The Exalt [Cultivation Fantasy]

First, it was the downpour of drizzles of seawater, the salty scent oddly comforting, and then the waves washed over his body, a sense of renewal washing away the discomfort and tiredness. Oscar felt the shackles breaking away. His body trembled from the freedom, the liberation. Sweet liberation.

Staring up at the two suns, and without a moment of hesitation, Oscar soared, the winds rushing through his ears, his wet hair swaying around as droplets fell from their ends. Overcome by emotions, Oscar peered into the horizon, not blinking a single time to take it all in. His lips trembled, and his mouth parted before a ring of laughter exploded from his lungs.

'I'm in Vallen.' His fists shot straight up in triumph. Oscar floated back until his eyes saw only the bright blue sky, a serene view filled with tiny floating clouds. Noticing he couldn't hear Avril and Erden, he glanced around to look for them. Avril floated around him with a smile beside Erden, both watching him silently.

"What? You all went so quiet for no reason?" Oscar rotated around, settling into a more comfortable position like the air was a couch.

"Nothing. It's just funny to see you so excited and giggling like a child." Avril covered her hand over her mouth to muffle her laughter while Erden snorted through his nose.

Annoyed, Oscar flew using the invisible Reis movements to catch Avril off-guard and reached his hand out toward her hair.

"Not today!" Avril flew back, grabbing her hair. She stuck her tongue out, clearly taunting him. "How many times will you ruin my carefully braided hair? She wonders if she should fly away and leave Oscar all alone with Erden. She stares intently, wondering why she should stick with someone so rude."

"You're the one who keeps pulling my ear whenever you're annoyed or angry," Oscar retorted. He reached out for her head again, this time with more speed. Avril dodged with her flowing Reis, almost intangible like a stream, and lunged forward, her fingers nearing his ear.

Oscar exchanged several times with Avril, not at all serious. He would have messed up her hair if he had been serious. His lips curled up from this game of cat and mouse with Avril as she kept gunning for his ear. The cheeky smile across her face only hastened his movements to make enough close calls to make her react. Off to the side, Erden shook his head, turning away with a scoff. His deer companion didn't want anything to do with this.

"So, what are you going to do? We are in Vallen now. I need to get home, and you need to find your family." Oscar asked, increasing the speed of his hands.

"Do you know where we are now?" Avril went on the defensive, keeping her movements short and deflecting his advances.

"No. This ocean could be anywhere. We asked for the shortest path out."

"Then, I'll stay with you a little while longer. When I find a way back to my old home, I'll leave." Avril lowered her eyes, breaking off her gaze, her smile slowly fading. "She wants to stay together until the last moment. So she wants to make every moment count."

Oscar stopped his hand right before it could grasp her. Avril's somber figure was unsettling, and his chest tightened as if a rock had settled in his lungs. He lowered his hands and coughed to ease the discomfort. "If you want, maybe–"

Caught in his words, Oscar felt a pinch on his ear, and Avril's wide smile filled his view. Her lips parted, and she shouted, "I win!"

"You!" Oscar caught her hair under his palm and messed up her tidy hair.

"Oi!" Avril pulled harder.

"Both of you!" Erden shouted, and Oscar and Avril turned to him. Oscar's blood ran ice cold. Fear started to drum his heart faster than before, and he lost all feeling in his hands. Avril reacted similarly, her cold sweat on her fingers reducing his ear to a block of ice.

'What is that? That's impossible….' The ocean parted, and the air froze. A great monster, a giant, rose from the depths with a low groan, similar to the deep gong of a bell. Maelstroms, waves, whirlpools, and tides covered the giant. Icebergs swam and skipped along its surfaces, mere pebbles before its tremendous size. The vapors and drizzles springing from its body covered the skies, drenched Oscar and the others soaking wet, and obscured everything in a thick mist.

Within the mist of its own making, the giant appeared as a great shadowy figure with a strange head where more mist and vapors spewed from its top. Within the head, two large moons, or what resembled moons, shone, one vertically on top of the other. A sound came from the giant, a cry of a whale.

Oscar shouted, forcing the coldness of his veins to subside. Ein covered his body, and he entered Adamasreis. This giant gave off the same feeling as Xures, who Veln regarded as an Ancient. He grabbed Avril's hand and leaped to ride Erden. He had to get away from here as fast as possible.

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But the ocean itself lost its previous serenity. The waves were infused with parts of the giant's Ein and chunks of ice, reaching higher than the heights airships usually flew at. The giant started to walk, not towards him, but somewhere else. However, the oceans became more chaotic from the giant's simple pace.

"Avril, get ready to use everything!" Oscar shouted through his blue lips, numb and trembling. The first wave rose up against them. The way the waters moved around in the waves resembled more like a shark's teeth or saws, sharp and brutal. Oscar channeled a large amount of Eirin into his golden drills and thrust ahead with Erden in a Quartet Lance.

Avril summoned several wooden hands, filled with her Eirin, to dive into the hole his drills created and pulled, expanding the opening for him to enter through. The first obstacle was cleared, but they had so much left to endure. Oscar tightened his grip, watching the relentless waves continue their indifferent onslaught.

