Cultivation Through Artifacts

"So, you still didn't answer me. Why are you here?" asked Liza, her gaze never losing concentration as she tried not to melt the ice with her fire.

"Well, I just thought of finding you and ask you if you want to hunt for Beasts. It's soon nighttime thus Moon Mountain soon be filled with different creatures."

Khal's sentence surprised Liza a bit but soon her face turned into a frown.

"Why would you? I mean, you don't need me to hunt for Beasts, right?"

Khal's mouth twitched, but still forced on a smile and said, "Well, right... But when was the last time we did something together?"

"About 4 or 5 days ago, before the tournament."

'...'

This time not only his mouth but even his eyes twitched for Khal, not knowing whether he should laugh or cry.

He tried to call Liza away and spend a bit of time with her yet she openly insisted on his request!

"She is exactly as stubborn as... Her... Hell, this is confusing..." murmured Khal and said, "But don't you want at least raise your Cultivation Stage? I know that practicing and polishing your techniques is important but you should at least concentrate on raising your Cultivation Base too. You are still on the Lower Phase of the Fourth Cultivation Stage!"

Halting her movements, Liza shifted her gaze at Khal and narrowed her eyes.

Khal immediately froze up upon seeing Liza's sharp eyes, but her next move surprised him even more.

"Sure. If you can beat me, I will go. But if you lose, you will help me practice." said Liza, her eyes flashing with a profound glint.

"T-that's all?" asked Khal, making sure he didn't mishear what Liza just said as it sounded kid's play for him.

He already beat Liza when he was still on the Third Stage, thus this challenge will be even easier.

"Yes. If you can be-"

Swish!

Just before she could have finished her sentence, Liza watched as Khal appeared beginner, his left hand holding her left wrist tightly while his right palm was gently placed on her head.

"I think I have won, right?" smiled Khal and stared at Liza's frozen expression from behind.

Wait, frozen?

Khal seemingly confused by Liza's complexion, was about to ask something but suddenly noticed as his left palm began to form a thick layer of ice, while his right started to burn as it was set on fire!

"Ouch! Hey! I didn't hurt y-" started to say Khal but soon realized that Liza has already spun around, her heel aiming right at his head from the side.

"Oh?"

Swish!

Using his Second Form to avoid and appear behind her once again, Khal was about to grab her wrist but found with surprise that Liza had already vanished from her previous spot and appeared behind him, her Essence-covered palm aiming at her back.

"Yeah, I forgot she can use the same move..." sighed Khal but still decided to do something Liza didn't know yet.

Just before her palm could have come into contact with his back, Khal's body flashed with a green light and a beautiful green armor appeared on his body.

BOOM!

A powerful shockwave broke out the moment Liza's palm hit Khal's armor, but except that, nothing happened; Khal stood in one place without any sign of moving which was surprising.

"Great armor, right?" asked Khal, and without waiting for Liza to react grabbed her arm and pushed her toward the lake.

However, just before Liza could have fallen into the water, Khal grabbed Liza's wrist tightly, halting her body just an inch above the lake's surface.

"Will you admit your defeat?" unsummoning his armor to show his face, Khal smiled at Liza who stared right back at him with a cold expression, without any sign of answering his question.

Only after a moment of silence later did she open her mouth and say, "You cheated."

"I don't know what you are talking about," said Khal, his face terrifyingly serious.

"Hmm? Really?"

"Yeah, I am quite sure about that."

'...' Liza stared deeply into Khal's eyes, but suddenly as though she noticed a ghost, her face paled with fear and shouted, "Master!"

"Eh?" flinching slightly as he didn't feel Liza's Master approach at all, Khal was about to turn around and pull Liza back, but suddenly something unexpected happened.

Just as he could have turned around, he felt a strong force drawing him toward the lake and because he was caught off guard he couldn't do anything about it.

Like a bag that was helpless before it was thrown away, Khal watched as he was yanked into the water while Liza thanks to freezing her foot onto the ground stood up and stared down at him.

"Hey, that was unfair!" exclaimed Khal after breaking onto the surface, realizing he was tricked by quite hard.

"Hmm? I don't know what are you talking about," said Liza, her face just as serious as Khal was a few moments ago.

"I-" Khal wanted to say something but found himself unable to find the words as he was the first one who cheated, to begin with.

"What goes around comes around, huh?" sighed Khal inwardly and put both his arms up even though it was hard to remain on the surface just with his legs.

"Okay, you won."

Liza hearing Khal admitting defeat smiled and laughed, "That's what you got for trying to trick me! Well deserved! Haha!"

"Yes, yes... Now help me out, it's freezing cold in here," said Khal as he closed his eyes and extended his arm for help.

"Haha, I'm surprised you placed 5th on that tournament. Maybe it wasn't that hard if you got fooled this easi-, huh?"

Splash!

Watching as Khal pulled herself into the water and climbed out, Liza looked shocked and stared deeply at Khal who laughed at the edge of the lake.

"So who was fooled by who? Haha!"

"You!!" climbing out of the lake with record speed, Liza shot fireballs and ice spikes at Khal who was running away while laughing merrily and evading her attack with ease.

Meanwhile, on top of the building not far away from the two, Jane was standing calmly, her eyes flashing with different emotions from time to time as she watched the two fool around since the beginning.

-

-

-

When the moon finally emerged onto the boundless sky from the west, two figures could be seen walking slowly among the wood on Moon Mountain, both of them seemingly in a happy mood.

"So, what kind of Beast are you planning to slay?" asked Liza calmly, her gaze scanning their surroundings nonstop.

Khal who was caressing Rubie on his shoulder glanced at Liza and shrugged slightly, "Any type. I will help you increase your Cultivation Base."

"Huh? What about you? I hope you don't plan to give all the Essence to me. We will split it."

"I am already on the Fifth Cultivation Stage while also I got my share thanks to the tournament. So it's alright, you can have it all."

"No, we will split it." insisted Liza.

"I sai-"

"Rooaar!"

Khal's sentence was abruptly cut by a low growl and Beast's figure that popped out of the bush in the distance.

"Well, it seems we have our first pr-"

BOOOM!

But even before Khal could have finished his sentence, he watched as the Beast that looked like a hybrid between a monkey and tiger exploded into bits of flesh before its body got burnt to ashes by the powerful crimson flames.

'...'

"What? You told me we will hunt together, then here. We hunt together." exclaimed Liza, not understanding why Khal looked at her the way he did.