After they recovered, they stood and began to run forward. "I have virtually limitless stamina as long as I'm not straining my body. Let me increase the speed," Eiran said before he lunged ahead faster than before.
____
SSS Rank Potential
Talent: Celestial Blood
Borne Trait: Essence Vessels
____
Brand Skill: Healing
Brand Skill: Blooming
Brand Bind: Forge Form
- Bind Link: Small Palace
- Bind Link: Royal Uniform
Brand Skill: Nameless Blood Art
- Blood Art: Haste
- Blood Art: Heart
- Blood Art: Vein
- Blood Art: Bone
- Blood Art: Growth
Brand Skill: Sliding Moon Art
____
Eiran was right—CBE would change and improve the Blood Art, but more than that, it carved itself into Eiran's mind, now like a second hand that he must master.
He knew the art fully and could execute it, but like his arms and legs, he needed to train to perform exceptional feats.
Not only that, his own physique had shifted to best accommodate them. His muscles thickened at certain locations, along with his bones and tendons.
The five arts, when utilized simultaneously, would yield the aura that had pushed Nyara back—but that would be hard for him to replicate.
The Sliding Moon Art from the sword was also conditioned to match his Blood Art with ease. A great combination made for each other.
"I will take a short nap!" Eiran said, "but my body won't stop moving. Help me navigate."
"Yes, Your Highness!" Nyara said as she moved closer to Eiran, taking his hand. 'He isn't even bothered by the city's pressure.'
She realized that wasn't even a challenge for her master, and that made her smile.
Eiran was mentally tired and needed rest for what was to come.
Brand Skill: Nameless Blood Art [A complex Art comprising minor arts complementing each other. The end result might be Internal Invulnerability]
- Blood Art: Heart [Heart is the key to blood flow which brings all other Arts to life.]
- Blood Art: Haste [Accelerates mind-body function through blood ignition.]
- Blood Art: Vein [Forms hardened vein glyphs that reinforce structure.]
- Blood Art: Bone [Bone nurturing reinforces Blood Art efficiency.]
- Blood Art: Growth [Rapid evolution of blood, tissue and essence.]
Brand Skill: Sliding Moon Art* [The sword sliding to cleave through obstruction just as moonlight rays descend on earth.]
____
The brief explanation didn't encompass everything. Nameless Blood Art had five Arts under it, but each Art also had techniques beneath them.
***
When they were five kilometers away from the city, Eiran's eyes fluttered open. He acknowledged the weight on his shoulders, but it was like Dr. Gerard placing his hand on his toddler body. Heavy, yes, but a problem? No.
A powerful gaze landed on both of them, breaking their momentum and forcing them to halt.
"This is it. The beginning of the assault!" Nyara said. "If I aid you, the attack potency will increase to match me. If I don't, it will be relative to you. But mind you, the city considers its candidates to be highly proficient fighters with rich experience."
Nyara couldn't just choose for Eiran. She must hear his thoughts at every junction, unless he asked for her view.
"I will do it. It will serve as training for me!"
"Every step will increase the weight, though," she added.
Eiran didn't mind that and asked, "Who else is watching?"
"I believe none of the candidates can observe. Now it's just you and the city itself," Nyara said.
"Fine." Eiran dashed forward, his steps measured, mind focused on how the Blood Arts reacted to his movements.
Nyara sighed. 'Did I become pathetic?' she thought, her right hand trembling, her left one pressed to her chest.
She hadn't realized she'd been truly injured until they began running after he recovered. Her bones throughout her body had fractured—something that shouldn't have happened if she wasn't weakened.
Not only that, Eiran, as the source of the aura attack, still affected her unknowingly. She feared sounding whiny and kept her words.
She relaxed and entered a meditative stance as she watched his figure zoom forward. She needed to recover before things became hectic.
Eiran was thoughtful about his arts. Compared to what Nyara had shown him, his Blood Art was deeper than hers, as it comprised her three arts into one, along with his own ideas and CBE modifications.
But his attention was on the limitations and stages the art possessed, which contrasted with the versatility he used to have.
'I should use what I have!' Eiran concluded. He couldn't change the art without harming himself, even though his understanding of whether it was great or not was limited.
