The Shining Star Above The Heaven

When Aldrian heard that, he smiled, for this was the best outcome he had hoped for. He asked Eleine,

"Are you serious?"

Looking at her young master's smiling face, she suddenly felt unsure about her demand. She had never tried to fight or even spar with Aldrian all these years, so she didn't know how good he was in combat. Sometimes she followed Aldrian silently, guarding him during his training and that was it. She knew he was talented, but she didn't know how far that talent extended in combat.

As for Aldrian, the last time he had a battle training was when his father was still there to teach him, so it was nice for him to check his development in a combat.

"What am I hesitating for? I'm an earl-stage cultivator, and he is still at the viscount stage." she thought.

After hesitating for a moment, Eleine decided to still demand the battle and nodded her head.

"Don't take back your words." Aldrian said.

With it decided, they walked outside the village to find a place where they could have a battle without disturbing the villagers. They moved 3 kilometers from the village and arrived at a vast grassland.

The wind blew, and the grass danced, creating a soothing and refreshing feeling for anyone who stepped into this grassland. The grass itself was only ankle height and smooth underfoot, making it perfect for lying down and relaxing. Sometimes Aldrian came here to relax his mind and feel more connected with nature.

They stood facing each other 200 meters apart, observing each other. Aldrian, who was shorter than Eleine, might give the impression to an onlooker that Eleine was bullying him.

"Are you ready, young master? I can lower my cultivation level to yours." asked Eleine.

Aldrian closed his eyes and exhaled deeply before opening them again, showing his focus.

"You don't have to lower your cultivation! Give me your best, Eleine! I'm ready!" he answered.

"Then don't regret it!" Eleine was more than happy to oblige, smiling because she thought the victor was already decided.

When she finished speaking, Eleine, with her fast speed, approached Aldrian to deliver a blow strong enough to knock him out.

"I'm sorry, young master, it's for your own good." she thought. As her fist almost hit his head, Aldrian tilted his head to dodge her fist and counterattacked with his own. Eleine, surprised that he had dodged her attack and was stunned for a moment before she paired with her other hand to fend off the incoming punch.

When she successfully repelled the attack, she took a distance from Aldrian to reassess her young master.

"I used 50% of my power into the speed and he still dodged that?!"

She thought for a moment before increasing her speed to try to overwhelm Aldrian in a battle of speed. Aldrian, watching all of this with a calm and focused expression, was also thinking.

"I can see it, the flow of energy, the movement, the intrigue. It's so clear in my senses and vision."

Aldrian felt like he could do anything within his domain. He saw this battle as a way to test his ability within his domain and to keep honing his synergy with it. When he saw Eleine approaching him with increased speed, what he saw were slow movements that he could predict and counter whenever he wanted.

He then parried her with his hand. Eleine didn't stop her attacks and kept hitting Aldrian with increasing speed, each punch and kick successfully repelled by him.

"Amazing, I've already used 100% of my power, but he still manages to follow my movements!"

She kept hitting him from different angles, but no matter how she tried to find an opening, he always seemed to know where to parry the attack and counterattack.

"Then how about this?" she thought.

For the first time, Eleine then imbued elemental energy into her attack. Her fist suddenly became covered in a bluish color, and her punches seemed heavier and sturdier. Aldrian, seeing the flow of energy, tried to parry with the same movement but was surprised by the unexpected heaviness of the punch. His surprise lasted only an instant before he fended off her punch by slapping her hand on an acupoint, causing the flow of her energy to become unstable.

Eleine, whose energy was disturbed, was again surprised by Aldrian's quick thinking. She put some distance between them and finally began to use her first technique.

"Water Needles."

Suddenly, blobs of water appeared around Eleine and then took the shape of needles, which she launched toward Aldrian. Creating water from thin air demonstrated Eleine's precise and profound control of her elemental energy. Aldrian, seeing this, did not panic and finally used his technique.

He covered his hand in bluish aura to make it sturdy. With high precision and ease, he punched all the incoming needles. Eleine didn't stop there and used another trick. She made the soil under Aldrian wet and turned it into mud, making it slippery for him to stand, let alone move.

Aldrian, seeing this, smiled and used his earth energy to harden the soil beneath him. Finally, he said, "It's my turn to attack, Eleine!"

