Yin & Yang Pleasures of Cultivation

'Still, no matter how sudden this way is, at least this is more of a direct method of convincing.' Though the girl's response was concerning, Darcel still found this moment as a sudden blessing.

If they still had the same mentality during the time before the Mercenary Exchange Event, both Aniela and Masami would unhesitatingly rise to this challenge. 

Hell, Darcel was sure Masami would be the one pushing to fight first.

But now they're overly cautious, almost to an overt degree. He could very well understand why, though. 

All of their fights have just been on the heavily suppressed side until just recently.

And even when they triumph over that undead Ice creature, they won, but they still managed to get injured in the process. 

The undead Ice creature at most had half-step Heavenly Transformation prowess yet, it still gave them some trouble.

Afterward, they didn't fight with the Lightning Mage group, so they had no telling on how truly powerful they are. 

And with the way Aniela and Masami are acting, they won't be able to push themselves to that extent, reaching the borders of their limits.

No matter how much assurance or care Darcel gives to them, the yellow-eyed woman's trauma was deeply rooted in their subconscious. 

Even for the most veteran of cultivators, unless they were already born in a ruthless environment, experiencing near or death itself can change anyone.

Of course, Darcel more than understood that being cautious can help save them from numerous situations. Their cautiousness now is how they landed up as Mages and now inside a powerful organization. 

However, their cautious streak can't last forever. 

Without taking extreme risks, one where it seems their lives would be assuredly lost, they will never be able to repeatedly shed their limits.

By now, Darcel actually felt slightly grateful for the yellow-eyed woman. Without that event, their overly high confidence might've landed them in an irreversible situation.

Now that they were on a more equal playing field with everyone, Darcel was assured they could mature better and grow far more powerful like this. 

In their merciless world, only the strong prevail. And to reach that point, risks that involve jumping into certain dangers are inevitable. 

With all that he experienced so far, Darcel believed this was an unspoken rule in their world.

So no matter if this Mage Match was a trap or not, Darcel was going to straight jump into this pit, uncaring about the dangers. 

And it wasn't like he wasn't planning this out. As of now, he had complete confidence in his combat prowess. 

That confidence spread out to his face as he gave Aniela and Masami an assured smile. Hoping to ease the girl's mind, he began his plan, telling them,

"Just trust me on this. Despite what you may think, we're actually much stronger than before. Magical Energy and those Magical Marks profoundly changed us in ways you don't even realize yet. Of course, just words alone isn't enough to prove this. So I'll do it in action."

"You…." 

Both Aniela and Masami didn't know what to say to Darcel's overwhelming confidence. 

The way he's standing so tall and firm almost reminded them of their time before the Mercenary Exchange Event.

However, this time, Darcel just seemed far more….wiser? 

Aniela and Masami didn't know how to put it in words, but it was like his mentality experienced so much change without them even fully realizing it.

These thoughts swirled in the girl's minds as they intently and silently stared at Darcel for a few seconds. 

Then finally, Masami was the first to relent. She released an annoyed sigh while keeping up her firm glare. 

"Dammit, you're really annoying when you get like this, you know? Hmph, whatever. What that guy say? Two hours right? Let's just keep on practicing until it's time to go."

"Fufu~. Well, Sami, you can't deny that daring Darcy certainly is charming." Aniela lightly giggles out, causing Masami to roll her eyes. 

Then letting out a soft sigh herself, she continues to say, "But it is indeed worrisome. So we really need to step up our game, right Sami?" 

"I was planning on doing that whether or not you said anything. Don't forget, I'm still the Heavenly King here."

Masami had that spark of a cocky edge in her tone. And as Aniela's smile started to turned teasing, presumably to agitate the aggressive fox girl, Darcel felt like he achieved a significant step. 

From here on out, he was sure things will only get better.

….

Two hours swiftly passed. 

At this time, the entire Siren Blade Mage organization was in an uproar. Deep within the organization was a massively vast arena. 

