"Here we are." After Noel told Valyr that he was going show the latter the level that existed beyond shadows, he remained silent all throughout the remainder of their journey to the training ground, even though Valyr was immensely curious as to what Noel meant by he said earlier.
Nevertheless, Valyr was eventually left with no choice but to suppress his curiosity for the meantime as the two eventually arrived at the place Noel had reserved earlier, a training ground which spanned an area that even his decently high PER stat could barely see the ends of.
Taking in a breath of the fresh air within the training ground he had reserved for the occasion, Noel picked up a spear from the rack of weapons located near the training ground's entrance before making his way deeper into the area. In response, Valyr stood in place for a while, wondering for a bit as to what Noel was planning to do, only for him to be told by the latter to follow him as the two of them made their way to the center.
"Is there a specific reason why we're at the center of the training ground?" Now at the center, Valyr looked at the old man beside him before asking the question that popped into his mind during the trek to where they currently were.
"But of course." Looking back at Valyr while letting out a faint sigh, Noel briefly gazed at the young man in front of him before nodding. "Every action I make has a reason behind it, after all."
"In any case, the reason why we're here is I want you to show me all of the moves you've unlocked in [Shadow Serpent Combat Style] so far," said Noel not long after. "Of course, I haven't forgotten you telling me earlier that you also have [Shadow Serpent Movement Style], but we'll focus on the combat aspect for now."
"Anyways, don't hold back." After saying these words to Valyr, Noel took a few steps backward before slightly bending his knees. Then, before Valyr could wonder to himself what Noel was doing, the latter had exerted the entirety of his strength through his legs, distancing himself from the young man to the point Valyr could only barely make out the old man's silhouette from the distance.
However, aside from being left in a dazed state from the sudden move Noel had pulled off, what astonished Valyr more was the fact that the old man still had that much strength within him, prompting him to return to one of his earlier thoughts that he would undoubtedly lose if he fought against him. 'On second thought, I won't just lose if I fight against him...'
'I'd probably die if I did.'
'Thank the heavens he doesn't have a bad impression of me... yet." Muttering a few mocking words to himself as he let out a soft chuckle, Valyr took out his spear from his back before taking in a few deep breaths to compose himself.
Then, focusing a great amount of his attention towards the movements he was about to execute, Valyr went ahead and proceeded to begin showing the skills he had unlocked through [Shadow Serpent Combat Style] by going through the basic spear movements, generating momentum through them in order for the skills of focus to have greater force in them.
"I'm surprised my eyes still haven't failed me." While Valyr was in the midst of going through the basic spear movements, Noel watched everything unfold from afar as he let out a bit of laughter, using the spear he had grabbed earlier as a cane of sorts. "With such a foundation like that, if he wasn't limited by his current rank, his proficiency with the spear would be gauged at Elite level at the very least, perhaps even Expert level."
"Now... I wonder how his proficiency with [Shadow Serpent Combat Style] stacks up to his foundation." With the thought in mind, Noel continued to watch Valyr go through the movements, a faint smile eventually creeping up onto his lips as he felt a familiar sensation emanate from Valyr.
"[Offense Aura]." Feeling like he had generated enough momentum, Valyr went ahead and activated what he considered to be one of his bread and butter skills in offense, deciding to leave his strongest buffing skill for the last technique. With the skill now activated, he then spun around in place, conserving all of the momentum he had generated before transferring all of it towards his spear, swinging it in a forwards arc not long after.
"[Shadow Serpent Style]."
"[Descending Shadow Maw]."
Bang!
Now used to the sensation of connecting with the source of energy he now knew as Shadow Energy, Valyr's spear unsurprisingly hit the ground with great force, leaving a small yet deep crater on the tough training ground. Admiring the aftermath of his attack for a brief moment, Valyr capitalized on the momentum he had generated from the attack, moving his spear in a manner that reduced the loss of momentum to its momentum before proceeding to thrust his spear out with all of the strength in his body.
"[Shadow Serpent Style]."
"[Strike of the Venomous Night]."
Bang!
Rumble...
In less than an instant, a dark wave of energy swiftly radiated from Valyr's spear tip, causing the ground to quake as all of the energy from the attack was left with no choice but to transmit most of its energy towards it. Of course, now that he had used the skill twice, Valyr was certain that if this attack landed on his opponent, he was certain that the latter would receive a grievous injury at the very least, if not death.
"Haah..." With his spear still extended outward, Valyr took in a deep breath before bending his knees to get into a stabler stance, activating [Limit Break] in the meantime in preparation for what was the final technique he had unlocked in [Shadow Serpent Combat Style].
What was previously known as [Tyrannous Bite], which was an attack that made everything within a certain radius from the spear tip disappear from sight, Valyr activated the final skill as he tightly gripped onto his spear before swinging it upward with as much as speed as possible.
"[Shadow Serpent Style]."
"[Tide of the Dark Night]."
Whoosh!
At the very instant Valyr started to swing his spear upwards, dark energy started to pile up in front of Valyr before being sent out as a large wave, prompting Valyr to think that the attack looked quite similar to a tsunami, with its pitch-black color being the only thing stopping him from thinking it was an actual tsunami.
"Scary..." Watching the wave of dark energy move through the training ground at great speeds, Valyr was left at a loss for words as he noticed that the ground the wave of energy had made contact with was significantly darker than the ground surrounding it, causing him to slightly shudder as he watched the tsunami eventually disappear around 10 seconds later.
With Valyr now done showing Noel all of the skills he had unlocked from [Shadow Serpent Combat Style], he then looked in the old man's direction, wondering if what he was going to do next had something to do with the level beyond shadows.
"I must say... you have superb control over your skills." Around a minute after Valyr had unleashed [Tide of the Dark Night], Noel's voice reverberated throughout the training ground with great clarity, prompting Valyr to think that the old man had infused his voice with mana. "Now, how about I show you one of those skills..."
"But under the hands of someone greater than a Shadow Serpentine Lancer?"
Whoosh!
"[Abyssal Serpent Style]."
"[Tide of the Endless Night]."
