MOUNTAINS TO CLIMB

Winds were scattered as eighteen figures dashed through the lush forest as if it were flat ground. Each of eighteen wore the same, green robe with strange, flowery threads skirting along the edges. Of the eighteen, the youngest one appeared to be no older than 25, while the oldest was a middle-aged man with a few strands of white hair here and there giving him immense, mature appearance.

All of the eighteen were either disciples or Elders of Jade Earth School. Each carried air of pride and arrogance, and even the weakest among them appeared to be Dragon among men on the first glance. Jade Earth School was a large-sized sect, three times the size of Imperial Magus Sect, and it controlled majority of the eastern land of Rolyhard Kingdom.

They were also on their way to the ancient city when one of their Elders felt a strange, spacial fluctuations, causing them to drift away from the path and journey into this jungle-like forest. While they weren’t moving exceptionally quickly, they still traversed good twenty meters with each step, causing their bodies to appear like blurs amidst the trees.

On the similarly opposite side of them, several dozen kilometers away still, was a group of seventeen people; they also wore same robes, and theirs were impeccably crimson with a tinge of orange, causing their robes to appear as if ablaze. These were the disciples and Elders of True Flame Sect, sized similarly to the Jade Earth School, while controlling majority of the southern parts of the Kingdom. Their group was also structured similarly, composed of four Elders and thirteen disciples, weakest of which was Three Stars Master Archmage.

These two groups, if viewed from above, seemed to be traveling in a parallel route, converging towards the singular point. As they raced from angles, they were unaware of the three humans and two creatures that were moving to that exact same point, traveling the direct, in-between route.

As Lynne approached the tomb, due to his spacial awareness, he could feel everything around him in a few kilometers radius. Just as two groups entered that radius, he was alarmed beyond belief, immediately freezing on spot. While majority of them were between Master Archmage and Dominus Archmage ranks, each group also had two Heavenly Mages and a singular Celestial Magus. One had to know that Celestial Magus was a pinnacle existence on Alloy continent; even Principal of Imperial Magus Sect was just a One Star Celestial Magus, with almost no hope of ever becoming stronger.

The higher ranks of Magus were divided by plethora of things, but it was relatively easy to distinguish one’s strength. Each rank had a corresponding aura that seeped out of one’s body involuntarily. Unless they had a specific art which was able to hide it – something like Lynne’s Infinite Faces – even those ordinary, Novice Mages would be able to tell one’s strength.

There were two greatest divides towards latter ranks of a Magus: comprehension of Spell Arts and their creation was impactful to a somewhat lesser degree, but comprehension of Natural Laws was like a mountain that very few could cross.

Each Spell Art at least had two levels of understanding, with even the greatest one never surpassing nine. It was simply impossible to cross that border, as crossing it meant that the Spell Art would transform into a Natural Law. The bridge between Pius Magus and Dominus Magus was exactly that: one had to transform a Spell Art into a Natural Law, creating the largest divide for common Mages.

Natural Laws, though, exist even without Spell Arts; for instance, the Natural Flow of Water is one of the many, existing Natural Laws. However, even if one comprehended pre-existing Natural Laws, they’d still have to evolve one of their Spell Arts in order to progress.

As the number of Natural Laws was nigh infinite, everyone could find corresponding path. However, Natural Laws were still muddled waters, as even the peak existences could, at most, reach somewhat advanced understanding of a singular Natural Law before reaching a massive bottleneck they had no way of surpassing.

This was the major reason why Lynne was startled; there were six figures in total that had either evolved their Spell Art or comprehended a Natural Law. As long as a single one of them comprehended a whiff of a Natural Law of Space, Anna, Elynal and he had absolutely no way of hiding. Since space never registered obstacles, those that comprehended Law of Space viewed the world as a flat land, and nothing was hidden from their eyes.

Luckily, Lynne realized, it appeared that none comprehended Law of Space. That meant that they still had a whiff of a chance in obtaining something from the tomb. Lynne paused for a few moments and resumed walking, quickly catching up to Anna and Elynal. Besides, even if things go sour, we can still mount the Phoenix and escape… no matter if it’s an Archmage or Celestial Magus, even if they had amazing movement Spell Arts, they still wouldn’t be able to catch up to this damn bird…

The Phoenix was lazily resting on Lynne’s shoulder while the monkey already went ahead to scout. Due to the creature’s innate awareness of Space, he was actually able to completely hide his presence, which resulted in him being practically the best scout imaginable.

Lynne still moved somberly; just a single slip-up here would result in them losing their lives. Whatever treasures Magus Tomb held, they certainly weren’t worth his life. If he could obtain something, great; if not, there would be other opportunities.

