?Harrison grinned before slamming both of his palms to the ground. He dispersed a large amount of his mana from his palms to the ground.
Aditya felt that the earth beneath him beginning to shake back and forth. At first, he almost fell down but he was quickly able to find his balance and stand firmly on the ground.
The ground beneath him lifted like a wave. Suddenly, he sensed the ground having waves like the ocean. The earth around him kept rising and falling like ocean waves. The firm ground under him turned as soft and squishy as jelly.
'Interesting.....!!' This was his first time meeting someone so proficient at controlling the Earth.
'I have never met anyone more capable of manipulating Earth like this.' Aditya thought in his mind.
As the ground continued its unsteady movements, Harrison quietly gathered a surge of dark energy in his hands. His hands were hidden by the chaos of the shifting earth.
Harrison manipulated the shadows around him. He created a series of sharp and dark spikes that blended seamlessly with the earth's waves. These spikes were almost invisible against the backdrop of the undulating ground. These spikes moved rapidly toward Aditya with the intention of unexpectedly striking him from below.
Aditya was focused on keeping his footing. He sensed a sudden and dangerous shift in the energy around him. His instincts kicked in. His intuition made him feel that this could be Harrison's ploy.
Just when the attack was about to hit Aditya, he teleported away from the danger by relying on Crimson Wrap Flash. The shadow spikes emerged from the ground where he stood just moments ago. The shadow spikes had missed their target. Aditya reappeared a few meters away before looking at Harrison who looked a little bit surprised to see that the Dragon Monarch avoided his attack so easily.
'What a clever way of using Earth movements to conceal his next attack. If not for my Crimson Wrap Flash, then I seriously would have been injured by this sneak attack' Aditya thought in his mind. Aditya's perception could not sense anything until the last second.
Aditya couldn't help but be impressed by Harrison's clever use of the earth's movements to conceal his attack. However, now Aditya has become more alert and aware of Harrison's tactics.
Aditya decided it was time to turn the tables on Harrison.
"Let me return the favor then...!!!"
He tapped one foot lightly on the ground.
Aditya's control over the Crimson flames had evolved dramatically once he had broken into 4th-order cultivation. His comprehension and proficiency of the crimson flames had reached a new level of understanding.
Crack.....!!!
Barely perceptible to the human ear, faint cracking sounds began emanating from the earth beneath Harrison's feet.
Even a normal Peak 5th-order could mistake these very faint and barely audible cracking sounds of the ground as something else entirely. But Harrison was different from other cultivators. His senses were many times stronger. His perception of his surroundings was really stronger compared to normal cultivators.
Harrison's instincts as a more than 1000+ years old cultivator were really sharp. Hearing the faint earth-cracking sound under his foot, he exerted a burst of strength in his legs before propelling himself upwards just as the ground where he stood moments ago burst open.
A powerful wave of Crimson flames blasted out of the ground. The crimson flame painted the air with fiery red hues. The flames roared like a wild beast that was set free.
Harrison narrowly escaped the Crimson Inferno attack. He landed a safe distance away from the attack.
He looked surprised seeing something like this being pulled off. Even though he was many times stronger than Peak 5th-order cultivators, he almost could not detect this attack coming towards him. If he hadn't heard the very small faint cracking sounds of the ground, then by now his entire body might have been roasting in especially hot Crimson flames.
"Impressive!!! I didn't see that coming," He admitted honestly.
Aditya waited for Harrison to make his move while he began to analyze the things that he had observed about his opponent. 'After fighting Harrison for well over a minute, I have confirmed a few things.'
'First of all, Harrison's base stats are somewhere around 1,200. A Peak 5th-order cultivator's all five combined stats (strength, agility, Mana, Health, and Stamina) is somewhere within 5,000 to 6,000. In the past, I have faced and have killed many Peak 5th-order cultivators but their stats weren't evenly distributed like Harrison's. If the cultivator was a Mage-type cultivator then his stats would be more heavily focused on his Mana. While his Agility and strength would range somewhere from [850+] to [1,100+]. If the cultivator was a Body-path cultivator, then his stats would be more heavily focused on his strength and agility while neglecting his Mana and Health stats.'
'But He is very different from those cultivators that I have met and fought in the past. As a Warlock, his stats are perfectly balanced. Not even my stats are that perfectly balanced. All of his stats are around range of [1200+].'
But for nonhuman cultivators, the stats distribution will be different. For example, a Dragon will possess more Mana and also strength than a human cultivator of that same cultivation stage.
In this world, cultivators do not have a system. But all cultivators of this world have something that is very similar to the system. It was the Altar. The Altar is not a religious place. Only a few people believe in religion in this world.
