Armipotent

Chapter 2239: Interlude - Dean (2)

The reason he hadn’t touched the cultivation was because of his instructor’s instruction. He was told to focus on his class and advance to Epic Rank before entering cultivation. It was because the cultivation was a long process, not something he could get instantly. He wanted to take this opportunity to learn more about cultivation.

After a little bit of chat, he was told to get up to the arena, and a kid of his age stood across from him. He saw a trace of arrogance in the kid’s eyes, or maybe it was just him. But this kid named Feng Yun had the same look as the older student who had reached Epic Rank earlier than him.

Dean took a breath, equipping himself with armor and armed his hands with shield and sword. His class was called Gale Knight. He was offered the same class as his mother’s, but he didn’t want to join TEID. Getting the same class would direct his path to TEID, and he didn’t want that.

His deceased father was the reason he chose the Gale Knight Class. The Rosikh Family was known for their Knight Class, after all. His father was one of them, an excellent one, and he wanted to take the same path. He didn’t plan to replace his father, but he wanted to keep the trace of his father, and maybe evolve his class to Dragon Knight since he had a dragon bloodline.

One of the Joes, John Joe, would oversee the sparring. John Joe was one of his instructors for practical combat. He looked at Instruction John and nodded, indicating he was ready. At the same time, he kept his stepfather’s words in mind.

’Don’t beat him quickly, but don’t lower your guard as well. Feel him out...’

Dean realized he didn’t remember word-for-word, but one thing was clear. His stepfather asked him to test the young cultivator’s strength.

He then looked at Feng Yun. His opponent was holding a spear in his right hand, and his left hand was on the back, standing there calmly. There was no stance or anything, and this confirmed his guess that his opponent might underestimate him.

If it were a duel with something on the line, he would use his opponent’s arrogance to his advantage. Especially the Joes who always emphasized that in their teaching. There was no honor in the battle of life and death, only survival or death.

But this was just a sparring, and he had a task to complete. He didn’t let his opponent’s arrogance affect him. He already thought about how to start the spear. Or maybe the cultivator was just as strong as the rare class, or maybe even stronger. That explained where his opponent’s confidence was coming from.

Dead remained composed and took this seriously. Since he was tasked to test the cultivator, he would use a non-lethal skill at the start. He would start from there on how to test out his opponent.

The moment Instructor John shouted the cue, Dean immediately activated his skill, Gust Incursion. He was charging forward with a shield covering his torso. It was a fancy version of Shield Bash. The difference was that his body moved, and he was quick like a gust.

Several scenarios played in his mind. A scenario where his opponent would meet him head-on, since his opponent underestimated him. He even predicted that his opponent might do some footwork to dodge and strike him from behind. He prepared everything until his shield hit something with a loud thud that was followed by an echo of a wail-piercing scream in the air.

Dean’s eyes widened in surprise, blinking in disbelief. His mouth opened, then closed again. He wanted to say something, but didn’t know what to say. He almost blurted out something he was not supposed to say. Everything was because his opponent received his Gust Incursion raw.

He saw his opponent’s body spring backward, bounce off the solid ground, then roll off the arena. Among all scenarios in his head, he didn’t have this one played in his head. Now he was at a loss as to what to do because he failed his task miserably.

This never happened during his daily friendly fight. All his opponents would block, deflect, or dodge him. No one had ever taken Gust Incursion raw like his current opponent. That was why he was regarded as a non-lethal attack, a good opening skill for a duel like this.

John Joe was also speechless. He expected a close fight since his Majesty oversaw this personally. He thought His Majesty found an interesting and talented kid, trying to use this kid to test Young Master Dean. However, the result was far from what he predicted.

Being someone with more experience, he snapped and rushed toward the red-haired boy. He checked the condition, and his face scrunched as he quickly noticed the boy’s ribcage was cracked. It must be painful as he quickly produced a healing potion from his inventory, a high-grade one, and fed a quarter of it to the red-haired boy.

