She got angry?

Bang!

Samael darted towards Julian and his fist connected to his face, sending Julian tumbling on the ground.

"Puh." Samael spat some blood again. "I don't know who you are but you'll pay for that."

Back on Julian, his body spun as it tumbled to the ground. Mid-air he stretched out his arm and dug it deep in the ground to forcefully slow himself down. His foot skid on top of the ground and he revealed a surprised look.

"little bastard has some fight in him. Okay! Let's try this one more time."

With that he leaped forward, running towards Samael. Quickly he saw Samael's figure running towards him too but he saw that his foot had black lightning crackling around them and so was with his hands. Not only that, but with his every step, Julian saw frozen spots from where his feet touched.

Samael accelerated even more once he saw Julian coming right at him, he jumped towards him and threw a punch. His fist didn't connect but was instead dodged. Julian ducked under and sent out a punch of his own. But Samael actually was able to move in that split second and threw out his right foot to deliver a rising kick. To his surprise Julian was able to bend backward, narrowly avoiding his foot.

The exchange happened fast and every move was executed with finesse and power. The wind blew from their movements. When Samael landed on his feet with a calm and confident look.

Julian steadied himself and was looking calm but he was rather shaken inside. He had trained since childhood and had the best teachers that his family could offer. Due to this he's been nurtured and had grown to be one of the best in his generation. His attainments in martial combat even without his cultivation is on par with some masters. This led to pride growing within him, he had confidence in beating all within his generation and even the generation that came before him.

But with that single exchange with Samael...his confidence was shaken.

Those short moves that Samael showed were all lethal and calculated. That first punch deliberately exposed a fly and he act on it like a fish to the bait. If he didn't notice Samael's kick then he would have been hit on his left shoulder. Of course, it wouldn't matter to him that much since he could protect himself with his Profound Energy but that single exchange still has shaken him.

Julian breathed heavily and calmed down, he concentrated even more. This was now just about that fight. No longer is it about rumors or whatever, Samael's cunning and skill lit a fire in him to fight.

Of course, Samael had no idea that he could cause such a reaction to someone he had just met. He was actually astonished though, that this mysterious person was able to narrowly avoid his kick earlier.

He may have been a cripple before but that didn't stop him from training his body and learning martial combat. His parents were pleased about this so they trained him personally. And bare in mind that the knowledge and wisdom between Samael's birth-realm and this low-leveled realm were heavens apart.

Samael bitterly trained his body day-in and day-out, until he was so tired that he could collapse at a moment's notice but even with the pain of training he still persevered and he honed his craft till he was better than the other children of the clan. But this was now a story of the past

Both of them stared at one another and as if they read each other's minds they dashed towards each other, engaging in a fierce fight once again.

Their battle raged on, they kept throwing punches and kicks at each other, trying to get an advantage over the other. Their body got battered by the attacks of the other but that didn't stop them.

They fully immersed themselves in the fight, relying on their own insights on the martial path of combat. Their figures moved from one part of the courtyard to another, their hands and bodies got bruises but they continued to fight. Finally, they wanted to end the fight with one blow and threw out their own last attack.

On this last exchange, Samael struck from below. This was because he got punched by Julian, which made him almost tumble forward. Samael clenched his right fist tight and with his final, desperate attempt for victory, he aimed for Julian's stomach. On the other hand, Julian was striking from a higher position. He was the same as Samael, he was desperate for this victory so he clenched his left fist real tight and swung it down with as much power as he had.

Bam! their fist struck each of their targets.

The force generated from their movement plus the final punch blew wind and dust away. Once the dust was settled, one figure stood victorious.

"Ha...Ha...you're feisty kid, I like that...but stay away from Lina. She's mine."

Although their battle was intense it only ended that way because Julian was holding back on his cultivation level. He was at the peak Early Stage of the Foundation Building realm while Samael had just only started. This was an obvious result, but Julian was still surprised nonetheless. To think that even with him holding back, he was still forced to his mortal limits with that bout.

