Chapter 85
As Kei Y stretched his arm out, an unseen force pulling Auserre toward him, Silvie knew this was her chance. Without hesitation, she invoked the power of her Vine Force, causing vines to tear through the ground beneath her, their tips sharp as they surged toward Auserre. The earth itself seemed to tremble with the force of Silvie’s command, the vines snapping toward their target with deadly intent.
Auserre reacted immediately. In a smooth, practiced motion, she summoned a water curtain, the surface of which rippled with fluid precision, forming a thin, translucent shield before her. The vines collided with the water curtain, and the impact was astonishing. The sound that echoed was like steel on steel, the force of the vines embedding themselves into the water barrier, inching toward Auserre's face. She could feel the vines’ pressure but maintained her composure, intrigued more than threatened.
Her gaze remained steady, eyes narrowing in slight amusement. The vines, which had once been stalled, were now pushing ever closer to her.
Then, Silvie moved.
In the blink of an eye, Silvie dashed forward, her body a blur as she closed the distance. The vines wrapped around her arms, almost like an extension of herself, bracing for the strike. With a fluid motion, she aimed a punch at Auserre’s midsection. The moment before the blow could land, Auserre reacted. Her reflexes were sharp; with a swift motion, she caught Silvie’s hand, halting the punch effortlessly. But Silvie wasn’t deterred.
In the instant she felt her hand caught, Silvie didn’t hesitate. With incredible flexibility, she spun her body, twisting her torso, and aimed a powerful kick toward Auserre’s head. The kick was fast, a deadly strike aimed with precision—but Auserre tilted her head back just enough, dodging the blow with almost no effort. It was a graceful movement, an elegant evasion that made Silvie’s kick whiff through the air.
Auserre, however, wasn’t expecting what came next. Silvie’s vines weren’t done yet. With a quick, decisive motion, they whipped around Auserre’s hand, entangling her in an unexpected grip. Thorns sprouted from the vines, digging into Auserre’s flesh.
Auserre’s expression flickered for the briefest moment—surprise and a hint of intrigue. She felt a slight, unfamiliar pull—a draining sensation—as the vines began to siphon her life force, her vitality slowly fading into the rapidly constricting vines. It was subtle, but it was there.
“Interesting,” Auserre murmured, now keenly aware of the vines' abilities. The sensation was unlike anything she had ever felt before. With each passing second, the vines wrapped tighter, their thorns digging deeper, and she could feel the strength leaving her, siphoned away by the life-draining nature of Silvie's Vine Force.
Auserre’s face twisted with a mix of admiration and annoyance, and her voice took on a deeper, more serious tone. “That’s unique.”
Without wasting another moment, Auserre acted. With a forceful motion, she ripped the vines from her hands, flinging them aside as they recoiled from the impact. She felt a momentary weakness, a slight dip in her energy, but quickly regained her footing.
“Your strength and skill in combat are impressive,” she said as she flexed her hands, ensuring the vines wouldn’t trap her again. Auserre’s voice was full of both respect and caution now. “But you’ll have to do better than that.”
Silvie didn’t falter. She wasn’t here to hold back. Her focus sharpened, and she summoned more vines from the ground, her body still moving fluidly as she prepared for the next exchange. She could feel the pulse of the world around her, each movement instinctively syncing with her vines, but she knew she had to push further. This battle was far from over.
Auserre’s focus sharpened as Silvie’s vines swirled around her, their movements increasing in speed and intensity. She could feel the tug of Kei Y's earlier force pulling her closer, but she quickly adjusted her will, releasing her hold on the invisible force and canceling it.
Before Auserre could fully regain her balance, she heard multiple whooshing sounds in the air, followed by the unmistakable sound of metal clanking against her water curtain. Her eyes darted to the water curtain shield she had summoned and she immediately saw several dents forming. Through the transparent water barrier, she could make out what looked like... pebbles?
“Are those pebbles? And they’re shining orange?” Auserre murmured, a rare look of surprise crossing her face. “That’s... aether control.”
