Chapter 10: The Third Trial (III)

3rd POV:

"You're really something else, Mael." *I have to work harder. I have to get stronger, or I'll never catch up with him again.* The two boys joked around as they waited for the arenas to be rebuilt. Thankfully the Elders are incredibly powerful, and it only took a few minutes for the matches to resume. Samael stood by arena 267 and watched Augustus' match. His opponent wielded a sword, just like Victor had, but the difference in the matches couldn't be more obvious. Instead of shattering the entire courtyard with their clash, only harmless shockwaves rang out as they clashed. Their energy covered bodies and weapons striking at each other with incredible precision. Augustus' dual axes moved at immense speed as he attempted to strike the hand of his opponent in an attempt to disarm him. His opponent managed to block one of the axes with his sword, but the other went past his guard and buried itself deep into his bicep. The young swordsman slashed towards Augustus in an attempt to create some distance. The attempt failed as Augustus blocked it and moved forward with ferocious power, knocking the young swordsman's sword out of his hand. His axe swung towards the swordsman's neck, only stopping less than an inch from the neck of the swordsman. "Give up, you won't win." Augustus says coldly, staring deep into the eyes of the young weaponless swordsman. It was a side not often seen in Augustus. A cold, ruthless battle maniac not afraid of anything. He'd often beat his opponents into submission by simply overpowering them with his immense power and extreme mastery of dual axes. His rise in power since he started cultivating had been extreme. It was clear that he was a genius among geniuses, only beaten out by absolute monsters like Samael. His battle style was that of a berserker through and through, preferring dangerous close-quarters combat over the safer long-range styles. 

It was time for the third and final round of matches. Before Samael went to one of the small closed-off sections of the courtyard, where Eleutherios had been lying for the past few hours. Samael knelt down next to Eleutherios, and the kitten immediately moved to lie on Samael's lap. The two had grown quite attached to each other in the time since they had become Soul Bonded. Because of how the Soul Bond worked, they would be able to feel each other's emotions, know their location, and read each other's surface-level thoughts. Samael sat there and relaxed with Eleutherios for hours before the next round was set to begin. Eleutherios released a string of his energy straight towards Samael's chest, connecting to his soul and entering inside. It didn't increase his power, nor did it give him any kind of new abilities. It simply allowed Eleutherios to travel with Samael without being detected by beings weaker than Tier 8. An ability that would undoubtedly become incredibly useful in the Aurora Pocket Dimension as a trump card against his opponents. Being able to have an ally hidden and be brought out whenever he needed assistance was essentially a second life in places like that. Samael walked back to the central arena to draw his number, drawing the number 362 meaning he'd fight the one with number 238. Samael walked to arena 238 and went up to wait on the big arena. In the meantime he played with Eleutherios. He was scratching Eleutherios under the chin when his opponent finally walked up on the arena floor. Both Samael's and his opponent's eyes widened as they looked at each other. "Guess you got that rematch earlier than you thought, Aug. How do you want to do this? A battle of techniques, or full power clash?" "I guess I won't be winning all three of my matches." Augustus whispered to himself. "I suppose a full on clash would be the most fun, but I want to win, so we'll do a battle of techniques, Mael." "Good luck to you then, Aug. May the favor of The Living God be with you in this battle of ours!" "Both Samael and Augustus clench their hands in a praying pose and said the Prayers of Gerald, The Living God; "Praise be Gerald, our Lord, our Supreme. May His fishy glory be forever known by any and all graced by His power. FISHFISHFISH."

"Let's begin." The two had limited their power to the peak of the 10th stage of the Body Refinement Realm, and covered themselves in their respective energies. They clashed, spear versus dual axes. Shockwaves rang out, striking against the arena's barrier as they clashed back and forth. The power in the strikes were nowhere near that of either of their previous battles, but it was still an incredible sight. Samael slashes with his spear, which was then parried by Augustus with his right hand axe. Augustus then went for the opening created with his left hand axe, but Samael pulled his spear back, and rotated it so the axe was blown out of the way. He then hit Augustus square in the chest with the back of the spear and pushed Augustus backwards several hundred feet. They then stopped for a moment and looked at each other. "It seems I can't beat you, even when out power is matched, Mael. Even so, this has been very fun. Let's do this again sometime. Once we both grow stronger.I CONCEDE!" Augustus' voice reverberated out. The two floated down to the ground and sat down on the ground, cultivating to bring the most of their spar. The insights they gained were invaluable to the understanding of their martial arts and cultivation arts. Both Samael and Augustus had advanced their Basic Weapon Arts to Master level mastery, the next step after Adept level. Though these were just the basic battle arts of a small village, their power and profundity couldn't be understated, especially at Master level. The two continued to cultivate and prepare for their First Ascension, where they would enter Tier 1, and take the first true step on their cultivation journey. 

Though they were closing in on the threshold to Tier 1 there was still one thing they had to do; awaken their True Cultivation Technique by resonating their soul, will and energy with the very fabric of existence. This would grant them the Cultivation Technique tailored to them. The stronger the affinity for cultivation the person had, the stronger the technique. Many thought of this as a blessing, but to many talented young cultivators it was as much of a curse as it was a blessing. With the strength of the Cultivation Technique the difficulty also rose immensely, making it so many of the more talented cultivators ended up stuck, never reaching their true potential. Reality was brutal, but fair. There would always come an opportunity to advance, but never without equal danger.