After a few more minutes of contemplation, Caelus found the will to get up. Leaving the Tavern, he’d already paid to stay for a bit, so he’d lost a bit of gold, though it was negligible. He’d also lost a few gold bars after spending a lot on pill ingredients.
Still in his inventory, though almost full, were three Mana Replenishing Pills, two Regeneration Pills, and four Ink Soul Transendence pills. "Who comes up with these names???"
"Whatever, well, pretty sure the pill is supposed to help with intent for the Literature Path... Hm, it goes up to the Transcendent Grade."
But, having left the barrier protecting the Empire, the cold wind assaulted his body... Though he didn’t react much, his body still produced heat, warm enough that he wouldn’t even be affected. "So the first winter was just incredibly cold, hm."
"You have left the Empire, well, that will be a problem for you; now I can get rid of you without any complications." His hand flew to Caelus’s chest, every finger out, ready to stab right through it.
Not noticing the presence, Caelus Teleported farther away. Becoming alert, he stared at the Assassin, ready to fight him. Activating Horizon Step, he wouldn’t simply limit his own movements or attacks when it came to a situation where he would die.
"I really don’t want to kill, but I doubt he’ll leave if I spare him. Clearly, they aren’t like the other assassins I met."
Running forward, Caelus chained his Horizon Step, giving his body a small buffer so it could handle actually existing at that speed, moving unpredictably as he followed a spiral pattern. The Assassin tried predicting where Caelus would reach, even at equal speed, but the attack missed.
As the Assassin pulled back the needles he threw, Caelus shot out a barrage of Rends, relentlessly to push him back and make him waste Mana defending himself.
Seeing an opening, Caelus rushed ahead, grabbing his head. He launched a singular Rend, one that was altered to completely bypass any form of defense or ’endurance,’ hitting their body like a truck would a normal human.
The Assassin flew back, regaining balance almost instantly. He stood near a few trees, taking at least a minute, though, in their time, he approached at his maximum speed, reaching the level of Horizon Step even without enhancements.
Giving him no time to react, Caelus felt the dagger stab into his head. Finally, the shockwave appeared, launching him across the ocean, and he reacted just as he was sent back, feeling the ’Poison’ in his head; it felt familiar. "...Wait, is this Dragon Blood? No wonder he’s using that... But, I’m a Dragon myself, I’ll be fine."
Gaining balance once more. He stayed afloat in the air, looking around. Equilibrium stayed up the entire time, feeling a shift in the air due to movements. Caelus watched as a thin strand of Mana flew to him, as if it were testing his barrier. His head already healed, though the Assassin came closer.
"Hm, you survived Dragon Blood, must be an immunity to toxins... Then I’ll simply make you run out of Mana. But if I need to. I’ll simply take your Soul With me."
A ghostly presence appeared behind the Assassin, though Caelus kept his air, staying calm. He turned, ready for the attack the Assassin was about to make, assuming he was going to sneak attack while distracting him with the shadow.
Holding onto the Arm, Caelus spun and swung the cloaked man, throwing him once. However, Caelus repositioned himself, propelling himself through the air at incredible speed. His legs were positioned right towards the Assassin, slamming into his chest. Caelus let go of the restraints as the Plasma blasted out through the impact area, the water under them rippling. However, the ’ripples’ were actually tall waves.
Being launched back by the recoil of the kick, Caelus put back the Restraints to not cause any more damage to the environment.
"Hm, it looks like you’re versatile, expected of someone of the Arcane Path." The Assassin kept their entire body covered, masking any presence if Caelus used his Infrared or other vision to see their skeletal structure.
Instead of using some concealed weapon like this, he took out a Naginata, or what at least looked like one. Remembering it from a show he watched. Though he didn’t know what it actually did.
"Aren’t you gonna use smaller weapons? I thought Assassins usually did?"
"Well, yes, but this is mostly just for fun, so why not use crazier weapons?" A Calm tone as he approached Caelus, disappearing for Caelus, and reappearing after he’d already been pierced due to the sheer difference in speed. His chest cut open by the tip of the weapon, Caelus grabbed the large handle to take it out.
The Assassin simply twisted the blade, taking it out himself and launching Caelus past him, having turned to the side in such a small distance. Rushing over to Caelus while he was still trying to regain his Balance, The Assassin caught up to him. His knee flew up and slammed right into Caelus’s solar plexus, or where it would be if he were a human.
Sent flying into the Atmosphere, he jumped up to follow, keeping some distance. Caelus acted quickly, turning to him and rushing ahead to grab the Assassin, just barely, getting a tiny hair on him.
Caelus activated Erosion; in addition, he changed Erosion to siphon another’s Mana. However, the amount was almost negligible in the early battle; he wasted time getting hit and using Mana to heal himself. "Had to do that, otherwise I would lose. I can’t hit his Soul, and his Mana pool is ten times bigger than mine."
Caelus created distance again as his tail swung, launching the Assassin away, though he stayed still, as if charging something. The Naginata pointed forward as a beam of Light flew out. Caelus was ready to block it, had it not been for the shadow that the Assassin had made earlier. Completely forgetting about it because it didn’t do anything but give him a scare.
