The Exalt [Cultivation Fantasy]

Oscar deflected Orden's hammer, his bones creaking from the reverberations of Ein emanating from the blunt weapon. He ignored the slight discomfort of the rattling, spinning with the flow of Reis and countering with Orden's power. Orden proved himself a tricky opponent, matching Oscar's wild movements by using his incredible reach and height to make it harder for Oscar to land a clean blow.

Several minutes after his friends arrived to help him, Oscar fought hundreds of exchanges and blows against the behemoth, only able to injure Orden once. A bright red wound on Orden's shoulder matched the one Oscar received from Gail's surprise attack.

Oscar grunted, covered in sweat, and put everything into a Shattering Wave. The Adamasreis was approaching its limit. Eirin flowed out of his lance, spreading across the gap between him and Orden. Oscar's deer anima swung its large antlers to join the attack. Orden erected several stone spikes to deter the shockwave and threw his hammer.

Explosions of dust and rubble spread out between Oscar and Orden. Some of the dust landed in Oscar's eyes, an irritating inconvenience of fighting Orden. The battlefield returned to an eerie calm despite the chaos surrounding them. Oscar reviewed his current status, knowing his Adamasreis was unavailable and his deer anima lacked the means to break through Orden's defense.

'In the end, I lack the means to close the gap of his large wingspan, and he's starting to use his feet more. I tried slipping by at the last moments of his attacks, but his reactions are faster than before.' Oscar felt jealous of Orden's large build and legs. His master always said a battle was about territory. For any battle, the territory can be defined by their means of offense and defense and how they can encroach upon another's territory. The winner was the one who took control.

In this melee battle against Orden, who had evolved as a fighter, Oscar could not crack through Orden's territory. Despite using the free-flowing movements learned from Demon and the power of Eirin, he lacked the means to finish the battle.

'If I use the mantle, I can do it. But can I take that risk right now?' Oscar thought as Orden stepped in, not allowing him to catch a breath or wait for his Adamasreis to recover. Ducking below a powerful swing, Oscar felt the cold shadow growing above him and spun on his feet, dodging another fearsome strike.

'Silver Sheen'

The silvery armor formed in time to withstand Orden's heavy stone fist. Oscar trembled inside from the force of the blow. Knowing what came next, Oscar broke out of his Silver Sheen before it shattered under the weight of Orden's hammer. Finally, he felt his muscles loosening, crying out in relief. Sadly, he forced the power of Reis onto them once more, entering the Adamasreis.

'Right now, the Ein Awaken is working well. Eirin is consuming too much Reis and Ein each time. Every moment I get to recover the Ein is not wasted.' Oscar tightened his stance, deciding to change his strategy. He bent his knees and held his shaky arms close to his head in a defensive stance resembling a turtle.

"Are you trying to outlast me? Why don't you use your full power?" Orden looked disappointed. He sighed, lowering his guard. "We've been back and forth with this, yet you hold back…."

Oscar chuckled from behind his arms, understanding Orden's feelings. "There are times when I have to use it and times when I can't. Back then, I had no other choice. Perhaps I would use it if we were in a different kind of battle."

"Is that so? Then I'll force it out of you." Orden said chillingly, elevating his Ein with everything he had. "You better use up everything you have, or else you're dead."

Motes of Ein floated around, surrounding Orden. They transformed into boulders and rocks, levitating around Orden as the center. Oscar couldn't count how many there were, only feeling the reinforced Ein glowing around each one. Each one seemed so compact and heavy as they collided with each other in a cacophony of collisions.

One rock rolled in place, gaining speed and rotating faster. Orden hit it with his hammer, and the rock flew out like a meteor, resounding in a roaring boom and splitting the winds. Oscar was dumbfounded as the deafening sound of the rock mashing against his bulwark flooded his ears. It was heavy, incredibly heavy.

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Oscar gritted his teeth, straining more strength as sparks flew from the rock's scraping against his bulwark. In a forceful push, Oscar deflected it to the side, hearing the impact behind him. What a powerful attack!

Confused, Oscar stared at Orden in the center of the floating rocks and understood. Orden didn't use this spell in their previous battle in Tectusen because Orden hadn't learned it yet. Perhaps, Orden learned it from a similar trial to the Golddew Figtree. However, like Oscar's Steel Cage, this spell was barely usable.

