Akata and Tabet faced each other within the golden rune barrier. It wasn’t a barrier meant to break apart their attacks completely but was developed from Great Lord Taple’s Outer Element of Holy and meant to purify their attacks and nourish anyone who was hit by it. This would increase that person’s strength by a small amount and was thus beneficial. Of course it was only a small amount since the barrier was so huge and had to be spread out.

A crowd surrounded the barrier and peered inside to see Akata and Tabet. They could clearly see the two figures but the two of them couldn’t see outside. All they saw was a golden wall surrounding them.

“I’ve been meaning to ask your Great Lord Taple this but never got the chance so I’m hoping you would be able to answer me. It’s okay if you don’t want to or can’t though.” Akata said with a laugh.

“What is it hehe.” Tabet was clearly happy as well.

“What cultivation level is he at?” Akata truly wanted to know this as all he felt from Great Lord Taple and even Great Priest Bayou was an aura of pure power. “And also Great Priest Bayou.”

“Oh that’s it? I thought it was something more important.” Tabet laughed. “My grandfather is at the Temporal Rank Grade 3 and my uncle is at the Temporal Rank Grade 2. Although he is a Grade lower he was able to somewhat hold his own against my grandfather due to his skill in runes. But either way he would still be defeated by my grandfather since he has control over an Outer Element.” Tabet said softly and proudly.

“Temporal Rank?” Akata was confused. “What rank is that? How strong is that?” He mused to himself and asked Noluck.

“The Temporal Rank comes after the Beast Rank in Realm of Beasts. It is comparable to the Saintly Rank for mortals and the Verdure Rank for plants.” Noluck said while yawning. “In terms of basic strength the Third Rank is at least a hundred times stronger than the Great Circle of Second Rank.”

“Third and Second Rank? What are those?” Akata asked sounding even more confused than he was before.

“Do you know anything?” Noluck said helplessly. “Those are the names given in the order of the Ranks. There are ten Ranks for each being in immortal cultivation. The first five Ranks is considered to be apart of the Foundation Realm and the Sixth through Tenth are considered to be in the Immortal Realm. The Third Rank is still in the Foundation Realm but in terms of strength it is at least a hundred times stronger than the Second Rank. Enough enough go find out more on your own.” Noluck went completely silent as he finished talking to Akata.

Akata on the other hand had his mouth gaped open as he tried to contain all of the information he was given. It could be said that his information before was like he was a frog in a well, but now it was like he was standing at the coast of a sea looking out into the horizon. It was a totally different experience. He now felt much smaller and weaker than he ever had in his life. He also felt a hidden surge of anxiousness wash over him.

‘So it’s like that! I have a long way to go before I truly reach the pinnacle of the world. Hehe it seems my life will be filled to the brim with adventure.’ Akata was rather excited to go out adventuring now.

Tabet took Akata’s opened mouth as a sign of shock and he laughed out. “Relax relax it’s not that surprising, he is the Great Lord after all. My father is at the 8th Grade of the Beast Rank but soon he’ll be in the Temporal Rank. And before I know it, I’ll be there as well hehe.” Tabet was in a rather good mood as of this moment.

Akata simply nodded his head, still shocked by what Noluck had told him. It was then that Great Lord Taple’s voice came booming throughout the island.

“Today, Akata and my grandson Tabet will face off in a Battle of Elements. They will contest using the Inner Element of Illusions and see who’s insights in the element is greater. You all know my grandson Tabet, also known as the Young Lord of the tribe. Akata here, on the other hand, is also known as the savior of our tribe, saving us from certain death in the future.”

Great Lord Taple gave a brief introduction of the two and also told the crowd what the element of the Battle of Elements was this time around. All of the tigers knew who the two young figures were in the golden barrier, they were renowned figures.

“Now that I look closer, Akata didn’t look like that before.”

“Wait… is he missing an arm?! What happened to it?”

“Could he have been injured during all of our fighting?”

Shouts and cries could be heard from the crowd as they looked closely at Akata. Clearly they felt guilty that Akata was caught up in their situation and after helping them, he ended up being permanently injured. It caused their excitement from before to completely wash away with grief.

