Chapter 31: Chapter 31: Liam vs Aurora
Seeing the situation, Liam also revealed his element, which was water. He did the same as Aurora, but his water wasn't drowning him; it functioned like a field. It also dispersed the flames and didn't allow them to get near Liam.
Aurora was standing in the middle of a sea of fire, flames covering her body. She put force on her legs and was ready for an attack.
"Friction Steps." Aurora used her movement technique and shot at Liam at a speed far superior to before. The best way to fight a Runemaster was close combat, as they would have a hard time activating already formed formations.
Liam smiled upon seeing that and brought his right hand forward, muttering "Water serpent." Numerous small water serpents began forming on the tips of his fingers, which he shot at Aurora with such speed that they reached her in just a few seconds.
Aurora didn't slow down a bit and continued zigzagging her way toward Liam. The first water serpent was soon going to hit her belly, but it evaporated as Aurora focused the flames on the spot the serpent was aiming for. There were many serpents, but due to her control over flames, manipulation of the flame over her body was smooth, and she managed to avoid getting hit by most of them.
Aurora had given equal time to Flame control as she had to her Lightning control. She wanted to become an Alchemist, and flame control was a must for it. She even had the Eight Apertures Exquisite Pill Heart, which helped her control the flames.
She used her Friction Steps for whatever serpents remained. Although it was initially a movement technique, she had begun to use its concepts in situations like these.
Aurora usually decreased friction between her legs and the surface to increase her speed. Now she did the opposite and increased the friction around her body. Of course, this resulted in her stopping since she was still in the starting phase of learning Friction.
Liam saw this chance and whispered, "Earth Spike."
Aurora was having a hard time dealing with the water serpents as she could sense the dense water element in them, combined with their insane speed. She was sure to lose her skin if they hit her. As she was thinking of ways to get out of the encirclement of the water serpents, her instincts screamed of danger behind her. Without thinking twice, she jumped up with her full power.
'Boom.'
A small explosion occurred where Aurora had previously been, as a sharp spike coming out of the ground met with the numerous water serpents.
Aurora wasn't unscathed. When she was jumping, her defenses were weak, and two water serpents had hit her: one at her thigh and the second one at her left hand. Blood was spewing out of the wounds as the holes were one cm deep.
Aurora landed a little distance away and stared at Liam warily. She was sure she could deal with his attacks if she used her lightning, but the instant activation of the formation was causing her problems, as she wasn't even getting time to react. The only reason she was able to avoid that spike was because of her instincts.
Aurora completely ignored the wounds as if they weren't even there and thought, 'Why am I even thinking so much? I always bring out my full potential when I'm fully depending on my instincts, even Master said this.'
Aurora again jumped up and in mid-air she crossed both of her daggers above her and slashed down, a cross-shaped wave of Penetrating Flames cleaved its way towards Liam rapidly.
At first, she was conserving the Penetrating Flames because they consumed a massive quantity of profound energy, but now she was going to let loose.
She positioned herself and gathered the flames from the surroundings as much as she could at the base of her legs. She decreased the friction around her body and shot at Liam directly behind the flame wave.
Liam stared at the upcoming flaming wave with a stupefied expression. What Aurora had shown today had surpassed his expectations. He had seen many geniuses when he roamed the Starhaven continent, but nobody could compare to Aurora. It wasn't because of her cultivation; it was because of her instincts.
The earth spike had reached her in less than a second, but she was still able to avoid it. He had thought that even if she reacted fast enough, as he thought she was a genius, she should have received some damage.
But he was an experienced person and broke out of his daze instantly. He punched out with all his power, resulting in the formation of a big water fist that met the terrifying penetrating flames, causing the whole hall to fill with dense mist.
Just after the mist was created, Aurora arrived near Liam and thrust her dagger at Liam's neck.
'So the flames aren't invincible. If used with enough power, even they can be extinguished,' Liam thought as he parried the dagger aimed at his neck with his sword.
Liam and Aurora began to fight in close range as their daggers and swords collided with each other.
Although Liam was a Runemaster, he loved fighting. It was clearly shown now.
The difference wasn't much between them, as Liam had years of experience that Aurora couldn't win against with just a few months of training. But she compensated for it with her instincts as she avoided most of the attacks on her vitals.
After a final clash, they both separated and distanced themselves.
Currently, both of them were riddled with slashes and cuts, blood all over their bodies. Still, they didn't even groan in pain and just stared at each other.
"You're quite skilled for your age," Liam said, wiping blood from the corner of his lips with a chuckle, marveling at Aurora's pain tolerance.
"And you're quite weak for a Heaven Profound Stage Artist," Aurora replied with a chuckle as she also wiped the blood from her face. "What? Don't have any profound techniques to use?"
Contrary to her expectations, Liam laughed loudly and said, "Haha, you're right, I'm at my weakest. As for techniques, it's true I never really learned them. For me, only two things mattered: Runes and pure close combat. Why would I waste my time comprehending those useless techniques?"
Aurora looked at Liam with a speechless expression.
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