Chapter 343 On Borrowed Power
When Sage sent down the squalls from above, Izroth and Roudin instantly became aware of her presence. They had been so focused on not slipping up on their attacks that they failed to realize that someone had gotten this close to them. Of course, this was also related to Sage's ability to have near-perfect control over the level of her presence she emitted.
Izroth quickly glanced over in the direction of the attack and the person who was behind it. He was surprised to see that it was the same student of Zushuatri that directed a killing intent towards him. Even now, he was positive that he had never met her before and so he did not know what he had done to offend them. However, he would not simply sit back and allow himself to be thoughtlessly killed.
'Though I can't say her timing is good.'
"It's a main upper eight Wind Domain..!" Roudin stated as his brows rose in surprise. He knew that it was someone powerful headed this way, however, he thought that it was one of those four individuals who were competing in the selection. He did not think that it would be one of Zushuatri's students. Not to mention, she possessed a main upper eight Wind Domain!
There were many Domains and they were classified into two different sections, the main upper eight Domains, and the lower Domains. Although they were called lower Domains, they were not necessarily weak and even had the potential of eventually reaching into the main upper eight Domains. This was due to the fact that every lower Domain came directly from one of the main upper eight Domains.
The main upper eight Domains consisted of Fire, Water, Earth, Thunder, Mountain, Lake, Wind, and Heaven. The base difference between a main upper eight Domain and that of a lower Domain was like that of night and day and usually, only those with great talent were able to acquire them.
An example of a lower Domain is one called the Forest Domain, which is derived from the main upper eight Earth Domain. As for Roudin and Sage, both were able to use a main upper eight Domain. This meant that their talent and potential were not small and the chances of them becoming legendary beings in the future was practically a guarantee!
Although the main upper eight Domains were widely accepted as the strongest Domain one could acquire, this was actually false. But, it was not quite wrong for others to think this way due to the unique rarity of what was called the Pinnacle Four Origin Domains. These were four Domains that appeared only once every ten thousand years in the Mortal Realm.
Time, Space, Void, and Matter; these four made up the Pinnacle Four Origin Domains and each held incredible power. One would have to be born under ten lucky stars to obtain the talent required to claim one of the Pinnacle Four Origin Domains. Of course, these Domains were much different from the child's play that players used for skills which were like a distant and far off cousin of the Domain such as Mariposa's S-ranked spatial skill Banish or Zi Yi's A-ranked void skill Void Jump.
In terms of power, not even one of the main upper eight Domains could come close to its feet! One who managed to acquire one of the Pinnacle Four Origin Domains would not stop at the legendary realm of power. They would reach much greater heights and maybe even reach the place that most could only dream about. The place where the Divine Beings resided above the firmament.
"But, she only seems to be aiming for that guy. It looks like he must have offended her somehow. In my current state, I'm not her match. Should I use this opportunity to escape from here and recover?" Roudin said to himself as he noticed that Sage focused her attacks solely on Izroth. Although he did not know what the young man before him had done to offend one of Master Zushuatri's students, he would surely not let this chance go to waste.
'This isn't good. My Flickering Steps is still on cooldown along with my First State: Heavenly Descent. My energy and mana are both low and there are only around 12 seconds remaining until my Life Reaping skill ends. Not to mention, it looks like she really isn't fond of me to begin with since her attacks are only aimed at me.'
Izroth did not know whether to laugh or cry. Could it be that she was mistaking him for someone else who looked similar to him? Otherwise, how could he collect such enmity and hatred from one he never even knew existed before today?
The main problem was that the only movement skill Izroth had remaining was two charges of his Enhanced Instantaneous Movement. Although he only had enough energy for one use, it was only a few more seconds until he would have enough to use the second charge. But, after he used up those two charges, he would have no movement skills left to escape with even if he wanted to.
There was also Roudin to worry about who seemed to be pondering on his next course of action. If both of them decided to attack him together, then something as simple as holding onto his life would be an incredible feat!
'My mana potion will be off cooldown in 15 seconds. After I restore my mana, if I can't handle it beforehand, then I may have to depend on the Second State: Heavenly Cloak to make my move. Although it's a shame I won't be able to claim all of the points before me, it won't be too late to do so in the future.'
In the end, Izroth could only blame his own misfortune that he ran into two powerful individuals in such a short period of time. If he insisted on trying to stay and fight despite his current state, then he knew that end result would be unfavorable. Therefore, he had to create as many chances as possible for himself to survive.
'For the time being, it doesn't look like he's going to make a move. Though by halting his attacks and repositioning himself, it appears he's trying to find an opportunity to escape since she's focused on me.'
