Hidden Move

"You…I am going to kill you." Aurora glared at Asher, lightning flashing occasionally between her eyes.

The lightning spear in her hand dissipated. Aurora then grabbed at the ring in her left hand following which a steel-like spear slowly exited the ring which she then began pulling out with her right hand.

For the exercise in the Manchurian forest, students were permitted to depart with weapons, talismans, and the like to ensure their safety, after all, the Manchurian forest was no playing area, especially for fourteen-year-old second-stage mages.

There were disadvantages and advantages to carrying a weapon, the major one being the fact that the weight of the weapon could affect one in a battle, and the more precious the materials used in creating the weapon, the heavier it would be. For an adult mage, this wouldn't be much of a problem, but the same couldn't be said about these young teens. There was only one way of by-passing this flaw and that was through the use of a spatial item.

Sadly, such items were very rare and limited that only the top families possessed them, albeit, in very scarce numbers. One should recall that the only reason Asher had one was that he was unequivocally the heir to the Arnhaunt family, but in the Great Dawn kingdom, a female can never succeed a great family. For Aurora to have a space ring with her showed how much value and significance the royal family attached to her.

"I originally didn't plan on using this against anyone as I felt none was worthy of it, but you have succeeded in cultivating my ire. I won't kill you, but today, you won't leave without losing a limb or two."

Aurora's eyes viciously glistened as she withdrew the entirety of the spear from the ring.

A purple-gold spear was revealed to the crowd. It had a few markings on the shaft made with gold. The markings looked decorative but they possessed some kind of strange aura that made them feel like more than just decorations.

The head of the spear was made completely made out of purple crystal with gold engravings. Although it looked like it could break upon collision, it was anything but that. Just the sharp sensation that it gave off at a glance alone, showed that the spear was not to be underestimated.

The reason Aurora kept her weapon in her space ring wasn't just because of its weight but the appearance, which stood out like a sore thumb. However, while the appearance might be conspicuous and high-profile, the weapon wasn't a fancy toy.

'A Grade two Guardian spear.' Asher's eyes narrowed.

In the Great Dawn kingdom, or rather, in the Kilin continent, weapons were divided into five classes with each class having three subclasses or grades. From the weakest to the strongest they were Human, Guardian, Legendary, Sage, and Saint classes, grade three to grade one.

Each class and grade of weapon referred to a specific rank of power in the cultivation system. Hence, a grade two Guardian class weapon was one with the same power as a second-phase Guardian mage; a Guardian mage with four to six mana points unlocked. In some cases, the stronger grade two Guardian class weapons could wield the same level of power as a weaker third-phase Guardian[1].

Aurora's spear wasn't one of those peak-quality ones but it still wasn't to be underestimated. From the aura it gave off, Asher estimated that the spear was on the lowest scale of a grade two Guardian class weapon meaning that it was on par with a Guardian mage of the fourth stage; any higher and Aurora might not have been able to wield it.

Even though the spear was on the lowest scale of Grade two Guardian class weapons, it still wasn't to be underestimated. Asher, with his cultivation on full blast, was only a third-stage Guardian. Aurora, paired with the spear, might not be able to kill him but could suppress him if Asher doesn't utilize any of his other-world skills. When considering that Asher could face her with his full strength there was no doubt that his defeat would be written in stone.

'This is bad.' Asher frowned, but he couldn't do much about it.

"Cripple your right arm yourself and I will spare you. Otherwise…" Aurora pointed the tip of the spear at Asher.

Truthfully, she didn't want to use this weapon as the demand it had on her body was excruciating; after all, Aurora was only just a third-stage Guardian. Even though she could use it, Aurora could not draw out the full potential of the spear; although what she could still use of it was powerful enough to end most fights.

Asher didn't respond to her taunt but simply took a stance and steadied his breathing.

'I guess I have no choice other than to discard it.'

"You...Fine!" Aurora gritted her teeth at the sight of Asher's stance.

While Aurora might not be willing to use the spear due to its heavy demand, it didn't mean that she would shy away from doing so when her honour had been challenged. Also, using the base form of the spear would cause her no injuries as long as she didn't try to draw out the active powers of the spear.

"You should be honoured that you're the first human target my gold-laced Heliotrope spear."

Zzzt.

Lightning flashed on her feet and just like before, Aurora seemed to have turned into a blur as she charged at Asher.

This was a special technique she had learned a while after stepping into the third stage of the Guardian realm and manifesting her mana in its true form.

By converting the purple mana into lightning and wrapping it around her legs, Aurora could boost her movement speed to a whole new level. While she couldn't be said to have become as fast as lightning, she was at least 50% faster than average third-stage Guardian mages at her level. Just being half as fast meant that she was a lot more dangerous.

Lightning Step.

Against an average second-stage Guardian mage or even a third-stage Guardian, Aurora's lightning step would give her a huge advantage and might even enable her to end the battle faster, however, the same couldn't be said when facing Asher.

Whoosh.

With striking force capable of piercing right through a boulder and severing it into two parts, the Heliotrope spear thrust at Asher.

Without batting an eyelid, Asher tilted his head to the side dodging the hit at the last minute.

Crackle.

Lightning streamed through the spear and exited from the other end, blasting a tree up ahead.

Bang.

The trunk of the tree got hit by the bolt of lightning, peeling its bark and leaving a burnt mark. There was no doubt that if that strike had landed on Asher, he would be laying on the ground crippled if not half-dead.

Even though Asher had managed to dodge the first strike, the battle was not yet over as Aurora swiped the spear intent on harming Asher.

It was then that Asher applied force on his feet and jumped towards the side, creating space between him and Aurora. However, his opponent didn't plan on giving him any breathing space.

Lightning briefly flashed on her feet once more, boosting her speed to a different level as she closed the gap within a second, swinging her spear with both hands down at Asher.

Asher's eyes briefly flashed as he once again dodged the attack with ease, but Aurora didn't relent.

One strike, two thrusts, three swings.

Aurora executed multiple variations of spear techniques in a bid to take Asher down but he seemed almost as nimble as a snake. As a result, lightning would occasionally blast out from the battle zone into the open. This forced the spectators to keep a distance from them if they valued their lives.

"Let's go after the others." Ethan said as his eyes glistened towards Asher's comrades who had begun fleeing according to his instructions.

Ethan had only just begun to take his first step when his vision suddenly flickered.

'What was that?'

Ethan had barely concluded the question in his head when he felt a chilling sensation on his chest, exactly where the previous two ice shards from Asher's attack had struck.

'How come?' Ethan's eyes widened in shock.

He wasn't the only one who was filling dizzy and shivery. The other two on the team who had survived Asher's assault were also affected.