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Chapter 35: Elegance Of The Ether I

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And so, Val walked into his true first battle though he presumed it to be an easy one.

'His aspect is definitely that of blood, else he wouldn't be able to cast so many arts so easily. I still wonder though, why doesn't he ever enter deep meditation and practice? He has something else to hide.'

Natalia noted her observation, fully committed to unveiling his every secret, 'Such calmness and beauty. I have to confess that the beauty of blood appeals to me more than that of nature.

Moreover, It complements him perfectly, and I almost want to say that this is one of the most beautiful things I've ever seen.'

Val gently lifted his left hand as a shield of artistic crimson blood formed before it.

From the output rune of his right hand flowed similar crimson energy, blood energy. It enveloped his sword, moving around like a bunch of slithering snakes, ready to bite their prey at a moment's notice.

There was however no apparent change on his body. Only special body arts can produce changes in contrast to the basic one he used.

"Spirits Of Regret. Stuck in their dead material body, refusing to leave for they have unfulfilled wishes. Either the most harmless of specters or the most dangerous. Allow me to send you away."

Val walked closer and closer, his shield was always in front of him, almost hiding the entirety of his face.

It wasn't long before the spirit started moving, slowly but surely. The closer he got the more it moved as it lifted her face to look at him with her bizarre eyes.

A small screech sounded from her mouth, seemingly warning him of not coming any closer.

"I am harmless so don't mind be, and continue what you were doing." Val smiled at her yet she showed no reaction except for her screeching becoming louder.

He also showed no reaction to her warning, so at some point, she had to act as she closed her eyes. From them... From them fell tears, dark tears that seemed to produce a reaction to reality around her.

What followed is a massive shockwave that sent everything around her away. Even the bed found itself flying like a feather before colliding with the wall and breaking down.

Val's next course of action was flawless as he simply jumped in the air while hiding fully behind his bloody shield, and allowed himself to be thrown away.

It was either a coincidence or flawless calculation as his legs found themselves on the room's wall, further away from the specter.

The burnt of the shockwave did nearly nothing to him as his strengthened legs were able to handle the power of the shockwave. His shield minimized the damage he could receive.

And now he found himself standing horizontally on the room's wall. The still ongoing shockwave allowed him to resist gravity as he waited for it to end.

His strengthened body however was heavily consuming his ether as it continued to resist the shockwave.

He knew he can't continue like this for long, but he also knew that he didn't have. Specters aren't omnipotent after all. They also have their limits.

Once he noticed the power of the shockwave going down, Val allowed himself to be pushed back just a bit, he bent his knee, seemingly in a jumping position.

The moment the shockwave came to halt, he jumped defying gravity and seeming as if he was flying towards her.

His jump was swift, nothing a human should be able to do, but this is where the ether comes in.

However, the specter still seemed to be able to react to such a speed. It was after all a mother with her only desire being to remain by her baby's side, Val was a threat to that.

Her flesh and hair fell. No, it flew from her body to extinguish the threat. They shone with a metallic luster and danger.

Val however was prepared as he bent his knees in the air and uttered a few quick Nether words, ''Control of all things -Ether Circle."

His ether flowed through his body into his feet and exited from the output runes on them, forming a gorgeous crimson circle. Within it was several complex runes.

It's the most complex basic ether art as it requires one to form the complex circle themselves.

The circle is quite complex due to the many runes on it. It's by itself a small formation that contains a hexagonal formation.

Forming it in the heat of the battle naturally requires experience... Or just pure coldness to counter the heat.

He used the ether circle for its intended purpose which is functioning as a platform.

He jumped again, evading the clump of flesh and hair though just barely, barely enough to still land beside her.

The specter's instincts are one of the most dangerous things about them as they can react incredibly fast to anything, not this time.

Before the specter can even react, it found itself faced with the crimson shield bashing at her head, stunning her for a second.

What followed is a set of exquisite moves with the sole purpose of delivering the most number of attacks possible... If we exclude the main purpose of looking as elegant as possible.

The gorgeous rapier was like a shadow as Val kept thrusting not allowing the specter even a moment of rest.

When the specter seemed to start resisting the attacks, it finds itself again bashed by the blood shield.

Its screams of agony and torment didn't affect Val at all as he continued with his attacking spree.

The overblood art allowed the rapier to deal even more damage as the blood on it acted like extra blades shredding through the specter's body, not just it's physical one but also its spectral form.

The convergence art was combined with the blessing art which allowed the blood art to affect her, or her spectral form to be exact and that's all that matters for specters.

Specters all have extreme vigor and are exceptionally hard to kill because of how much it takes.

Val attacked numerous times in the span of 10 seconds before he was able to achieve his objective... before he destroyed not just the specter but also its dead body as it started to melt along with the baby.

Only then did he cancel his ether arts as to not drain himself any further. The blood shield just dissolved away into nothingness and so did the overblood on his rapier, and he felt a sense of mild weakness all over his body.

Val looked at his rapier, feeling a sense of relief that it was still spotless. The combination of the convergence art which melts away all spectral things and the blood art kept it basically untouched, 'Though It still needs a bit of cleaning.'

He then gave a glance to a tied cloth next to the wall. It was first next to the specter but it was thrown away by the shockwave.

"I am exhausted so I'll wait outside while you rap things out. Also if I'm not mistaken, that piece of cloth should contain the valuables the house owner talked about."

Val stated as he sheathed his rapier and headed out, leaving the speechless group. They wanted to help but they simply didn't feel like they should, like they weren't needed.

Lucas followed soon after, wanting nothing more than to leave the mansion. Frustration was getting to him and...

Boarlian also followed after him after seeing no reason to stay inside, leaving the two women alone.

"What do you think?" Asked Selena.

"His aspect is that of blood, and he should be at approximately your level. His casting speed is a bit slower than yours though.

He's also a very private person who doesn't like to show his emotions at all and hides them by how he makes light of everything, a bit of a sarcastic person I'd say.

He is just as talented as you when it comes to the way of the ether. However, he's perhaps the most talented of people I've met when it comes to combat. I saw not silver of hesitation in his eyes."

Selena couldn't help but raised her brows at that, "You've never spoken so highly of anyone before... But I agree."

"I will be going back to the family now. I shall inform the family of everything. Another bodyguard should have arrived by now, and will be protecting you from the dark." Natalia faithfully informed her master.

Selena frowned as she chuckled at herself, "It really feels like I'm betraying my first teammate, giving away all of his information like this."

Natalia shook her head disagreeing, "This is how the world works, and he must be doing the same.

Furthermore, whoever is watching over him must've seen all it is that you've done and likely reported to the Helious family head.

Also, please keep your distance from him. He's dangerous despite all of what I said, and don't let me get in your head."

"You have no trust in me now?" Selena said with a smile, feeling her mind calm down after the previous ordeal despite not doing anything.

They brought the cloth of valuables with them, noticing Val lazily laying on top of his head with his eyes closed.

An apple was in his hand as he took a bite of it while murmuring to himself, "I should take a look at Solus's tree in the future. I heard its apples are special, to say the least."