“Abandoned my element?” Shin shot a perplexed look down Lukman’s way. “What do you mean?”

“No… It’s nothing...” The Prince of Sand snorted and gripped the ice spear that had pierced through his abdomen. “Mind pulling this out of me? I’m not a healer like you, so I’ll probably die if I don’t receive treatment.”

“Ah, you don’t have to worry about that,” Shin send a surge of mana into the spear and instantly turned it back into water. At the same time, Time-Elements dilated around the injured Lukman as Shin’s free hand waved around like a conductor at an orchestra. Stunned, the Prince of Sand watched in shock as his supposed injury closed up, and the pain subsided rapidly. Even his bloodied clothes reverted back to their original state. It was as if… The spear had never pierced through Lukman in the first place.

“Restoration… I’d read about it, never thought that I would get to experience it in person,” Lukman dazed over. “It even converted my clothes and mana back to normal… As expected as the history’s premier healing ability.”

The Prince of Sand sighed, averting his eyes from Shin’s vision. All around him, the world was converted to sand. Sand particles reigned supreme in the skies while the ground was literally a desert. By all accounts, Lukman was the winning party. He controlled the battlefield and towered over Shin for the past few minutes. Yet, just one ability from Shin was able to break it all down.

“I guess you’re no longer the Prince of Water, huh? Using the Space and Time-Elements to this degree… If I’m not wrong, the Celestial Dragon is also capable of manipulating Light and Mind Elements... Perhaps it’s more fitting to call you the Elemental King.” Lukman gave a snide remark.

“Elemental King? You flatter me,” Shin shook his head regretfully. “I’m just a man that wants to rid the world of the Black Masks. Gaining a few additional skills mean nothing to me if the Black Masks still terrorise us.”

“How noble of you,” Lukman scoffed, turning his head away from Shin. That act greatly perturbed Shin for some reason. The Prince of Sand was normally an upbeat and friendly individual. Humble in defeat and wise in victory. He was never one to feel bitter at losing a battle and would even go out of his way to help his opponent improve. That was what happened back in the Summit, where Lukman actually took some time to guide Shin much to his elder’s dismay.

However, Lukman wasn’t even looking Shin in the eye now. He was solemn and bitter, a mood that was completely unlike the Prince of Sand.

“Lukman, is something bothering you?” Never one to mince his words, Shin directly confronted the Prince of Sand. “Are you that affected by your defeat? I’m a Spirit Venerate, so it’s only natural that you’re at a disadvantage. You don’t have to worry, no one would belittle the Tuareg Sect just because you lost to me.”

“No, that’s not it… I knew from the start that I wasn’t your match, Shin.” The Prince of Sand heaved a big sigh, his eyes shifting from side to side. Deep down, he was uncertain if he should share everything with the now crowned Elemental King. Alas, just like Shin, Lukman could only wear his heart on his sleeve.

“Fine… Let me tell you the truth. I proposed this sparring bout with you not to determine who grew the most or whatsoever. I never even thought of beating you. Tuareg Sect, Kori Federation, honour… None of that mattered for our bout. All I wanted to do… Was to compare notes about our elements.”

“Huh?” Visibly perplexed, Shin tilted his head as the pair floated down upon the sandy dunes beneath their feet.

“My Sand-Element is a unique variant, one that has never been perfected in the past, even with the long history of the Tuareg Sect. I had been training for over three decades now, and it came to a point where I’d got stuck on how to improve my Sand-Element.” The Prince of Sand looked lost as he recollected the hardships he’d gone through over the past few years. “During my coming-of-age journey, I’d ventured into many ancient ruins in the Sahara Desert, hoping to find any relics or tomes that may possess some insights about the Sand-Elements. However, nothing I tried worked out. The libraries I visited in the Kori Federation didn’t help, the Himmel Empire records didn’t help. Nothing I read had anything that I could use to improve my control over the Sand-Element.”

“...” Shin stood there silently, watching wave after wave of frustration hit the Prince of Sand.

“However, I persevered. I came up with innovative ways to control sand, combining them with the Wind-Elements, compressing them into diamonds, adding new techniques to use sand… Even making sand rain like snow! In the end, I came up with as many abilities as I could, but ultimately, I hit a bottleneck.”

“...”

“Should this continue, I would unquestionably fail the second barrier of mortality, and I’ll be doomed to remain as a Spirit Emperor for the rest of my life. It’s really frustrating...” Lukman spat. “But then I remembered… There was someone else that mirrors my position. Someone that uses one element and is innovative enough to comprehend new abilities from it. I’d thought that if it were him, perhaps he’ll show new abilities that would make me inspired. New abilities that would help me push through this bottleneck... I’m sure you know who I’m talking about...”

“I see,” Shin dropped his shoulders, understanding why Lukman looked so bitter now. “You wanted to learn how I manipulated water to its perfect state and learn from it. However, since I took a different path, you’re disappointed and angry.”

“Hearing you word it out does make me sound petty.” Falling to his bum, Lukman reached into his jacket and took out a cigar. Two sand tendrils seeped out from the back of his ears and snapped at the tip of the cigar, causing enough friction to light it up instantly. “Prince of Water, oh, Prince of Water… I guess you can’t be called by that title now, huh?”

“T-that...” Shin dropped his jaw. That was right… After evolving his Sovereign Koi to the Celestial Dragon, Shin had lost touch with the Water-Element. Focusing on the other prime elements, Shin had become more proficient with the other four elements than his original one. It has also been a long time since Shin relied on his first and truest spiritual ability.

“I guess… You could say that...”

“Hah, looks like I’m the only Elemental Prince now.” Lukman threw his head back while puffing out one more ounce of agonising smoke.

History would record today as the day where the Prince of Sand lost to the Prince of Water, with the latter coming out as the Elemental King. However, little did they know that… The Prince of Water was the one who truly lost that day.