Faced with Shepherd's attack, Kael had initially braced himself. But he soon realized that rather than attacking, Shepherd was probing and obstructing him.
Shepherd's probing differed from everyone else's before him. He was more interested in confirming whether Kael possessed the power of wind.
Countless azure flowers appeared in midair. Resembling roses, these blossoms spun and swayed as they drifted toward Kael.
The flowers gradually began to tremble as they flew, as though foreshadowing what was about to happen. As they drew closer to Kael, their trembling intensified, as if surging energy within them yearned to be unleashed.
Finally, a great mass of flowers around Kael reached the peak of their trembling. Amid rumbling booms, all the flowers exploded... or rather, came apart.
The flowers' disintegration unleashed countless petals. Like sharp blades, they struck Kael in rapid succession.
This attack was not particularly powerful, but it was immensely irritating, like mosquitoes constantly buzzing around one's ears. It could not cause serious harm, yet it could leave one agitated and unsettled.
The best way to deal with such an attack was, in fact, to ignore it. But Shepherd seemed to have some grounding in sound magic as well. He amplified the hissing sounds produced when the petals sliced through the air and, by adjusting the sound frequencies, continuously plucked at the taut heartstrings within Kael, worsening his irritation.
If he continued to ignore it now, it would affect his performance afterward.
How to deal with these petal winds thus became Kael's immediate problem.
Kael understood Shepherd's intentions. The reason Shepherd used these harassment tactics instead of attacking directly was to test whether he had mastered the power of wind.
Just as Shepherd had said earlier: since Kael was unwilling to answer, he would test him himself.
If Kael possessed the power