"Now, time for round two."
Asher spoke up.
"A, a clone. A wood clone."
At this point, Aurora finally realized what had occurred and she couldn't help but widen her eyes in shock.
Cloning techniques weren't unheard of, however, only mages of the seventh stage of the Guardian realm could do so by utilizing their elemental natures. However, those clones were very limited in ability and performance. In most cases, the clones couldn't move and were just like statues. In very rare cases, where the clones were formed by some impressive talisman, they could do so but were very limited in that. Most could only wield power equivalent to a normal human being or at best, 5% of the user's power, depending on the quality of the talisman used.
For one to be able to create a true clone that could move and utilize more than 10% of the original body's abilities, one would have to be of the Paragon realm; a level of power two realms ahead of the Guardian realm and one realm ahead of the next, the Heroic realm.
Paragons were pretty much non-existent in the Great Dawn kingdom and only in the five sacred lands and the top three empires could one find them. Aurora only knew about this thanks to her standing and heritage.
While the Great Dawn kingdom never had a Paragon, it didn't mean that they lacked interaction with one. Coupled with some ancient documents and such, they managed to have an idea of some of the skills of a Paragon.
'But it's impossible, there's no way he's a Paragon.' Aurora thought.
A 14-year-old Seventh stage Guardian was absurd much less a 14-year-old Paragon.
As she got that thought out of the way, there was only one conclusion; Asher had formed the clone using a special talisman. This was it. This was the only logical explanation. However, that didn't make things better.
Even using a special talisman would only create a clone with as much as 5% of the main body's abilities. From what she could surmise, Aurora felt that she had been battling Asher's clone from the very start. If that were the case, then it would mean that a clone of Asher's with just 5% of his abilities was enough to take out Aurora's teammates, except Lyn, and still hold her down. Thinking in that fashion, one could only imagine the strength of the main body.
Once she thought of this, Aurora couldn't hold her fear back as she began to retreat at the sight of the approaching Asher, her hands trembling in apprehension and trepidation. Even Lyn stared at Asher with terror and awe in her eyes.
As for the centre of all this, Asher, he was totally unaffected by their gazes.
The Arnhaunt family didn't have a legacy as old as the Castellans so they didn't know how to make clones or at what stage one could do so. Truth be told, Asher was aware that one would have to be at the Divine Palace Opening realm, or the Paragon realm before they could make a fully functional clone. However, having lived for more than two million years had its perks, one of which was having enough time to study certain techniques and adjust their form.
While the Mana cultivation system had a bunch of similarities with the True Qi method, they were still different. For example, mana was inherently dependent on the elements, and while one could manipulate the elements using the True Qi system, they couldn't do so as easily and smoothly as the mages did.
Being aligned with the wood element, which symbolized life, Asher was able to temporarily create a wood clone that possessed a portion of his abilities even while still at the third stage of the Guardian realm. Of course, pulling such a technique off was extremely difficult and consumed a large amount of mana. Also, it placed a huge burden on his body and mind, and it was only thanks to his powerful mental capabilities as well as his Chaos-Origin body that Asher was able to pull off the spell.
Nonetheless, the lifespan of the clone was very short; not more than 30 minutes as any longer would cause additional strain on his true body. It was for that reason that he allowed his clone to get destroyed, otherwise, with his insane battle experience and skill, Aurora would have found it impossible to land a hit.
Normally, Asher wouldn't have used this cloning technique but when he was approaching this site, his cautiousness made him decide to abandon the thought of using his main body. This wasn't to say that he was afraid of Aurora's team but rather, the bizarre orb within him was what led him towards this place and there was a chance that the area would pose a threat to him because of that, or react in some fierce way and create a commotion due to the orb's presence.
As a result, Asher decided it was best to send a clone to scout the area first. The clone couldn't be too weak nor possess his full strength, so Asher decided to have it wield the level of strength others could usually perceive from him; the peak of the second stage of the Guardian realm.
Sadly, that level of strength, while powerful, was still insufficient to take down Aurora quickly. This was because, with the Heliotrope spear and her third-stage power, Aurora was now on par with a peak third-stage Guardian mage or even a half-step fourth-stage Guardian mage capable of exchanging a few blows with a fourth-stage Guardian mage. As a result, Asher decided to face her with his main body and end things quickly, even if it meant revealing his hidden powers.
'The Terreans are pushing heavily on the borders with intense aggression. I don't believe the royals would take a risk during this time and make a move against us. Even if they want to, they would have to wield the moral high ground otherwise, even the other noble families would be disappointed in them and lose faith.' Asher's eyes gleamed.
With the Terreans' new campaign on the border that was so intense that both Darius and Elijah had to go personally to the border, one can say that the royals would have to stay their hand at least till the battle was over. If they didn't and made a move on Asher or the Arnhaunts, it would cause Darius to completely lose faith in the kingdom and abandon the front-lines, leaving the enemies to pierce into the kingdom through the domain of the Arnhaunts.
Apart from that, the other noble families would become more fearful of the royal family if the Castellans made a move on the Arnhaunts during this period. While this sounded like a good thing, once fear reached a certain mark, it would push one to the wall and give birth to a certain type of determination; the type that would embolden one to put an end to their fears. This meant that a trace of rebellion would breed in the hearts of the nobles seeing as the royal family could treat the kingdom as inconsiderately, even putting it at risk of collapse, just to kill the Arnhaunts. It would become inevitable for some to begin fearing that their turn could arrive, especially the great families, hence they would begin preparing to usurp the Castellans from the throne of power.
All these, and various other factors, made Asher believe that even if he showed that he had a promising future, the Castellans wouldn't make a move on him, especially since he was a null.
"Time to put an end to this farce." Asher walked slowly towards Aurora.
Aurora bit her lips till they began to bleed as she gripped tightly on her spear. Even though she wasn't sure of Asher's current strength, she wouldn't take a step back because of her pride.
At that moment, Aurora had reached a decision.
Before coming, she was advised by her master to get used to her lightning element, hence Aurora had made a mental oath not to utilize any of her other magic during this test. This was especially so of the gold elemental mana in her blood.
If one recalls correctly, the Castellans specialized in gold metal mana, not lightning, so they had a wide variety of spells suited for gold mana users. Also, lightning mages were very rare, so the spells for such types of mages were also rare. In total, the royal family could only provide Aurora with three such spells which limited her true battle prowess. But for the sake of improving her usage and control, Aurora had decided to solely use those three spells alone no matter who she was facing.
It was only now, facing Asher, who couldn't confirm his true strength, did Aurora decided to relinquish her previous decision.
Immediately, the previous purple glow that covered her slowly dissipated. Even the purple lightning that occasionally flashed at the tip of her spear was also gone.
The gold engravings on the spear suddenly shone brightly and began to enlarge, taking up more proportions of the spear. Following that, Aurora's irises turned golden as her entire aura changed from a terrifying sting-like sensation to a honed spear. It felt like standing before Asher was not a young girl but a spear that wielded indomitable might, capable of piercing through a thick and huge boulder in one hit.
'Truly worthy of being called a godsoul.' Asher frowned.
"Die!" Aurora roared as she prepared to charge at him.
Almost immediately however, she stopped. Asher also stopped as the two of them abruptly glanced towards the same direction by the side. Even Lyn had also turned towards the same spot.