The Exalt [Cultivation Fantasy]

His arms, which were burning in Eirin, held close, positioning as if grabbing a ball to his chest, the fingers curled around nothing. In the empty space between his cupped hands, the Eirin flowed, no longer clinging to his limbs, the freed, powerful fusion of Reis and Ein streaming into the center. They swirled and mingled, writhing like snakes attempting to eat each other until a singular orb remained, densely packed to the brim with Eirin. The orb pulsed and expanded, creating an isolated distorted space around him, stretching twenty feet across and ten feet high.

The moment the space enveloped Sirsi, her eyes widened, snapping to her arms and legs, no longer wrapped in Pseudoguise, missing the essential Eirin. She halted her leg and grunted, the tides sweeping normally across his distorted space. The waters howled, and Shattering Wave hurried the droplets, flashing them like deadly needles. However, the needles of water and fearsome tides writhed and suddenly dropped, the flakes of Eirin dissipating from the falling droplets as they softly trickled onto the ground. Not a single drop landed on Oscar.

He charged and spun, sweeping his foot out, a flaming Golden Drill gleaming out of his toes. Sirsi brought up her gauntlets to defend, but she could not stop her pretty red lips from widening, contorting her fair face when her defensive whirlpools lost their rotational force and fell powerlessly as soft rain. Oscar could see the confusion wracking her thoughts and began to chase after her, unwilling to let her go. Along the way, she studied her hands and attacked with a normal maelstrom in his fists.

"You shut off the Reis? How is that possible?" Sirsi deflected several of his attacks. Even without Reis and Eirin, she was still a prodigy in Exalt terms, the Grade Eight Exolsia. Stamping her feet, she covered the floor and formed a swamp that clung tightly to Oscar's legs.

"A certain maniac and his master worked tirelessly for years to devise ways to counter your ilk." Oscar could not stop breathing heavily. Containing the rampant Eirin and Reis in his domain was tiresome, even for his perfect body. Recalling the first time Adam used it on him and the triumphant wide smile he received afterward, Oscar chuckled, enjoying seeing someone else on the receiving end of this technique.

"You're amazing. I can't stop giving you praise for that. But my Ein is still far more advanced." Sirsi slid along the surface of the newly formed swamp, speeding around Oscar, her form unable to be discerned within her blurry movements.

"Naive. You still don't get it. Indeed, your Exolsia outstrips mine, and I've negated both our Reis, putting both of us on equal footing." Oscar was undisturbed by the flurry of sharp waves and streams of water, catching it all within his Prinstyct. Going through the predictions, he turned around, meeting against Sirsi's charge. "My Prinstyct is far more advanced than yours, and the Reis you lost from your attacks and spells…where do you think they all went?"

A look of terror overwhelmed her, and before she could reply, Oscar sucked the expanded orb back into the small pocket between his hands, beads of sweat dripping all over his face. The Counter Impact created a zone around the user, disrupting the Reis. Within the zone, any Reis or Eirin in the air was nullified and collected into the area. It relied on a disruptive Eirin with no bias or target, an insatiable beast swallowing everything in its maw.

Now, all the collected Eirin from his and Sirsi's attacks, along with the initial Eirin for the zone, was in his hands. He opened his palms out akin to pushing and rotated the orb. Instantly, it exploded all in Sirsi's direction, followed by the sound of a thousand claps of thunder. The shockwave devastated everything where it was pointed, reducing the ground before Oscar into a battered wasteland of rubble and dust. After it was over, Oscar held onto his knees, watching the sweat drop from his weary face onto the slate ground.

The dust finally settled, and Sirsi's shadow was still upright, her arms crossed before her, but the gauntlets had transformed drastically. They were twice as thick, sapphire coating the metal and small violent surges of water swirling on each knuckle. A strange jelly-like film of water rippled before her until it melted apart, pieces bouncing on the ground. Her blond hair swayed to the side from the breeze, and she revealed herself from behind her arms, lowering them to the sides. Suddenly, she coughed out blood and clutched her chest.

"What a surprise. Did you hope to kill me with that? I would have followed up with a few more blows. I would have been in danger if you did." Sirsi exhaled sharply. Flickers of pain sprouted as veins along her forehead. Unlike Oscar, she didn't have the perfect Reis body, and the side effects already began to reveal themselves.

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"Is that your Meld?" Oscar said, pointing to her transformed gauntlets. "Don't lie. You were fully prepared for me to lunge in." Various thoughts raced through his mind, his sense of danger rising. He had hoped to overwhelm her with the Counter Impact and take advantage of the opening to kill her with the full Guise, but she was well prepared for it. Throughout the entire battle, she seemed unwilling to fight all out, merely responding to his movements. But now, facing her Meld, he knew he had lost his one chance.