"Undead path- AGH- FUCK!" Caelus’s hand flew off, only to regenerate once more; though the pain still lingered, a single beam of Mana from someone like him or Tellus was powerful enough to break Caelus apart like he was some flesh blob. Biting the side of his cheek, he let a little bit of blood come into his mouth, keeping it closed, he waited for the next thing the Assassin would do.
Activating Horizon Step, he watched them get closer and acted for a moment that he was unable to see, only to spit out the Draconic Blood into the eyes of the Cultivator. Not knowing what it’d do, but knowing Dragon Blood was incredibly potent in a poisonous sense.
The Assassin, surprised, launched out a dark-purple sphere, sending it flying to Caelus, encapsulating his entire body. It collapsed completely, eradicating his physical body. Only for it to regenerate, though this time it was slower, because his Soul was actually damaged.
The Assassin, reacting to his other senses, could hear Caelus’s breathing. Realizing the poison had gone too deep, he grabbed Caelus by the head and threw him down into the snow, flying down like a meteorite.
Slamming right into Caelus’s chest, launching tons of debris everywhere, he was ready for another attack, but Caelus had left the crater he was in by teleporting. Coughing blood, Caelus saw his Mana depleted to below fifty percent, being a shit ton more than anytime before.
Moving further back, Caelus spoke. This time, pouring thirty percent of his Mana into it, while he’d be left with little to nothing, he was ready to finish the fight. The blast will last long enough that someone else can see it. He knew he wouldn’t take the Assassin out alone.
"PARADOX MOVEMENT!"
"Fallen Star, Burning Temptation."
Changing the ’Incantation’ of Burning Temptation, Caelus formed the arrow, pulling it back; it burned brighter, bright enough that the dirt.
A blast flew from the Assassin, though it was he sending blasts in every direction. The Mana slammed into his chest, arms, and even his legs, the damage piling up as he refused to regenerate until the arrow was done.
[Warning, Threshold for Adrenaline Activated, releasing Heightened Adrenaline.]
"At least this will end with a blast, oh fuck that hurts, just- Have to... FIRE."
The arrow’s mere presence, even when it wasn’t something that was supposed to cause damage, made the dirt and soil below him start ’boiling’, reaching temperatures that high in what was a single blink, the temperature kept rising as the trees nearby watched as their leaves turned to what was basically dust.
Sending the arrow to the Assassin, the explosion took place. The entire radius it was supposed to cover was hit; trees nearby were blown down, and, having traveled across the continent in the fight, the explosion slowly began to form, compressing into a tiny, extremely unstable ball. Albeit the Holy Tianyun Empire seemed to have a military Camp here.
The explosion began expanding. Caelus teleported as fast as he could to get out of the radius. The explosion, barely visible from a distance for a normal human, appeared for only a second, a sun, though puny compared to the actual star here. Before, it could only reach a maximum of twenty kilometers, but actually putting all of his power into it with his Adrenaline, though that was a small boost for himself.
It reached the entire area of a mountain. Finally healing his body, Caelus’s Adrenaline continued coursing for another minute, finally stopping. Caelus began feeling Dizzy and Lightheaded, using up that much Mana and using Adrenaline again. He knew it had consequences, so he sat on the ground, waiting. Having nothing else to do.
"Wait... Why did my Adrenaline from my Human body carry over here?"
[I dunno. Sometimes, it just happens with Reincarnation. I’ve seen the other guy come with an entire Toaster. You were lucky to get something useful and not something incredibly aggressive like the Human Immune System :3]
"Oh, what are you looking at? Aren’t you the boy I saw while walking to the Tianyun Empire... Though a War broke out right after."
"Hm? Oh, indeed. The name is Caelus. I am probably going to leave because there is an assassin after me, though I doubt you’d want to know why."
"Oh, please tell Caelus, I shall introduce myself as well, the name is Prometheus, the name which bears the meaning Bearer of Divine Flame." His voice rang through the empty fields, bouncing off the few trees that were there. The explosion soon collapsed, turning into a pillar, draining more Mana from the Assassin, going up to a maximum of... Thirty percent of it.
[You have reached Virtuoso VII! Having fought someone of a Higher Realm than you and leaving sustainable Damage counts as a major contribution in defeating someone stronger. The Stronger the opponent, the more you grow.]
"Ah, well, I’m not risking that again anyway."
"Nice name, but I didn’t need to know the meaning. I feel like we might have problems if that Assassin over there comes at us. As for why, the Yun Clan, I killed Yun Li because he decided it was a good idea to taunt about killing someone close to me."
Caelus didn’t mind telling them this; it wasn’t useful information in the first place. "And it makes them think Helel would be dead, when even I don’t know... I just hope she survived."
"Oh? You went after a high-ranking member of the Yun Clan. Well, no wonder they’re after you, though. Was this battle of yours adequate to satiate your body when it comes to exercise? Or do you wish to do more!" As his voice boomed, the more he spoke, the more Caelus regretted staying. Like he was some sort of medieval character who couldn’t shut up.