Chapter 47: Aelia’s Challenge

"Y-you! Come out and fight me right now!"

Aelonen was stunned by the interaction between the two. Unable to watch any longer, he shouted at Chris, urging him to fight immediately.

"Okay." Chris slowly stood up while holding Aelia in his arms. Once he was on his feet, he gently placed her down and walked straight toward the door.

"Where will we fight?" he asked.

"Just follow me," Aelonen replied, and Chris nodded.

Together, they left the room and headed outside.

...

Chris followed Aelonen to a clearing in the forest, with Aelia trailing behind them. The place looked like a training field, where many young elves were sparring with each other while older elves gave them instructions.

When they noticed the newcomers, everyone stopped what they were doing and looked at them curiously.

"Little brother, give up while you still can. Otherwise, you’ll just get a beating," Aelia advised.

"There is no way I’ll ever lose to this human! Don’t try to protect him, big sister!" Aelonen retorted.

Aelia simply shook her head and decided not to say anything else.

Chris watched him with amusement, remaining silent.

Walking to the center of the training field, Aelonen turned to face Chris and drew his sword.

"Don’t tell me you’ve changed your mind? You’ve already agreed, so it’s too late to back out now!" Aelonen shouted.

Chris merely shrugged and walked up to face him, keeping his hands in his pockets.

"You can start whenever you want," he said.

"Aren’t you going to draw your weapon? Are you underestimating me?" Aelonen asked, his expression darkening.

"It’s not that I’m underestimating you. You’re just too weak." Chris shook his head.

He was telling the truth. He had scanned Aelonen with his System earlier and discovered that, while the guy was indeed talented, he was far too weak to pose a challenge.

Aelonen was an S-Rank Warrior-class prodigy, which was impressive, but he was only Level 40. The difference between them was simply too great, considering Chris was Mythic-Rank and had already reached Level 44. He didn’t know which sub-class Aelonen had been assigned, but he didn’t care.

An S-Rank Warrior gained seven attribute points per level-up, with their attributes multiplied by 1.5 every ten levels. Meanwhile, Chris received ten points per level as a Mythic-Rank. He didn’t need to take Aelonen seriously at all.

Chris still didn’t know why he could scan people who had reached the fourth evolution and beyond, but he was grateful for the ability. As long as his opponent wasn’t significantly stronger than him, he could check their level.

"You! I hope you can still talk so boldly after you kneel before me!" Aelonen shouted back.

"Why all the talking? Just attack already."

Veins bulged on Aelonen’s forehead as his anger grew.

"You asked for it!"

He rushed toward Chris and raised his sword to strike.

Chris simply raised his index finger, covering it with dragon scales before meeting the incoming blade.

*DING!*

He stopped the sword with nothing but his finger.

The onlookers gasped in disbelief at the sight before them.

Aelia, standing to the side, simply shook her head. She was beginning to think that her little brother really deserved a lesson.

"W-wha—" Aelonen stammered, stunned.

Before he could fully process what had happened, Chris clenched his other hand into a fist and punched him in the stomach.

*BOOM!*

The punch struck Aelonen directly and sent him flying a considerable distance. He slammed into the ground and rolled several times before finally coming to a stop.

"Cough! Cough! Cough!"

He coughed violently while struggling to stand up.

"Young Prince!"

The onlookers gasped again. They couldn’t comprehend how someone could possess such a powerful physique and send another person flying with a single punch. Even more shocking was that the person who was sent flying was their young prince, regarded as the greatest genius in the tribe after Aelia.

However, they weren’t the only ones stunned by the sight. Chris himself hadn’t expected such an outcome. He had carefully controlled his strength to avoid hurting Aelonen too badly, but he had underestimated how much his physical strength had increased after the ritual with Aelia.

Looking at his still-raised fist, he couldn’t help feeling amazed.

’Seems like I need to get used to this new physical strength.’

Chris could clearly see that his Strength attribute hadn’t changed at all, yet his raw power had increased by leaps and bounds. He had no idea how that was possible.

With great difficulty, Aelonen managed to stand up, though his legs were still shaking from the impact.

"H-how are you so strong?" he asked, staring at Chris in disbelief.

"Sorry about that. I was holding back quite a bit. I didn’t expect to hurt you like that," Chris said, scratching his head.

He meant it. He hadn’t realized just how much his strength had increased, but Aelonen interpreted his words differently. He thought Chris was mocking him for being too weak.

"Cough!"

The psychological blow was too much for Aelonen. He spat out a mouthful of blood before falling backward, unconscious.

"Huh? What the..." Chris stared at him in disbelief. The guy clearly wasn’t injured that badly, considering he had managed to stand up on his own. So why had he suddenly passed out?

"Young Prince!"

The others quickly rushed over and surrounded Aelonen, checking on his condition.

"Stand back."

Aelia approached her little brother and examined him.

After a moment, she shook her head and took out a healing potion, pouring it straight into his mouth.

"He’s fine. He just passed out from shock."

The others sighed in relief before turning to look at Chris with angry expressions.

"What? I really didn’t expect that to happen, okay?" Chris explained, feeling exasperated, but he could still see the doubt in their eyes.

