Book 2. The Grand Gathering. Chapter 3. An Uncontrollable Power. (Part I)

“You seem pretty confident,” Sin said with a smile as he sat down on top of the inner wall of the arena, at Laien’s side.

“Just a bit,” Laien chuckled and gave Sin a glance. “I don’t think I would ever lose to anyone my age,” he added cheekily, with a lot of confidence to this claim of his. He was yet to face a youth of his generation who would be able to keep up with him, much less prove a challenge.

“Take your empty bragging somewhere else,” the older of the two Core Disciples of the Twin Phoenix School growled angrily. He could take the black-haired kid sitting in the center of their two groups because the brat was an inner disciple, but this red-haired one appeared to be a commoner. There was no way he would sit quietly when someone of such a low rank was stepping in where he shouldn’t.

“Annoying,” Laien commented in a low voice, gazing at the black-haired young man out of the corner of his eye.

The two of them were about to get into an argument, but at the fight between Anatis and the fourteen years old inner disciple began at this very moment. Both Laien and the young man from the Twin Phoenix School were more interested in seeing how the duel would develop, so they ended up cutting their talk short.

“A spear?” Laien was so surprised that he ended up saying so quite loudly. Spears really weren’t popular weapons in the Sarkcente Kingdom and they weren’t popular in the neighboring kingdoms either. To think Anatis would actually turn out to be a spear wielder just like him…! The idea of fighting this golden-haired boy was beginning to excite Laien more and more.

“When you can’t keep up anymore,” Anatis spoke up, holding the two meters long white-gold spear lightly and preparing to launch an attack. “Then please surrender. I don’t want to kill you,” he said very honestly, without any ill intent. Yet, his words ended up having an entirely opposite effect and riled the fourteen-year-old up.

“We will see who’s going to be unable to keep up!” the fourteen-year-old yelled angrily and attacked Anatis. He jumped forward and activated the fourth level of the Dragon’s Body Art, his body being covered by a crimson-blood layer of defensive Qi which was beginning to slightly resemble an armor of scales. He swung his sword, aiming to disable Anatis with one powerful blow as he prepared to execute the Dragon’s Claw technique… but alas.

Anatis made a simple, yet frighteningly quick thrust with his white-gold spear before the fourteen-year-old could get into his own range of attack. Very used to fighting in this manner, Anatis aimed his spear just below the fourteen-year-old's neck, making sure that his opponent would be forced to defend himself.

Luckily for the fourteen years old youth, he has had prior experience in fighting a spear wielder and just in the nick of time, he switched to defense and managed to barely repel the incoming spear with his sword. Had it not been for that, he would have almost certainly lost the duel in this first exchange and if Anatis so wished, he would have been made to forfeit his life too; with a spear through his throat.

“Eh?” the fourteen-year-old gasped, seeing another thrust being thrown at him with seemingly no time between it and the first one. He was immediately forced to completely give up on attacking and could only keep pushing the white-gold spear away while continuously stepping back.

“He is overwhelming me with pure, physical strength alone…?!” the fourteen-year-old quickly realized how huge of a gap existed between him and Anatis. He was employing the Red Dragon Arts and using the full force of his Qi, while Anatis was relying purely on the strength of his body and his skill with the spear and yet, Anatis was still holding an upper hand over him!

As for the thousands of spectating people, they were fairly quiet. The moment they had seen a spear in Anatis’s hand, they all began to ridicule him in their hearts. Yet, seconds later it turned out that this golden-haired youth was actually really strong. Thus, they couldn’t help but feel pretty awkward.

“If he uses the arts of the Twin Phoenix School, won’t he be stronger than Laien?” the scary thought crossed the fourteen-year old’s mind. Since Anatis wasn’t actively using his Qi, he couldn’t tell in which realm he was… but judging by the prowess Anatis was displaying, he wouldn’t be surprised if this opponent of his was a true monster who entered the likes of the eighth mortal realm at such a young age.

“I can’t beat him, should I surrender?” the fourteen-year-old asked himself. As long as Anatis was still holding back, he was capable of at least preventing himself from being injured. However, he couldn’t find a slightest opportunity to counterattack. His performance was a truly shameful one. Anatis was simply too strong for him to even hope to defeat, but…

“I will at least try to force him to use some of his real strength. It should give Laien better chances against him,” the fourteen-year-old decided, worried that Laien could end up losing to Anatis otherwise.

After all, if he could provide Laien with an advantage, no matter how minuscule, he would at least be able to save some face and not have this fight and up as a total embarrassment.

“Still confident?” Sin asked with a slight smile. He could tell how extraordinary Anatis was and although he didn’t doubt Laien himself wasn’t weak, he wouldn’t go as far as saying that Laien would be capable of besting Anatis.

“I can’t wait,” Laien said with an excited smile instead of answering the question. Unlike almost everyone else here, he was well versed in spear arts. What appeared like a series of simple, consecutive thrusts to others, to him looked like a very precise and swift dance involving minute adjustments in speed and shifts in one’s aim.

