Theron's head bobbed to one side, slipping past the sharp fist of a Humanoid Ice Spirit Beast.

A slice cut across his cheek, nearly reaching the bone.

'Fast.'

He tapped a foot to the ground and suddenly accelerated to the side, out of the way of a follow-up roundhouse kick just before it took his head.

Theron's heel slammed against the wall of the valley, and he leapt over the head of the Humanoid Ice Spirit Beast, just barely dodging out of its way once again.

This Humanoid Ice Spirit Beast was at the Ascended Cloud Realm—Theron was sure. It was far more powerful than anything he had come across until now, and that seemed only natural since it was worth a full 100 points, ten times any other Ascended Cloud Realm Ice Spirit Beast.

This one was decked out in armor and spikes. Though it used close combat techniques, its entire body was a wealth of blades. No matter what direction it attacked from, it could take his head if he wasn't careful.

What was more imposing was that this Humanoid Ice Spirit Beast used the currents even better than Theron did. Or, rather, it seemed to form a domain of control around itself that could even manage these currents.

While Theron was only borrowing power from them, it was actually manifesting and using them, making it more difficult for Theron to use [Entangling Blood Vein Pupils] to deal a harsh blow to it—or, more accurately, to catch it off guard.

It only took three exchanges before Theron realized that it was worthless to hold back here, especially with no one watching.

The violet in his eyes deepened and his aura completely changed. Gripping onto the Mana in the air, he swapped the Mana he was using from Silver Resonance to Gold Resonance.

[Shadow Extend].

Chi.

Theron clashed with both fists of the Humanoid Ice Spirit Beast before it could run him through with them.

He flipped backward but landed swiftly. Using [Entangling Blood Vein Pupils] to grab control of more Gold Mana in the air, he cast [Shadow Step], vanishing into not just three shadows but six of them at once.

Confusion colored the eyes of the Fourth Cloud Resonance Ice Spirit Beast, but it wasn't slow to act, throwing out three fists in quick succession.

Concentrated blasts of air with hidden blades within threatened to reap Theron's life, and the creature actually seemed prepared to throw a fourth, fifth, and sixth.

But Theron was faster than that, appearing behind it with a thrust. His images snapped together into a single existence, the attacks of the Humanoid Ice Spirit Beast missing.

It twisted out of the way in an attempt to dodge, but Theron still clipped its side. Still, clipping it wasn't enough to take it out.

Rolling to the side, the Humanoid Ice Spirit Beast's ice-formed expression twisted with rage. It opened its maw and roared, a swirling mesh of icy blue strands glowing within its throat.

It slapped a palm against the ground and shot toward Theron again. Leaping into the air, it stretched both fists out and to the side, cocking them back and accumulating the power of the whipping winds as it smashed down.

Theron whipped his spear in a small circle, great strain pressing against his wrists as he took a step forward.

The Humanoid Ice Spirit Beast didn't understand Theron's action until it found that its cocked fists actually peeled back further than it wanted—the wind currents that had once been under its great control slipping out for a moment.

PUCHI.

It was just enough. Theron's thrust ran right through its skull, and then arched upward and to the side, slamming it to the ground and shattering what remained of its head.

The Humanoid Ice Spirit Beast had leapt into the air and was timing its fists to slam down the moment Theron came into range. But the moment Theron disrupted the flow of the currents it was using, its fists were late to descend and it could no longer use its attack as a form of preemptive defense.

The end result was it being left wide open, dying with its eyes wide.

Theron had exchanged too many blows with the creature—he could already feel how its abilities worked. The moment he started using his [Entangling Blood Vein Pupils] to not just borrow the momentum of the currents but to wield Gold Resonance Mana directly, his options had opened up.

The creature was superior to him because it was in Cloud Resonance. Theron might be able to use Gold Resonance Mana, but it was still using superior Mana to him.

So, it was impossible for Theron to overwhelm it. But what he could do was disrupt it at an opportune time.

That strong, small circular motion he had made with his spear just before it attacked was actually [Shadow Extend]. Except rather than attacking the Humanoid Ice Spirit Beast directly, he drew a small circle with the extension of his blades around its arms.

With Gold Mana as a support, this was done with just enough force to disrupt its control over its current, killing it.

Sure, raw strength in combat was great, but Theron's greatest asset had always been his intelligence. Against these foolish creatures, he was able to more than make up for it.

Humanoid Ice Spirit Beasts were smarter than the usual Ice Spirit Beasts, but they weren't truly enlightened Spirits yet. Otherwise, they would be far more valuable than to be used as training dummies like this.

That said… it was strong. If it wasn't so stupid, Theron calculated that he would probably need to use at least two Mandates to defeat it.

Now he had a pretty accurate gauge of his strength. At full bore, using everything he had, he was about the equivalent of a Peak Celestial Talent at the Second Ascended Resonance Realm. If he factored in his combat IQ, he could probably squeeze out a victory against a Third Ascended.

'Not good enough.'

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