Noah sat in his room dressed in a white training suit. His legs were crossed as he pondered thoughtfully. At the moment, his wishes of having long distance attacks had been solved by advancing to the Intermediate Stage and gaining the ability to release Essence into his surrounding. He could now truly use the Violent Storm Sword Battle Art.
But it wasn't enough for him. As powerful as the Violent Storm Sword was, it was still a Wind affinity Battle Art. He could use it as an affinity-less Art but it was not as good as having an Art that could use his Spatial Essence as a drive, so right now his Spatial and Gravity Essence sat at his Essence core, basically useless unless he was using his Soul Skills. Well at least he could still use his Spatial Essence to execute the Void Steps Battle Art.
He felt he could do without Battle Arts for now because he still had his Azure Dragon Martial art. But sooner or later, the Battlesoul masters around him would reach a stage where their Essence would be enough to temper their body and reach the same physical strength as him. He felt it would be too stupid to drop the Martial arts that had followed him from his past life and focus solely on Essence and Battle Arts so he wouldn't drop either. Unfortunately, this was not a decision for the current him.
In the end, he didn't find using the Martial Arts detrimental to him and he could use it to offset the disadvantage that was Battle Arts.
Shaking his head, Noah finally stood up and lay down his instruments. He uncorked the vial in his hands and drank the Chaotic Essence Elixir before assuming a Horse Stance while weighing about 500 kilograms and running his Essence to strengthen his organs.
***
Ivan Cross's mind was in chaos. Torn between anger and desperation, he sighed as he looked at the report written on the paper before him.
It stated that the number of his Mercenary group had mellowed down to a meager 30% of its original number. 30% of that number has been brutally killed to serve as the murderers' tickets to their rewards. Another 30% had been as cruel as to murder their comrades and leave the group so as to collect their rewards. The last 10% had already ran off in fear of losing their own lives. Ivan was certain that of the 30% that stayed, they still remained a number that were merely binding their time, consumed by greed and ready to forsake and murder their comrades.
"That fucking bastard." Ivan cursed as he finished reading the report his filled with a sense of dread. His members weren't the only ones under assault, in the last week there had been 3 attempts of assassination directed at him. The first two were laughable, Peak Intermediate Stage Battlesoul masters being his assailants but the last one made him break out in sweat.
A Gold Ranked Mercenary! Someone like him at the Adept Stage had actually attacked him! If it weren't for his newly found Rank 5 Equipment that allowed him one powerful attack at the cost of draining his body, he would be dead at the moment.
'We need to find this bastard soon, at this rate the entire my men will either kill each other completely or leave.' The Mercenary leader stood up with a grunt. He stepped out of his office but suddenly paused. His eyes narrowed as he realized that he couldn't hear any sound in the vicinity.
Ivan was a smart man, noticing these he immediately jumped back materializing a blast of lightning that spread to his surrounding.
"Tsk, you've got good instincts there Ivan." A man seeing the lightning let a cautious light shine in his emerald colored eyes before it dissolved to contempt as he ran his hand through his dark hair. You could say he was above average if he were on Earth, but on Maest where everyone was blessed by Essence whether passively or actively, he could only be average if not below average. But he would definitely leave an impression on anyone if they saw his above 2 meter tall height.
"Davis." Ivan sneered recognizing his attacker. "The last lesson wasn't enough?"
Davis's face flushed red in embarrassment and rage as he clenched his teeth. "You vile bastard, using a Rank 5 equipment's Intent is completely shameless!"
"Oh and you ambushing me isn't?" The Mercenary countered with an even deeper sneer. But this only caused his opponent's embarrassment to disappear. He frowned." Where does your confidence to attack me come from? I'm pretty sure you're not rich enough to afford a Rank 5 Equipment, or did you come here for another beating?"
" Unfortunately for you, Ivan there's a rather large price on your head. And I'm not the only one who wants that piece of meat." After this words, a second person made themselves known. The man possessed a weirdly light blue colored hair and eyes, and, unlike his allie, was quite handsome.
Seeing the newcomer, Ivan's brows creased. "Azzal, what are you doing here?"
The man smiled gracefully as he let out his blue colored Essence. "The price on your head is just really too tempting Ivan."
Ivan's frown deepened and a growl left his lips. "Since you guys want some chaos, let's make some." With a roar, a bright light exploded as his Battlesoul flashed into existence. It was a large 10 meters tall wolf, it's body bathed in lightning. It's brilliance showed that it was a Marquis Grade Battlesoul. Unfortunately, even if he possessed a Beast type Battlesoul, unlike Noah he would never be able to materialize the beastly features. This only happened when one could mobilize Blood Essence, which only occurred in people with Duke Grade Battlesouls albeit at a lesser level than Emperor Grade Battlesouls. All the man could get was a moderate burst in strength.
Seeing their prey going all out, the two attackers didn't hesitate to do so too. Azzal released a Battlesoul with an affinity true to his eye color. It was a Merman, a being that looked like a man but with his lower half being that of a fish. Of course, Davis wouldn't be so stupid as to bring along someone with a disadvantageous affinity to fight. Instead of the weaker Water affinity, Azzul possessed the Ice affinity tasked with slowing down Ivan's nerves.
Contrary to his eye color, Davis revealed an Earth affinity Hammer as his Battlesoul, holding his hammer in hand, the muscular mercenary looked like he could easily hammer down with the weight of 1 ton with his every attack.
Judging from the appearances, Davis appeared to possess a Marquis Grade Battlesoul while Azzul managed to match Ivan, also having a Duke Grade Battlesoul.
The wind bellowed wildly as the three men began their battle.
And a young boy a few kilometers away watched it happen.