Lassim’s grip tightened on his halberd as he met the relentless onslaught of the two Spirit Transcendent guards. The clash of their weapons echoed through the storm-torn landscape, the air thick with the scent of ozone and the sound of crackling electricity.
The guards moved with a practiced precision, their strikes synchronized and deadly. Lassim could feel the strain in his muscles as he parried and countered, each blow pushing him back and starting to overwhelm him.
The swordsman, with his blade dancing like a serpent, struck from the left, while the spearman thrust forward with lightning speed from the right. Lassim barely managed to block the sword with the haft of his halberd, twisting his body to evade the spear.
The ground beneath them was scorched and torn from their ferocious battle, but the storm above seemed to whisper encouragement to Lassim, the lightning bolts appeared to enhance his movements allowing that fraction of a second of reaction time increase needed to dodge some of their attacks. The clouds above truly felt like his ally as they moved about as if in reverence to him.
"You won’t get past us, rogue! [Lightning Sheath]!" the swordsman snarled, his eyes burning with determination. He leapt forward, his sword trailing sparks of lightning. His sword appeared like a solid sheath of lightning that coated the blade and enhanced its power as Lassim met him head-on, their weapons clashing with a thunderous impact that sent shockwaves through the air.
The spearman took advantage of the momentary stalemate, launching a series of rapid thrusts aimed at Lassim’s torso. Each strike was precise, forcing Lassim to pivot, retreat and dodge, his movements a blur.
Despite his best efforts, a few of the spear’s attacks grazed his side, drawing thin lines of blood across his chest and arms.
The guards’ techniques were more refined, more complex and practiced than anything Lassim had faced before. Not only that, but their seamless coordination and understanding of each other’s movements put him at a disadvantage.
Every time he thought he had an opening, one would cover for the other, their attacks overlapping in a deadly dance.
Lassim’s breathing grew labored as he deflected another flurry of strikes. His halberd flashed in the dim light from the glow of lightning, the blade catching and redirecting the spearman’s attack, but the swordsman was already moving in for another strike.
Lassim countered with a sweeping arc of his polearm, forcing the swordsman to step back, but he could feel the tide of the battle turning against him with each passing moment.
His energy may be limitless and strong enough to boost him to fight equal to fighters two entire stages above his actual cultivation, but he has just been relying on his power to compensate for his weak technical ability and simple techniques.
A powerful bolt of lightning struck the ground near Lassim, sending sand and broken dirt shards from the barren ground flying into the air. The guards took advantage of the distraction, their forms blurring as they closed in.
Lassim swung his halberd in a wide arc, this time while also infusing water mana into the weapon crackling with his own lightning-infused energy. He wanted to catch them off guard with an unexpected blade of water mana with a [Slash], but the guards moved with a fluid grace, their weapons darting in and out like vipers as they easily dodged.
"Well, you’ve got some sort of secret, but that won’t be enough. Give up, boy," the spearman taunted, his voice barely audible over the roar of the storm above growing angry at his words. "You can’t win."
Lassim’s eyes narrowed, determination burning in his chest. He couldn’t afford to lose to these two idiots here that wouldn’t even give him a chance, especially not when he was so close to his goal.
Summoning his full strength, he launched himself into the air like a tsunami wave to initiate a powerful [Slam] at the guards, his halberd cutting through the air with the weight of the southern sea behind it. The swordsman parried, but the force of the blow sent him staggering back nearly 50 meters.
The spearman lunged, his weapon aimed at Lassim’s heart this time. Lassim twisted his body, the spear grazing his side as he brought his halberd down in a crushing blow. The spearman blocked with the shaft of his weapon, the impact reverberating through both of them.
Before either could recover, a web of lightning surged up from the ground, ensnaring their legs and lifting them into the air next to each other. In the blink of an eye, the two of them and the still recovering swordsman ascended over 100 meters into the air.