The realization hit her, and she knew immediately that the pebbles weren't mere rocks—they were projectiles coated in aether, expertly controlled and launched with incredible precision.
Just as she was contemplating this new development, she felt multiple impacts against her midsection. She staggered back slightly, her face contorting with confusion. The strikes came out of nowhere, too fast for her to even detect their presence until she had been hit. It was as if something invisible had struck her—metal projectiles glowing with orange aether, they collided against her water curtain in rapid succession, each one packing enough force to throw her slightly off-balance.
"She's really durable," Kei Y muttered from the sidelines.
The first set of projectiles had been a diversion. He had already prepared a second set, infusing the aether projectiles with even greater force and speed using his mastery of Tempest Convergence and Basic Projectile Mastery. As the projectiles accelerated, Kei Y used Phantom Breeze to suppress their presence, leaving Auserre unaware until the moment of impact. The results were immediate: Auserre had to steady herself, clearly shocked by the attack’s ferocity, as she wouldn’t expect even a Soldier Class-level opponent to be able to create such a powerful assault.
“I’m surprised...” Auserre said under her breath, feeling the sharp sting of each strike. Her mind raced, trying to process the unexpected power she was facing. “That would be dangerous for Soldier Classes...”
Not wasting a moment, Kei Y folded into the wind currents, his form blending seamlessly with the air. Before Auserre could even react, he reappeared behind her, summoning a gale of wind around his foot as he performed an axe kick, aiming directly for her head.
In an instant, Auserre spun around, her reaction time unparalleled, and she kicked out with brutal force, intercepting Kei Y midair. The impact sent him flying backwards, his body crashing to the ground with a thud. But Auserre’s expression remained unfazed as she looked at the wind whipping around Kei Y’s form, recognizing the strength behind his strikes.
“He’s rather dangerous,” Auserre thought to herself, her eyes narrowing in surprise. “Even with the weakest offensive force, he’s using it with such mastery that it makes up for the shortfalls. What would he be like if he had a different minor wind force?”
The thought briefly crossed her mind, but before she could dwell on it, Kei Y was already on the move again. In an instant, he was back on his feet, reappearing in front of her once more. His limbs, enveloped in spiraling winds, began launching rapid punches and kicks, each strike faster and stronger than anything she had previously encountered from him.
The wind surrounding him acted as both a shield and an amplifier, adding power to each of his blows, making them unpredictable and difficult to dodge. Each punch felt like it was empowered by the very air around them, his mastery of Breeze Force allowing him to blend speed and precision seamlessly.
Auserre, impressed despite herself, dodged and blocked with swift movements, her own combat skills equally as refined. Each of Kei Y’s strikes came in at different angles, forcing her to react faster than she had anticipated. His control over the wind allowed him to make seemingly impossible attacks, every strike from him enhanced with gale-force winds that made each of his punches and kicks feel like they had the weight of a storm behind them.
Despite her defensive skills, Auserre found herself enjoying the challenge. There was something about Kei Y's relentless aggression and unpredictable strikes that was different from other opponents. His ability to shift between wind currents and his instinctual understanding of the forces around him made him both elusive and dangerous.
“Impressive,” Auserre murmured under her breath, sidestepping a particularly powerful kick. “I didn’t expect this much... adaptability.” Her eyes locked onto Kei Y’s determined expression as he launched another barrage of strikes. There was no hesitation in his movements—no uncertainty. She could see it now: Kei Y wasn’t just a skilled fighter, he was a master of improvisation, making the most out of whatever was available to him.
“Keep it up, kid,” she thought. “You’re only just getting started.”
As Kei Y cocked his arm back, ready to launch another blow at Auserre, Kei M acted swiftly. His Spark, Resonant Shield, appeared behind Kei Y’s elbow, just as the punch was being thrown. The shield glowed briefly before it amplified the force of the punch, pushing Kei Y's strength to new heights. The result was explosive: his punch accelerated with an intensity that caught Auserre off guard, sending her flying backwards as it collided with her face, lifting her off the ground.
