Activating all of the offensive stat boosting skills he had in his arsenal that he had stored for a later time, Valyr slammed both of his hands into the ground, channeling a great portion of his mana into it as he began to chant a long string of gibberish-sounding words.

“Ih pyn’ah tt’wagg k’ahn haap nmal’kas at meht’tagg!”

“Intermediate Shamanic Summoning Arts!”

“Growth Summon Arx’has Boar!”

Whoosh!

Within seconds, the mana Valyr had infused into the ground swiftly transformed itself into a large magic circle made out of multiple runes as a large entity slowly manifested above it. Due to the aura the entity was radiating as it was being summoned, Hal decided to change his commands, telling the wolves he had summoned to surround the entity instead.

“How about we show them what we’ve got?” Faintly grinning as he noticed the change in Hal’s combat tactic, Valyr sent out another wave of his mana as he made a selection in his mind, allowing the entity he was summoning to finally appear in reality.

“Goooorrrkkkk!!!” Obtaining a mental command from Valyr at the very instant it was summoned, the Arx’has Boar let out a loud and deep groan, causing part of the ground to tremble due to how loud it was.

“Grr…” In response, the wolves immediately felt a hint of fear enter their bodies, feeling as if their legs had gained a mind of its own. Then again, with how large the boar in front of them was, spanning over eight meters in length and over two meters in size, as well as the imposing aura it radiated, it was no surprise that their primal instincts had taken over.

‘Definitely a good idea to summon one of the first two boars.’ Seeing as the wolves had become idle, the grin on Valyr’s face slightly widened as he thought about the boar that had been running around the crater all this time.

‘I’ll be dispelling you for now.’ Doing a few gestures with his hands as he released part of his mana through it, the boar that was still running around the crater gradually dissipated into thin air, allowing Valyr to regain part of the mana he had spent summoning it in the first place.𝒪𝗏𝑙xt.𝐂𝞸𝑚

“Well, that’s definitely unexpected.” Slightly surprised that there was still a feature of the summoning skill that he had not yet figured out, Valyr was about to make his move against the wolves with the Arx’has Boar when Hal had appeared to his side, sending out a barrage of energy blades and energy bolts in the process.

“Stall the wolves for the meantime,” said Valyr before dashing in Hal’s direction, activating Crimson Blade Torrent in retaliation.

“Gork.” Letting out a sound in response to Valyr’s command, the Arx’has Boar swiftly returned its attention to the wolves surrounding it as it flared its aura in its entirety once more.

“Awoo!!!” However, unlike before, where the wolves felt a great sense of intimidation from the boar’s aura, the wolves let out a howl in unison, as if they had gotten over the initial sense of fear and intimidation they felt earlier.

Though, just as the boar thought to itself that it wouldn’t have to do a lot to make the wolves stay where they were, the wolves charged towards it at the highest speed their bodies could muster, swiping down on the boar’s abdomen with their paws.

“Gork!” In response, the boar swiftly turned its entire body in the direction of the attacking wolves before putting all of its strength into a headbutt, aggroing all of the wolves onto it as the attack sent all of the wolves flying in all directions.

…

“You know… I’m kind of curious as to where your limits lie.” Continuing to stay on the offensive as he sent attack after attack towards Valyr, Hal decided to strike up a conversation with the young man in the process. “Sure, you may have shown me a lot more things when compared to your fight against Faulus, but I haven’t seen you truly go all out yet.”

“I could say the same to you,” said Valyr in response, nullifying all of the attacks sent at him with attacks of his own. Then, seeing that his opponent had left himself wide open, he sent a series of magic attacks that combined two elements, all of which wreaked great havoc within the crater. “I also wonder where your limits lie.”

“I guess we’ll have to push each other to desperation to find that out.” Chuckling in response to Valyr’s words, Hal sent out a series of attacks that dispelled all of the large area attacks his opponent had sent at him before stopping in his tracks all of a sudden, going against the momentum he had built up as he took in a deep breath.

Then, gripping the sword he wielded with both hands, he raised his weapon above his head, slowly infusing it with mana.

Gradually feeling as if the sword Hal wielded was becoming one with the young man, Valyr let out a faint hiss as he watched the sword take on the same-colored glow Hal’s body had taken on, sensing that the mana within the sword was growing beyond a level even Rank 2 mages would struggle to control.

‘Truly a prodigy deserving of his title.’ Feeling a slight urge to just admit defeat then and there as he knew very well what he was up against, Valyr quickly suppressed this urge as he thought of the current situation from another perspective, taking it as an opportunity to witness something special firsthand.

“Seriously. To think that he’s already awakened an Intent Seed before even ascending to Rank 3.” Muttering these words to himself in a tone of slight disbelief, the young man calmed himself down as he thought about how he would defend against the upcoming attack.

“I’d suggest you to avoid this attack if possible.” Sensing that his sword had reached its limits in terms of mana capacity, Hal looked at the solemn-looking Valyr with a cold expression. “Or if you’re confident in your strength, defend against it.”

“I’m confident in my strength, alright.” Retrieving the blood-red spear behind his back, a confident grin appeared on Valyr’s face as he firmly gripped on his spear with both hands. “Show me what you’ve got!”

“Don’t say I didn’t warn you.” As a smirk briefly appeared on Hal’s face, the young man soon sent his sword down to the ground, causing a blade of golden energy to appear in front of him before swiftly expanding into a wave, enveloping almost a third of the crater in less than an instant.

“Blade of Six Paths: Nascent Sword Intent.”

“Golden Celestial Judgment.”