Rian didn't speak further as well, instead he walked towards one of the trees at the edge and sat down. Then there was this guy's space affinity, now Rian didn't claim that he knew what affinity every person possessed, but he sure as hell would have known if someone from the backwater Aetherion academy had possessed something as rare as a space affinity.
Besides what cultivation level is he at?
Rian narrowed his eyes as blue floating screen, displaying his own status materialized in front of his eyes.
==
Name: Rian Ashmere
Cultivation: 2-Star (1st stage)
Affinity: Air (D+ Grade), Water (Ice Sub-Affinity, D Grade)
Sigil: Frostfang Wolf (Grade 2)
Skills and Spells:
Galesteps – Bursts of wind propel him forward, letting him leap farther and run faster.
Razor Draft – Compresses air into a sharp gust that slices targets up to 10 meters away.
Frostbite Veil – Releases a freezing mist that slows enemy movement.
Title: Heir of the Flesh Throne
Divinity Granted: Biomastery
==
From the way he was moving back during the chase, Kaelan had to be somewhere around 5th or even 6th stage of 2 stars. Considering he himself had only recently broken into the first stage of 2 star…
Rian took in a deep breath, in the middle of the clearing, Kaelon had already finished applying medicines to his major wounds around his back and right arm, was now walking closer to the woman's bleeding corpse.
There he kneeled down and took out a small shimmering glass bottle with intricate runes drawn on it from inside his storage ring and started filling it up with a few drops of her blood.
Once that was done, Kaelan stood up and waved his hand, storing the bottle as well as the woman's corpse inside his storage ring.
Watching the scene, Rian didn't say anything more about the fake princess, instead they both agreed to rest for a while. They both found a nearby cave no too far from the clearing and took some of their food rations. Once they were done eating both of them took out their sleeping bags while Kaelen despite being more wounded volunteered to stay up first and keep watch while Rian rested.
These were the forests of Hollowcrown Peaks after all, just because they had been lucky enough to not encounter any beasts yet doesn't mean they weren't any around.
Kaelen settled down near the cave entrance and Rian took out his sleeping bag and climbed inside, going to sleep.
It was a couple of hours later, in the middle of the night, when Kaelen slowly got up from his seat and quietly stepped inside the cave. The cave was dark and the only light came from the three moons shining in the sky.
Kaelen moved without a sound, with his eyes were locked on the still Rian in the sleeping bag. In one fast move, he drove his knife down into the sleeping bag.
Only, he wasn't able to finish the job.
Before the dagger could pierce through the sleeping bag, a concentrated sword of wind sharper than any knife emerged out our ripping through the sleeping bag, aiming straight towards his face.
Sensing the wind spell, Kaelan immediately reacted, teleporting several feet away as Rian burst out of his sleeping bag and once again aimed the [Razor Draft] spell at Kaelan's new position.
Kaelan dodged once again, leaping to his right as [Razor Draft] tore through the air beside him.
The forest fell silent, every leaf and branch caught in that tense pause as the two young men measured each other, ready to strike at a moment's notice.
Bastard, he actually tried to kill me! The thought yelled inside Rian's head. He knew there had been something fishy about Kaelen, that he had been hiding things and that he had his own plans, but this? His straight-up murder?
"Why? We were getting along so well?" Rian asked.
"You think a few civil words make up for my friend's blood on your hands?"
Rian wasn't even able to blink when the space in front of him twisted. Kaelan was still standing meters away, yet a knife sheathed in roaring flames materialized from nothingness, already inches from Rian's gut.
Not good.
Rian immediately cast [Galesteps], leaping to his side, barely making it as the knife's flaming edge seared across his left arm. A blistering pain shot through him.
That didn't stop him, though. The moment he had leaped outside the knife's range Rian continued by casting [Frostbite Veil], covering the area around ten metres of him in a freezing mist to slow down Kaelan's teleportation attack.
Once that was done, Rian thrust his hands forward, as another [Razor Draft] flew across the clearing, this time aiming to cut Kaelan down at the knees.
But Kaelan was already moving, not with space, but with pure physical speed. Using his superior cultivation, he quickly dropped into a roll, completely dodging the compressed wind tearing through the tree behind him. As he came up, his free hand snapped forward.
As a whip of pure fire, the one he had used once during the chase, crackled to life before lashing out not at Rian, but at the ground between them. The superheated air met the freezing mist surrounding Rian with a hiss, creating a blast of steam that momentarily blinded Rian.
"Bastard.."
Rian cursed and activated [Galesteps] on instinct, throwing himself backward, only to see Kaelan emerging from the steam, his dagger now wrapped in a roaring inferno, and stabbed forward into the space Rian's chest had just occupied a second ago.