Chapter 87: Hesitations

*Clang* *Clang*

The cloaked member of Vengeance combatted Vinir in a sword fight, and was losing.

Vinir stopped his endless barrage of attacks as he saw his opponent pant, barely being able to stand up.

Using his sword like a cane, the cloaked figure stood shakily, as said, "You're as strong as they said, Avanir. We might lose today, but it's been an honor fighting you."

Vinir, being a good sportsman, said with a monotone voice, "To you, also."

Then, he finished his opponent with a quick blow to the head with the scabbard of his sword. Sword play was more than enough to defeat them; his Akasha Arts is only reserved for stronger opponents.

Looking around, he saw that his teammates were almost finished with their opponents. He was In relief because he knows that his friends can handle this, but then his danger senses spiked.

He formed a barrier at the right moment as a small fist broke it in front of him.

'The child? I'm surprised he has survived this long,' He thought in surprise. He narrowed his eyes. The child in front of him is strong, strong enough to destroy his barrier in one punch. His father has always taught him that there are beings out there stronger than him and yet, younger than him. And now, he has witnessed something like that unfold before his eyes.

The child landed on the sands of the beach, dusting himself, and said, "Hmm, I'm surprised. You should've been blown away by that, but I guess your barrier protected you from the impact. Maybe I should use a fifth of my strength this time?"

Vinir frowned at that, and thought in alarm, 'So he was only using a fraction of his strength? This is not good.'

That's right.

I have only been using 10 percent of my physical strength since the moment I came here, and that's because a simple push with my full strength can obliterate most disciples here. While I'm not exactly overpowered in this world full of monsters, I am still strong.

But I'm surprise, looking at my surroundings, I could see an entire ocean beside me. I should take a dip later after beating these guys.

'His strength exceeds mine. Do I really have to use that form? But it drains much of my mana, and I can only use it for 10 minutes in maximum power… I'll test the waters first before using it,' Vinir said in his thoughts, carefully planning his next approach.

Then, he realized something, 'Wait, where is his team?' He looked around, and saw no one but himself and the child.

"Wondering where your team is?" He turned to look at me, "They're already fighting my team, though I guess it's a bit unfair to them since I equipped Scarlet with the strongest equipment I have," I said with a hidden smirk. That's right, I gave Scarlet the magic equipment that I got from defeating the goblins in that dungeon.

If those armors were to be graded, they would be at least Elite Rank, Level 10. And since Scarlet is a capable fighter, she should be able to defeat them with ease with the support of Alice and Randy. Alice can heal her, while Randy supports her with his special bombs.

Oh, and don't worry, I cleaned those armors back in my master's mansion. I had some of their servants' help as well, and I rewarded them with a few kilograms of gold. And by a "few", I mean 100 Kilograms of Gold.

"I guess it's just you and me," I said with a smirk.

Narrowing his eyes, Vinir disappeared in a burst of speed, and I did the same.

We clashed, I with my fist and him with his sword.

*Crack!*

His sword cracked after I punched it with 20 percent of my strength, and he immediately backed away.

Seeing that his sword is practically useless in this battle, he put it back into its sheath. I watched him watch me as he realized that he was no match for my physical strength. As if having made his decision, he slowly disappeared.

Mist started to cover the area, and I felt like I was inside the volcano again. It was that hot, but with a swift swing of my arm, a gust of wind was created that pushed the mist away. It turned the surrounding sands to glass, but I noticed that Vinir was gone.

I quickly turned around, and stopped an ice blade with my hand.

"Gah!" That turned out to be not such a good idea as I winced when I felt the cold sensation of the blade, and the frost slowly covering my left hand, almost rendering it useless. I threw it away in an instant, and looked around, only to see that Vinir was not in my field of vision again.

Using a tiny bit of fire magic, I warmed my hand with it.

"F*cker!" I yelled, as frustration was slowly getting into me.

Should I have not held back? Yes, absolutely yes. But this time, I won't be holding back.

And then, it took me by surprise. A large amount of mana gushed from the forest, and fire, earth, wind, and water elemental magic slowly gathered from that spot!

Even though I am not using my mana, I could still feel that amount of mana seeping in the air and I could feel it thicken for every second that passes.

I waited for it to appear, I waited for Vinir to appear. Something's happening and I know it's not good. And if I try to go where he is, there might be more traps set up for me. The guy is smart; he wouldn't try to do a powerful spell without setting up deadly traps for me.

In that one moment, Vinir created numerous traps around the place and I have no way out. While I have the physical strength of a Nascent Soul Cultivator, I can still be wounded by many things. That ice blade earlier is the proof of that. It almost made my left arm entirely useless!

I was standing on the open beach, looking around vigilantly, and then I sensed it through pure instincts. My heart palpitated as I dodged several fire balls along with water cannons and earth spikes.

Turning around, I saw an entirely new Vinir, floating up in the sky, who's form is more of that of a divine being than a cultivator. He was surrounded by four orbs; the serene water orb on his left, a blazing fire orb on his right, a hard earth orb below him, and a sharp wind orb above him. His eyes were lit up by various colors, and his hair changed from an icy blue to four colors; red, blue, brown, and green. Though his clothes haven't changed, he still looked badass, as much as I hated to admit it.

I simply smirked at the sight, and said, "You don't have to change your appearance to fight me, you know?"

He just narrowed his eyes, and said, "You have no idea how strong I am now, child. Right now, you're just a mortal and I, a go—" but he was stopped in the middle of his speech as I punched him in the stomach with my full strength.

*POW!*

He spanned in the sky as he vomited blood, and then glared at me.

"How can you hurt me!? In this form, I'm supposed to be stronger than the rest of you!" He yelled in anger as he made thousands of wind blades before they sharply flew towards me, with all the intent to cut me into pieces.

Seeing that I would probably be severely injured if I don't dodge, I shot from my position and appeared a few dozen meters away. But instead of hitting nothing, the wind blades followed me!

"Shit!" I cursed as I ran away but they still followed me.

[I still don't know why you accepted to not use magic in this tournament of your sect. Are you really arrogant enough to think that you can take on all of them without mana? Wait, don't answer that, I already know the answer]

Tutorial bot said.

'Shut up!' I yelled in my thoughts as I evaded the thousands of wind blades coming for me.

[Tch, you shut up, stupid!]

Ignoring the voice in my head, I stressed on how to completely get rid of these wind blades. But then, I felt heat above me as I ran. I didn't need to look up to know that that guy probably sent thousands of fire balls after me also!

I'll castrate that bastard after this!! How can he even have enough mana to fire all of these!? I'll think about that later; I need to get away from these things right now!

[It's easy, Auguste. Just use your mana to form a barrier around you!]

'No! This is a challenge given to me by my teacher, and the first, too. I don't want to fail! It leaves a bad taste in my mouth.'

[But look around you; you're surrounded. Without proper defense, you're just a chicken standing in front of an orc. One wrong move and you're dead. Use your head for once, brat, and think! Without magic, you're worthless in front of that Vinir guy! You cannot attack him now for there are still many tricks he hides from you! Face it, you're not going to win without your mana, brat!]

I stopped moving as I thought about his words. I turned around, and directly looked at the wind blades and fire balls flying furiously towards me.

Time slowed down in my point of view.

Vinir smiled in glee as he saw me stop so suddenly, and he knew that those things are going to hit me if I don't keep running.

But at this moment, as all of them sped closer to me by every millisecond that passed, I simply let out a sigh, and as time came back to normal for me, I said, "Ah, screw it."

And then…

*BOOM!* *BOOM!* *BOOM!*