He then kicked the ground, creating a ground wave toward Eleine. She saw the wave coming fast and jumped high, launching her next attack.

"Water Sprout."

It wasn't an exaggeration to use a higher-level technique because Eleine finally felt that if she wasn't serious, she would be at a disadvantage. She no longer underestimated Aldrian and fought as if facing a veteran. The Water Sprout would drain her energy quickly without a nearby water source, but she thought it would be enough to knock Aldrian out. He might get hurt, but that was better than her losing.

The water tornado started to take shape around Aldrian, but her pupils dilated when she suddenly couldn't complete her technique. It was as if something obstructed her control over the surrounding energy. Aldrian had already disappeared, only to reappear on the ground beneath Eleine. He then used his technique to counterattack.

He created an earth pillar that rose rapidly toward her. Eleine still in shock from what had just happened was a little too late to respond. However, she managed to create a water armor to cover her body just in time. When the pillar hit her, it felt like being struck by a landslide and she was greatly shaken. Aldrian didn't miss this chance, he ran upward using the pillar and jumped toward Eleine with his fastest speed.

"It's over."

He covered his fist with water and then hardened it into ice. Eleine, still shaken, caught a glimpse of the ice-covered fist through her blurry vision and was shocked.

"That's like Lady—"

Before she could finish her thought, her vision blacked out. Aldrian's fist had arrived at its destination, hitting Eleine's upper body with great momentum and instantly knocking her out. Her limp body started to fall, but Aldrian caught her in a princess carry.

The fight lasted no more than six minutes from the start, and Aldrian felt satisfied with the result.

-------------------------------------------

Light slowly slipped into the darkness until it completely dispelled it. When Eleine opened her eyes, she found herself lying on the ground with a bundle of clothes as her pillow. She remembered her last moments before passing out and felt embarrassed because she had lost to someone with a much weaker cultivation than her own!

She looked around and saw Aldrian sitting cross-legged with his back facing her not far away. She walked towards Aldrian and sat behind him silently, waiting for him to speak.

Aldrian, who had already sensed Eleine waking up, turned his head and smiled at her.

"You're awake. How are you feeling?"

"I feel much better now, thank you, young master."

Aldrian felt relieved after hearing that; he had worried that he had been too harsh when he hit Eleine and felt guilty.

"Young master, how many elements can you comprehend and control?" Eleine asked. As far as she knew, Aldrian always trained using the four basic elements: fire, earth, water, and air. She didn't know if he could control other derivative or special elements.

"If I said too many would you believe me?" he replied.

When Eleine heard that, she felt her brain short-circuit and asked again, "What?"

"It's too many." Aldrian replied.

Eleine looked at her young master as if she were looking at a monster, which only made Aldrian smile. She then massaged her forehead and asked another question.

"When I tried to execute Water Sprout, why did my sense and control over the surrounding energy become heavy and obscure? It was like trying to move my body in quicksand, what did you do?"

"Oh, I can sense the exact flow of the energy, so I can intercept the activation of the technique with my own energy." Aldrian explained.

His answer made her almost faint again. The ability to sense the exact flow of energy in the surroundings for technique activation was akin to revealing the technique's secrets to someone. The weakness of the technique would be plain to see for this monster in front of her because he could cancel the activation of the technique or at least disrupt the flow, reducing its power.

What Aldrian didn't tell her was that he could not only sense the energy's flow but also see it. However, he needed to verify if he could do that outside of secret realm.

"So, about our agreement?" he asked.

Eleine sighed as she thought about it. With Aldrian's abilities, she was sure he could protect himself better than she could. From her assessment, he was ready for the challenges outside; at least an earl-stage opponent would pose no problem for him.

"Young master, I give you my permission, but you have to bring me with you."

In the end, she still couldn't let her young master go outside alone. She was still worried something might happen to him and wanted to fulfill her lady's order. Aldrian who is hearing this, gave a bitter smile because he was sure she would follow him silently like she sometimes did even if he forbade her. He knew she sometimes followed him during training because nothing could be hidden within his domain.

"Sure, you can come." he agreed.

With her permission, he was almost set to start his adventure in the outside world.