Cultivation Through Artifacts

The arena was filled with hundreds of cultivators from low Stage one all the way to higher Stage ones; but naturally, the later ones were only the upperclassmen who were students of Moon Academy for several years and wanted to see just how strong the freshmen were. In truth, if it weren't for the challenge for the key's right they wouldn't even have come!

"I still don't understand why we came here. These are just kids playing around! Instead of wasting our precious time here, we should train even more!" 

A mature girl, in her early twenties, was sitting with crossed legs and arms, while a visible disdain was settling on her ice-cold face. Her sharp eyes with her crescent black eyebrows and long black hair, her face radiated a kind of arrogance, and at the same time a noble aura; it was like she was a queen sitting above the skies and below her, everyone was just a mere ant!

"Don't say this, Lyra. We already talked about this before coming here." a guy with blond hair and a gaze as tranquil as a lake, stared at the middle of the arena while his eyes never left Khal's body.

"Sigh... I know, I know... But still! Just what is so interesting about this? About a fight between two low Stage Cultivators?" murmured Lyra with a pout as she tapped on her thigh with her slim and delicate fingers.

Curving an inconspicuous smile, the guy turned his gaze at Lyra and said, "What can you see when you look at those 'low' Stage Cultivators?"

Lyra found this question a bit strange and knitted her small brows tightly together and asked, "What should that mean? They are low in Cultivation Stage."

"They are indeed low in Stage, but don't you notice something strange here even though they are so 'weak'?" asked the guy, his eyes never leaving Lyra's figure.

The stare of him caused Lyra's face to get a bit of a red cluster on her cheeks and tilt her gaze away from him toward the platform instantly. Calming her heart beating down that was stirred up by the guy on her side, her eyes sharpened immediately, and started to scan the scenery before her.

First, she looked at the girl who was on the front; she had an imposing figure and a mesmerizing appearance, but in Lyra's eyes she was average. Of course, it was because, in her heart, there was no one else who was more beautiful in this world than her! This came from her self-confidence!

"She is on the Third Cultivation Stage with a presence close to the Fourth Cultivation Stage. Supposing from her posture and the way she walks, she has quite a lot of self-confidence in herself and her Talent. Well... Considering that her opponent is just... Huh? Wait, what?" just as Lyra was about to finish her sentence, her gaze fell on Khal's body and abruptly stopped talking. Her small eyes widened slightly while one of her brows was up while the other one was down; she was obviously confused beyond continuing what she wanted to say.

"So you have finally noticed it." smiled the guy as he turned his head back toward the middle, "At first, I wasn't curious either, but when I learned that there was a student who currently enrolled with no Cultivation presence, yet was still able to beat someone who was a whole Stage above him, made my curiosity to ignite."

"Wait, so he is the guy your little brother talked about that time?" asked Lyra snapping her head toward the guy instantly.

"Yes, he is." nodded his head mildly, and continued, "And what's more, I was told by him that yesterday this friend of his was accepted as a student by an expert from the Job Department!"

"Whaaaat?! But that is..."

"Yes, that is extremely rare. That is why I wanted to come and see just who this 'friend' of his could really be." said the guy, but this time the smile no longer could be discerned from his face, but only a sharp glare.

"Hmmm..." Lyra seemed to be in deep thought upon learning the news, unknown what she was currently thinking.

"Well then..." suddenly Alia turned around, standing exactly 50 meters away from Khal, "I am ready!"

*BOOM!*

Immediately afterward her voice sounded, a white light broke out from Khal's pocket, and the key appeared high above in the air.

"I am too." agreed Khal and glanced at Logan who was on the side.

"Khm..." clearing his throat Logan opened his out to talk, but the guy in the black suit, who was in truth Connor, started to talk first, "Rules are simple; no killing is allowed anything else does! Now then, get ready!"

Surprised by the fast pace and change of event, Khal lowered his stance and immediately got ready, while Lyra just simply raised her right palm before her chest.

"Fight!"

"I will say this only once, be careful," said Alia in an indifferent tone as Connor's voice fell, and drew a perfect circle before her in the air.

"!"

Instantly, yellow fog started to manifest before Alia out of thin air, bringing Khal to halt his approach completely; but not because he was scared, but because he was curious what kind of power Alia could truly possess.

"What is that?" asked Khal interestedly, but the only reply he got was a cold laugh and a snort, "Do you really think your opponent will answer that question? How naive!"

As Alia's cold voice fell, Khal watched as the yellow mist moved and formed several yellow needles, exactly six in each hand.

"The key is mine!" said Alia and swing her arms, sending 12 yellow needles on their way, right toward Khal; each flew with top-notch speed, almost as fast as bullets!

"Fast!" thought Khal and immediately used his Secret Art.

Dance of the Celestial Serpent First Form; Crimson Snake Dance!

With swirling blue essence around his feet, Khal bent his legs slightly, forming small cracks below him on the ground, and the next second appeared 20 meters away on the side.

*Swish!*

*BAM!*

Just as he did this, the 12 needles arrived and crashed right into the place where he just stood a moment ago, filling the ground with yellow needles in an instant.

"So her mist can become solid as steel. Interesting Talent indeed but if it's just to this degree, I can easily handle her." pondered Khal deeply, but what he did not notice that everyone around him looked at him in surprise and shock.

"What happened just now? Did he teleport?"

"Teleport? Did you go crazy? He obviously used a Secret Art, but what was that? His speed was insanely fast!"

"Yeah, you are right. Wasn't Agility-type Secret Arts supposed to be on the Expert Level? How can he learn such a powerful Art this fast? He clearly didn't use it against Angor!"

People whispered between each other spiritedly, while Liza and Nate somewhere between the people looked at Khal with intrigued gazes; both of them knew Khal's biggest weakness was his agility, so seeing that he used an Agility-type Secret Art made them surprised but at the same time curious.

"What kind of Secret Art is that?" asked Nate calmly next to Liza, but his eyes shone with great interest.

"I don't know, but as far as I can see, it is not an Agility Type Secret Art," replied Liza, her beautiful pair of eyes never leaving Khal's leg.

"How do you think so?" asked Nate, but Liza's gesture instantly made him understand, "Just look at his legs. His speed isn't coming from speed boosting but rather momentum acceleration; the difference between the two is huge and must not be mixed up."

Although a bit confused, Nate understood what Liza meant the instant he turned his gaze at Khal's leg, and nodded his head, "So that's why."

"Oh? Interesting, I thought you will defend against those, but it seems I was wrong. How unfortunate it is." sighed Alia with disappointment, but her eyes talked otherwise; she was stunned also.

Naturally, she knew about Khal and the fact he beat Angor, who was a whole Stage above him! She saw his fight that time, and that moment she realized one thing; even though Khal had the unparalleled advantage in close-combat thanks to his eyes and his strange weapon, he had one and utterly obvious disadvantage that even an idiot would notice.

He was slow! And when she said he was slow she meant hot his reaction speed, but his running speed. Just a single glance from her could make her know who was fast and who was not!

And Khal was definitely not fast, so the fact that he used a Secret Art to strengthen this weakness of his was completely out of her expectation. 

Just who would have thought he was able to learn and utilize an Agility-type Secret Art, which only appeared on or above the Expert Level? It was completely unexpected!

"Next time I need to be even more careful!" thought Alia with a solemn face.