"No other choice." Blue antlers formed atop his head, and his whole body burned in a blue blaze. Oscar exhaled and focused, his blue moon eyes scanning the waves. If they moved from the Ein emanating from the giant, they could surely be seen within the Prinstyct.

He was too optimistic. His Prinstyct saw only a black void. He saw not a flicker of intent or even a wisp of movement. Turning off the Prinstyct, Oscar smiled in an attempt to rouse himself. Tearing through one large wave at a time, Oscar counted down the timer for his Guise. After two years, he had increased the time to fifteen minutes.

"Oscar! Here!" Avril healed the cuts around his body with her Ein section.

More wounds covered his body right as he was healed. The waves, despite his best efforts with Erden and Avril, slashed and tore through his Edureisclad. He used Ripple Shroud many times, but the pressure of the waves far surpassed what he could handle. Still, he wrapped Avril closely to him, not allowing a single wound on her.

Then, a dark shadow loomed over them. The air cracked and shattered as ice formed and scattered. Oscar wanted to groan, but he couldn't open his mouth properly through the rigid frost. The shadow above them was an iceberg, spanning miles and miles wide and high. He had no option of dodging as his speed would not surpass the reach of this ice.

Oscar cast Golden Rain. The rods of gold froze and shattered apart before they could even touch the iceberg. How laughable. Oscar chuckled in helplessness and glanced down at Avril. He hugged her tightly, her warmth easing the chill, and whispered, "Save up your strength for what comes later."

"Huh? She wonders what he means by that. What are you doing?" Avril shouted.

Oscar inhaled deeply. His eyelids cracked open against the freezing air. "Ready, Erden."

"Ready as ever." Erden started with a massive stomp, bursting toward the iceberg. The mass of Eirin swirled around his antlers and all of the branches condensed and coiled into a singular horn. Oscar clanged his drills against his friend's weapon, combining them into one large drill, and cast Golden Maws, creating golden dragon maws that twisted around it.

Like an arrow loosened from its bow, Oscar and Erden, shot through the air, the golden drill covered by dragon maws burning bright blue with Eirin. Immense cold swelled around their path up, but the drill did not slow down, reducing any specks of ice and snow into nothing. The impact against the iceberg cracked several bones. Oscar bit his tongue to power through. He wasn't going to let himself go down so easily.

Everyone dug into the iceberg, the drill spinning and piercing through the thick ice—white frost formed on their hair and skin. Oscar and Erden continued to pour their power into the drill, using ninety percent Eirin Omnireus for the finishing touch. The ice crumbled and cracked around them, the shrill cries of the drill never died, and finally, a light spilled from the other end.

'We did it….' Before he could celebrate, a loud impact hit his head, and Oscar felt his consciousness fading. 'Switch….'

"Woman. Heal me." Demon flickered into existence, his eyes void and colder than the ice.

"Demon? What happened to Oscar? Is he alright?" Avril used her second Ein section, and the wounds on Demon's body began to close. Though, the damage was too extensive, and not everything healed.

"Knocked out. Be careful." Demon raised his voice slightly. He clicked his tongue at the next wave, larger than the rest. Gauging the state of his body, Demon knew he had only a few more moves in him before the body would be unresponsive. How troublesome. He moved into the wave without hesitation.

Water scraped his skin, pounded his organs, and broke even more bones. Feeling no pain, Demon used every ounce of strength to make his way through. Erden swung his antlers like a maddened beast while Avril used her spell sections to summon hands and roots extending from her to deter much of the pressure.

Breaking through the waves, Demon was expressionless, analyzing the vortex before him.

"Demon! There's no way to escape that!" Avril cast a spell, covering her and Demon in roots and vines, forming a ball. "Just try to hang on until the last moment."

"I was about to suggest the same," Demon said. He lost all sense of direction as the vortex swallowed them, churning and throwing the defensive ball around its chaotic streams. The Guise started to fade away, and Demon felt himself losing his hold. His mind couldn't keep awake from the accumulating wounds. Erden also fell from his wounds, unable to awaken. He turned to Avril and said, "It's on you."

…….

Hours later, Avril dragged Oscar and Erden's bodies onto the shore. She glanced around the sandy beach before kneeling and forcing out all the water from her lungs. Parts of the sand were red from the blood flowing from their wounds. Avril took out several elixirs, grade-two healing elixirs, and poured them down Oscar and Erden's throats.

"Where are we?" Avril panted, dragging the two to rock. She rested them on top of it. She sat down, about to rest when suddenly, fierce roars ran wild from the forest bordering the beach. Jumping to her feet, Avril held her staff at the ready, cursing their luck. Footsteps spread and neared the beach, approaching her tired group. Several beasts peeked their heads from the forest, growling and baring their teeth.

'It's on you.' Demon's words echoed in her mind. Avril thrust her staff into the rock and tied up her messy, wet hair. She would not let a single one come near Oscar and Erden.

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