Dual Circulation

The Paths was a subject that all teachers and instructors within the Soaring Star Academy had made sure to explain as much as possible.

So the fact that someone had managed to embark on a Path only being half way of the Adept Stage was not surprising, the surprising fact was that a bandit had been able to get his hands on the method to establish his Path and possess the talent to actually successfully do it.

The method of establishing a Path was quite regulated so that no random nobodies could get their hands on it. This was one of the reasons someone like Alyssa hadn't established her Path despite having the talent to do so, she hadn't expected her 'vacation' to last so long and hadn't prepared for it.

Even though, they were surprised that he had managed to get his hand on the method, it didn't deter them. Although their enemy had now proved to be difficult, they still knew that there was no path of retreat. They needed to end this here and now.

Lucas seemed to have similar thoughts since he didn't bother to hide his strength and directly summoned his Battlesoul, a large 5 meter bear with flames coating its body and judging from its radiance, it was a King Grade Battlesoul which made sense because not every normal Battlesoul master could establish their Path without a King Grade or higher Battlesoul.

Noah gritted his teeth, literally feeling the life leaving him. By his calculations he probably only had a few minutes before his foundation would grow weaker and he would digress to the 6th Level of the Intermediate Stage. Even worse, he didn't know if a case of his body shutting down would occur once more like during the fight against the Dream Druid.

Lucas roared, smashing down on the ground and sending molten rocks into the air, forcing the four to move backwards. But Emery seemed to disappear, appearing once more behind Lucas, slashing with his short swords.

The bandit leader responded rather quickly, twisting his body and blocking the attack with his fiery arm, letting red hot blood spray causing the dark haired boy move backwards due to the heat that the blood emitted. True to his guess, the ground hissed as the blood splattered causing the rest to assume that Lucas' blood seemed to have now gained lava like properties.

Even worse, was that the initial wound quickly closed, showing the crazy healing factor that had improved due to his current state.

Noah narrowed his eyes and executed Mirage once more. His two clones appeared around Lucas allowing him to switch places with them, inflicting multiple wounds on the bandit leader. Unfortunately, those wounds barely dug deep and were healed within seconds.

"Stellar Arc." Leonel appeared, slicing his spear and inflicting a tear on Lucas' chest, causing blood to spill onto the ground. And before the bandit leader attempted a counterattack, Argos stepped forward with a battle intent filled smile.

"Combo Words: Strength + Speed + Defense! Asura Fist Arts: Asura Wrath." Two extra arms appeared above Argos' shoulder as he punched out with all 4 arms and unleashed a barrage of punches.

Lucas attempted to defend, unclenching his fist and released a swirling wall of flames that fended off against the punches. Noah took this chance to teleport behind Lucas, his figure turning into a blur as he executed Whirlwind, attacking with multiple sword strikes that tore at the bandit leader's back, causing Lucas to grit his teeth in pain.

He wanted to refocus on the brat behind him but Emery arrived, striking down with his Umbra Essence laced sword that cut deep into Lucas' nape. But his plan was foiled as the Battlesoul behind Lucas roared, a sign that his enemy had utilized his Soul skill.

All four of them were forced away as a wave of fire erupted from Lucas' body, almost searing their skin.

"You little kids are really strong." Lucas heaved, slightly out of breath as he spoke. "If you had arrived a few days prior, I would be dead at the moment. So now, quickly die for me." His elementalized fist clenched as he punched outwards, launching a fiery beam that threatened to swallow the four.

They moved, utilizing their respective movement type Battle arts to dodge. Noah frowned, glancing within him to see the white mist that cloaked his Essence Core and tightened his grip on the sword before dashing forward. His movement was especially quick as he utilized his Dragon Step to approach the attack. "Horizontal Cleave."

His sword sliced downwards, cleaving down on the flames and separating it in half. But the next moment, he slashed once more. "Crescent Slash!" He attacked with an Essence driven Battle art! This was unprecedented, since Noah had been trying since forever to execute both his Battle art and martial art simultaneously and had finally managed to do so! He had finally been able to push past his limit while in battle. And even more outstanding was that his understanding in Execution Flow had increased allowing him to preserve the wasted Essence for another attack even if he used Blood Essence right after.

Lucas grunted, forced to tank the crescent shaped Essence slash that threatened to tear him apart. And before he could dispel it Noah had already reached him, jumping into the air before slamming down. "Azure Dragon Art: Dragon Slam."

An azure dragon's paw manifested beneath Noah, slamming down on the bandit leader. The latter roared, summoning a large fist of fire that tore the paw apart and proceeded to hit the fast approaching Noah with it.

The transmigrator didn't slow down, utilizing Dragon Steps to the limit and successfully executing Flicker despite its use, dodging the attack and appearing before Lucas. His muscles flexed as his Blood Essence strengthened them in accordance to the martial skill, Fatal Strike yet his Essence also circulated at the same time, coating his sword in a spiral as he fell downwards, diving straight at Lucas.

His monotonous voice rang out in that split second as he pulled his sword back. "You are indeed talented if you could embark on a Path, yet you got too far ahead of yourself. Dual Circulation: Fatal Strike + Drill Thrust."

Lucas panicked, knowing full well that the strike before him had the ability to mortally wound him. But it was this moment that Emery chose to use his Soul skill, causing the bandit leader to cough out blood as he felt an explosion of Umbra Essence within his body. The fire he was hoping to create in hopes of defending against the transmigrator's attack weakened, allowing Noah's blade to pass through, embedding itself into Lucas' chest and ravaging his inside with the Blood Essence and Essence infused into it. "N-No!"

But he couldn't do anything, his body had weakened too much because of the earlier attack. The remaining three were quick to attack. Argos charged, creating the two Asura arms once more and punching at Lucas' left arm, completely destroying it.

Emery shadow jumped, appearing behind Noah and cutting Lucas' right arm off from the shoulder, making sure to cut off the human part so no lava like blood spilled out. Leonel appeared, executing Stellar Arc to cut off the bandit leader's legs.

The decapitated Lucas fell to the ground while his expression contorted into that of pain and anger. "You fucking brats! You won't get away with this! My backer will make sure to make you and your academy pay!"

Noah retrieved his sword, his indifferent eyes staring down at the bleeding bandit leader. "But you won't be around to witness it."

Lucas' eyes widened. "W-Wait! I surr-…" Unfortunately, he couldn't finish his words before Noah swung his sword, cutting off the man's head.

The transmigrator let out a breath, canceling his transformation and using the rest of his Blood Essence to execute the Dragon's Vitality before glancing at his teammates. "Let's go. We're done here."

And with that his first task had been completed.