For a split second, Kei Y stood there, shocked by the force of his own punch. He stared at his hand, then quickly turned to Kei M and gave him a thumbs up.
“Nice one, Khenu,” Kei M said, nodding toward him.
Kei Y blinked, still processing what had just happened. The impact had been so powerful, it was almost as if he'd combined multiple techniques in one blow.
Kei M didn’t stop there. He quickly deployed his yo-yo weapon—crafted by Kei Y himself. With a flick of his wrist, the weapon shot forward, and with it, a surge of Resonance Force pulsed through it. As he activated Resonance Break, the vibrations from the yo-yo's motion caused a disruptive pulse that sent shockwaves through Auserre’s aether, effectively disturbing her aether flow. A loud, resonant hum echoed in the air as the vibration rippled through her body, and the effect was immediate. The disarray caused by the resonant pulse left Auserre vulnerable enough for Silvie’s vines to pierce through the water curtain and launch toward her.
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Auserre reacted quickly, sidestepping and dodging the vines, but her eyes narrowed at the strange weapon Kei M wielded. She raised an eyebrow in curiosity. “That’s... something? What is that? Metal on a rope?” she asked, watching the weapon retract.
Kei M unfazed. “You’ll find out soon enough. Better pay attention to where you're stepping.”
As Auserre took a step back to dodge the incoming vines, she unknowingly stepped onto the ground that began to glow a soft lilac color. Resonance Force surged through the ground, targeting her aether flow directly. She staggered for a moment as her insides vibrated with the force, causing her muscles to tense unexpectedly.
Being annoyed by the resonance force, Auserre summoned a wave of water to push Kei M away. However, Kei M wasn’t finished yet. As the wave of water surged toward him, Kei M kicked sideways in mid-air, his foot colliding with a Resonant Shield. The impact caused him to shift and redirect himself mid-air, the shield amplifying the force of his movements and propelling him forward with greater speed.
The resonance energy built up as he collided with his spark, and the momentum allowed him to rebound, propelling himself toward Auserre with incredible force. Each new blow Kei M landed on a shield was stronger than the last, as his body stored the energy from the shields, using it to enhance his strikes.
Kei M, anticipating the wave, summoned another shield before shifting away to redirect the incoming water back toward her. The wave of water crashed into Auserre, knocking her back off her feet as she struggled to regain her balance.
With a determined look on his face, Kei M appeared above her, his body coiling in preparation for his next strike. A moment later, he slammed his fist into Auserre’s midsection with a devastating force, sending shockwaves through the floor beneath them and causing large cracks to spread outward.
Auserre, now embedded into the ground, groaned in frustration, clearly impressed by Kei M’s control over his abilities. "What is it with you kids aiming for my midsection?" she grumbled, rubbing her stomach. "At this rate, I’m not going to be able to have kids!"
Inpu watched, eyes wide with amazement. Auserre’s composure faltered for a brief moment, showing just how effective their teamwork had become.
In the midst of the chaos, Inpu stood off to the side, watching the team’s relentless assault on Auserre. He was amazed by their capabilities—Kei Y and Kei M’s dynamic attacks, Silvie’s control over her vines, and the overall coordination between the group. His gaze lingered on the unfolding battle, but despite the awe and admiration, he couldn’t help but feel the weight of his own limitations. They were all so strong, so much further ahead than him.
But this only ignited a fire within him. "They are only recruit class, and they’re capable of this much." Inpu thought, clenching his fist. He couldn’t let himself fall behind just because of his past.
He took a deep breath, trying to calm his nerves. For far too long, he had been deprived of his chance to cultivate properly due to the scarcity of aether in the area where he was born. The limited access to aether had always been a barrier for him. He had relied on his intellect, learning runes as best as he could. He immersed himself in studying the ancient symbols, practicing them inside and out. But the absence of aether had kept him from using most of it effectively, and he couldn’t help but feel inadequate.
