Homewrecker Extraordinaire

After Martial Soul Possession, Vidal's ears turned into cat ears, a cat tail appeared behind him, and his eyes became the same gold-and-silver color as a Gem Cat's. Unlike Glen's possession, however, his hands remained human.

His first Spirit Ring lit up. Vidal extended his right hand and spread his fingers, summoning a pale pink, gemstone-like shield in midair that blocked the lava ball.

Unlike the pure energy attacks of ordinary offensive Soul Skills, magma had physical form. After being blocked, it scattered in all directions, splashing onto the floor, tables, and chairs. The intense heat ignited the wood, and clusters of flames sprang up throughout the tavern.

The bartender and patrons all fled outside, though they did not go far. They watched through the tavern entrance from the street.

Seeing this, Vidal's already foul mood worsened. He suddenly regretted not agreeing to take the fight outside.

He wanted to call a temporary truce, but his pride would not let him lower his head.

But he soon had no time to think about that. One Volcanic Bomb after another left him struggling to cope.

The powerful impacts made his arms go numb.

Vidal's defensive Soul Skill, Gem Shield, was highly effective against energy attacks. But while it could block physical attacks as well, the force of the impact would still be transmitted to his body, which he had to endure himself.

"Does this brat have Soul Power to spare? How many times has she used her Soul Skills already?"

Vidal's expression turned grave. He admitted that he had underestimated his opponent.

Yan Jin's two Soul Skills were essentially both meant to improve her control over her Martial Soul and Soul Power.

Originally, according to Amon's plan, these things should have been accomplished through Soul Power control techniques.

But improving those control techniques had proven far more difficult than he had expected. At the very least, Yan Jin could not manage it.

So they had no choice but to make up for it with corresponding Soul Skills.

Soul Skills that enhanced one's own control all shared one trait... they consumed very little, almost nothing.

Because they did not directly affect reality.

Yan Jin's attacks truly consumed only two things: expanding her Magma Martial Soul, and firing the magma, giving it speed.

As for the lack of a damage-enhancing effect, that was not much of a problem.

The properties of magma itself were already destructive enough.

Bang!

The crystalline shield shattered. Vidal retreated several steps, using the second-floor flooring as cover to temporarily disappear from Yan Jin's sight.

"Hah... not bad. You managed to take so many of my Volcanic Bombs." Yan Jin looked utterly relaxed.

The flames had already reached her, licking at her body, yet she acted as though she did not see them.

After summoning her Martial Soul, she could ignore all fire-type damage with a lower temperature than her Martial Soul.

"Then how about this... Great Eruption!"

The floor turned scarlet. Vidal's face changed. His second Spirit Ring lit up, and he rapidly backed away, grabbed the second-floor bartender hiding in the corner, and jumped out the window.

A massive fist of lava punched through the floor, its momentum unabated as it tore open the roof. From afar, it looked as though a giant had awakened beneath the ground and thrust out a hand.

With its load-bearing structure destroyed, the tavern came crashing down and became a pile of rubble.

Amon clicked his tongue, looking rather helpless.

Back then, Yan Jin had only fought with her fists and could not cause much damage. But now that she was clashing with Soul Masters, every fight seemed to end with a house being demolished. She was practically an absurdly efficient husky.

Vidal stared blankly as his tavern turned into ruins, looking somewhat dazed.

The moment he saw Yan Jin's Martial Soul, he had felt a bad omen. Two minutes later, that premonition had become reality.

The flames roared. From time to time, explosions rang out from the ruins as wine bottles burst or heavy objects fell.

Lei Yin stood dumbfounded. He could not understand how coming here for a meal had turned into this mess in the blink of an eye.

Watching Yan Jin emerge from the flames, surrounded by magma, Vidal unclenched his fists and gave up on continuing the fight.

His second Soul Skill increased his agility and speed. Charging at Yan Jin to fight her with that skill was simply courting death. Unless he chose a battle of attrition, but that would be meaningless.

Vidal suddenly laughed, clapping his hands as he praised, "Good, very good. This is the first time I've seen someone your age who is this formidable. What is your name?"

"Yan Jin."

"My name is Vidal. I admit that I was at fault. I failed to show proper respect to a strong opponent. That was discourteous of me." He spoke with a touch of apology.

Hearing him say that, Yan Jin felt a little embarrassed too. Looking at the tavern reduced to rubble, she laughed awkwardly.

"Haha, sorry, sorry. I went a little overboard. Um... this..."

"Don't worry, you don't need to compensate me. We agreed from the start that any damage would be on my account." A flicker of pain crossed Vidal's face.

Even with a city lord for a father and a sizable family estate, he could not afford to keep this up.

"Yan Jin, this is your first time in Ironheart City, isn't it? What brought you here?"

"Mm, it's our first time here. As for what we're doing... I don't know either, but we'll probably be staying for a few days. You'll have to ask Amon about that."

"Amon?" Vidal smoothed the wrinkles in his clothes. "Is he your elder?"

"More or less... he... Huh? You were here too?" Yan Jin asked in surprise when she saw Amon walking out of the burning ruins.

Amon adjusted his Monocle and said with a soft laugh,

"I'm surprised too. It hasn't even been half a day, and you've already gotten into a conflict with someone."

"I saw the battle just now. Your attacks still contained a great deal of unnecessary waste.

"That Great Eruption just now consumed far too much Soul Power. You clearly had more solutions that consumed less and caused less of a commotion."

I know that, but I don't like that blondie. Since he said he'd pay for the damage, I deliberately used the more destructive moves... Yan Jin did not say those thoughts aloud in front of Vidal. She merely smiled.

"Sorry about that. Yan Jin has always been rather mischievous since she was young," Amon said to Vidal.

"You are...?"

Seeing Amon emerge from the burning ruins without a speck of dust on him, Vidal knew that he was no ordinary person either and no longer maintained his arrogant attitude.

"I'm Amon. I'm half their teacher and half their elder brother. We are on our way to Northland Advanced Soul Master Academy and are resting here briefly."

Vidal's eyes lit up. "Would you like to visit my home? I know quite a bit about Northland Advanced Soul Master Academy as well."

Amon smiled and shook his head. "That won't be necessary. Yan Jin has always been quite skilled at demolishing houses."

"Haha, then let's leave it at that... The other two taverns will spread the news about the bounty. I look forward to meeting again." Vidal gave them a meaningful smile.

"Blondie, you're pretty good. Next time, let's have a real fight!" Yan Jin said with a grin.

Vidal shrugged. "Sure, but not at any of my family's properties."

After the group parted ways, the second-floor bartender asked Vidal, "Young Master, are we just letting this go?"

"Of course not..." Vidal smiled. "That Amon needs to hunt a Soul Beast between two thousand and five thousand years old. He should be a level-forty Soul Elder, one on the verge of becoming a Soul Ancestor.

"Yan Jin looks quite young, yet she gave me an exceptionally difficult time. Even in open terrain, in a direct fight, I am not confident I could defeat her.

"I'm not sure about the other child, but he is probably no simple character either.

"People like them will definitely become targets for recruitment by every faction once they arrive at Northland Advanced Soul Master Academy.

"How could we simply let this go? Send someone to find the Eyeless Snake immediately.

"I'm claiming this bounty. Don't let anyone beat me to it!"