Middle-Aged Man Ayed

That morning, Arnold was doing his usual training.

In Arnold's room, the ground within two meters of where he stood was covered in a layer of earthen-yellow light. The moment one stepped into that area, one could feel an astonishing gravitational force.

It was the twenty-fivefold Greater Gravity Spell Arnold had cast!

Arnold inverted his entire body, supporting himself on a single finger of his left hand as he continuously trained the strength of his fingers and arms.

"...Three hundred twelve, three hundred thirteen."

As Arnold's body continued moving up and down, beads of sweat constantly slid from his temples and dripped onto the ground.

Soft footsteps came from outside the door. Arnold immediately canceled the gravity field. With a backward flip, he landed upright, then took a towel from a rack in the room and wiped himself down. At that moment, Yale entered as well.

Seeing Arnold wiping away his sweat with a towel, Yale knew he had definitely been using the Gravity Spell to train just now. Arnold had only canceled it because he was afraid of injuring himself.

"Fifth Brother, come with me to meet a Ninth-level Warrior who broke through not long ago. You're interested too, right?" Yale said.

"Mm."

The two took a carriage to a residence on Moundstone Road in the eastern district of Scarlet Flame City. The residences along Moundstone Road were all built to a standard design, commissioned by the imperial family. They were rewards for the Empire's meritorious subjects and nobles. After all, martial traditions flourished in the O'Brien Empire, and it was perfectly normal for Advanced Warriors to earn merits and residences.

Yale's guards went up to notify the guards at the gate. Arnold, Yale, and one or two guards then entered the residence.

When they arrived in the reception hall, Arnold saw a burly middle-aged man. From his face and build alone, Arnold felt that this was the very same middle-aged man who had fought the Red-Eyed Black Dragon before. Although he recognized him, Arnold had no intention of speaking to him.

"Master Ayed, it's only been half a year since we last met, yet you've already broken through. You may even have hope of breaking into the Saint Domain," Yale congratulated him. Before coming, Yale had already had a guard deliver the gifts to the residence's servants.

"Yale, stop flattering me. I only reached the Ninth-level Warrior stage at seventy. My talent is far inferior to those other geniuses. I still can't even see the road to the Saint Domain," the middle-aged man called Ayed said with a sigh.

"Actually, if you focus on accumulating battle-qi until the peak of the ninth level, perhaps a single moment of enlightenment will bring you a breakthrough," Yale continued flattering him.

"Enlightenment? I wouldn't dare hope for that. Still, I'll accept your good wishes." Ayed smiled, then looked at Arnold. "And this is?"

"This is my brother. I brought him here to meet you because your names are very similar." Yale smiled. "My brother is called Arnold."

"Arnold. Compared to my Ayed, it differs by only one character." Ayed muttered, "They really are quite alike. Arnold."

"Hello, Mr. Ayed," Arnold greeted him calmly.

"Mm. Yale, you didn't come all this way merely to congratulate me, did you?" Ayed said.

"Mr. Ayed truly has sharp eyes. My brother is now an Eighth-level Magus of both earth and wind. But he has never fought anyone of the same level before, so this time, he wanted to ask you for a sparring match and some guidance." Yale laid on the flattery. In truth, Yale's status was no lower than that of a Ninth-level Warrior. But if a few nice words could give his brother a satisfying fight, Yale was willing to flatter him.

"An Eighth-level Magus of both earth and wind? At such a young age?" Looking at Arnold's face, Ayed judged at once that Arnold was probably only around twenty. Reaching the Eighth-level Magus stage at twenty was practically comparable to Linley, the genius rumored throughout the Yulan Continent some time ago to be the second greatest genius in history.

"Of course. My brother's magical talent is no worse than that of my Fourth Brother, Linley." Yale looked immensely proud.

"Master Linley is your brother too?" Ayed also enjoyed stone carving and addressed Linley respectfully as Master.

"Mm. So, what do you say about this match?"

"Very well. It would be my honor to cross blades with such a young dual-element Magus." Ayed agreed.

Thus, Ayed, Arnold, Yale, and several of Yale's guards headed to a barren mountain outside Scarlet Flame City.

The only spectators for this battle were Yale and his guards.

Arnold and Ayed stood facing each other atop the barren mountain, about ten meters apart. The mountain was desolate, with only a few sparse trees visible here and there. A battle between an Eighth-level Magus and a Ninth-level Warrior would be intense, so Yale and the others stayed at the foot of the mountain to watch. Fortunately, the mountain was not very high, so they could still see fairly clearly.

The mountain wind howled, whipping both men's robes.

"Mr. Ayed, let me witness the strength of a Ninth-level Warrior," Arnold said.

"Come. Let the battle begin!" Ayed said, gripping his greatsword as boundless fighting spirit surged from him. Ayed did not underestimate Arnold merely because he was an Eighth-level Magus, one level below him.

Holding his greatsword, Ayed charged straight at him.

The instant Ayed moved, Arnold immediately cast an Eighth-level Earthquake Sacred Armor around himself.

Ayed's greatsword came sweeping in, and Arnold drew Mooncleaver to receive the blow. When Ayed had previously seen Arnold carrying a sword more than half a meter long, he had been quite puzzled. Now he understood why. Since Arnold wanted to fight with a sword, that was his own choice.

The two exchanged blow after blow, slashing at each other with their swords. Sword tip collided with sword tip, sending energy scattering in every direction. Some of the huge boulders atop the mountain were even blasted apart by battle-qi.

After fighting for a while, Ayed judged Arnold's warrior cultivation to be around that of a Sixth-level Warrior.

The two swiftly retreated. Ayed then rushed at Arnold again at extreme speed, but this time was different. A surging sword aura covered his greatsword, and Arnold estimated that he would be unable to block it with his sword alone.

Thus, Arnold began silently chanting a spell, casting a Greater Gravity Spell that multiplied gravity. It counted as Seventh-level Magic.

Within a rectangular space one hundred meters wide and more than ten meters high, gravity near the ground was multiplied. Caught off guard, Ayed, who was charging forward at high speed, suddenly felt an astonishing pulling force coming from beneath the earth. His entire body was affected. He could no longer move quickly and came to an abrupt stop, even feeling dizzy all over.

Struck by the multiplied gravity without warning, Ayed's body became incomparably heavy, and he dropped to one knee.

To escape the effects of the terrifying gravity, the best option would have been to fly into the sky. But Ayed was not yet in the Saint Domain and could not fly, so he could only leave the gravity field.

Ayed exerted tremendous force to stand up. His entire body glowed with earthen-yellow light as he retreated nearly fifty meters before finally feeling better.

Seeing Ayed's condition, Arnold knew that this escape had been an eruption of Ayed's battle-qi. After all, the Gravity Spell was not omnipotent.