Chapter 108 Pinnacle.

Lenin and the others hurriedly left the meeting hall after they felt an earthquake. They went toward the source and when they arrived at the training ground, they were shocked when it had been completely ruined and destroyed. "How..." Novia was speechless when everyone was on the ground covered in dust. "This whole palace is reinforced by the most powerful protection magic formation..." She pointed out and looked around at the mess. "Aluca! Nior!" Arthor saw both of them, standing still with their hands holding the handle of their swords. The blades had been shattered all over the place and so did their armor. Those two were stunned and petrified at the same time when they clashed with that unimaginable attack. Their bodies were covered in cuts and blood. As soon as the adrenaline left their bodies, their noses began to bleed and their bodies trembled uncontrollably until they collapsed and fainted. "So this is the power of the Queen of Swords..." Lenin looked at Uriel, the only person left who stood tall. "What a dangerous power..." She looked at the big cracks in the walls and ceiling. If it hadn't been for the powerful protection magic formation that reinforced every wall of the palace, it would have collapsed with that attack alone. It was the first time in hundreds of years that someone or something could cause such damage to the palace. "Young lady," Lazarus said as he walked through the rubble toward Uriel. "Would you mind sparring with this old man?" He smiled at Uriel. Uriel's hands trembled when she heard that question, something that she had never felt before. She looked at Lazarus's bright blue eyes, the eyes that seemed to see through weaknesses. "I'm honored to be acknowledged by the strongest man alive," Uriel bowed. There were countless rumors about Lazarus, including the three-day endless fight against the tyrant. The famous rumor was his presence alone was enough to make wyverns fly away in fear. Another one was that he could cut a mountain in half. "Since you taught two of the Northern White Stars, how about I taught you something in return, Young Lady?" Lazarus smiled. Uriel was one of the two people who had mastered everything about swordsmanship. She didn't lack in anything and she even created her own art, the Invisible Hands. "Have you fought a battle where you no longer have a weapon in your hands, Young Lady?" Lazarus asked as he put his hands behind his back. "No, I have not," Uriel shook her head. "Then let me show you how a knight fights without a weapon," Lazarus said, his eyes preying on Uriel. Uriel unsheathed her sword and she resolved to take on this fight with her line on the line. Lazarus smiled when he saw it in her eyes and admired her resolve. The moment Lazarus readied his stance, Uriel felt an ominous aura from behind. She immediately turned around to look at the person who had released such murderous intent that it felt like right behind her. She was shocked when she saw nobody behind her, and that was when she felt a chill down her spine. She immediately turned around and saw Lazarus standing in front of her. She swung her swords without hesitation, but something blocked her swords from reaching Lazarus's body. "This is how you fight without a weapon, Young Lady," Lazarus smiled and released an insane amount of Aura toward Uriel. Uriel got knocked back quite far and immediately readied her stance once more. She had never experienced something like that or had seen anything like it. She was in disbelief that her swords couldn't penetrate Aura. "Is that Aura?" Uriel asked as she stared at Lazarus. "That's right," Lazarus showed a gentle smile with his eyes closed. "Just like how you used Aura to wield your swords," he added. Uriel's eyes twitched, didn't expect Lazarus to have reached the pinnacle of manipulating Aura. She thought she was the pinnacle in terms of manipulating Aura, but she at that moment she realized that she was far from being the greatest. "It's my lost..." Uriel bowed her head as she sheathed her swords. "People learned how to wield a sword and found that the bigger the swing, the more power it generated. That's how a beginner knows swordmanship, but an expert swordsman found that it wasn't the swing, but rather the form. But what comes after that?" Lazarus slightly tilted his head and stared at Uriel. Uriel didn't try to answer the question but rather listened to Lazarus's lesson. "A master swordsman found that the sword was just a necessary tool and Aura was the new height that any swordsman could achieve. Even a beginner swordsman with immense Aura could outmatch an expert when it comes to power. But what comes after that?" Lazarus asked again as he looked at Aluca and Nior who had regained consciousness. "A grandmaster swordsman realized that controlling Aura was the key to reaching the pinnacle of swordsmanship. Quantity never beat quality," Lazarus said as he looked at his palm. "But is that all there is to it?" He raised his brows and kept staring at his palm. "A Sword Saint is your current level, am I correct?" Lazarus looked at Uriel. Uriel knew about the ranking of swordsmanship, and she was indeed a Sword Saint based on her skill. A swordsman that could manipulate Aura to their will and turn it into whatever they wanted. A sword Saint was the pinnacle of swordsmanship based on the history of Neva, and the legendary hero who united Neva along with the Great Sage. "Yes," Uriel nodded. "Did you know there's still one rank above a Sword Saint?" Lazarus raised his brows and put his hands behind his back. Everyone listened to Lazarus and wondered what it was because they only knew that a Sword Saint was the pinnacle. "It's called Transcendent. Only a handful of people who had reached that level, and all of them were hidden from the world," Lazarus revealed. "A state of mind where a physical sword is no longer needed. Like this," he said as he closed his eyes. In less than a second, the training hall was shredded and grinded by unknown force, cutting the walls, ceiling, and the ground into small pieces. Everyone inside the hall was unharmed, but everything else had been completely destroyed. Lenin and Novia were in disbelief because the magic formation couldn't stop the attack at all. She could see the formation had been completely destroyed along with the hall. She didn't expect a physical attack could create such power that her strongest protection spell couldn't stop it at all. "This is the pinnacle of swordsmanship, Young Lady," Lazarus said as he opened his eyes and stared at her. Uriel was stunned and trembled because she didn't see it coming and couldn't react to it at all. She thought if Lazarus wanted her dead, he could do it easily and she would be dead before she knew it. "You're still young and you have reached this high," Lazarus said as he walked toward Uriel. "I can see the potential in you, and I believe you will reach this soon. You have seen it, now all you have to do is to understand it," he smiled as he patted Uriel's shoulder. S~eaʀᴄh the nôᴠel Fire.nёt website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. Uriel was shocked to receive such a compliment from the strongest man in Neva. She immediately bowed her head and put her hand on her chest. "Thank you for giving me the opportunity to see the new light, Lord Wyverncrest. I'm humbled and honored," Uriel said as she lifted her head to look at Lazarus. "The world needs us and we must protect it with all cost," Lazarus smiled as he nodded. "Thank you for lending me your time, Young Lady," he said before he walked away and checked on Aluca and Nior. Uriel walked away and looked at the giant holes in the walls and ceiling and thought about what had just happened. Those holes represented how she understood swordsmanship, lacking. She still couldn't believe it and at the same time it gave her motivation to grow even stronger. When she left the training hall, she stopped her steps when she saw Arandil in the hallway, leaning against the wall. Her expression turned cold immediately as she began to walk again. "That was unbelievable, isn't it?" Arandil asked when Uriel walked past him. "Unbelievable is an understatement," Uriel responded and continued to walk away.