The Altar is a place where every cultivator will be able to see their stats. It is through this altar that the cultivators are able to know what class and what skills they possess.
The Altar does not allow cultivators to freely distribute their stats like the Dragon Monarch System could. Ever since he came to this world over a year ago, up until this very moment he had never met a cultivator whose stats were so perfectly balanced.
'This makes him an odd...or oddest one that I have met till now.'
'The second thing that I was able to learn is that Harrison is capable of using three different elements. He can use Earth and Darkness as well as Blood.' As a Vampire, it would be normal for them to be able to Manipulate Blood.'
'While his base stats are equally distributed, I don't know how much his stats have changed with all of those artifacts that he is wearing.' With a glance, Aditya could see him wearing a Peak 4-star pendant on his neck. While he had covered his hands with black gloves, Aditya had a feeling that he was wearing at least 4 to 7 rings on his fingers.
Aditya backed this conclusion with the fact that Harrison did not look worried about running out of mana. He did not hold back in his attacks. This meant that he also had an additional supply of Mana other than his base Mana.
Just like how Aditya is able to increase his Mana reserve through various passive skills. For example, right now due to his Soul Inferno Ascension passive skill, all of his stats have increased by 50%.
Currently, Aditya's stats looked something like this after the Soul Inferno Ascension passive skill had been activated.
『_Strength: - 511 → 766.5
_Speed: - 853 → 1279.5 + [Bracelet of Wind Fairy - 100+] + [Wraithwalk Boots - 500+]
_Stamina: - 585 → 877.5
_Health: - 585 → 877.5
_Mana: - 4,152 → 6,228
_Free stats: - 2
_Activation Time of Soul Inferno Ascension - 13:03』
Even though Aditya had broken into beginner 4th-order, his stats hadn't changed much because he was already level 300. Level 300 was the final and last border between Peak 3rd-order and Beginner 4th-order. So when he leveled up just once, he had reached or stepped into Beginner 4th order.
'My main advantage against Harrison is my agility. Now that I think back, Agility always has been my main trump card against all the powerful foes that I have faced till now.'
'But all of his stats are above [1,000+]. This becomes a problem when I am trying to fight him at close range.' But Aditya was clearly more experienced than him in close range fights. He can easily turn Harrison's attack with his agility and even use his agility and his experience to land a few strikes on Harrison.
'But it seems he also has realized that he cannot fight me in close range.' Although Aditya had over trump cards, he wasn't willing to take out his other trump cards before knowing what the opponent's trump cards were.
Aditya was currently trying to push Harrison into using his Trump card.
Although having well-balanced stats is a really good and unique thing that did not mean that it gave Harrison that edge needed to stand out from other Peak 5th-order cultivators. He surely had other trump cards that turned him into one of the strongest Peak 5th-order cultivators of this world.
'This reminds of me Arturo who also called himself the Barbaric King.' Aditya thought in his mind.
Arturo was called the strongest Peak 5th-order cultivator of the Dying Isle Continent. He was the trump card of The Echo Nexus empire. Compared to Harrison, he was truly Barbaric. His methods were really cruel.
Unfortunately, even the Barbaric King met his end on Aditya's hands.
"Dragon Monarch, you're truly a mysterious person. You were randomly picked by the Late King Ahmed and then adopted to become his son. You eventually took over the Istarin Empire which previously was known as the Istarin Dynasty. But when I tried to look at your past, I could not find anything about you. It was as if he just appeared in the alleys of the Azure City." Harrison had tried to find out more about Aditya's background but he could not find anything beyond his life in Azure City.
It was as if he randomly appeared in Azure City one day.
"My past has nothing to do with you." Aditya said in a slightly cold tone.
"Were you perhaps abandoned by your parents?" Harrison asked with a smile seeing that Aditya's face now looked a little bit cold.
"I feel pi...crack.....!!!" Seeing the ground beneath him cracking once again, his expression changed quickly. Harrison quickly jumped back.
He managed to escape the Crimson flame that burst out of the ground.
As he jumped back in the air to dodge, suddenly Aditya teleported behind him. Before Harrison could dodge, the Adamantite Doomblade had already severed right Harrison's arm. Harrison was left stunned seeing his right was falling down.
'Huh....!!'
Really Thank you very much to all those who send support with valuable golden tickets. I hope we can keep it up!!!
My apologies for disappearing for two whole days. I had to write the IELTS exam so I was preparing for it just one day before writing the exam. So I only slept for 2 hours that night. Once my exam was over, I had to help my big sister shift her house. By time time, we finished and returned home it was already 4 a.m. and then I slept for the entire day.
