'Ah. This is what this brat has been aiming at'.
Both Elder Vova and Ricardo couldn't help but share a small glance the moment Arthur said these words.
Ever since the previous night when Arthur spoke with Ricardo, the latter had been subtly probing some of the Fae Masters and Elders for information about Arthur and his abilities. He was someone with the talent to form an Intent, using nothing but his own mental strength and will.
Ricardo had seen many young geniuses, from both large Clans and Sects, and from smaller regions like the Winter Rain Mountains.
Just over two years ago, a young lady from the neighbouring Village awakened a Sovereign Boundary Physique, and a young man from a mortal farming family just North of the region awakened a powerful Boundary Physique.
One had never come into contact with Fae Masters, or people stronger than Rank 4, while the other didn't even know what an origin essence sea was. Despite their heritage not been as magnificent or as powerful as some other geniuses, Ricardo wasn't the type to judge people based on their bloodlines or origins.
He himself wasn't that talented, but through his connections and nepotism, he managed to become a Rank 3 hadron topaz origin essence Fae Master. Due to his humble origins, he could place himself in the shoes of these geniuses, and try to create connections with them now that could benefit himself in the future.
Arthur, as someone who could form intent, and become a Rank 2 Fae Master before he was seventeen, was definitely a talent. His potential might be limited by his origin essence sea, but his perception and comprehension might be able to make up the difference.
If he could groom him under his wing, then the benefits he might be able to gain in the future would be much higher than what he had to give up.
This other young man, Alan, wasn't anything particularly special, however his younger sister, was the concubine of a Rank 4 Fae Master. He had enjoyed flaunting his authority around, intimidating some of the others with his background.
He was only a third-tier talent, but through some special Fae, he had managed to become a Rank 2 solid ruby origin essence Fae Master.
Still, to have taken ten years to reach this point, definitely meant that he wasn't diligent, or hard-working in regards to his cultivation.
Alan raised an eyebrow, and couldn't help but show a smirk, while rolling his eyes.
"You? A vapour ruby Fae Master want to fight me, a solid ruby Fae Master? Did you hit your head or something?".
Arthur didn't even so much as blink.
"What? Are you scared or something?".
The eyes of Ratimir, Alina, Borik and all the other Fae Masters belonging to the caravan widened, and they turned towards Alan, who froze, his eyes turning towards Arthur.
The seventeen year old smiled politely, as if he had never said his previous words.
"If you're scared about fighting someone whose almost a decade younger than you, then you're more than welcome to back out now. Of course, refusing such a request might make you look like a bigger coward than you already are.....
"So.... what do you say? Wanna settle this in the ring?".
Arthur extended his fishing line towards the pond, a large piece of juicy bait hooked on the end of his line.
Challenging arrogant young masters.... had remarkably similar aspects to fishing. Arthur only needed to dangle, or provoke their pride, or family, or strength, until the point where they tried to bite at the bait he had dangled out.
The hardest bit was to find just the right piece of bait, which would guarantee a reaction.
And it seems.... that Arthur had just found the right piece.
Alan, whose eyes were wide and unblinking, couldn't help but let out a small chuckle before turning towards Elder Vova and Ricardo on the side.
"Elder Vova. Mr Giovanni. Can you be the judge of this match? I only request that you can be impartial, regardless of the outcome".
The two Rank 3 Fae Masters sent each other a glance, before Ricardo let out a sigh, causing Elder Vova to nod.
"Go ahead. If you'd like, we won't interfere in the outcome of the battle. Is that alright with the both of you?".
Both Arthur and Alan nodded, and Henrik handed over a bag of origin essence stones to Dagen and Milena. He rolled his eyes slightly, letting out a small sigh after losing 100 origin essence stones.
If Alan had seen the actions of either of them, he might've tried and attacking Arthur's teammates already.
Arthur just stood their silently, his hands by his side and his gaze firmly locked on Alan's figure.
More precisely, Alan's origin essence sea.