The rocks around Orden were erratically shaking as if wanting to burst apart but barely holding on. Orden looked strained and breathing heavily. Ein streamed out of him like a dam being broken. Orden was forcing himself to use a shoddy spell. Oscar wanted to retreat but feared what Orden may unleash upon his friends who were still fighting nearby.

'I have to keep him here!' Oscar set up several steel cages to keep the larger boulders in place. It was useless as the boulders burst out with ease, but it wasn't entirely pointless because cracks formed on the rocks' surfaces. The rocks were not invincible.

Several spun and flew out on their own. Orden whacked a few more, charging them with the force of his hammer. Oscar rode atop his deer anima and charged with everything he had. His deer anima swung its antlers wrapped around Silver Lances while he did the same with his lances.

The quartet lances pierced through the flying rocks, shattering them into pieces. Oscar bled under his lances, and red droplets dripped from his forearms. Cracks formed even on his Eirin Silver Lances, demonstrating the fierceness of Orden's power. Undeterred by the weight of Eirin and the pain built from the constant battering of Orden's power, Oscar stormed ahead, finally reaching his rival.

Orden smiled, placing his hammer down by his waist. All the rocks flew into a single point, battering, crashing, and destroying each other. Resembling a refinement process, the heavy rocks all fused, casting off the excess and melding into one. Orden swung the single rock around with his hammer and brought it before Oscar.

An earthquake in physical form. Oscar could only describe it as such. The moment this unreal piece of earth landed on his combination of quartet lance, he felt his arm breaking. Not wanting to risk losing it all, Oscar took in as much of the overflowing Reis and rebounded it.

'Omnireus Eighty Percent!'

The stone platform quaked. Winds rushed back into the center of the conflict after being blown away from the ensuing shockwave. Frederick, Austin, Mary, Serena, Gail, and Maia gazed toward Oscar and Orden.

"Don't worry, everyone. I'm still alive." Oscar gasped, dropping to one knee. His left arm was broken, his bone protruding from a mess of flesh. His heart never stopped beating like a mad drum, shaking his delicate internal organs with each pulse. He would have been knocked out if he had used the full hundred percent.

"Not bad…." Orden leaned forward on unsteady legs. His body was riddled with cuts and tears. Several fingers were broken, unnaturally twisted. Still, with a smile, Orden roared in laughter, somehow still filled with vitality. "Can you even move, Oscar? Or are you finally going to use it?"

Oscar breathed out and gripped his left arm. He forced it back into place, hearing a loud crack and his own yelp of pain. He took a stance, knowing the only way was to use his Demon Deer Eirin Mantle. In the end, Orden survived everything Oscar threw at him.

'He learned and became stronger after that battle in Tectusen. What a monster.' Oscar was about to use his final technique when a cool refreshing sensation swept across his body. He glanced around to find a glimmering water washing away the dried blood and dust. The cuts on his skin began to close, and his broken left arm healed slightly.

"This healing?" Oscar said.

"I'm here!"

Everyone snapped their eyes to the nervous girl who arrived on their stone platform. It was Susan. She quivered before the dangerous eyes of the terrifying scions of the Undying Flame Sect, Earth Core Academy, and Thousand Storm Palace. Gripping her bejeweled staff, Susan used her spells and healed up the wounds of the others.

"I can't recover the Ein, but I can stop the pain and help your wounds!" Susan shouted.

"Hold on. How the hell did she get down here?" Orden looked confused.

Oscar was also confused and glanced up. The battles raged above and below them with no end in sight. In no way would a weak person like Susan be able to travel down to these depths without some mishap.

Another person landed on the stone platform. She had splotches of blood on her uniform and face. Her orange eyes gleamed dangerously despite her ragged appearance.

"Emily?" Frederick spoke in a mix of fear and confusion.

"I'll deal with you later. I already did so much to reach this point. Everyone kept getting in my way. Luckily, I got this healer girl to come along with me." Emily spoke coldly. Her staff anima had cracks all over it.

"It's Susan! And I'm doing what I can do best." Susan nodded.

"Haha. I like this one." Emily smiled at Susna before suddenly moving. She rushed toward Orden, linking her staff anima and armament into makeshift nunchucks. It whipped out with Kinetic Core rotating around its ends.

Orden blocked the tremendous blow. The two earth warriors faced each other with brutal desires to destroy.

Oscar breathed out in relief. What a timely reinforcement.

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