The arena was designed to hold tens of thousands of people, amassing a stadium that stretched out for hundreds of feet.

Typically, despite being so large, the Magic Arena would barely have anyone on it. 

Besides the Siren Mages that needed to do a routine check-up, this place would be devoid of people.

However, just for today, nearly the whole Magic Arena was fulled up! Thousand of Siren Mages gathered with the utmost eager anticipation. 

After all, this would be a showcase of a lifetime!

Everyone was expecting to bear witness to Siren Star's unfathomable power and see how he deal with those despicable cultivators. 

"No matter what, no matter what, this all just hast be a Spirit Artifact trick! Cultivator's shameless means have no bound."

"To think it's been a full day already, and there's been no sign of that trio. Maybe when hearing Siren Star wants a match, they tucked their tails between their legs to stay cooped up in their rooms. Like pathetic cowards most cultivators are."

"Those cultivators were doomed from the beginning. Wanting to make a mockery of our Magic? Dream on!" 

An unending stream of jeers echoed out from the massive crowds of Siren Mages.

By now, everyone knows that Elder Yang officially prompted Darcel's group as Siren Mages. However, that was just it. No other Elders came out to also confirm, nor did Elder Yang give any more information.

And when attempting to ask, all Siren Mages received nothing from the Senior Ranked members. 

This lack of information only caused the Siren Mage's seeds of doubt to crazily burst open.

No matter how much they believed in Elder Yang's words, a part of their brain refused to accept that Darcel's group reached the Spirit Mage realm in a single leap. 

That kind of Magical Talent only seems like a horrid joke made to rile up any reasonable-sounding Mage.

With suspicions only growing and nobody there to suppress it, of course, the Siren Mages deluded themselves into believing Darcel's group cheated. 

Almost everyone in the Magic Arena eagerly awaited to see Darcel's group downfall.

But, there was a select few who couldn't help but feel nervous about this match. The Siren Mages, who first bear witness to Darcel's group latent Magical Aura, felt like things will go terribly.

Not terribly for Darcel's group but terribly for Siren Star. 

They all hoped this was just a faint, fleeting feeling. But, no matter how hard they try to suppress it, this ominous feeling was unable to go down.

All the way down on the center stage, Siren Star stood tall and proud with his hands clasped behind his back. 

Truthfully, he was half expecting Darcel's group to not show up.

It wouldn't surprise him. There's no forced requirement for one to accept a Mage match. If one wanted to, they could simply reject the match without any penalty. 

While one's reputation may damper, it was better than losing half of what they own. 

On the other hand, if Darcel's group did show up….the light in Siren Star's eyes only become colder.

Before this match, he already had a discussion with Siren Star, curious to see if Elder Yang is planning something with Darcel's group. 

And when he heard that Elder Yang simply prompted them and nothing else, Siren Star saw this as easy picking.

It wouldn't matter what he does to Darcel's group. Nobody will show up to protect them. While killing doesn't often happen within Mage Matches, no rule prevents them from doing so.

However, Siren Star just doesn't want to kill Darcel's group; he was planning to use this as an example for all cultivators in their time. 

Once this match was over, Siren Star was sure of causing a change within the entire Azog Ice Town.

Right then, Siren Star got interrupted from his vicious thoughts when loud shouts boomed throughout the whole arena. 

"Hey, look! Those three really did show up!"

Directing his attention over towards the Matches tunnels, Siren Star and everyone else saw three masked youths strolling the exit. 

As they walked, Siren Star wrinkled his eyebrows a bit.

These three seem calm, almost too calm for his liking. Even as thousand of attention immediately snapped towards them, Darcel, Aniela, and Masami walked like they didn't exist.

"Tch. Just a front." Siren Star promptly squashed any other thoughts, believing these three were simply having false bravado. 

Soon enough, Aniela and Masami stopped walking, standing close to the battle stage.

All the while Darcel took calm, relaxed steps forward, truly uncaring to the thousands of disdainful eyes.