NOVEL NEXT Chapter 46 46: Duel Of Honor 2
'If I want to avoid a confrontation with Joshua, I must deal with Seraphim just as how I dealt with Elias and the triplets.'
Val knew he couldn't use his Blood Manipulation or Absorption skills in this battle. After all, out of all his abilities, Blood Rush was the only one that didn't have distinctive traits that could expose him as a non-Whitemore Bloodline User. Using any other skill would be akin to setting himself on fire as it would be the same as revealing that he had a different bloodline than the Whitemores. A lot of trouble would come his way if he did that, trouble that he wanted to avoid at all cost. So, for this battle, he resolved to keep things under wraps and rely solely on his Blood Rush skill.
"Watch out!" The spectators exclaimed, their eyes widening to the size of saucers as they watched the fireball released by Seraphim coming close to wiping out Val. The smile of victory had already appeared on Seraphim's face.
In response to the impending threat, Val activated his third Bloodline Skill.
The voice of his system echoed in his mind, [Bloodline Skill: Rush activated. Your Agility has increased to 50! You will lose 1 unit of blood until the skill is deactivated!]
As the fireball bore down on him, Val remained as still as a statue. Yet, within his seemingly motionless form, an incredible transformation was taking place. The moment he activated his Bloodline Skill, a surge of energy, akin to a bolt of lightning, raced through every fiber of his being. It was as though he had transcended the realm of physical limitations, his senses heightened to an extraordinary degree. His perception of the world around him warped, everything appearing to be moving at a glacial pace. His body felt as light as a feather, and speed that could put a cheetah to shame thrummed in his veins.
In a heartbeat, Val's form blurred into a streak of lightning, his movement a blink-and-you-miss phenomenon. The onlookers, their hearts in their mouths, could only register a fleeting blur before Val was standing at a distance from his original position. It was as though he had teleported, his astonishing speed rendering him nearly invisible to the naked eye.
Simultaneously, the flaming missile, deprived of its intended target, roared past him, harmlessly exploding on the spot where he had been standing just a fraction of a second ago, the ground cracking and getting scorched and the dust rising, coloring the air brown.
A gust of heated wind blew across the training ground, bringing with it the acrid smell of charred grass.
"He... he dodged it! B-but... how?!!!"
"It's as if he teleported!"
"I had my suspicions, but it's confirmed. Master Val isn't a normie! He is a bloodline user. And he might not just be a level 1 warrior.'
"Still it doesn't make sense. There's no bloodline skill in the Whitemore skill tree that lets a low-level warrior move that fast."
Their mouths agape, the spectators were left dumbfounded, their minds struggling to comprehend the incredible feat they had just witnessed.
"Impossible! No low-level warrior can move that fast!" Seraphim, too, was taken aback, his fiery sneer replaced by an expression of astonished disbelief.
As for Val, he stood at his new position, an aura of calm still enveloping him, as he turned his indiscernible gaze towards his dumbfounded opponent.
"It's not possible for you to burn me to ashes. After all... you're pathetically slow." Val scoffed, his words slicing through the tense atmosphere like a razor-sharp blade. It was a blatant jab at Seraphim's ability and a taunt of his apparent superiority.
His audacious words stung, digging into Seraphim's ego and inflaming his temper. Every syllable was a calculated jab, intended to provoke and incite. A heated opponent was easier to control and defeat than a wise and cool-headed enemy. Val wanted to anger him to death!
An animalistic growl of frustration tore its way out of Seraphim's throat as he snapped back, "I'll make you eat those words!"
With a violent thrust of his arms, a flurry of fireballs sprang to life around him. Each orb was a swirling mass of searing heat and bright light, casting sinister shadows that danced erratically across the training ground. Each thrust of Seraphim's arms sent another fireball flying towards Val, creating a deadly barrage that filled the gap between them.
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!
Every ball of fire whistled as it tore through the air, each one a harbinger of destruction on a collision course with Val.
But Val was no longer there. With a speed that defied belief, his figure flickered and vanished, leaving a momentary afterimage in his wake. Each fireball detonated against the ground where he'd been standing moments before, their detonation sending up plumes of scorched earth and smoke.
Yet, as the smoke cleared, it was apparent to the onlookers that Val had once again evaded damage. He moved with an agility that was otherworldly, his body weaving through the onslaught of fireballs as if he was conducting an intricately choreographed dance. His movements were fluid and precise, each step calculated and executed with flawless accuracy.
"Your fireballs won't even touch me. They're pathetically slow. You might as well be tossing snowballs." Val taunted calmly.
"I've been holding back!"
Unwilling to admit his inferiority, Seraphim attacked again. However, his fireballs seemed to move in slow motion compared to Val's lightning-fast reflexes.
Val remained unscathed as he maneuvered his body with impressive speed, veering out of the course of the fireballs that rocketed past him, their radiant heat singing the air around them.
All the while, his eyes never left Seraphim's, a clear message in their steely depths - 'Your best isn't good enough.'
The spectacle unfolding before their eyes left everyone present utterly awestruck. Val's display of agility and speed was far beyond what they had expected. It defied everything they knew about the Whitemore bloodline and the limitations of a low-level warrior.
"I've never seen a low-level Whitemore move like that before," one of the spectators murmured in disbelief. "His bloodline must be impressively pure to manifest such speed and agility."
His words were heard by the Kendrick's father and daughter pair.
'We have lost a gem!'
They felt immensely regretful!