One might have thought that just by repeatedly thrusting with a spear at a high speed it would be easy to corner an opponent who wielded a weapon with shorter reach… but it was all bollocks! Unless the spear wielder was extremely skilled in predicting and reacting to his opponent’s moves, he would be totally unable to suppress his foe as thoroughly as Anatis was doing right now!

For Laien, the only practice partner who also used a spear was his master, Shire. It was obvious without saying that there existed an enormous gap between his and Shire’s strength and technique; he was no match for his master. However, Anatis appeared to be pretty much at the same level as he was, so the idea of matching himself against another spear wielder, who was even of a similar age to him, excited Laien enormously.

Truthfully, his hands were already itching so badly that he felt the urge to jump down into the arena and start fighting Anatis right now, without waiting for the previous duel to reach its conclusion.

“Ho,” Sin smiled, an intrigued look appearing in his eyes. He had been watching people’s expressions his whole life, so he could almost always tell what the other person was thinking and if he or she was lying to him or faking his response. In Laien’s case, his excitement wasn’t an act in the slightest and it amazed Sin quite a bit.

“He is genuinely excited to fight. It looks like the lady fate has smiled at me today, I found two excellent candidates,” Sin thought silently, his crimson eyes shining with anticipation.

“He really is serious about it,” Nix sighed as he gazed at Sin and shook his head resignedly. “He got fairly lucky too, it’s going to be easier to approach them like this… but is that idea really the wisest one?” he wondered while suppressing another sigh. There was no harm in letting Sin try; worst case scenario, he would be able to protect him from the consequences.

On the other hand, the two Core Disciple of the Twin Phoenix School, unlike the majority that was impressed with Anatis’s performance, appeared to be getting impatient.

“What are you doing, eh?!” the older of the two shouted angrily, enhancing his voice with Qi. “Why are you still holding back? Finish him now, or you know what’s going to happen!” he threatened, fully meaning his words.

“Ugh,” Anatis groaned soundlessly as he heard his senior’s shout. “It doesn’t look like he is going to surrender,” he thought bitterly, looking at the slightly older youth who was trying his best to find a chance to counterattack. “The Red Dragon Arts are also said to be extremely suited for prolonged fights. I won’t be able to tire him out anytime soon,” he recalled with a sigh and reluctantly roused the Qi in his body, what regardless of his will triggered something else to spring into action…

“Just carefully, don’t lose yourself to it”, Anatis clenched his teeth, controlling and transforming his Qi according to the Golden Flame Qi Manipulating Art. His energy surged as he subsequently employed the Scorching Flames Battle Art, engulfing his spear in a layer of golden flames and covering his body with flickering tongues of golden fire.

The Scorching Flames Battle Art… it had a tremendous offensive potential and was capable of burning enemies who merely approached its user, not to speak of receiving a blow from him. A skilled practitioner could even actively manipulate the golden flames themselves and attack his opponent with them in the range of a few meters.

Compared to the Dragon’s Force Art, the Scorching Flames were more flexible and unpredictable. Although they were slightly weaker at compressed, single-target attacks, they were extremely hard to defend against; they reason being that they somewhat resembled ‘the Guardian’ magic of spiritual practitioners with high elemental affinity.

Now that Anatis was releasing his Qi, everyone could tell that the twelve-year-old was at the early stages of the seventh mortal realm and not at the eighth like the fourteen-year-old had quietly suspected. More often than not it was possible to tell at which realm a martial practitioner was by his physical strength alone… but those few who had undergone an unimaginably strict and harsh training routine would have a chance to have their body grow stronger at a faster pace than their cultivation.

Anatis was one example of such people, while Laien was another. Both of them had been training very hard since the young age and importantly, had been provided with correct methods of training too. As a result, the two of them had their physical bodies one level ahead of their cultivation. Anatis’s body was comparable in strength to the average level of the eighth mortal realm, while Laien’s to the sixth.

At first, the fourteen-year-old was happy to see Anatis reveal some of his strength, but as the golden flames grew in power he couldn’t help but be shocked by them. He was protected by the fourth level of the Dragon’s Body Art, but just the heat of the golden flames was enough to make skin all over his body squirm in pain.

Were he to be attacked directly with these flames… he didn’t even want to imagine the horrible results.

“What level are his Twin Phoenix Arts at?! This power is too ridiculous…!” the fourteen-year-old jumped back without hesitation. He had done enough, he made Anatis show one more card and was happy with it… but at the same time, he was thoroughly horrified.

It wasn’t just Anatis’s prowess that terrified him though. Previously, he had been relatively calm as Anatis appeared to be a level-headed person; he hadn’t feared for his life. But now… Anatis seemed to have changed into a different person, be it the expression on his face, the bloodthirsty look in his eyes or the chilling killing intent which began emanating from him.

Even the very golden flames around Anatis seemed to be filled with anger and fury, with… Wrath.

“W-wait, I su-…!” the fourteen-year-old uttered in fear when Anatis once again began his attack, the very first thrust of the spear having scorched the skin on his hands and sliced the side of his chest. Their levels were too different, he simply wasn’t a match…!

However, Anatis was too lost in the anger to listen to what his opponent was saying. He stepped in and sent another thrust at the fourteen-year-old, who failed to deflect it in time and had his chest pierced through.

