"Did you realize it back then?"
Noah asked Abel, once his element was exposed, he could finally stop pretending.
"I had my doubts. The darkness element has no specific traits and could be easily mistaken for a martial art. However, after seeing it again, I became sure tha-"
His phrase was interrupted since Noah began to attack!
Abel's complexion had regained some color and he was able to stand up but that didn't mean that he had completely recovered.
Noah wouldn't let him return to his peak form, his words were just an initial probing, he wanted to be sure that no one in the Muwlos family had any suspects about his aptitude.
After that was confirmed, he immediately attacked.
Ten fuming sabers slashed at Abel, carrying with them the full power of Noah's cultivation level and mental energy.
However, Abel was a rank 2 cultivator in the liquid stage with a rank 4 martial art.
The power of his art couldn't be shown accurately in his fight against the representative of the Royal family because the difference between their bodies was too vast.
Yet, against a body with his same strength, he could use it fully.
His knife pierced the air and clashed with each ethereal saber, his weapon released sharp lights that successfully blocked every attack and a few of them managed to overcome Noah's assault, ultimately ending on his body.
Noah took a few steps back and inspected his arms.
There were three deep cuts on his skin and he could not help but become extremely wary of his opponent.
'His martial art is as powerful as mine. Yet, his cultivation level is higher and even his body is stronger, my only advantage is the power of my spell.'
To counterattack Noah's blows, Abel had to come in contact with the toxic smoke.
The leader of the noble group stared with wide eyes as the black smoke continuously corroded his hands and fought with his regenerative abilities.
After some time, the smoke lost power and the regeneration surpassed the rate of destruction, vanquishing the spell completely.
"Impressive."
Abel praised loudly.
"If you were a rank 3 mage, I would have no chances to suppress such destructiveness. To think that three years ago you were only able to leave scratches on me, the academy surely is a gathering of geniuses."
Noah listened to his words but his mind was focused on other thoughts.
'I can probably match his blows if I enter the complete Demonic form, yet I can't fight for a long time in that state and my expenditure of mental energy would only increase if I use Shadow and Echo with it.'
His thoughts flashed rapidly in his mind as he analyzed the situation.
'I can surely run away but then I will be forced to either completely rely on the Royal family for protection or leave the country. I don't believe that the Muwlos family will keep the information about my aptitude for themselves.'
'Or, I can fight him and see if my strongest spell can match an exhausted cultivator with a rank 4 body.'
Only a few instants had passed since Abel stopped speaking with the two warriors staring at each other for the whole silent moment.
Then, Noah's determination surged and black smoke began to envelop him.
'For how long will I have to hide like a rat?'
Since his escape, Noah had to always be careful of everyone around him.
The Royals wanted to exploit him, his family was searching for him, and each new individual that knew about his aptitude could lead to irreparable consequences.
Noah did his best, focusing only on his training and joining every mission that could increase his power.
Yet, no matter how much he improved, he could never shake away those restrictions that he had since the moment he was reborn in that world.
'I'm tired of running away every time something in the heroic ranks appears. He is wounded and I can make it bleed, which means that I can kill him! Running away would mean that all my hard work can't match a cultivator in such a pitiful state.'
He transformed into his fiendish form.
The demonic form had changed slightly since he became a rank two mage.
There were the faint shapes of horns growing from his head and there seemed to be a tail growing at the bottom of his spine.
The power of the spell was linked to his rank as a mage after all, it was obvious that it would undergo improvements as his sea of consciousness enlarged.
Abel stared with a stern expression at the transformation of his opponent and turned his head to the astonished Samuel behind him.
"Young master, back off, I can't protect you from that."
Samuel gulped and retreated for a few meters.
Twenty fuming slashes shot toward him as he did that but Abel promptly stood in their trajectory and swung his knife to block the attacks.
Abel watched with wary eyes how the black smoke almost completely enveloped him and began to consume his flesh.
'The quantity of this gas increased!'
He judged in his mind, yet his line of thought was interrupted by a black figure jumping at him.
Noah used the First form of the Asura, creating more than ten ethereal sabers that jointly attacked Abel.
His physical qualities were empowered due to his spell, his body was now on even ground with Abel's one.
Abel fought valiantly, answering to each of Noah's attacks with one of his own.
Sometimes, he would let specific attacks wound him in order to exploit an opening in the guard of his opponent.
His weapon darted over the fuming figure, piercing the black armor and continuously wounding the cultivator under it.
Abel's attacks could pierce the Demonic form!
Yet, as the battle continued, more and more smoke accumulated in that area, creating a black cloud all around the two warriors.
Abel was naked, his skin was long since gone and his flesh struggled to reform.
Nevertheless, the assault of Noah's spell was unceasing.
Abel had to fight in that position or Samuel would be exposed while Noah could only gain advantages as that part of the mountain path became his personal area of destruction.
'Just die already!'
Noah watched as Abel's body slowly lost its regenerative proprieties and pressed on in his assault.
Seeing that he could not keep up anymore, Abel decided to do one last reckless attack.
He stopped defending from Noah's blows and focused in one last lounge.
Twelve fuming sabers stabbed his body at the same time and began to corrode his interiors but he held on and released a piercing attack on Noah's chest.