If Raze was going to take part in this performance, then the best thing he could do was shut it down before it started. He didn't want it to go back and forth between the two, with one trying to up each other.
If he really needed to show something that the other couldn't do, then he could just show magic, but that was a silly option and not something he could actually consider. No, instead, Dame would do the same as what Mantis had done.
He had shown everyone here that those from his clan saw the Descending Steps as a useless technique that couldn't actually be utilized well. While at the same time, still being able to perform it better than those learning.
'Very well, this should be enough,' Raze smirked as he lifted up his foot in the same stance as before.
'Wait,' Mac thought, raising his eyebrow. 'Is he just going to perform the Descending Steps? But I've only shown these guys the first step. I thought he might have picked something different to learn when he was at the academy or gotten an art he had been practicing on the outside, but if he is just going to show this, then it will mean nothing.'
His foot slammed on the ground, and the Qi dispersed out, hitting the group of four that were watching him; it was just as strong as before. After that, Raze then proceeded with a kick of his back foot, and he dashed forward, when he did so, he had appeared just short right of Mantis.
'The second step, there was someone among these guys that could produce the second step?' Mantis thought. Not only that, when he looked at the man straight in the eyes, there was an uneasy feeling flowing through his body. It was a feeling that he had felt before. One that he didn't get often.
At that moment, everyone thought the movement was going to end; he had produced two of the Descending Steps. They thought it might have been possible since he was able to copy that of what Mantis did, but that was when Raze jumped back, doing a flip, his leg kicked up, and he jumped backward.
The Qi continued to build up, and this could be seen right when he landed on the ground. Like a small stone being thrown into a pond, there was a ripple effect with his Qi as well, spreading out.
'The third step?' Mantis grunted seeing this. 'I can produce the third step as well; I can link them up, but I have to admit when I land, it's unstable, the Qi build-up breaks apart there, yet here it's so calm and steady.'
The thing was, it wasn't the end. 'Show him something he can't do, well then one more step should be enough!'
Raze kicked off with both of his feet, charging right ahead. It felt like a torpedo was being shot at them, but just before it hit them, Raze skidded across the ground, placing his foot down and stopped.
As his movement stopped, the wave of Qi energy carried on forward, blowing the hair of all of them wildly. They could feel the power; it was far stronger than the Qi that had been used in the first step.
For the first time, the students were able to witness the amazement of the Descending Steps, the added effect of the build-up of Qi.
'This is what someone can do when they use the Descending Steps properly?' Mantis thought, even he was amazed. He imagined if an attacking skill was used at the end of the fourth step, it was nearly as strong as his tiger formation.
'Not only that, but the steps continued, and he was already imagining what steps even further than that could do.'
Right on cue, in the middle of the silence, the sound of clapping was heard once more, and it was from the same person as before.
"Excellent work, you really, really showed us the spirit and strength of the Neverfall Clan," Rayna said with a large smile on her face.
The other low-ranked Clan members as well as the teacher Mac, were proud of 'Callum' for achieving what he had done. It was even more precious because it came from a lower-ranked Clan member.
Mantis, despite seeing everything though, he wasn't filled with rage; if anything, he was filled slightly with awe at the footstep technique. He had never seen it being performed so well in front of him, and he could already tell its power.
"One student was successful, but it's still an outdated technique regardless," Rod stated.
Wanting to finish things on a good note, Mac thought it was good for them to put a stop to the training there.
"Alright, everyone, rest up for the rest of the day, keeping what you saw in your heads. I hope Callum's performance has inspired you," Mac ordered.
Before leaving, Mantis walked up to Raze and stopped around a meter away from him, and he had a few words to say.n/-O1n
"Your footwork is great; I hope in the future we can work together and become good rivals within our clans."
The response was surprising. Raze expected him to swear at him, to state that foot techniques were useless and how things would have been different if it was a fight, but instead, the young master seemed to be respectful.
After walking away for a short while, it looked like Rayna and the two guests that had arrived with her were speaking, and moments later, the two of them had decided to jump up on the ledge and appeared to be leaving on their own.
Raze had jumped up with the others as well; he was trying to walk ahead of them because he could tell many were trying to speak with him, trying to find out how he knew about the Descending Steps.
However, just as the others had called out to him, Rayna somehow passed all of the students and was now by his side.
"I have a good eye for people, don't I? I could tell from your reactions and the Qi in your body. You weren't that impressed with his Descending Steps technique. I thought you might have had something else up your sleeve, not knowing the Descending Steps yourself."
There was more to it than that, which Rayna wasn't letting on, and it was the fact that she, for a second, saw an afterimage of someone else she had recently seen doing the same thing. At the top of the pyramid, she had seen everything the Dark Magus had done, and just like that, she thought that there might be more to this student as well.
"Anyway, let's not waste any time; a promise is a promise, so let's go get that item of yours."
Raze and Rayna had left the room, and they started to head down the spiraling staircase, leaving all of the other members behind to talk about what they had seen. There was large excitement, but eventually, the question came to their minds. Was Callum always that strong? When did he get so good, and when did he get the time to learn the technique?
They would just have to ask these questions when they saw him again.
After going down a few steps, Rayna seemed to be looking up at the chains that ran across from side to side like large swaying bridges. Finally, she had come across one. She then leapt up and asked Raze to follow her.
They continued to walk down towards a specific large hanging chain until she stopped in the center.
"All right, we're going to take a bit of a shortcut," Rayna stated, and she soon jumped down.
The heat was getting more intense as they ventured deeper below, and when looking down, the ground was filled with dust, to the point where Raze could hardly make out if there was a chain or the ground underneath.
'This feels just like when I fell off that cliffside again. Why does everything in this world have to be so deep?' Raze thought.
Regardless, he doubted that Rayna would be jumping to her death so soon, so he decided to follow, leaping off the same point as she did.
The dust filled and stung his eyes, and he was holding back using his magic to clear the way. Eventually, his feet landed on the large chain links the same size as a house, and it rattled slightly.
"Nice, you made it; I was worried I would have to fish your body from the bottom," Rayna said as she continued to walk down the chain. "That was just a joke, just a joke."
The two continued to walk, and eventually found another platform and a cave leading to a large cavern-like system.
Raze was continuing to follow Rayna, trying to remember the complex system, but it was quite difficult, and eventually, they had come to a large wall full of special cogwheels on the side, and two men in Pagna uniforms were standing below.
"This is the Neverfall Clan's Vault. The treasures gained from other dimensions in explorations, from our fights among others, our own exploration, and even from other clans and our history, is all in here."
"As I said, feel free to take an item of your choice. There will be some things I can't just let you take, but I think you've earned this much. I believe that those in our clan who do well should be rewarded!"
Raze stared at the door, and for some reason, he had a good feeling that if there was anywhere other than the library where he would find information about the Dark Faction leader, it would be here.