It was the lack of funds that initially held him back, too. The inability to buy a proper force quill seemed like an insurmountable obstacle. But necessity is the mother of invention. Inpu had learned to adapt. By using the tools around him, including the large stone block at his worksite, he had managed to arrange the balance rune strokes. It wasn’t much, but it was enough for him to begin understanding the intricacies of force manipulation.
Then came Khenu. Inpu’s friendship with him had been the turning point. Khenu’s kindness—especially in providing meals for the workers—led to Inpu gaining favors from them, and with that, a small but significant sum of coins. It was enough for him to buy a low-grade force quill, something he had longed for. The moment he had that tool in his hands, the possibilities opened up for him, and his cultivation journey began to move forward.
He wasn’t about to let insecurities, or the fear of being less talented than his God Spark companions, stop him. This was his chance to grow, to finally become the force he always knew he could be. He could feel it—his potential was waiting to be unlocked.
Determined, Inpu drew his force quill from his side. He quickly sketched a series of rune strokes, the movements fluid and focused. His eyes narrowed in concentration as he formed a balance rune that was aligned with Scale Force. It wasn’t perfect, but the intention was clear. This rune was based on shifting fortune—misfortune could be drawn from a target and shifted to another. A simple but powerful concept.
As he finished the last stroke, Inpu felt a surge of energy through his body, his connection to the rune solidifying. It was a start, but that was all he needed for now. He could feel the force pulsing, waiting for him to channel it.
Meanwhile, Auserre was adjusting herself after dealing with the trio—Kei Y, Silvie, and Kei M—who had proven to be more formidable than she had expected. She took a breath, momentarily breaking her focus to steady herself, her eyes flicking toward the group.
But the moment she shifted her weight, her foot slipped—unexpectedly, she felt herself lose balance for an instant. It was just enough of a mistake for Kei Y to capitalize on. In that brief moment, he launched himself forward, his foot making contact with her, the impact sending Auserre reeling back.
Before she could recover, Kei M followed up with a resonant blast. The force behind it was immense, pushing her further back. She staggered but caught herself just before she lost her footing completely. Her mind working quickly to regain control. These kids... they were far stronger than she anticipated.
But she wasn’t done yet. Even in the face of their relentless assault, she wasn’t about to give them an easy win.
As Kei Y and Kei M regrouped, Inpu saw his opportunity. He focused on Auserre’s momentary slip-up, his mind racing through his options. Without hesitation, he activated his rune—Fortune Shift—and directed it at Auserre’s misfortune, shifting it onto a target of his choosing.
The result was immediate: Auserre’s foot, which had been slipping, faltered even more, her movements slowed, and her body staggered just enough to make her vulnerable. It wasn’t a huge shift, but it was enough to catch her off guard.
Kei Y, ever ready for an opening, noticed Auserre’s shift in posture. He launched forward once more, while Kei M prepared another attack.
Inpu watched, his heart racing. This was it. He was finally able to do something. His pulse quickened as he prepared to assist them further.
The battle between the group and Auserre was escalating at a rapid pace. Auserre, her usual confident self, stood tall and prepared, her expression unreadable as she watched the kids’ efforts. “Ok, seems like you guys comfortably surpass recruit class in terms of abilities, I’ll kick it up to soldier class now, be sure to keep up,” she said nonchalantly, as she effortlessly blasted away all the attacks coming toward her with a burst of water that formed into a protective shield.
Silvie, ever observant of the battle, watched as Kei Y and Kei M launched their attacks. “Soldier class shouldn’t be an issue either. We’re ready when you are,” she said with a confidence that matched her teammates’ resolve.
Auserre raised an eyebrow at the response. “Nice to hear you say that,” she said, before suddenly conjuring a light shower of rain. It was gentle at first, almost soothing, but there was an underlying tension in the air. “Let me show you the difference between an ordinary soldier and those who threaten even your talents.”