"Ha-ha...so that's what's this all about eh?" Samael lay on the ground, his hands sprawled outwards.

He breathed heavily and spat out blood again, laughing as he spoke. Julian saw this and asked, "What do you mean?"

"Ughh...I mean, you must've heard the rumors outside, right? And you just attacked me on the account of baseless rumors? You must be so head over heels with the princess, Ha-ha." Samael groaned and explain, with a little tease in the end too.

"Uh..." It was just now that Julian finally thought things through calmly. He didn't actually believed those rumors but because of the scene he saw earlier with the Princess holding Samael's hand. All the things people said suddenly felt true to him and so he became impulsive.

"...so it was just me all this time?" Julian muttered to himself once the realization sunk in.

"DAMN RIGHT YOU ARE, GENIUS!" Julian was then suddenly whacked on the head as he heard a very familiar voice to him.

"Ah! Lina? How long have you been there?" Julian grabbed his head and warily asked Lina.

"From the very start! Seriously...look what you've done to him? You could've held back a bit more, he had just started cultivating today!" Lina was furious.

But what she said had Julian thinking to himself. "Wait, did she just say this kid had just started cultivating today? Why so late? And also, damn! He had just started and he's already that strong? What if he reached my own level, how strong would he be then?"

"And you! why did you have to fight back? You should've felt the difference between the cultivation realms of the two of you. Couldn't you have run away or at least waited for me to help you?" Princess Lina

wasn't finished 'scolding' them.

"Hehe, I just found the perfect partner to test my newfound strength. How could I miss it?" Samael sneakily smiled before groaning some more.

"Idiot! Your cultivation hasn't even stabilized yet and you sought to fight already? and look what you've done to my courtyard?! Humph, you two better fix this or you can forget talking to me again." The Princess finally couldn't take it and walk away in anger after saying her last sentence.

Seeing the Princess walk away in anger, the two young men didn't know what to say or how to react. They just stood there as the fleeting figure of the Princess disappeared from their sights.

"Uhh...wow, she really can get angry." finally Samael broke the silence between the two of them.

"Oh, you bet she can. Don't get me started, back then some princesses from other empires tried to talk to me during the meeting between empires, she smiled throughout the whole meeting but after? Boy, she was even scarier than an archaic beast." Julian sighed as his mouth continued talking.

"I can definitely see that. Hahahaha..." Samael laughed, he really could see the Princess acting like that.

"..." Julian heard Samael's laughter and didn't know how to react and he thought to himself. "How could this guy still laugh and be normal with me as if nothing happened? We just fought!"

"I guess you really love her, yeah?" Samael propped himself up and asked Julian with a light smile.

"Yes, I do." Julian nodded then he extended his hand towards him and said. "I'm sorry for punching you out of nowhere. We got off the wrong start, I'm Julian from the Clyde family."

"Julian Clyde, eh? I'm Samael"

"Samael? Very well then, you and I are now friends. So...how are we going to fix this?" Julian laughed before asking the important question.

"Beats me." Samael shrugged his shoulder.

Sighing, Julian walked forward and picked up pieces of stones that were originally a statue in the courtyard but were destroyed by their battle. Seeing Julian do this, Samael also had no choice but to do the same. As they do so, they talked about themselves, sometimes their laughter would echo from the courtyard.

Obviously, the princess heard this and came to take a look. When she saw the two who were intensely fighting with each other earlier, now getting along like bosom friends. Princess Lina felt weird but smiled nonetheless, it was better for the two of them to get along than to have an unsolvable enmity.

"Hey! Watch where you're throwing those rocks!"

"You did it first!"

Suddenly she heard the two of them bickering again, slightly irritated she screamed out of her window.

"Keep it down, will you!?"

And the response she got was...

"Yes, ma'am..." in a very sarcastic manner but she still laughed seeing how everything developed the way it did.