Nameless Blood Art had three stages, and from what he understood, it would also improve once he reached Phase 2 and continue developing until he reached Phase 5. That meant it was an evolving art.
The limitation now was that he was at Stage 1 and had access to only one Brand Skill from each Blood Art. He needed to reach Stage 2 to access another Brand Skill, and at Stage 3 he would have three Brand Skills in total.
This meant for the entirety of Phase 1, he would have only three Brand Skills from each Blood Art. It felt limiting, and it was.
But despite his misgivings, Eiran understood that his body was the cause of the limitations. Pushing beyond that might destabilize his Blooming Physique.
Eiran smiled as he thought of Blood Art: Growth. This was by far the most important—not because of its power, but because it complemented his Blooming.
His use of the other Blood Arts would influence it, affecting him to experience growth in both body and mind. He could stay in Blooming for extended periods with no side effects.
Eiran's attention then returned to what skills he should develop now at Stage 1 in all the Blood Arts.
Blood Art: Heart served as a key. For now, he wouldn't bother with that, despite ideas dancing in his head.
Blood Art: Haste required a skill. He could go for body acceleration—if he had it now, he would be running faster than he currently was. But he had other ideas.
He could still use skills that aren't Brand Skill but they wouldn't be as effective as if they were set as his Brand Skills.
After a moment, Eiran made up his mind, and his attention turned to a glowing dot descending from the sky.
It slammed exactly into his path, earth exploding. Eiran changed direction, but the object rose—a mechanical structure—and shot a spear at him. Eiran could feel Nyara's gaze on him, her intent to intervene, but he didn't want that. His body sped up, avoiding the spear.
Wherever he moved, another spear was already launched. He sidestepped again. Five spears came, but he dodged them all.
The mechanical structure powered down, and Eiran ran ahead where two more dots appeared, descending.
What Eiran used was pure movement—no skills involved. Their landing brought more spears in coordinated attacks, and Eiran passed them with ease.
Five dots appeared, with the same result. With his limitless stamina, Eiran wasn't getting tired. Even when he strained himself, he recovered quickly within moments.
Suddenly, Eiran felt Nyara's gaze and a rush of wind behind him. She appeared beside him, about to grab his hand, but she caught his shadow instead—a blade was there, about to cleave him. Her body flickered away with realization.
'I almost messed it up!' she acknowledged. Eiran didn't need her. He had escaped on his own, expertly using his Blood Art.
Eiran's eyes met hers and he nodded. She might think she almost messed up, but she had aided him—her burning gaze had alerted him first.
'I'm lacking in detection!' he thought, standing ten feet from the humanoid mechanical that had attacked him.
The mechanical stood, its iron blade turning toward Eiran, and it dashed forward. Its movement was so fast it was a blur. Eiran's perception kept up with it until the blade was inches from his face, and he used his desired Brand skill: Instant Shift.
The blade cut through his former location, and Eiran was ten feet away.
His eyes then scanned around. The spear shooters that had fallen had all become humanoids, each holding different weapons.
'That spear bearer is dangerous!' Eiran noted as it bent into a lunging posture, spear pointing at him, and then it vanished.
Instant Shift immediately activated, but not on Eiran's body—on his perception, accelerating it to capture the movement.
That was a mistake. He captured the movement but his body was too slow to react, and there was a delay in Instant Shift's body response.
Though he did move his chest from the direct spear path, his shoulder was still in the way, not to mention the shockwave of the movement slammed into him.
He was sent back as a barrier from his pauldron protected him. Still hurled through the air, another opponent came—a mace bearer, matching his trajectory and bringing the mace down at Eiran's head.
He had no means of dodging, and his Mind Instant Shift captured everything.
'Bam!'
The Royal Uniform wasn't a talent tool but a well-crafted fusion of advanced technology and relics. In Eiran's case, his hands were filled with his talent energy, and he channeled it toward the Royal Uniform, which reacted and protected him with a barrier.
Eiran's body, protected by the barrier, smashed into the ground and bounced up.
Another opponent was already above him—a hammer bearer with a hammer bigger than Eiran's entire body came down.
'Boom!'
The ground shattered, and the right Forge Form hand's energy supply was completely depleted.