As the rain began to fall, an instinctive discomfort rippled through Silvie. Her vines, which had been held in place around Auserre, suddenly lashed out with a violent force. Silvie invoked her skill, Nature’s Wrath, causing the vines to surge with a shocking amount of power. They whipped through the air, aiming directly at Auserre.
Auserre, however, simply smiled, watching the attack with interest. “Hmm, it’s a good thing I kicked it up a notch. That attack would instantly kill anything in recruit class. You seem to have the right to look down on recruit class Apex Bosses,” she complimented, but the words were laced with something more: a challenge.
Despite her power, Silvie’s vines struggled to make headway. The rain, seemingly harmless at first, had a subtle effect—it slowed down their movement, almost as if the water itself had weight. The vines struggled, their sharp tips inching forward with difficulty.
Auserre observed this carefully,. “So it seems like you’ve been used to fighting those within your level but lack experience in the above classes,” she remarked, analyzing their limitations.
Sensing the struggle, Inpu quickly activated the other function of his Fortune Shift rune. As he directed fortune away from Auserre and toward Silvie, a surge of strength bolstered her vines. They pushed through the rain slightly more easily, but it wasn’t enough to break through the resistance entirely.
Auserre’s gaze shifted back to Inpu. “You balance people really are headaches,” she muttered under her breath. Then, her tone shifted to something more serious. “Your warm-up is over,” she said, the words carrying an undeniable challenge. “Let’s see what you’re really capable of.”
At that, the kids began to steel themselves, their previous playful attitude fading into one of determination. They were no longer holding back.
Kei Y pulled out his newly forged Gale Fang. The blade hummed with energy, reflecting the intent behind his eyes. His posture was firm, ready to face whatever Auserre threw at him.
Inpu followed, drawing the sword Kei Y gave him. It felt familiar in his grip, a symbol of his growth and the trust Kei Y had placed in him. Silvie, her scarf now unraveling into ten strands, wrapping around her fingers. summoned her Spark, the vines from the ground beginning to pulse with Nature Force, forming a vibrant barrier of life around her.
“Well, it’s your job to teach us, isn’t it?” Silvie smiled as she felt the energy of the world around her shift. The area seemed to bloom, an overwhelming surge of Nature Force filling the air, as though the ground beneath them was growing into a forest. “Teach us well,” she added, her confidence radiating.
Meanwhile, the vendor—still rubbing his head entered the training area, his eyes darting around to see Auserre and the kids sparring. His gaze soon landed on Mia, who was strangely detached from the battle. She wasn’t part of the fighting, but her focus seemed to be elsewhere.
“What is she doing?” he murmured, approaching her with a puzzled look on his face. She was standing by the koi pond, her movements slow and deliberate as she practiced Tai Chi stances, a focused trance seeming to envelop her. Her motions were fluid, and even the koi fish in the pond seemed to move in sync with her.
His eyes widened in awe as he took in the scene. “She’s in a trance?” he whispered to himself, clearly fascinated. He moved closer for a better look, watching as Mia flowed through the movements, each step controlled and deliberate. The koi fish responded to her movements, their graceful fins cutting through the water in time with her motions.
The vendor stared at the girl, his amazement growing. “You’re born a God Spark, a Balance Force user, and now you’re in a cultivation trance that others could only wish for...” he muttered under his breath. “So unfair... you’re lucky life hasn’t punished you with great misfortune.” His tone was tinged with jealousy, but also a sense of disbelief.
What he didn’t know was that Mia had faced her own battles. Born with osteogenesis imperfecta, her bones were fragile and prone to breaking.
The vendor watched, unaware of the struggles Mia had faced, as she continued her movements, the tranquility of the scene both mesmerizing and humbling. It was a side of Mia that few had ever seen, and it was clear to the vendor that, despite her quiet demeanor, Mia possessed a depth of strength far beyond what anyone could have expected.
Back in the training area, the kids were preparing to face Auserre’s full strength, their resolve firm. There was no turning back now. Each of them had their own path to follow, their own challenges to face, and in that moment, they were ready to confront whatever came next.