Thus, the two parties travelled towards the mountains. Although the conversation sounded amicable, there was a noticeable tension in the air. The four birds led the way while Protector Avin trailed behind them. He maintained a large distance and stayed vigilant. They had betrayed the Imperial Council once. It was entirely possible they would betray the Alzar Kingdom again. He was not foolish enough to trust them wholeheartedly. Moreover, there were only four elder birds present. One was missing. The bird could be waiting in ambush, luring him into a trap. It was unlikely, but he could not ignore the threat of the Featherwind Sect. He heard about their clash with the Sword King over Guanhuang. Their epic battle had destroyed the entire city and created huge earthquakes shaking the province. Their power was truly awe-inspiring and horrifying, even to Protector Avin.
He looked at his hand and clenched it. A combat system… The words of Nassandra entered his ears. She was curious about his combat system. Since he was a Rank 3 King alongside the Sword King, certainly he must have one too. She wanted to see it to gain inspirations for her own. However, truthfully speaking… he had to disappoint because he did not have one. A combat system encompassed offense, defense, mobility, recovery, and investigation. For mobility, he had the wind tunnel spell, Bridging Horizon. For offense, he had Three Harmonic Rebound and Roaring Storm Devastation, two very powerful spells he unveiled in the Xingyuu Empire. But aside from that, he did not have any remarkable defense, recovery, or investigation methods. His True Perception did not count as a true investigation method, since it was his innate ability. The recovery method which caused the 'heavenly phenomenon' in Firecast could not be used. As for defense, it was his weakest aspect.
His combat system was incomplete and juvenile. It could not be compared to the Sword King's Cloud Sea Style. This was expected though, seeing as the Sword King was a Rank 3 King for a lot longer than Protector Avin. The Sword King was also a battle maniac. He hated to admit it, but… the Sword King was probably stronger than him currently. And that same person struggled to defeat the Featherwind Sect in the Battle of Guanhuang. Granted, it was more of a spar than a serious battle to the death. Both sides had trump cards remaining. The Sword King had his Bloodline Ability, and the Featherwind Sect had secrets too. Still, it showcased the Featherwind Sect had the power to resist a Rank 3 King! Then, what about Protector Avin, who was admittedly weaker? The result would be obvious. Not to mention… his eyes scanned the four birds ominously. They had grown stronger since then. He wondered what they were thinking about.
The four birds remained silent, even in their own language. Protector Avin might have a spell to translate language like they did, so it could be a mistake to say anything. Nevertheless, Elder Argo was fairly upset. The original plan was to reunite with Elder Unvo at the One Summit Three Kings natural formation and plunder the mountains of their resources. Who knew how many good things were left untouched, waiting for their eager claws? Greed was visible on all their faces. Then, in the morning, after they were done with the mountains, they would inform Protector Avin and the Zino Kingdom about Elizabeth's situation. While this would have risked the alliance they had with Elizabeth, the temptation of Noble or Monarch Grade treasures was too much. It was a risk they were willing to take. But… their plans went up in smoke after encountering Protector Avin.
"Karma…" Elder Argo clicked his tongue.
Of course, he knew about a Rank 3 King's innate abilities. He was previously a candidate to become the Featherwind Sect's next Rank 3 King after all. Once the fusion of Martial and Magic Energies reached harmony, a new connection with the heavenly principles would be born. It symbolized the person's approach to divinity. The first innate abilities were related to perception, luck, and karma. Evidently, Protector Avin had more affinity towards karma than Elder Argo expected. The bird thought rapidly. Since they could not deceive Protector Avin, it was better to act boldly.
In the meantime, Elder Ludin and Terus had strange expressions, while Elder Crus glanced behind her. That was because Protector Avin was doing something unusual. He was actually triple casting spells to keep up with them! Although Bridging Horizon was a decent movement spell, it lacked the endurance for a long distance journey. To compensate for this weakness, he wove recovery spells in between. And since it was dark and stormy, he needed another perception spell to avoid crashing into obstacles and observe the Featherwind Sect. Every spell he used was powerful, and the combined burden made his mind strain. It would have made any Peak Condensed Drop Arcanist gulp, which was why flight was an ability typically reserved for a Blue Depth Core Arcanist. Only he could do it. Of course, if he had a better movement spell, he would not need to triple cast in the first place. He had not wanted to reveal this weakness to the birds.
Elder Argo inspected the man and noticed this weakness immediately. From what he could tell, Protector Avin's movement and recovery methods were inflexible and awkward. They did not harmonize at all. Like pieces of a puzzle that did not fit together, it was the sign of a poorly developed combat system, or even worse, of an inexperienced Rank 3 King. This made Elder Argo look down on him. Protector Avin seemed to be inferior to the Sword King in terms of combat systems. The bird memorized this useful information and accelerated with a flap of his wings. The three birds followed suit.
This action led Protector Avin to narrow his eyes. They probably wanted to gleam more information from him, to learn more about his personality, his spells, and his limits. Would he speed up? Would he stop? Would he get angry? Would he say nothing? Know thy enemy and yourself, and you would never be defeated. As the saying goes, information was as valuable as gold. Their battle had begun the moment they met. Now, they were assessing each other, while hiding their own cards. Protector Avin had revealed his weakness first, so he was mildly annoyed. He stopped his spells and landed on a road. The birds gradually disappeared into the horizon and left him behind. He was not worried about getting lost. When he concentrated on his karma, he could still sense Freon and Nassandra's location. Furthermore, the earlier tremors seemed to settle down. Whatever happened, it looked like the most dangerous period had passed. He rested for a few minutes before moving again. This time, with a new method.
Elizabeth had a splitting headache and groaned in pain. Every part of her body ached and sored. It felt like her body was twisted the wrong way and broken. Everything felt wrong. Even breathing was laborious. She was stuck lying there, unable to move a single finger. The taste of blood entered her mouth. It was revolting and she could not get rid of it, no matter how much she swallowed. She felt truly miserable. Well, it was better than dying, so there was that. At least, she felt that she would live a little longer. An indeterminable amount of time passed before her eyes opened. What answered her was a black abyss. Elizabeth was really beginning to hate this damned darkness! If they had fought in the open, they might have defeated that monster. It was all because of this cursed cave! She exhaled sharply. The anger made her head hurt again. What happened anyways? She remembered the entire cave floor collapsing, and everyone falling. Just where was she now? And where was everyone?
She coughed violently, as the feeling of her limbs returned. Although she had many… probably far too many experiences like this in the past, it remained uncomfortable every time. She would never get used to this. Regardless, thanks to her 'experiences', she assessed her situation calmly. Her arms and legs were working. Although she did suffer some bruises and cuts, they were manageable. Next was her Core. Looking inward, her Core came into view. It was mostly empty with one or two clouds of Magic Energy floating around. This was less than what a Low Gaseous Fog Arcanist had. It was dangerously little. Her hands fumbled around for her bow. When she felt the familiar texture, she visibly relaxed. She found it funny. Her quiver was absent, meaning she had no real arrows. The only way she could use her bow was through magic. Even then, that bow accompanied her from childhood until now. It brought her immeasurable comfort.