NOVPUB"Breath of Balance."
Thalor's words rang in Malakai's ears, and the world slowed.
Not to Thalor.
To him, he had only just invoked his technique. The cold morning air gathered beneath his nose, sucked in at a rapid pace. It rushed through his lungs, then surged through his body like an explosion of adrenaline.
Every inch of his body was enhanced to its current peak.
But while all of this happened in barely less than a second, to the one whose world had slowed, it felt longer.
Malakai's eyes were cold, and though the world around him barely moved, his mind was running at a speed no Genesis stage evolver had any business reaching.
Thalor had barely taken a step, yet Malakai had seen everything the boy had yet to do. It was as though he could see the future. But as someone who was logical in every sense, Malakai knew better.
Vita nodes.
During the three months he had spent training for the hunts, Malakai had pondered hard on where to form his first vita node.
Despite all his advantages and effort, he would only be able to form one, so he focused on the part of his body that would grant him the greatest boost of all.
Forming the node in any limb hadn't sat well with him. One part would be enhanced, but only that part. The rest would weigh him down.
And when dealing with those considered monsters of the great giants of the west, that wasn't enough.
He needed something that increased his fighting chance. Something that could boost him to a level where a ruined heir like him could actually win the hunt.
To that, Malakai could only think of one part. The part he considered his strongest weapon to date.
His brain.
Malakai had discovered that it took him twice the amount of vita the other veins needed to form a node.
But just as he had expected and anticipated, his formed node was twice as effective. Twice as powerful. Twice as potent.
Which was why, as soon as he activated the one node located close to his brain, the world around him slowed.
His awareness and perception expanded to a level he had never reached.
Before, he could feel the vita in the air around 5 meters of him. Now, he felt everything working up to 20 meters.
He saw everything with utter clarity, as though he was gazing at the area through a microscope. Every rustle, every movement, every presence.
Thalor moved like a gust of wind. Formless, fast, erasing distance and appearing in front of him.
He spun, and his twin blades spun with him, slicing through the air at incomprehensible speed.
But to Malakai, he might as well have been moving at a snail's pace.
He took one step back, head snapping back. The first spin of the blade sliced through where Malakai's neck had just been, a gust of air whipping his hair.
Thalor's core twisted even more, and just as he was about to continue the spin with more force, Malakai's eyes glinted. He moved.
A large step forward, and he was upon Thalor, his fingers whipping toward the youth's neck like a viper.
Thalor's eyes exploded wide. His calmness shattered for an instant.
How… how was this possible?
Even in the face of danger, his mind refused to stop. He tried to figure out how the hell this was happening.
As an Aurelius and part of one of the great clans of the west, he had heard the rumors surrounding the ninth vein of the Sanguine Clan.
The higher ups had confirmed it. Malakai had only evolved three months ago. No one knew how, but that fact still stood.
Still, Thalor had never been one to underestimate opponents, no matter the rumors. He judged with his eyes and moved with his head, not what he heard.
He had clashed with Malakai. He had seen his strength and concluded with his mind, Malakai was strong. Stronger than many youths who had evolved for years.
Malakai had been weaker and slower than him, yet he'd still landed a hit and sent him flying. He had predicted his attack, much to his surprise.
But what he had done then could not compare to now.
This time, he had predicted his moves under far more difficult conditions. Impossible conditions.
The Breath of Balance technique enhanced Thalor's body to its limit. His speed should have been far beyond anything Malakai could match.
And true to those words, Malakai hadn't matched it.
Instead, he had acted before the technique was even finished. He had evaded the first spinning strike, and in that brief moment, a moment not even up to a second, when the first blade missed and the second came screaming, Malakai had acted, taking advantage of a pause that wasn't a pause to most.
Now, with fingers drenched in vita screaming toward his neck, Thalor realized:
'I can't react to this.'
His eyes flickered to Malakai's face. That calm, cold indifference.
There was no joy in besting an opponent. No satisfaction. He didn't even look like he had done anything special.
Thalor hated that look. It made him feel small. Like everything he had worked hard for meant nothing.
Still… he smiled.
"I'm going to change that look from your face, Ninth Vein. Someday."
Malakai's fingers reached, but before they could land, Thalor suddenly vanished. A gust of air swept the forest, whipping Malakai's attire.
His cold eyes scanned the area, but there was no sign of Thalor.
He had won.
The roars from the crowd shattered the silence that had gripped the region moments before.
Every single person in the region had witnessed the battle between the Ninth Vein and the third heir of the Aurelius clan.
They had seen everything, the fineness, the elite movements, the greatness. Both youths were clearly beyond talented for their age.
However, it was the Ninth Vein that blew their minds the most.
His movements had been minimal, but perfect. Just the right amount of movement. Just the right amount of speed.
The Aurelius heir hadn't even landed a single hit!