Elder Vova and Ricardo stood on either side of the large grove, as the other Fae Masters stood idly by, watching the two young men with slightly bored expressions on their faces.
The members of the caravan all thought that Arthur would be killed almost instantly. They knew that some geniuses could close the gap with their martial arts or physical abilities, but none of them ever considered savages from the middle of nowhere to be a genius.
Those who possessed Sovereign Boundary Physiques and Boundary Physiques were the exceptions.
Alan gazed at Arthur, his eyes burning with a white cold fury.
"If your Father tries to kill me after this, I'll make sure that Parachenko Village is never visited again by the caravan".
"If your Father tries to kill me after this, I'll kill him and your entire family".
Alan clenched his fists tightly, and leapt forward, activating a series of Fae from his origin essence sea. He had already given away what types of Fae he both used, and how he used them, considering he was ready to forcibly take away Nyssa's Wood Embryo Seed.
He raised his arms up, causing numerous branches to rise up, and extend their sharpened tips towards Arthur.
A wave of wood lances were launched towards Arthur, one that he stepped to the side in order to avoid. The lackadaisical teen just summoned his Rank 2 leafsword fae, and swiped out a couple times, cutting the wood lances before they could reach him.
Alan smirked, seeing Arthur preoccupied with the constant barrage of wood lances, and took out a few storage Fae, summoning the contents of these Fae with an untold glee!
Half a dozen bear sized phantoms appeared from Alan's storage Fae, taking on humanoid forms, albeit with distinctively different characteristics.
Arthur glanced at the phantoms, before nodding slightly.
"Not quite what I was hoping for, but not too bad....", he muttered.
All of Alan's summoned phantoms were Wood Yin Spirits. They were neither spirit beasts, or spirit plants who were alive, but a type of congregated spirituality, combined with the Thoughts, Emotions and Desires from multiple different sources.
None of them were strong enough to have been created from a single person, although they were good enough for the time being.
Spirits, could be tamed, controlled and manipulated, just like spirit beasts, spirit plants, zombies, undead or even certain people. They were the easiest type of controllable entity, although in terms of overall strength, they were the weakest.
.... At least in Human Heaven that is.
Like most tamed creatures, they were most notably used for battle, due to their large range of different abilities.
The ones that Alan was currently using, were all offensive in nature.
Alan raised his hands, and tapping rhythmically on the air in front of him.
One of the Wood Yin Spirits, a lowly Wood Spectre, launched towards Arthur, its body was covered in a thick layer of leaves, and its flesh and blood and been replaced with wood and sap. This low ranking spirit was roughly equivalent to a peak Rank 1 Fae Master, and considering there was six of them, they were more than enough to kill a vapour ruby origin essence Fae Master.
Arthur just steadied his leafsword, narrowing his eyes at Alan.
"I don't want to damage his Fae, or his Wood Yin Spirits, so I guess I'll just end things quickly".
Arthur dodged the attack of this Wood Yin Spirit, leaping backwards while holding his sword in a reverse grip.
Alan, from the other side of the grove, smirked, and couldn't help but shout out.
"Running away Arthur! Whose the coward now-".
Activating numerous different Fae within him, Arthur released his leafsword, letting it fall silently towards the ground. Contrary to the numerous thoughts and beliefs within all the Fae Masters present, the leafsword silently "fell" through the ground, as if the earth beneath their feet was illusory, or non-existent.
Arthur's eyes flashed green for a moment, before he lifted his head and turned towards Alan.
"Wood Attribute Control Skill: Grass Reflection Kill".
Before Alan could even react, a long, sharp flash of green rose up from underneath his feet. The flash of green pierced his skull before he could even react to it, killing him instantly, and causing his body to hit the floor louder than a sack of potatoes.
The eyes of everyone present widened, and even Elder Vova and Ricardo felt a shiver crawl up their spines.
Nyssa, Henrik, Parvan and the others all looked on nonchalantly, as if such a thing was a completely normal occurrence.