One of the squalls that Sage released rapidly approached Izroth. It was as if the squall was dancing in the wind itself as its movements were erratic which made it difficult for one to predict what angle it was coming from. Even though each squall was only comparable to the size of a small fist, it was by no means weak in power.
The squall was like a small isolated blizzard with an intense gale taking place within a transparent orb. The energy within the squall was so concentrated and compressed that one could feel a chill rise in the surrounding atmosphere.
When Roudin felt this chill his eyes widened in shock as he exclaimed, "How can this be?! This is definitely a Wind Domain and yet... Impossible! A person can only have one Domain! Why does her Wind Domain have hints of the Water Domain mixed inside of it?"
The reason behind Roudin's shock was that it was impossible for one person to have more than one Domain no matter how skilled they were. This was not for any other reason than the limitations that existed as a natural law of order. While it was true that one could evolve their Domains to a higher power, that was only for the lower Domains. It was also a well-known fact that one could only improve on the Domain path it was originally associated with.
For example, one who acquired the Forest Domain could never advance it to become a Fire Domain or Water Domain. One with a Forest Domain would only be able to advance it to an Earth Domain. This was an absolute rule! Therefore, for Sage to have hints of the Water Domain present within her Wind Domain would cause even legendary beings to gasp with shock.
Though there was a special reason behind the uniqueness of Sage's Wind Domain. It was not that she possessed two Domains as Roudin assumed, but rather, it was due to the unusual body she had.
One could not tell from her outer appearance, but her internal physique was something only Zushuatri and a few other figures knew about. It was also one of the reasons Zushuatri kept her as his student despite her behavior. He knew that the demons that lurked in her heart still remained even after all the years that passed.
As the first squall approached him, Izroth turned his body and accelerated at an angle in a different direction. However, the squalls still followed after him which confirmed that they truly were locked onto him.
'As I thought, they can't be that simple to dodge. Then, since you're so polite, I'll be borrowing this...'
Izroth abruptly halted his movement which surprised Roudin and caused Sage to narrow her eyes. It couldn't be that he planned on confronting the squalls head-on, right? That would be no different than personally welcoming his own death!
Woosh!
Izroth's sword stance shifted as a calm and steady expression appeared on his face. The closer the squalls moved to Izroth's position, the more fierce and cold the surrounding winds became. He waited until the very last moment before the first squall was about to touch his body and without hesitation, he tilted his sword in a slight manner and met head-on with the first squall!
Immediately after doing so, Izroth nearly lost the grip on his sword from how wild the power contained within the squall was.
'How heavy.'
A smirk appeared on Sage's face when she observed Izroth confronting her squall with his sword. Did that trash really think that her attack could be stopped so easily? Besides, even if he blocked one squall, there was still more than a dozen closing in on his location fast.
"In the end, this is all that can be expected of trash. He should feel honored to die under my Wind Domain." Sage said as she glanced over in Roudin's direction.
When that happened, Roudin felt a shiver run down his spine. Normally, he would not feel threatened even if she was one of Master Zushuatri's students, however, he had been so distracted by her unusual Domain that he had forgotten to use the chance to make his retreat. However, he breathed a sigh of relief when he saw that Sage lifted her gaze off of him. It seemed as if she had no intentions of fighting him.
"Master Zushuatri will probably scold me if I personally kill someone who can use one of the main upper eight Domains." Sage said to herself as she turned around and got ready to leave.
"Ahhhh!" A scream suddenly came from down below which caused Sage to halt her movement. This was due to the fact that the scream had not come from the location of that trash, but instead, it came from the location of the Mountain Domain user! But, how was this possible?
When Sage turned to look at the scene below, she saw that Roudin was trapped inside of a dome that was around three meters in diameter and height. He had let his guard down after being relieved that Sage did not want to confront him and now he could only regret his actions.
Inside of the dome was a vicious mixture of gales and blizzards that bombarded Roudin and corroded him both internally and externally. This was the effect of the squall from her Wind Domain: Breath of Quiescent Squalls. But, this should not be possible!
She did not aim any of her squalls at Roudin and it was impossible that she did something like miss with her aim. That was when she noticed that the weakling who was just down there was nowhere to be found. Where did he go?!
Sage quickly swept her gaze over the surroundings and noticed that Izroth was currently near the edge of land and had approached the Boundless Sea. He was actually planning on jumping directly into the Boundless Sea to escape!
"You dare run away?!" Sage was furious. She did not know how he had managed to escape her attack, but it brought upon a feeling of humiliation. She would not allow him to leave the Boundless Sea, let alone this island, alive!