. "Nice blade. Well forged and balanced. An amazing creation. You're right. I felt admiration for how you refined the materials gracefully and how you placed the nodes."

Orden took away Oscar's armament, a gift from Oscar, and a trophy of his victory. "Given enough time, perhaps you would catch up to me, but that's assuming I don't keep up my pace. I would love to have another duel against you when we're three-star fabricators."

"Thinking too far in the future. Right now, all I want to do is sleep." Oscar went over to Erik and picked him up along with Gol-4. He turned his back to Orden and walked away. "You should get some rest as well. Who knows what we'll have to do tomorrow."

After saying goodbye, Oscar took Erik to a large vacant house, laying the snoring person atop a mattress pulled from Erik's space pocket. He didn't want to leave Erik alone in this place, mostly because he still didn't fully trust Orden despite everything they had been through. With nothing else to do, Oscar turned his attention to Gol-4, another one he had suspicions about.

"Gol-4, what was the difference between his armament and mine?" Oscar asked, resting his head back.

"You mean beyond the obvious difference in the purity of your respective ores?" Gol-4 responded. "I have handled the many treasures of the vault, including armaments, and there was a difference in your formations."

Oscar sighed and rubbed his eyes from the drowsiness. "Can you tell me?"

Gol-4 responded. "Of course. I can't refuse a request from you. Both of your formations were well-made, but your constellation lacked compared to his representation of a person. Both armaments would do well, but Orden's would last longer and be more durable."

"So what was lacking?" Oscar frowned. "Answer the question."

"You have yet to make the constellations wholly your own. You are using them, but where is the personal touch? Right now, you are just copying what is in the night sky. Go beyond, copy it but add your tastes, modify it to suit you and the armament."

"Am I not already doing that?" Oscar thought back to his formations. He had also added a few extra stars and links to complete the formation for the armament.

"It's not just the armament," Gol-4 seemed to hear Oscar's thoughts. "You have considered the armament but not yourself. The constellations are your preference and work well for you, but you are still modifying it only for the armament. Where are you in that picture?"

The words rang like bells in Oscar's mind, and his eyes could not tear away from Gol-4, who levitated above him. He stared blankly as if his soul had departed. "Myself?"

"When that Orden places the nodes to create the person, that person is him. Due to that, the resonance between him, the formation, and the armament is far more complete than yours." Gol-4 levitated over to the ground. His blue eyes began to flicker and dim. "Mull over it later. Right now, you need rest."

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However, Oscar remained wide awake. His thoughts churned as an endless whirlpool of a single word resounded in his ears. "Myself."

After a long sleep, Oscar gathered to discuss their next move with everyone else. They all turned to Gol-4, who understood Tectusen's layout thanks to the stone slab.

"Gol-4, where is the exit?" Oscar asked.

"According to the stone slab, the main entrance to Tectusen is a few districts away from here. I have also noted the shuttle system that links all of the districts and found that Austin could be in one of the districts we need to pass through." Gol-4 responded.

"How do you figure that?" Erik munched on his rations.

"Interestingly, the records of the shuttle system are still intact and updated until Oscar and Orden fought on the surface. According to that, Austin landed in another supply depot and could only enter another residential district. We must pass through this place to get to the main entrance anyway."

"Then lead the way." Orden stood up and shook the dust off his legs.

"Hang on. Don't forget we need to get the ores from this place," Oscar nodded to Gol-4, who levitated and beckoned the others to follow him. They went around to many of the vats that continually filled with the molten lava and separated the mixture into a process that churned out molten bars of metal, unrefined and waiting for a fabricator's touch.

These vats only operated a few hours every day on their own, but a large pile of metal bars was already increasing on the floor. Oscar and the others greedily took as much as they could with their space pockets and departed the district with delighted expressions.

"What an amazing haul!" Orden laughed.

"Didn't expect to get so much already." Oscar whistled.

"Shouldn't we be more careful?" Erik stared at the two idiotic fabricators with a sigh.

Their journey through Tectusen became easy for the three of them, and they cleared out two other districts, taking whatever treasures they could find. Many Exalt Beasts stood in their path, controlled by the parasitic vines, but they stamped out the population, gaining more resources along the way.

Oscar stared at his space pockets, thankful that he had many of them, one from the Pavilion and the rest from the enemies.

"This is the district Austin should have gone through if he moved," Gol-4 said as they walked across another stone bridge into a simple district with stone houses laid atop each other.

"Watch out," Oscar turned to the side.

An Exalt Beast suddenly popped out of a house and tried to ambush them, but Oscar had already noticed it, readying his silver star. But a sudden intruder swooped in and split the beast with his dagger.

"Austin!" Oscar smiled and felt relieved in his heart that Austin was alright.

"Where the hell have you been these past few days?" Erik relaxed and went up, but Austin did not respond.

"Hang on," Orden stepped in front, holding Erik back. "There's something wrong."

Austin turned to them, but the horrifying reality filled them with dread.

"A-Austin?" Erik's hands trembled, and his mouth quivered, unable to accept the sight in front of him. Losing his composure, Erik shouted, "What the hell happened to you?!"

Oscar lost color in his face, becoming paler than a ghost, and he bit his lip so hard that blood flowed like a waterfall. In front of him, Austin had one of the parasitic vines on his face and another attached to his chest. He had become one of the many monsters they had killed, a mindless brute who was taken over by those parasitic vines.

"You idiot…." Oscar murmured and walked forward, but Austin charged ahead and came out swinging with his blades, trying to cut Oscar. Gritting his teeth, Oscar slammed his bulwark onto Austin to push him back. "Restrain him."

However, right as his words left his mouth, Oscar felt a premonition behind him and charged up his Reis and Ein, releasing his shattering wave against a thrown hammer from Orden, which retreated into the behemoth's hand. Oscar staggered back from the weight of the blow but steadied himself while Erik fought against Austin.

"Why did you interfere?" Orden asked.

"What are you doing, Orden?" Oscar's eyes became bloodshot, and his arms and face filled with veins. A hot breath escaped his lungs as he stomped forward toward Orden. "Explain yourself. Why the hell did you try to kill Austin?"

Orden lifted his hammer, and his smile vanished, replaced by a steely expression with narrowed eyes. He tore off his upper clothes, brandishing his large muscles. "He's become a monster and needs to be exterminated. I understand he's your friend, so I'll do it for you. Don't worry; I'll make sure he doesn't feel any pain."

However, a bulwark came swinging at Orden, and he swung his hammer in response. The air burst forth from their clash, and the ground trembled. Erik dodged Austin's attacks while cursing at Orden.

"Erik, take Gol-4 and lead Austin away from here. Find a way to subdue and free him." Oscar's shirt and jacket had torn to bits, and he threw them to the side, revealing his upper body, his muscles tensed so much that he resembled a statue of iron.

"Oscar?" Erik stared at the two, but his eyes locked on Oscar's darkened expression, resembling an icy predator.

"I'll take care of this bastard." Oscar stepped toward Orden.

Orden did not smile at the prospect of this battle, but his eyes grew cold. "Don't let your emotions run your head. You know there might be no hope for him."

"Even so, I won't let you kill him. As the one responsible for taking them here, I'll do it myself if I have to, but no matter what, I'll do everything to save him before that." Oscar cracked his knuckles and swung his bulwark.

"Then come," Orden lifted his hammer.

The intensity of their blows clashing echoed across the cavern.

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