Great Lord Taple looked out across the crowd and spoke, “Akata here was injured during the battle against Great Priest Bayou. He ended up, not only losing his arm, but his sight as well. He now has one arm and is completely blind.

However, he has not let this deter him from his goal of continuing to be a cultivator! He was set back by a lot but instead of wasting away he decided to deal with it and push himself harder! He didn’t do this because he had to, or even because he wanted to, he did this because he felt like it was just his path. His path was the path of cultivation so just because he lost his sight and an arm, he could still continue being a cultivator!”

Great Lord Taple spoke clearly and loudly, his voice booming in the ears of all of the tigers on the island. He wanted every single member of his tribe to hear Akata’s story and gain a sense of awe from it.

Clearly, Great Lord Taple had anticipated the crowds reaction and had come up with a way to turn it into his favor. He used Akata’s condition to make the crowd feel inspired to push their own cultivation harder and improve faster. This was just what Great Lord Taple wanted and it worked out well in his favor.

All of the tigers were staring in awe at Akata standing there facing Tabet without any kind of fear on his face, in fact he even had a smile on. Clearly, Akata was enjoying this at the moment, even though he was missing and arm and was blind, he was still enjoying the fact that he could still fight. This caused all of the tigers, even Lord Tafei, to feel lost. Not lost as in not understanding Akata, but in understanding themselves. What were they doing? If even Akata could smile and push hard in cultivation in his condition, why couldn’t they?

It made a fire rise up within them. A fire that was never present before. It was a fire, a will, that burned within them that made their passion for cultivation to rise. As of this moment each and everyone of the tigers wanted to advance further in cultivation, no matter what age or level they were at. They all wanted to push themselves harder and further than they ever had before.

Great Lord Taple looked around and nodded his head. “Let the match begin!” His voiced boomed, even reaching the ears of Akata and Tabet who were within the barrier.

When the two heard the voice of Great Lord Taple starting the match, both Akata and Tabet took in a deep breath and got into a fighting position. Battle intent rose to the ceiling as they looked at each other deeply. A light smile rose up on both of their faces as the aura of illusions spread out from the two. “Let’s start.” They said in unison.

Whoosh!

Both figures immediately sped towards each other at a tremendous speed. Tabet waved his hand causing five bright purple runes to appear. A rune appeared at each hand, each foot, and his back. Instantly the aura of illusions roiled out and his figure seemed to fade in and out.

Akata waved a hand causing a single deep purple rune to appear but it was three meters in size. It appeared below his feet and caused the air around him to turn into a mist. Akata’s figure disappeared within the mist and soon the mist turned into a deep purple as well.

‘What is this? What could he be doing?’ Tabet was watching everything closely and was being cautious. He wasn’t taking Akata lightly at all. This was because he knew how formidable Akata was when it came to gaining insights and comprehending elements. He was treating Akata as if he were an Elder within his own tribe.

The five runes on Tabet’s body glowed with a brighter light and soon his hands turned into three-clawed hands, his feet turned into legs of a cheetah, and his back grew wings of an eagle. It was as if he had become a weird existence that shouldn’t even exist, a combination of many different beasts. But, with the addition of each new body part, his battle prowess grew and his aura of illusions exploded out.

Tabet flapped his wings and pushed off the ground hard with his cheetah feet. His speed instantly reached a new kind of height as he quickly appeared before the purple mist that Akata was in. Tabet raised his hand and his claws protruded out as he slashed toward the mist, intent on drawing Akata out of it.

It was in that moment though that Tabet’s face immediately dropped and he forced himself to stop attacking and jump back as quickly as possible. That was because in his mind he felt a fear inspiring sensation that reverberated throughout his whole body making his body palpitate.

As soon as he jumped back he saw a sharp blade had appeared where his body just was. It was a curved blade that looked to be attached to a metal staff. Was it a weird sword? No, it was a scythe! The mist began to disperse as a figure shrouded in black robes appeared. It had on a hood that covered its face and features and it held a long scythe with one bony hand.