Chapter 923: The Abyss vs. The Azure (1)
Chapter 923: The Abyss vs. The Azure (1)
Whoosh!
At the very moment Noel saw Valyr send out his counterattack against the wave of darkness he sent, the old man's expression immediately turned into that of excitement as he finally
confirmed his suspicions.
'It's not a coincidence!' Noel inwardly shouted, his body now trembling with excitement. 'It's the same energy that person uses!'
Continuing to watch the young man manipulate the energy into an attack, Noel looked at the dark blue energy from an objective detail, comparing it to the Abyssal Energy he currently had access to.
"In terms of quality, the two are on par," muttered Noel to himself, nodding as it matched up with what he knew from back then. "As for quantity, that definitely has something to do with Valyr himself, not the energy."
"Did he even head to the Shadow Plane to improve his Shadow Energy reserves after I gave him that subclass?" asked the old man to himself not long after, shaking his head as he watched Valyr unleash a plethora of tigers made out of Azure Energy.
Feeling the innate power contained within these tigers, Noel instantly knew that the young man's strength had grown by leaps and bounds while in the inheritance, excluding the fact that Valyr was now at the peak of Rank 3.
'Add on the fact that he got his hands on such ethereal energy, it won't be long till he becomes someone even Legends would have to be wary of.'
Though he had that thought in mind, Noel was confident that the wave of Abyssal Energy he unleashed was still strong enough to fight against the stampede of azure tigers Valyr conjured.
After all, if he were to compare the Azure Energy Valyr currently had control over to the Azure Energy the divine being had unleashed in the past...
"An incredibly vast chasm lies between the two of them," murmured Noel, faintly nodding as the wave and the stampede had finally collided.
Bang! "...Eh?"
...
Watching as the stampede of azure tigers got closer and closer to meeting the wave of darkness Noel had unleashed, Valyr went ahead and affixed the spear to his back, immediately stopping his temporary regression of strength.
Keeping an eye on the attacks eventually clashing, the young man moved himself to a more advantageous spot in the meantime, thinking about how his current strength compared to the old man.
"From what I could tell, Noel's considerably improved in strength," muttered Valyr to himself, recalling the passive aura the man exuded while they were making their way to the Spearman Guild.
Though he wasn't sure how the man's strength had improved exactly, Valyr was certain that part of that improvement came from levels, briefly opening his friend list to confirm his suspicions.
"Level 95." Seeing this line of text pop up on his screen, a faint smile adorned Valyr's face as he shifted his focus towards their attacks, witnessing them finally collide.
Bang!
In less than an instant, the stampede of azure tigers clashed against the wave of darkness, attacking the wave through various means as they contained the strength to whittle it down.
However, the wave remained steadfast, continuing to summon the power hidden beneath the Abyssal Energy used to create it to clash against the azure tigers.
For the next few seconds after that, the two sides were at a stalemate, with none of them gaining advantage over the other.
Unfortunately, just as it seemed like the clash would continue for a bit longer...
Whoosh!
Out of nowhere, the azure tigers had lost all of the strength contained within them, causing them to disperse in front of the two.
Widening his eyes in slight surprise, Valyr watched as the wave of darkness continued on its path for a bit more, only to disperse not long after like the azure tigers.
"Huh." Seeing how his empowered attack stood up against the might of a strong Rank 5 class holder, Valyr was more than satisfied with the outcome.
'Even though my attack couldn't pierce through Noel's attack, I'm more than certain that the same thing wouldn't happen when I face weaker Rank 5 class holders,' thought Valyr to himself, inwardly chuckling soon after.
'And if I'm forced to fight against stronger Rank 5 class holders? The Legends?'
'It's not like I don't have the means to turn the tides to my favor.'
"...Eh?" Watching Valyr's attack remain standing for so long against his attack, Noel was left at a slight loss for words.
Of course, his initial thoughts were proven to be true, with the wave of darkness he conjured having more than enough strength to overwhelm the azure tigers the young man conjured. However, seeing how the wave disappeared on its own not long after the azure tigers lost their strength, the old man could not help but take in a deep breath, looking at the young man with a hint of fear.
Yet, amidst that fear...
Was a hint of expectation and excitement.
"To think you'd grow this strong after leaving the inheritance." Moving closer to the young man, Noel immediately signaled his intentions for the fight to stop. "I must say, you've impressed me, brat."
Hearing Noel return to his usual state, Valyr inwardly let out a sigh of relief as he looked back at him with an awkward smile. "I still have a long way to go, Elder Noel."
"Oh?" Noel raised his eyebrow, letting out a mocking chuckle in response. "Well, I'm glad you realized that, considering how you've yet to improve your Shadow Energy reserves all this
time."
At those words, Valyr remained smiling, feeling as if he'd been caught red-handed.
"In any case, I definitely wasn't expecting you to get your hands on Azure Energy," said Noel after that, prompting Valyr to recall what Sellifer had told him back then. "That divine being... did you meet her?"
"Yeah." Valyr nodded. "She's the one who taught me how to wield Azure Energy in the first
place."
"...I see," replied Noel after a bit of silence.
After that, the old man began to distance himself from Valyr once more, causing the latter a
bit of confusion.
Thankfully, it did not take long for his confusion to be cleared up, with Noel speaking up the moment he felt there was enough distance between them. "Let's continue our spar."
"Eh? But I thought you wanted to stop."
"Just for a bit," Noel replied, his expression gradually becoming solemn. "However, I'm a bit curious on how far that Azure Energy of yours can go."
"Mind indulging this old man for a bit longer?" he chuckled. "You don't have to limit
yourself. Use your Azure Energy as you see fit and go all out."
For a while after that, Valyr remained silent, staring at Noel from afar.
In the end, with a low sigh, the young man got into a battle stance, briefly checking the
cooldown on the stat-boosting skills he'd just deactivated.
"You sure you want me to go all out, Elder Noel?" asked Valyr once more to be sure, giving his skills the time it needed to go off cooldown. "You might regret it."
Noel laughed at that. "A brat talking about regret in front of me... show what you've got first
before talking about that."
"Either way, it'll allow me to get an idea of where to put you when the time for your participation in the war comes," said the old man after that. "My words earlier weren't all just
for show."
Seeing that his main stat-boosting skills were finally off cooldown, Valyr immediately
activated them as he flared out his aura in its entirety.
"Alright." Focusing most of his attention on Noel, the young man summoned a bit of his
Azure Energy before dashing towards his opponent at breakneck speeds.
"Let's begin."