Lassim, the swordsman, and the spearman dangled upside down, suspended by the crackling energy. The abrupt change left them disoriented, their weapons threatening to clatter to the ground below if they had not controlled them to return to their hands.
As they hung there, an old man with stormy eyes and hands wrapped in lightning-touched wrappings stepped into view out of the thunder clouds above. His presence was overwhelming, the air around him charged with power.
The two guards quickly stowed away their elemental spirit weapons inside their inner heart worlds as they comically struggled to bow while upside down, their voices strained with respect as they shouted, "Sect Master!"
The swordsman, still catching his breath, glared at Lassim. "This rogue cultivator tried to sneak into the sect, spouting lies about joining us. Sect Master! You must punish him!"
Lassim, swaying gently in the air, defended himself. "I’m not a rogue cultivator! I truly am here to join the Lightning Sect, after graduating from the Myriad Spirit Academy. I have a letter from my headmaster." He reached into his magic pouch, producing the letter. The instant it appeared in the material world, it flew from his hand, carried by a spark of lightning, to the Sect Master.
The Sect Master examined the letter, his expression unreadable. The seal burned away in a flash of energy, and he quickly scanned its contents. "I see," he murmured, his tone neutral.
Lassim, still hanging upside down, asked, "See! I told you. These guards are idiots! Does this mean I can join now?"
The Sect Master remained silent, his gaze intense.
After a moment, he introduced himself. "I am Volten, but that’s Grand Master Volten to you. I am a friend and master to that Headmaster Ferrum of yours."
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With a sudden, swift movement, he pulled Lassim closer by the collar, staring deeply into his eyes. "But you know what I hate? I hate that superior look in your eye," he growled. "I’ve been watching you ever since the lightning array’s will decided to begin to favor you. I hate how the lightning in the air seems to love you, a mere Spirit Transcendent. You really must have had it easy.
I see those high quality spider silk martial robes and dual elements—I know all about you from this letter, Mr. Noble son of the Aurora Kingdom’s Iron Marquis. Hell, you’re even still fucking 14 years old? The date on this letter is a bit old but yet, here you are… LATE! And to be nearly at the Spirit Ascension stage at your age…"
The two guards gasped loudly, but quickly quieted under the Sect Master’s withering gaze.
Volten continued, his voice dripping with contempt. "Pompous, wealthy brats like you, who’ve had everything handed to them, who’ve never had to work a day in their lives, make me sick. And now, a special letter for early admission and skip the trial process?" He spat towards the ground. "If you want to join, you’ll have to pass the selection like everyone else and start at the very bottom.
There are no favorites here. You’ll know what it’s like for the rest of us that haven’t had the damned golden spoon that not only your family gave you, but even those accursed gods."
As the words left his mouth, the air in the atmosphere froze and several elemental mana particles of every single element all tried to gather antagonistically towards the Sect Master.
"HMPH!!!" Yet, Volten just gave an arrogant snort that released a wave of lightning mana in a sphere from the center of his body and the mana dispersed as quickly as it gathered.
Lassim had been able to sense the presence of the divine mana trying to build, but he was inwardly extremely shocked to see what had just happened. This Grandmaster of his was ridiculously powerful or had something else that let him be disrespectful to the gods so blatantly like that.
Volten’s gaze lifted to the heavens as he added, "The child can refuse if he wants. I don’t want spoiled brats in my sect, anyways."
Lassim’s teeth clenched in frustration. A part of him wanted to walk away, to reject this challenge and seek his destiny elsewhere. But he knew that leaving now would haunt him and he also wanted to prove this asshole wrong.
With a deep breath and grit teeth, he met the Sect Master’s gaze, "I accept. It’s only fair, right?"
Volten released the lightning ropes holding them, and the three of them fell over 100 meters to the ground.
"Follow me," Volten commanded, turning on his heel in mid-air as he started floating towards the middle region off in the distance. "Guards, return to your posts. Lassim, you’ll repay the damage to their uniforms and time wasted with your future Merit points."