The small group finally reached an impasse; before them was a massive clearing, circular in roughly half a kilometer radius. On the other side was a tall cliff, embroiled with thick weeds and trees. Even Lynne could barely sense anything out of the ordinary about the cliff, let alone Anna or Elynal. To the two, the cliff appeared to just be a part of the terrain. However, Lynne felt slight spacial tear at the cliff’s bottom; it should be some sort of array, right?

Knowing that the two groups would soon meet here, Lynne immediately hid in the bushes and concealed his presence to the best of his abilities, with Anna and Elynal following soon after. The path to the entrance was clear, with no obstructions. Even if they circled to the edge, they’d still have to traverse roughly three hundred meters before reaching the entrance. Even if Lynne cast Fiery Sweeps subsequently, it would still take at least five seconds; those simple, five seconds were more than enough for even the weakest of the two groups to notice them, so, for now, he could only sit and wait.

As Lynne predicted, roughly ten minutes later, a surge of wind suddenly blasted against the trees, causing the branches to sway. Shortly after, group that arrived from the north appeared on the clearing; there were eighteen of them and they all wore green robes. When Anna and Elynal saw them, their breathing suddenly stopped and their eyes widened. How could they not recognize them?

“Jade Earth School…” Anna mumbled.

Even though Lynne had never heard of it, considering the reaction of the duo, it was definitely some sort of a powerhouse. A few breaths later, another group appeared on the clearing, totaling in seventeen figures. Each wore a robe that appeared to be ablaze, and their arrival stunned royal pair even more.

“True Flame Sect…” this time, Elynal mumble lowly. They expected many people to arrive, but this was simply wilder than their wildest imagination.

The two groups were immediately put on high alert as they observed each other; from the simple look in their eyes, it was obvious they didn’t have friendly relationship. As they stood in the clearing, they merely observed the reactions of the other group, with occasionally casting a glance towards the bottom of the cliff.

“Ha ha,” suddenly a figure stepped out from the green-clad group; he appeared to be a middle-aged man with a courageous, but still calm, aura. He was good six feet tall and had a rather slender figure. He was the Celestial Magus of the green-clad group. “I never expected I’d meet Brother Tye in this rueful place. I must ask, what brings you here?”

“The same thing that brought you lot here,” the figure that replied was exceptionally tall and sturdy man, similarly appearing to be middle-aged; he was square-jawed and had tanned skin, with muscles nearly breaking apart his robe. He was good six feet eight in height, completely eclipsing the other party, and was similarly Celestial Magus. “Now scram before I burn you to bits.”

“Ha ha,” the green-clad figure still laughed, stroking his beard lightly. “Those are mighty words there, Brother Tye. You sure you can live up to them?”

“Do you want to test that?” Tye replied, clearly running out of patience.

“The way I see it, if we engage in battle, both our groups will suffer greatly,” the green-clad Elder spoke softly as a strange glint flashed in his eyes. “How about we set our differences aside and explore this ground jointly, huh?”

“Didn’t you hear what I said?” the flame-clad Elder’s face grew extremely ugly as his voice began exuding anger. “I said scram, you filthy scum!”

“Ho ho,” it was clear that green-clad Elder took the words deeply, as his slightly aged face contorted. “Here I was, trying to give you some face, when I should have just cut you in half the moment we arrived here.”

“If you had the ability, you would,” the flame-clad Elder spoke with a grin. “We’ve fought many times before Ulthar, and each time you’d run back with a tail between your legs. Just because you finally managed to squeeze your way through to the Celestial realm, you think you are my match? If you cherish lives of your disciples, it’s best you immediately resume your journey to the city, otherwise you may never reach it.”

“Humph,” green-clad Elder snorted coldly, annoyed by Elder Tye’s words. “Your arrogance is truly beyond sky; it appears you need to be taught a lesson.”

“Enough,” flame-clad figure said calmly. “I’ve warned you three times already, and you didn’t listen. Flame Souls, attack!”

“Attack!!!” green-clad Elder replied in kind.

Massive Mana explosions suddenly erupted, causing air to appear suffocating. Two leading figures immediately leapt into the sky, with other four Elders following them shortly after. Only disciples were left on the clearing, and they soon ran towards each other like madmen.

Lynne and others immediately backed away; there’s no doubt that the following battle would result in mass destruction, and if they were caught in it, there’d be no way of escaping. Still, even from the far away distance, Lynne was still able to observe the battle keenly.

Six figures from the green-clad group shot forth; four of them were Physical types, one was a Spellweaver like Lynne, and one was Blood type. On the flame-clad group side, only three figures shot forth; one was Physical type, one Spellweaving and one was, surprisingly, Void type. Usually, any Magus who followed Void Path would always be at the far end of the battlefield, unless they followed a single Void sub-path: Ethereal Calamity. It was truly a strange sub-path, which used Magus’ own body as a catalyst to unleash massive spells.