Erden wasn't here for his Meld, and frankly, a two-on-one against a Grade Eight Exolsia and Reis user was the only option. Oscar calmed his nerves and raised his shield, preparing to use the Counter Impact again.

"That technique is quite interesting. I'll need time to review our battle." Sirsi glanced around her roughed-up figure, the maid outfit in tatters and barely held together a few strands. Her lips curled into a magnetic smile as she playfully flicked her finger along one of the remaining strands on her shoulder, which held up her outfit. "You've already almost undressed me. Look, I'm barely clothed. Won't you go all the way? Come closer."

Oscar fired a Golden Breaker that spun in hot flames. She dodged, chuckling softly, almost undoing the few strands by how her shoulders quivered. Sirsi hummed and held her hands behind her back. Something crept up under her feet, and a white mist spread from her shadow, slowly covering her. She seemed to dislike it, frowning and pouting, the picture of dissatisfaction.

"What a shame. Time's up. Your Pavilion Master is fast on his way. I wished our little date could have continued for longer. But I'm sure we'll have many more opportunities to meet up. Farewell, Oscar. I hope you'll reconsider." The white mists fully enveloped her as the last of her bright laughter echoed into silence. She had vanished, gone from this place. Oscar clenched his fists, knowing that he had made a formidable opponent. She was playing around the entire time, and yet she survived his surprise trump card and even matched against him using the switch to Demon, which confused other New Dawn fighters in the past.

The world roared, and the winds picked up, gaining in strength. The sky pulsed as the distortions swayed like waves in the ocean. Oscar couldn't resist the pulling force and forced down his screams, flickering out of the strange world. He found himself standing in the crater. Climbing out of it, Oscar sighed in relief at the sight of the familiar street and his estate. He was back.

"Oscar!" Remulus shouted from above, diving down and holding onto him. The Pavilion Master, wrinkles warped by worry, patted him down and gave him an elixir to heal his wounds. "Erden already explained everything. I never imagined the New Dawn was so crafty. It's my mistake. I should have known better."

Hearing the Pavilion Master's regrets and apologies, Oscar shook his head and reassured Remulus, "It's not your fault, Grandmaster. She truly is Sirsi in a way. She even used a grade-five elixir to transform herself. Who can expect that?"

"I should have. Damned bastards." Remulus grumbled. "Follow me to the Imperial Palace to get some rest. We're leaving tomorrow. I wanted you to stay longer for the subsequent meetings, but I can't rest easy until you're back in the Pavilion."

"What about the estate? Is everyone alright?" Oscar asked while being pulled by the Pavilion Master, looking back at the waning estate.

"I've already sent people in to secure the estate. I scanned the area and found no one else. However, we can't rule out the fact others may be agents of the New Dawn. We'll place them in custody." Seeing Oscar's troubled look, Remulus added, "Don't worry, it won't be a prison. They'll have their needs tended to. The strange part is the two maids, Arlen and Eris, had letters in their hands from Sirsi."

"Letters?" Erden asked, flying by the sidelines.

"Farewell letters. Some rubbish about liking their time together and apologizing for deceiving them." Remulus scoffed.

'Is she trying to make herself seem favorable? How ridiculous.' Oscar affirmed one thing from this battle. It was worth the heartache to part from Avril. Right now, all the focus of New Dawn was on him, and she was journeying somewhere else in disguise. If she had gone together with him, then….Oscar shuddered, not completing the last bits of that thought, a chill running down his spine from imagining what might have happened to her if she had gone with him. From Sirsi's words, they didn't know who and where Avril was, the best relief he could ask for.

Still, the danger remained for him. Recalling the harsh battlefields, the losses he incurred during the year, and the unknown threat of the New Dawn and the Voltens, he felt the icy chill of death's grip on his throat and heart, clenching harder after each battle.

"Grandmaster…."

"What is it?" Remulus responded.

"Can I ask for a favor?"

"Why do you speak as if you're about to die?" Remulus caught onto his intentions.

"If my wife comes here, and I am dead. Please take care of her."

"Don't say such foolish requests. Draven and I won't let that happen. Are you giving up?" Remulus retorted.

"No. But I have to fight, don't I?" Oscar waited but heard only silence from the Pavilion Master. "Anything can happen like today. Just take care of her if anything happens to me."

"Any other outlandish requests?" Remulus's voice trembled.

"I'm good for now. Feeling sleepy." Oscar spoke in a whisper, drained of his strength. He fell asleep, hoping to see Avril in his dreams again.

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