Black String of Fate

On the battlefield, a dark silhouette could be seen jumping around an aged man holding a spear. While Seraphina and Julian, the audience a sufficient distance away from the battle, couldn't see anything, the Emperor was vaguely able to keep track of Xavier's movements.

'It's only due to my inherent high rank that the seal couldn't perfectly seal. I can't believe that such a display of power was even possible at Initiate rank.

No, such a display is really impossible. The only logical conclusion is that he is truly a high-rank warrior who has regressed to such a state. Maybe he-'

The emperor didn't have time to complete his thought as a slash quickly approached from behind him. He stepped forward and used his momentum to deliver a counterstrike, effectively neutralizing the ambush.

"You can't afford to get lost in thoughts now, emperor."

The emperor didn't say anything and unleashed a flurry of spear attacks.

'Souvell Spear Arts:

Grand Thousand Strikes.'

Xavier tracked all the strikes with both his intuition and experience and blocked them accordingly, but despite that, a few strikes connected and left minor wounds. Xavier, for the first time in this trial, experienced injuries from his opponent, and that revelation made him excited.

He gave a maniacal smile as he rushed towards the emperor to close the distance, but seeing his expression, the emperor jumped back and kept him at his spear's length.

The two jumped around and engaged in a battle dance, with exchanges so profound that left the audience clueless. They were immersed in their own world, the sword and the spear clashing with extreme precision, the advantage flipping over every other strike.

'Wow, the demon king wasn't known for his profundity in his swords, but he still can outmatch the emperor, who is a grandmaster known for his profound spear style. I guess warrior Archons are built different.'

The emperor, on the other hand, was having similar thoughts.

'I can tell he doesn't specialize in refining his sword, but he still matches me in this department. Moreover, his aggressive style is too tyrannical. I can't breathe, he doesn't give me a chance to. He's like a demon out to headhunt, I can't overpower or escape him.'

The spar continued for a few more minutes in a stalemate. The emperor's high rank and his deflection star helped him defend himself against Xavier, but he wasn't able to do anything more. For every strike he made, Xavier made five more. Moreover, all those strikes were without opening, indicating that even this reckless way of fighting was refined enough to outclass him.

Also, Xavier never seemed to get tired. Even with a few occasional hits and scratches upon him, Xavier fought as if nothing had happened. On the other hand, the emperor's strength kept decreasing with every slash he bore.

Finally, the emperor had enough. He gave his all in a last-ditch effort, following Xavier's words from the start to go at him with the intent to kill. Xavier noticed this and smiled, happy to be able to finally conclude this farce. He enjoyed this moment, but he knew that a more fearsome opponent awaited him.

The speed didn't allow him to dodge the attack without giving up all his momentum, so he took it head-on in a non-vital area. The emperor's eyes widened as he saw the spear enter Xavier's guts, but soon felt a cold feeling on his neck.

"It's your loss, emperor."

"Haha, so the final star was Endurance. You truly are a supreme swordsman, Sir Xavier. I apologize for my earlier behavior."

"You are also talented, much more talented than many I've fought. Your third star, Dexterity, is also honed to an impressive degree."

At this moment, both Seraphina and Julian rushed into the training ground with worry. Seraphina saw how the spear pierced Xavier, and though she wasn't worried about him dying from that, she feared that his combat capabilities might be reduced if it wasn't treated properly.

Julian, who wore a storage ring, spawned two bottles of high-grade healing potion. Since the injuries weren't made from any energy like Aura, they were treatable with a potion. He tossed one to Seraphina to apply it on Xavier, who was the most injured. Julian took care of the emperor.

"How reckless, that injury could've been easily fatal." Seraphina reprimanded Xavier, and before he could say anything in response, the emperor spoke up for him.

"He possesses the star of Endurance, he would be fine. Just pour some potion on that hole I've made on him."

Seraphina, using this as the opportunity to learn about this cryptic star thing, asked while feigning innocence,

"Just what does that mean? What is this 'star' that you both have been going on about all this while?"

The emperor gave a wry smile as he saw through Seraphina's coy attempt, but he still explained, as it wasn't a big secret among the warriors of higher realms.

"Well, for starters, Sir Xavier's explanation is a good summary of the star system. You see, just like the magician's 7 elements, we have the 7 stars of a warrior-

Strength

Agility

Dexterity

Precision

Endurance

Deflection

Intuition

Each of the stars represents a different quality of a warrior, and the meaning of possessing a star is very similar to having an affinity to an element. For example, Sir Xavier is a four-star swordsman, a talent similar to a quadra-elemental. He specializes in Strength, Agility, Endurance, and Intuition. Overall, it can be said that he's an unkillable monster who would be a nightmare to face.

Haha, I hope you don't take offense to my analysis, Sir Xavier."

Xavier smiled as he replied,

"None taken, Sir Souvell. I was well known for the traits you just mentioned, and I carry them with pride."

Of course, Seraphina knew of these traits of Xavier. She and her party had researched a lot to face the demon king, but there wasn't much info available since, well, those who faced him usually did not survive to tell the tales. There was just the word around about his infamy of being unkillable and strong. They had prepared accordingly with only such traits in mind.

Also, being on the magic path, she never delved that deep into warriors to know about this star system of theirs.

'The elements of the mage path are well known, but this system that mirrors the elements, it's something I suppose only the high-level warriors know about. I wonder why that is…'

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