The youth cried out in agony as the golden flame began spreading throughout his body, devouring it at an incredible rate. The cries stopped just a second later as the youth’s whole body had turned into nothing but a handful of ashes, which a gust of wind then dispersed and carried away.

Only when his opponent perished, did Anatis finally come back to his senses. The expression on his face turned ugly as he realized what he has done… what he has done again.

A complete silence fell amongst the five thousand people in the audience. They saw what happened, but they couldn’t swap their minds around it. Anatis obviously had an upper hand the whole time, so why did he go as far as killing his opponent?

Random deaths in fights between practitioners usually happened when both sides were equally matched and either side refused to give up, but when one was much stronger than the other? Accidents of this kind were very, very rare. Thus, for those five thousand spectating people what Anatis did was nothing else but an unjust, merciless act; something they could have and should have expected from a disciple of the Twin Phoenix School.

Although it was unlikely that serious repercussions would be forced upon Anatis and the Twin Phoenix School, it went without a doubt that all the disciples of the Red Dragon School would remember what had been done and would seek to settle the grudge in the future.

In contrast to the sour atmosphere, a very satisfied laugh rang out from the spot the disciples of the two Great Martial Schools were gathered at.

“Good, good! He really did it again!” the older of the two Core Disciples of the Twin Phoenix School shouted joyously and exchanged a very satisfied glance with his friend. It mattered not if the Red Dragon School backed off from any more duels, they would, either way, be rewarded for what they have done. Also, considering that they had additionally managed to make the Red Dragon School lose some face, the prize would most definitely be better than usual.

“Bastards,” Tin’Long cursed in a fairly loud voice. He had agreed to those duels, but he would have never considered the possibility that the very first fight would end in their fellow disciple being killed; moreover by one of his little sister’s friends.

Boiling with anger, he glanced at Nila out of the corner of his eye, wondering how could she hang around someone like that. However, when he saw the expression on his little sister’s face, he began wondering if something really wrong wasn’t happening here.

When Nila noticed Tin’Long’s gaze, she briefly looked in his direction… but her eyes quickly turned to Laien as she gasped in shock.

“He’s making a breakthrough?” she thought disbelievingly, seeing how the golden aura surrounding Laien stirred up with the essence of boundless anger and fury, while also… becoming more dense and pure?! “He’s unlocking his potential? With his aura already being golden?! What is this freak?!” she felt like shouting these words aloud but quickly bit her tongue.

She couldn’t possibly reveal her ability to see people’s potential so carelessly. So far, she had only told Anatis about it; not even her parents and family knew. She was very well aware of the consequences had people learned of her secret and confirmed it to be true, so she always watched herself as to not blurt out something she would regret later.

“He gained an insight,” Nix also took notice of Laien’s state and nodded in approval. “So there really are monsters like that all around the country, not only in the Royal Capital,” he mused, slowly getting used to seeing children wielding the power of Aspects; which by all means should have been reserved for the supreme experts of the Starlight continent.

As for Laien; he was still sitting on top of the inner wall of the arena, his eyes closed and a slight smile on his face. He had been looking for something to complement his unparalleled defensive abilities granted to him by the Aspect of Tranquility for nearly two years, but in the end was incapable of gaining this insight on his own.

He was much weaker physically compared to Tin’Long and he couldn’t fight for nearly as long as he could, but what had been annoying him the most was his own lack of offensive capabilities. Despite possessing a weapon equal to any of the 81 Heavenly Treasures, he had only recently become able to reliably pierce Tin’Long’s ‘Dragon’s Body’, even when making full use of the Principle of Energy.

But now… Laien slowly opened his eyes, streams of the essence of the Aspect of Wrath and the Aspect of Tranquility flowing in a chaotic unison within his pupils.

“Use the Tranquility to suppress the Wrath…” Laien murmured, gazing absently at an unspecified point somewhere into the distance.

“No,” he should his head, feeling the essence of the Aspect of Wrath fading away. “Do not suppress it, control it. Merge it…” he corrected his approach and instantly, felt how the two seemingly opposite essences merged with each other and became a few times more powerful.

“The effects are so great even though I only gained the most basic, rudimentary level of insights into the Aspect of Wrath; I didn’t even establish its foundation,” Laien’s lips curved into a big smile as he looked at the faraway Anatis. Then, before anyone could say anything, he jumped down onto the arena.

“No wonder he can’t control himself,” Laien sighed slightly as he began walking towards Anatis, who was standing more or less in the center of the fighting field, about three hundred meters away from him. “When I merely pull onto my spiritual energy, the Wrath goes wild and tries to merge with it regardless of my will. Were it not for the Aspect of Tranquility, I wouldn’t be able to control it at all,” he mused silently, not holding it against Anatis for killing the youth from his Red Dragon School.

Truth to be told, Laien, Tin’Long and a few other people already connected the bits and pieces and arrived at a conclusion that Anatis had been pushed into this situation regardless of his own will. If one kept his calm and looked at the whole matter objectively, it wasn’t hard to notice the hints in the twelve-year-old’s and his senior’s words and behavior.