Chapter 71: The Kind Demons Arts. (1/2)

Arima formed a dimensional link and brought Arister inside. They picked a plain area to practice their abilities.

”This is what you did last time at the academy, huh?” Arister commented after looking around.

”Yep,” Arima nodded. ”So? What is your inheritance?”

”[Reside in my soul and body, Ares]” Arister chanted and a light pillar fell on him from the sky, completely shrouding his figure.

Lanya, with Night in her embrace, quietly retreated while Arima observed with a casual smile on his face.

”Ares, one of the twelve Olympians. Son of Zeus, and Athena's brother. Overwhelming, insatiable, destructive, and man-slaughtering. That's how he was described in most occasions. The embodiment of war,” He narrated what he remembered about Greek mythology.

When the pillar of energy burst apart and vanished, Arister emerged in full body armor exhibiting the colors of red and gold. He had a spear with a red blade, and large round shield, planted on the ground near his feet.

Arima smiled at the sight. ”Definitely a spartan armor,” He commented and summoned Karma. ”Hey, Arister, you wanted to learn from me, right?”

Karma glowed and its form slowly changed. The handle became longer and the blade shorter. Ultimately, Arima ended up with a spear similar to Arister's in his hands.

He cracked his neck a bit and wielded Karma like a whirlwind before taking a stance. He waved his fingers at Arister, ”Come.”

Arister chuckled under his helmet. He grabbed the spear and shield next to him ”Fine by me…” He paused and took a stance too. He smirked, ”Teacher.” He kicked the ground and charged at Arima. He waved his spear at him in the same motion.

Arima made his spear spin and met Arister's blade. That simple clash resulted in the destruction of the entire meadow around them although they were just fighting with their physical strength.

Night looked at the fight blankly, ”A pair of battle junkies.”

”Hum, master?” Lanya titled her head. ”Is it okay for me to be here?”

Night shook his head, ”Don't worry, those two are only using their weapons. Not an ounce of mana or magic. You won't be affected. But we should still take our distance. Even if they're only fighting with their physical strength, this place won't be saved from destruction.”

Lanya smiled wryly and nodded. She immediately teleported away with Night.

Meanwhile, Arima and Arister were displaying a marvelous mastery of the spear, cutting off every verdure they passed by and deforesting if they stumbled upon a small forest.

Arister's style was mostly about blocking strikes with the shield and piercing with his spear while Arima's style was very unorthodox, and maybe a bit flashy. He often whirled his spear, not to show off, but to quickly place the blade of the spear where he wanted it to be. He also used the shaft a lot to deviate strikes coming at him.

Using this kind of style is extremely dangerous because a single error would lead to the loss of the weapon. It's also true that unless the weapon you use is resistant enough, it's useless to even try.

So, it can be considered ill-advised. But to Arima, it's the best style. Since a long time ago, he always has been a 'trickster'. He never really learned any proper martial art. He wasn't the kind to gently learn under someone else in the first place.

Instead, when he took a weapon in hand, he always trained alone. He was simply learning how to use the weapon. With time, he created his own style. Always working with any blade possible.

When he holds a weapon, he doesn't need rules as to how to swing it. He just moves in a way that is the most logical and comfortable for him. Combined with his inhuman reaction speed, he's almost unconquerable in close combat.

At some point in the fight, Arima perpendicularly planted the spear on the ground and crouched at the same time. Arister's spear thrust hit the shaft of Karma and the latter was dug out because of the force.

Arister's eyes widened. He had just helped Arima to place Karma in a very threatening way. The spear was pointing at him while in mid-air.

Arima kicked the ground and grabbed it while dodging Arister's shield. He drove Karma with a simple piercing motion this time and brought the blade to Arister's neck, just below his helmet.

At that instant, the shock waves finally caught back with the two fighters' speed and the dust around them was dispersed. Arister dropped his weapons and raised his hands, ”It's my loss…”

Arima smiled and shouldered Karma. ”Your armor, shield, and spear… It's fascinating. Your weapons are something comparable to a soul weapon. But your armor is really interesting. Most likely, even with Karma, I wouldn't be able to cut through it easily. It feels like it's fused with your skin, no, with your flesh.”

Arister opened his helmet's visor and smiled. His eyes had turned golden and his hair was now red. But the thing to look at was his skin that had changed color and was now ash gray.

”You're correct. Ares's inheritance transforms my body into a weapon. In this form, I can keep fighting without rest required whatsoever. It also boosts my regeneration.”

”That's a useful constitution, indeed. But you don't make enough use out of it. Also, your spear technique is too orthodox. Perhaps you directly received it from Ares but it has too many flaws because you're not used to it, and also because it doesn't suit you.”

”Yeah, I know that. But to be honest, Ares's spear technique is the strongest I've ever seen,” Arister shrugged. ”And although it isn't as flexible as yours, it's still as strong”

Arima smiled and gripped Karma before wielding it again. ”Fine. Show me that technique as much as you can. I will tell you what is wrong and try to adjust it for you.”

Arister grabbed his shield and spear. ”My pleasure.”

The two of them rushed at each other and started again.

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”Lanya, your main magic is Light, right?” At some other place, Night asked in his dragon form.

”Yes,” Lanya nodded and invoked her rapier.