"Sigh..."

*Slap!*

"Wake up!" Aelia shouted, slapping Aelonen across the face.

"W-what!? Who did that!?" Aelonen’s eyes flew open as he shouted. However, the moment he saw Aelia’s face, he shrank back. "S-sorry!"

"Stand up. Why are you acting like a child?" Aelia ordered, kicking his leg.

"Yes!"

Aelonen immediately stood up straight like a soldier.

The poor guy had clearly been disciplined by Aelia countless times in the past to be so afraid of her.

She then turned toward Chris.

"How about we spar a little?"

"Sure?" Chris replied, wondering why she had suggested it. She knew his strength better than anyone else in the world, and he knew hers just as well. But he wasn’t about to refuse, he even felt excited.

Aelia stood a few meters in front of him and drew her sword.

"I hope you won’t underestimate me like you did my weak brother," she said with a smile.

"Of course not," Chris replied, drawing his own sword.

Aelonen, standing to the side, felt as if an invisible arrow had pierced his heart. He clutched his chest in pain.

"Young Prince! Are you alright?" The others beside him asked worriedly.

"I’m fine! Don’t worry about me!" Aelonen shouted, causing those who had approached him to flinch and step back.

Aelia raised her sword, and a layer of icy energy formed around the blade before she swung it toward Chris.

An ice blade shot from her sword and flew toward him at great speed.

He quickly rolled backward, dodging the attack as it passed directly above him. He then rushed toward her, intending to close the distance.

She jumped back to maintain her distance while swinging her sword several more times.

More ice blades flew toward him, forcing him to dodge by twisting his body.

He rushed forward again, trying to get close enough to engage her in melee combat, but Aelia continued to maintain her distance while launching more ice blades in his direction.

"So that’s how you want to play?" He said, feeling amused.

He raised his free hand and conjured several fireballs before throwing them toward her at great speed.

*Whoosh!*

The fireballs shot forward as he rushed after them, intending to close the distance while she was busy dodging.

However, Aelia raised her free hand and conjured several blocks of ice, hurling them toward the incoming fireballs. At the same time, she swung her sword and sent more ice blades flying toward Chris.

*BOOM!*

The spells collided in midair, creating a massive explosion that evaporated both attacks, and he was once again forced to dodge the incoming ice blades.

"What? Did you forget that I can use elemental mana to cast spells too?" Aelia asked with amusement.

He awkwardly scratched his head. He had indeed forgotten that detail for a moment.

Tightening his grip on his sword, he continued attacking Aelia, sending fireballs her way while searching for an opening. She responded to his attacks in the same manner, using her ice magic to counter his spells while keeping him at a distance.

The onlookers watched the fight in amazement. Most of them couldn’t even follow the pair’s movements clearly, as they were moving too fast. To the younger elves, their figures looked like blurs that were impossible to track.

The older elves who had been instructing the younger ones could follow their movements more easily, but they were still amazed by the fight unfolding before them. Both Chris and Aelia displayed excellent combat discipline, and their movements and attacks were impeccably coordinated, which was remarkable for people their age.

The fight continued in a stalemate for a while, but Aelia eventually began to struggle as her mana reserves slowly drained.

She stopped maintaining her distance and rushed toward Chris to meet him head-on. If she continued fighting from a distance, she would quickly run out of mana and be forced to concede, while Chris showed no signs of running low.

Thanks to his passive mana regeneration, his reserves recovered constantly. Although he couldn’t cast spells forever without resting, his mana depleted much more slowly than that of most people.

Chris raised his sword to meet hers.

*DING!*

Their blades collided in midair, sending a shockwave through the clearing and kicking up dust from the ground.

Their physical strength was nearly equal, as Aelia was a Level 49 SSS-Rank Warrior. The difference between them was almost nonexistent, since they had similar total attributes and had both strengthened their physical abilities through the ritual.

"Ugh!"

Chris felt a numbing pain in the arm holding his sword as soon as their blades clashed. He jumped backward and looked at his hand.

A thin layer of ice had formed around his palm.

He used his fire elemental mana to melt the ice before looking at Aelia.

"That skill is enviable," he said, glancing at her ice-covered sword.

"Don’t get me started on that. Your skills are even crazier than mine." Aelia shook her head, thinking about his passive mana recovery and his ability to reinforce his body with dragon scales. The guy was a literal monster.

He smiled and attacked again, but this time, he avoided letting his sword collide directly with hers.

He attacked from every possible angle while dodging the slashes she sent his way.

He also noticed that even when he avoided her sword, each slash sent ice blades flying toward him. He had to dodge every attack to the side to avoid the ice blades, while Aelia could evade his strikes simply by stepping backward.

Gradually, Chris found himself at a disadvantage, forced to focus mostly on dodging her attacks without finding an opening to counterattack.

Her swordsmanship was clearly superior to his, which was to be expected. As a Swordmaster, her affinity with the blade was far greater than that of most people.

Suddenly, she spotted an opening in his defense and slashed at his side.

’Shit!’

Chris couldn’t dodge the attack. His sword was already raised in a different direction, and he didn’t have enough time to block her strike.