Of the eleven figures that stayed at the back of the flame-clad group, they quickly formed a formation; majority of them were Elementalists – eight in total – with two being Void types and a singular Blood type.

On the other side, only nine figures remained in the back; of the nine, six were Elementalists, two were Void, and one was actually a Summoner. This was Lynne’s first time meeting anyone who followed a Summoner’s path; he was actually completely unaware of the Summoner’s sub-paths, so he was rather excited to see how he’ll fare.

The vanguard group immediately met; flashes of colors broke through, causing the ground beneath to collapse completely. Surprisingly, three figures from the flame-clad group were able to hold back the onslaught of the six. The singular Physical type was actually a Two Stars Pius Magus Vanguard – and he was like Elynal, Earthen type. He caused pillars and walls to rise from the ground and shield the rear, while at the same time clasping his fists together, producing a loud, Dragon-like roar, which stiffened the ground beneath his two vanguard allies; while everything around them collapsed, the trio remained standing like an immovable mountain.

Lynne immediately shifted his gaze away towards the Spellweavers, as he was the most interested in how they’ll fight. Both groups only had a single one, and they immediately broke away from the vanguard, circling around the group, meeting good twenty meters away from the epicenter of the fight. Green-clad figures suddenly roared lowly as he swept his arms forward, causing two blade-lights of crimson color to bolt towards the flame-clad figure. The latter shifted his feet oddly, causing small, feet-long pillars to erupt from earth, pushing him sideways. As he evaded the blade lights, he pressed his right foot and infused it with Mana, bolting forward towards the green-clad figure.

Midair, he summoned diamond spear, eight feet long, and swung it around in a circular manner, causing it to appear like a shield in front. On the other hand, green-clad figure took a few steps back and clasped his palms together; suddenly, wind erupted from beneath his feet, and his speed roared. He circled sideways, avoiding flame-clad figure’s initial strike, and then spun midair as he flashed his sleeves several dozens of times within a span of a single breath. Small, crimson-shaped bolts of light, akin to flying daggers, all flew increasingly quickly towards the flame-clad figure.

Seeing the approaching daggers, the figure shafted his spear downwards, piercing the earth beneath. Suddenly, countless, earthen splinters erupted and, as if guided by invisible force, began colliding with the flying daggers of light. Sounds of metal clashing against metal reverberated, and green-clad figure finally landed, a tinge of surprise flashing across his face. However, surprise was a surprise; he immediately lowered his stance as he infused his calves with Mana. Ground beneath him quaked and web-like cracks spread around with him at the center. Massive gale appeared seemingly from his skin, causing his robe to flutter. To Lynne’s shock, the gale actually took a physical form, dyed in slight emerald. It exploded outwardly and forwardly, aiming directly towards the flame-clad figure as well as any possible escape path. The gale was extremely fierce and moved quickly, approaching the flame-clad figure within a blink.

The flame-clad figure snorted slightly as he grasped the diamond spear and held it horizontally. Suddenly, spear’s blade tip began rotating atop the shaft, producing grind-like sounds. Still standing firmly, even with massive wind blowing his robes backwards, he thrust the spear forward with a momentum of a Dragon. The spear roared as it pierced through the space itself, causing visible fluctuations to appear; as he extended the spear as far as it would go, earth beneath the spear cracked and collapsed completely, revealing ten meters long ditch. It finally clashed against the gale, and massive shockwave erupted from the collision; earth was shaken, leaving behind countless marks, and surrounding trees were uprooted and flung into the sky. However, in the end, the gale was shattered under the massive pressure of the spear, but the spear itself also revealed several dozen cracks atop its surface.

Lynne observed the battle with egg-like eyes; it was simply beyond his comprehension. In just a short span of several breaths, they had cast only two Spell Arts each – everything else was actually just basic Mana manipulation! So this… this is the fight between true geniuses… Lynne was shaken, but still excited. This was the first time he saw a battle on such a large scale, but he was only able to follow a single side one, and even that with great difficulty. He had absolutely no idea how any of the other battles progressed – those in the sky or those on the ground – but at the moment he didn’t care. He wanted to learn, wanted to soar, wanted to eclipse all others that currently stood above him, and be able to crush mountains with a single move of his. This battle turned into a soul-shaking inspiration and motivation; with how weak he was now, he knew he stood absolutely no chance against any of the twenty-nine disciples currently fighting on the ground. However, he also knew his talent wasn’t any worse than theirs; I’ll catch up to you all soon enough… just you wait…