Chapter 112 - Minor Aura Veil

The first to make her move was the green-haired girl. Her refined energy created a miniature whirlwind launching her off towards Aldrin.

Her glaring eyes seemed to bore a hole in his person.

From what he heard from the information leaked by Janet, the girl is called Mila Raison. Someone from a prestigious lineage in their city. Although prestigious might be exaggerated, it was at the standard of every Secondary City on the planet.

She's known to be a bonafide expert when it comes to rapiers. However, until now, she only showed her skills in that regard during the sparring against guest Energy Refiners. And only this time did she draw her rapier out.

Which meant, she considered Aldrin and the long-haired guy as worthy opponents.

The girl left afterimages behind her as she instantly arrived before Aldrin, aiming to stab him with the thin blade of her rapier.

Aldrin wasn't that keen on fighting them and he could be said to be forced by the situation. However, he wouldn't just stand there to be beaten up.

Aldrin raised the basic sword in his hand, deflecting her rapier. Despite being given another sword, he wasn't given the time to put away the basic Black Steel Sword.

However, that wasn't a hindrance for Aldrin. Striker could dual-wield sabers. Dual-wielding was something he could also do. Besides, even if he had no set sword style, the experience he acquired fighting day to day polished his own style.

Just that, if it was seen by true experts, they'd definitely facepalmed and spit at him disappointedly.

Sparks were instantly created from the friction of the two bladed weapons. However, Aldrin clearly felt that the sword he used was inferior. He heard a faint hissing sound from it. From the point where Mila's rapier clashed and slid against the sword, black spots could be seen which quickly turned to rust and eventually chipped the sharp edge of the sword.

"A Grade 2 Rapier? Talk about being overgeared in a friendly duel." Aldrin lowered the Black Steel Sword and counterattacked with the Refined Crystalline Sword.

"Kuh! Who says this is friendly?!" Mila grimaced as she twisted her body to evade Aldrin's sword. Slightly furious that instead of getting the upper hand because of her preemptive strike, she's the one who was pushed to dodging.

"You're a fine girl. You know. Stop frowning like that or you'll get wrinkles in your 20's." Aldrin intentionally used words to dissuade the girl.

Ironically, it produced the opposite effect.

With veins popping at her temple, Mila's surroundings rumbled as her refined energy covered her whole body, making herself glow in green.

"Minor Aura Veil! She's already a late Stage 1!" someone from the crowd pointed out.

Aldrin was aware of that. With the expansion of an Energy Refiner's Energy Channels, the flow of refined energy would be quick and smooth sailing, allowing for a thin veil of refined energy to cover one's body.

It's called Minor because there's apparently a higher version of it in the subsequent stages.

The Minor Aura Veil not only provides additional protection against physical or energy attacks but also enhances one's overall offensive ability. Furthermore, it could extend to one's weapon, Battlesuit, or even a Metadome. The last one was limited though. Either way, it's a great achievement for someone as young as Mila.

'Too bad, I'm still a middle Stage 1. My total converted IDLE Points is close to 125,000. It's only short of a few hundred after the 10,000 I converted last night. It's probably the threshold considering there are only a few Channels left that aren't expanded yet. Hopefully, it's the five times increment again rather than twenty-five like I first theorized.' Aldrin lamented and sighed.

When the onlookers saw him sighing, they began suspecting that he lost the will to fight. Due to that, those from his group, specifically Irina began cheering and encouraging him to dodge Mila's enraged and seemingly enhanced attack that was about to reach him.

"Aldrin! You can do it!"

It's a simple cheer that was instantly echoed by the others.

"Let's see if you can deflect this!" the green-haired girl once again disappeared from where she's standing, leaving behind green afterimages of herself clad in that Minor Aura Veil.

Another stab. However, Aldrin minutely dodged to the side, letting her stab through the air.

Still with the momentum on her side, she pulled her arm back and stabbed it once more.

Aldrin deflected using the chipped Black Steel Sword again. Compared to earlier, he's now beginning to use his refined energy. It would be arrogant of him if he faced her with only his physical ability.

Although he could boast about his rich experience fighting against ants and even Champion-level insects, that's not a reason for him to take his opponent lightly.

As the Black Steel Sword got chipped once more, a Shadow Clone rose behind the girl. Before Mila could stop the third time, the Shadow Clone's arms slipped from her underarms, restraining her.

Although Mila reacted quickly by kicking behind, her momentum already broke. And that gave Aldrin the opportunity. Using the hilt of the Refined Crystalline Sword, he mercilessly hit her exposed delicate navel, breaking through her Minor Aura Veil and whatever else protecting her innards.

"Gwak!" Mila's expression blackened as extreme pain coursed from the point of impact.

The force Aldrin used was naturally not normal. If he wanted to, he could stab her in the brief weakness provided by the Shadow Clone. However, he deemed it too early to be that vicious. The girl was like Frederic, a battle maniac. That's clearly apparent ever since seeing her for the first time.

As the girl almost regurgitated her stomach acids, Aldrin switched his attention to another direction.

"Oh! You noticed me? Not bad, uncle. Unlike that little girl who lost it in anger." The long-haired guy haughtily grinned while throwing more stones at the girl. 

Anyway, he's walking step by step and he's not concealing his presence that was filled with overwhelming confidence, how could Aldrin not notice?

The red and black falchion in the long-haired guy's hand was floating and spinning in front of him. Looking closely, there's a string of refined energy tied to it. Whether it was just a simple manipulation of refined energy or something produced by his Concept, Aldrin had no idea.

One thing he knew, however, was that he's in for another troublesome opponent.

'If I recall correctly this guy is called Yulong Xin. Someone born in a Primary City. He's from another prestigious family. And since it's a Lineage from that kind of city, it's on another level as Mila's Lineage.' Aldrin pulled out his information that Janet provided before focusing on how he could deal with him.

"How old are you?"

"17."

"Isn't it rude to call someone an uncle? I'm only 23!"

"Five years is enough for me to treat someone as an uncle, Uncle. Are you confident to just stand there? Are you looking down on me?"

"Of course not. Isn't that the other way around?"

"Oh. True. Then kneel!"

As if it's a matter of fact, Yulong Xin yelled in an authoritative tone. His refined energy burst from his body to put pressure on Aldrin.

It's overwhelming, true. However…

"Sorry. I've endured worse," Aldrin answered before he disappeared from where he's standing. The Refined Crystalline Sword in his hand was thrown forward, disrupting the spin of the falchion.

While the onlookers had just started to inhale a great deal of air for their sighs of amazement, Aldrin reappeared behind Yulong Xin, three clones jumping from behind him.