There was an ethereal beauty to the forest. Everything was in honeyed tones, breathtaking and soothing, under the illumination of the morning sun.
Tyrak stood across from Tamara on a clearing beside a stream in the forest. He squinted his eyes against the morning sunlight and glanced at Tamara. "Are you sure you want me to attack you? I will have you know that I'm quite powerful. I might hurt you if I attack with full force."
Tamara beamed, her angelic smile lighting up the whole place. "I dare you to do your worst! I'm pretty strong myself. I don't think you can touch my shadow."
"If you say so." Tyrak shrugged. "Then, here I come. Are you ready?"
"I'm ready," said Tamara. "Just attack."
"Okay!"
Tyrak narrowed his eyes. Without any hesitation, he shot off toward Tamara like a raging beast. His newly enhanced muscle power obtained after opening all his twelve primary meridians allowed his speed to hit unbelievable levels. He pumped his legs like mad, and in just an instant, he was beside Tamara. He quickly placed his hand on her neck.
Everything happened so fast to the point that Tamara couldn't react. It was as if she was rooted in place. She could only widen her eyes and glance at Tyrak's face with shock.
"Eh..." Tamara finally exclaimed after a few seconds. "How are you so fast without relying on any spells?"
"Well..." Tyrak smiled and took his hand away from her slender neck. "I have powerful legs. They allow me to run very fast. Aren't I powerful?" He walked back and struck a pose.
Tamara raised a brow. "Don't get cocky. Our sparring has just begun. Since you're already this strong, I'll be using spells from now on." She flicked her wrist, and a silver sword appeared in her hand. "To be safe, use this sword while sparring against me." She handed it to Tyrak.
"Thanks." Tyrak received it. He made a few swings to test it out before returning his attention to Tamara. "I'm really an amateur regarding swords. I don't think I can use this well."
"You won't be able to handle my attacks without the sword," Tamara said. "Just try and use it to guard against my attacks. I don't want to hurt you by accident. Are you ready?"
Tyrak nodded and got into a fighting stance with the sword in hand.
"Okay, I'll attack now. Try your best to defend against my attacks. Don't get hurt!"
Tamara's hazel eyes shone with an intense gleam as she made a few hand signs. Her fingers twisted and contorted together in weird patterns as she intonated a few mysterious words. Then, when her chanting reached the climax, her face turned somber, and she quickly brought her hands together with a loud clap.
At that exact moment, a chill slowly rose from the base of Tyrak's spine. His eyes darted around the place, searching for the source of the danger.
Out of the corner of his eyes, he caught a sharp spike advancing toward his position. It was so fast as it cut through the air. Before he could blink his eyes, it stopped next to his neck.
"What the hell?" Countless droplets of cold sweat ran down Tyrak's back. He swallowed hard as he slowly inclined his head to glance at the baby-arm-sized spike that had stopped a few inches from his neck. Under the morning sunlight, it glowed with a mixture of brown and yellow lusters, causing him to believe that he had narrowly escaped from the clutches of death.
"Lesson number one," Tamara said with a sweet smile. "While fighting against spell casters, you should never allow them to launch the first attack. In fact, you should try your best to stop them from finishing the chanting of their spells. Otherwise, if you permit them enough time to prepare, they will effortlessly destroy you with their barrage of spells."
"Okay, okay..." Tyrak nodded and glanced wearily at the spike still pointing at his neck. "Can you take away this thing? It's making me quite uncomfortable."
Tamara chuckled and dismissed her spell. The spike moved back a few yards before eventually crumbling into dust.
"That was one of my rank-0 earth spells called the Earth Spike," Tamara declared. "I can launch about forty of those with my current mana pool. So, if you can't handle one of those, there's no way you could possibly defeat me with your current combat abilities."
"That may not necessarily be the case," Tyrak argued and got into a fighting stance. "Let's try again."
Tamara narrowed her eyes. "Are you ready?"
"I'm ready," Tyrak expressed. "But this time, I'll be attacking first."
Tyrak had already learned his lesson. He would never allow Tamara the time to prepare her spell. Just as she was about to start chanting, he took off towards her like a lightning bolt. He crossed a distance of a dozen yards like the wind and was only a few steps from her in mere seconds.
Tyrak extended his hand, hoping to place his arm on her neck. He was already visualizing how he would effortlessly win the battle without incurring injuries.
But just then, an unexpected obstacle foiled his plans. A wall of earth swiftly rose from the ground before blocking his arm from reaching Tamara.
Tyrak didn't lose heart, though. He had expected as much from Tamara. His agility exploded, and he swiftly skirted around the wall of earth. His intent was to launch an attack that would catch Tamara off guard from the opposite side.
Nevertheless, his efforts were still in vain. Just as he finished circumventing the wall, he discovered that Tamara had already moved a few yards away. Moreover, that was not all. She had also conjured four earth spikes which were swiftly speeding toward him.
"Shit!" Tyrak instinctively swung his sword, hoping to use all his might to smash away the spikes. He tensed his muscles, and a light flashed across his skin. With one downward slash, he defended with full power.
"Bang!"
One of the earth spikes finally collided with his sword. Its forward momentum afforded it a majestic rock-shattering might that caused Tyrak's hands to tremble from the inside out. There was a heavy feeling in his chest, and he retreated step by step for about twelve yards before stopping by the clear stream.
However, just as he was about to jubilate over having defended the attack, he noticed that the three remaining earth spikes had already stealthily pointed at his neck again. His gaze naturally turned to Tamara. He unsurprisingly caught sight of the sly grin slowly taking shape on her face as she watched him intently.
"If we were in a life and death battle," she said, "you would have already died thrice. But worry not. At least there's an improvement. You can at least handle three of my attacks. Should we go again?"
"Let's not." Tyrak shook his head dejectedly. "There's no way I can get past your spells to attack you. That's unless I launch a sneak attack against you."
"You're dreaming!" Tamara said with pride. "Even a sneak attack might not work. I possess enchanted defensive artifacts which can ward off a fully powered attack of a peak stage apprentice warlock."
On hearing that, Tyrak was speechless and more distressed. He had assumed that his power had grown to an unbelievable level after opening his twelve primary meridians. But after sparring with Tamara, he realized he was still a powerless insect in Othea.
"You don't need to be dejected," Tamara said as if reading his mind. "I'm a peak stage apprentice warlock. The only people more powerful than me in Othea are official warlocks. It's natural for you to lose against me with your current combat power."
Tyrak sighed again. "Do I really have no chance of winning against apprentice warlocks with my current combat power?"
"Well..." Tamara smiled. "I can rank your current combat power at the level of an advanced-stage apprentice warlock. If you utilize your speed well, you might be able to overwhelm those at that stage before they can complete their spells. But in the case of peak-stage apprentice warlocks, you have no chance against them. Peak-stage apprentice warlocks have incredible mana reserves and spiritual force manipulation abilities. Such capabilities allow them to launch almost instantaneous spells. Their wide array of attacking spells will give you no chance to get close to them. As such, you can't defeat them unless you can launch powerful attacks that can break their defenses and render them helpless from a distance."