Earth's Greatest Magus

With swords in hand, two figures of youth dashed from opposite sides, shooting towards a beautiful woman wielding a crystal spear at breakneck speed. Dirt scattered into the air as their steps stomped the earth.

Swissshh! CLANK!

A loud piercing sound echoed through the clearing as the woman wielding the spear swung the weapon in her hand, parrying the attacks aimed at her perfectly. However, she couldn't relax yet as the pair who attacked him – young man and woman – swiftly struck again in a threatening position.

One charged in as fast as wind, yet the attacks soft as if it was a feather. The other was slow – if compared, but their strikes felt as heavy as a mountain. As they worked together weaving their attacks in harmony, the one they attacked was gradually overwhelmed and cornered.

Realizing the situation she was in, the woman tried to use her battle art to escape. 

"Not yet! Emery! North Mountain Variation!" shouted the girl. In the next instant, a series of multi-colored sword slashes rained down on the spear-wielding woman. The latter tried her best, but the attack was simply too much.

In the end, the pair's joint attack broke through her defense. Before she could recover, a dark sword struck her spear from above. The powerful force of the sword shook her body, causing her to involuntary fall on one knee.

Seeing that, the pair did not continue their attack. They quickly jumped back and did nothing, just staring at the kneeling woman with smiles on their faces.

A few moments later, the woman finally got to her feet and sent the tip of her spear into the ground before saying, "Good job, you two… Nicely done!"

The pair, beaming smiles on their faces, slightly bowed at the woman's compliment. Afterwards, one of them opened her mouth, "Thank you, Magus Shena, for your compliment. But it's still 8 to 1… we should do more."

Hearing such words, Magus Shena exploded into boisterous laughter. "Hahaha! Do you plan to embarrass me further, young lass?"

Two days ago, after the monthly arena battle, Emery and Klea returned to the former's spirit cave and resumed their individual training. Then, just this morning, Klea managed to make a breakthrough in her cultivation of [Divine Dao Technique], elevating her mastery to the stage 6.

With that, the two of them immediately practiced their [Hexagram Technique] with Magus Shena.

The result was much better than they had expected. The cooperation between the two of them improved tremendously, incomparable to their previous efforts. 

Apparently, the fact Klea's body had undergone the body tempering service was of great help in this matter, as the thirty percent increase in strength it provided helped her bridge the gap she had with Emery. Moreover, it also turned out to be the last spark she needed to break through the fifth stage of Immortal Gate, which she had been unable to break through for three years.

With their battle power being more equal and deeper understanding of the Dao, Klea and Emery were finally able to bring out the extraordinary prowess of the hexagram formation.

Now that Emery had seen the level of attainment she had reached in the Dao, he decided it was time for him to teach her the Way of the Sword, as Magus Atika had taught him. The first thing he would teach her were the six basic movements; slash, strike, thurst, parry, block and dodge.

Emery taught Klea the basics for a day, explaining the depths of each and answering any questions she had, before starting to show her the [36 Dao Sword Technique]. After that, the two of them made their way to the training center, using the combat puppets to put the theory she had learned into practice.

Besides practicing what Emery had demonstrated, Klea also came with the goal of defeating the level 7 sword combat puppets. As for Emery, knowing what kind of place he was going to harvest Master Dulin's ingredients next, he wanted to further hone his claw technique so that he would be prepared to handle any challenge.

[Combat puppets level 6 - claws]

As soon as he stepped into the arena, Emery transformed with his [Fey Transformation]. Just as he was about to lunge at the combat puppet before his eyes, he suddenly heard a shout from across the arena.

"Let's have a bet on who will beat their opponent first! You know… for motivation," said Klea cheekily.

Emery smiled at her words. She was indeed always fun to be around. 

Nodding his head, he asked, "What's the bet?"

"I want a gift from you! Preferably, something nice."

Emery agreed to the demand but offered a retort. "But what if I win?"

"That's impossible," he said curtly, so quickly and confidently that Emery was dumbfounded to hear it. A bell-like giggle escaped her mouth when she saw his reaction. "But… just for your motivation, I will make an exception."

"Hmm, let's see… What should I give?" she said, glancing mischievously at Emery, to which he responded with a wry smile. "Aha! I know! I will… let you do anything you want with me."

Klea said such words accompanied by provocative gestures that instantly made Emery worried that others would see. She laughed at his reaction and announced their bet started now.

Evidently, Klea's action did not help Emery's motivation in the slightest. Instead, it bothered his mind and stayed there for quite some time, causing him to fail several times against the combat puppets.

It took him some time before his focus finally returned, which was where he started to gain on the combat puppets with his claw fighting technique. 

From the techniques he had acquired from defeating level 1 to 5 combat puppets, Emery realized that not all techniques were suitable to be directly applied to his fighting style due to how the claws differed from one another. He needed to adjust the techniques to suit the shape and length of his blade claws before incorporating them into his repertoire.

Thinking of the increase in strength he would receive, Emery was driven to further refine his claw technique until it perfectly manifested his essence.

Half a day later, after numerous failures, the level 6 combat puppet was finally defeated. 

[You have defeated combat puppet level 6] 

"I did it!" Emery shouted happily. But before he could do anything, another piece of information appeared in his mind.

[You are rewarded with one claw battle art. Please choose from the options]

[Rake Strike]

Powerful claw strike that focuses on penetrating deep into the opponent's flesh.

[Bloody Reap]

Continuous claw bombardment toward the target. it came in 40 variations.

In an instant, Emery focused his gaze on the translucent screen in front of his eyes. He had been wanting a skill that would allow him to do multiple attacks like the one Taylor Haze used on him. Despite being tempted by it, Emery chooses the [Rake Strike] skill instead. He needed a way to devour his target successfully.

When he finished selecting his reward, Emery realized that Klea was already waiting outside the arena.

She looked at him with a cheeky smile on her face.

"I'll be waiting for my gift."