It was his carelessness that caused the accident. He should stop Young Master Dean’s attack before it could seriously injure the opponent. He was relieved that the attack didn’t cause trauma to the red-haired boy, just a shock from the defeat.

John got up just to see the red-haired boy’s guardian standing next to them. He looked at the man in the eyes and was relieved the guardian was not mad, more like relieved, which was weird.

”Dean wins!”

The announcement caused the red-haired boy to jolt as he quickly got back on his feet, ”NO! I want to fight him one more time!”

Feng Yun believed it was his arrogance that caused him to lose. He underestimated his enemy and paid the price. However, it would be different in the next fight. He would take this seriously and prove that his granduncle was wrong. The cultivator would reign supreme over the player. They didn’t need the system, and he needed to prove it.

John and Feng Zhan looked at each other, but neither voiced anything because they could not make a decision when there was someone far above them in authority. They simultaneously turned toward Tang Shaoyang, and the latter responded with a nod.

”Do you want to continue the spar, Dean?” Tang Shaoyang asked his stepson.

”Yes!” Dean was relieved and quickly agreed. He would complete his task this time as he returned to his original position.

Feng Yun got back on the arena, getting positioned in the previous spot, but this time he didn’t stand coolly again after the earlier embarrassment.

Meanwhile, Dean was in a pickle as he didn’t know what he should do. How should he start the fight now? But he didn’t think much, as it was better to start with the same skill. His opponent should be prepared now, and his opponent should prepare something to counter him. He would take the spar from that before revealing more skills from his arsenal.

Gust Incursion!

Again, he charged with the shield in front, and this time, his opponent did something. Crimson fire spiraled around Feng Yun’s spear as he thrust the spear forward to meet his shield.

Dean prepared for the impact, preparing for the worst. Like what he would do if the spear was strong enough not just to stop him, but to blast his shield. The tip of the spear clashed against his shield, and the fire burst out. The clanking sound resounded as the fire raged, covering them both.

Dean was surprised because he only felt a slight nudge on his shield. He could not feel the force behind the spear. That made him think the fire was the actual threat as he activated his second skill, Gale Ward.

A fierce gale revolved with him in the center. The skill was creating a ward made of wind, and the fire was completely repelled by his skill. The only thing that reached him was the heat from the fire.

Meanwhile, Feng Yun’s foot skidded against the solid surface from the impact, getting pushed backward near the edge of the arena. His eyes widened in surprise because he was completely being overpowered by a kid of his age.

He was confused and dazed by the situation. In this moment, Dean used another skill, Gale Command. It was one of the interesting skills that his class granted, offering flexibility. He could use it as an area or on a specific target.

The skill was a taunting skill specific to the Gale Knight. It didn’t just compel his target to attack him, but also added a suction force that forced them to move toward him.

It seemed he managed to catch his opponent off guard as he saw Feng Yun flying toward him because of the suction force. He always reminded himself to use only non-lethal force. He was ready to bash Feng Yun with his shield, but he expected Feng Yun to regain his balance midway and react to another fire-based attack.

To his surprise, Feng Yun was flailing in the air, scrambling to regain the balance. To Dean’s surprise, his shield hit Feng Yun’s body. He ended up hitting the hand, then the body. A cracking sound was heard, and Dean’s face scrunched because he knew how painful it might be.

Feng Yun’s scream echoed once more as he was sent flying off the stage. At this point, it was clear that Dean was far stronger than the young cultivator.

John Joe deemed this fight over. Young Master Dean hadn’t even gone all out yet. It was all basic skills from his class, something that should be easily handled if the opponent was on the same level.

However, Feng Yun got back on his feet once more after drinking another quarter of the healing potion. He requested another fight, lasting a little bit longer, again and again. Each time, Feng Yun lasted a little bit longer in the arena, but it was because of Dean’s mercy.

Tang Shaoyang watched the sparring fight in disappointment because Feng Yun fell far short of his expectations. However, he was yet to realize that he was watching a man who would lead one of his strongest legions. He would specially form a legion called Phoenix Legion, and Feng Yun would be the Phoenix Legion Commander.