Chapter 45:【Flame Stream Strike】
"Anna!"
A handsome young man quickly ran toward a small pavilion in a garden courtyard.
He had short, light gray hair and gave off a very clean impression when he smiled.
Seated in the pavilion, Anna looked at the approaching figure and revealed a perfectly elegant smile. "Good Morning Lord Joshua."
"It's already noon," Joshua replied with a smile. "I picked some flowers this morning."
As he spoke, he handed Anna a bouquet of flowers.
It was a bouquet of Dawn Roses, known as the flower of nobles.
The Dawn Rose, belonging to the Rosaceae family and Rosa genus like regular roses, grew only to a height of thirty centimeters.
This flower earned its noble status because, although it had a blooming period stretching from early spring to late autumn, it only bloomed in the exact moment it was touched by the first ray of dawn sunlight.
Immediately after, it withered and faded within five minutes. Furthermore, the flower was extremely delicate, any slight variation in air humidity, soil, sunlight, or climate could cause it to perish.
Without sufficient financial resources and manpower, cultivating such a noble item was simply impossible.
Previously, the Baron of Red River Territory spent a fortune to open a flowerbed just for growing these, but they struggled to survive. It wasn’t until Marquis Visen moved in and assigned new caretakers that the Dawn Roses in the city lord's manor were revived.
For Joshua to be holding such a bouquet of Dawn Roses in full bloom clearly meant he had put in considerable effort.
Anna reached out and accepted the bouquet, softly thanked him once more, and placed it on the stone table beside her.
Joshua naturally sat across from Anna and began animatedly recounting how he had struggled to get up that morning, waited in the garden for the flowers to bloom, and how he preserved them afterward.
He also explained how he had wanted to give them to Anna immediately but ended up dozing off again and later worried they might not last, thankfully, it had been a false alarm.
He laughed heartily as he spoke.
Anna quietly sighed in her heart.
She felt as if her face was stiff, as though she wanted to massage it, but thought that such an action would be ungraceful, unbefitting of a lady.
Looking at Joshua’s apperance, Anna inexplicably thought of Burton.
Compared to Joshua, Burton’s facial lines were much more rugged, with a chiseled kind of handsomeness.
But soon, Burton’s face was replaced by another.
This face wasn’t as striking as Burton’s, nor as refined as Joshua’s, and had little connection to the word "handsome."
Yet his features were equally defined, especially when he frowned and sneered, that wild arrogance always left Anna feeling an unusual kind of attraction.
"Lord Joshua, what do you think…" Anna suddenly interrupted, "about me practicing archery?"
"Why would you want to practice archery?" Joshua was momentarily stunned.
"I… I want to become stronger." Anna hesitated, then continued, "Although my bloodline aptitude isn’t great, Father says I have no hope of becoming a Second-Tier Bloodline User, I still think… maybe, perhaps… I can grow a little stronger."
"Haha." Joshua shook his head. "Anna, maybe you don’t realize this, but whether it’s First-Tier or Second-Tier, it doesn’t really matter. When faced with a Third-Tier Bloodline User, either way you’re dead… And besides, your hands are so beautiful, your skin so pale, it’s really unnecessary to practice archery. That’ll only give you thick calluses and ruin your beauty."
"Is that so?" Anna’s smile turned slightly stiff.
Her mood dipped a little.
But perhaps due to years of upbringing, her expression remained composed.
Joshua was still talking endlessly by her side.
But Anna could no longer listen.
For the first time, she found Joshua annoying, his presence was making her irritable.
"I… maybe I didn’t sleep well last night, I’m a bit tired. I think I’ll go rest, Joshua."
"Huh?" Joshua blinked. "But we just met..."
"Sorry."
Anna had hesitated, but at that moment, from the corner of her eye, she caught sight of Akar walking toward the training ground and instantly rose. "Sorry, Lord Joshua. I really don’t feel well."
With that, Anna turned and left the pavilion.
In her hurry, she even forgot to take the Dawn Roses Joshua had given her.
Joshua quietly watched Anna’s retreating figure. His expression turned a bit dazed. He felt that something about Anna’s mood today was odd, unlike the past two days.
He sighed helplessly, disappointed that he couldn’t spend more time with her today. Just as he was about to leave, he noticed the Dawn Roses on the table and suddenly realized, "Anna even forgot to take the Dawn Roses. She must really be unwell. I should go check if she needs anything."
……
Yam had already been recovering from his injuries at the Marquis’s Estate for nearly two weeks.
During this time, due to the physician’s instructions, he was unable to continue his daily bloodline concentration stimulation training, so he could only read quietly.
Originally, he had hoped to read various texts on bloodline knowledge, as that was precisely what he lacked the most at the moment.
Unfortunately, Monica had explained that the collection at the Marquis’s Estate did not include any books related to bloodlines.
This time, the books her grandfather had transported from Eaglehead Territory mostly concerned knowledge on battle arts.
Although somewhat disappointed, Yam knew he couldn’t be too picky and could only request to borrow the relevant material.
After a week of reading, Yam had acquired some basic understanding regarding battle arts.
For example, in the Tyrella Kingdom, these were referred to as "battle arts," meaning "the techniques of combat and methods of slaying enemies," essentially referring to "combat techniques."
However, in the Iron-Blood Empire of Orha, they were called "combat skills," while the distant Eastern Varna United Kingdom referred to them as "martial techniques."
The terminology varied slightly, and interpretations differed, but they all referred to the same concept.
Still, the Tyrella Kingdom and Orha did not categorize battle arts in great detail, at most, they divided them into the Blood Combat Faction and the Void Manipulation Faction to correspond with different possible manifestations of bloodline abilities.
But the Varna United Kingdom was different.
Due to their dual alliance system of tribes and territories, what they called martial techniques were not only categorized into the Blood Combat Faction and the Void Manipulation Faction but also subdivided into numerous guilds and branches. These were further differentiated by weapon type.
This deeply shocked Yam.
He had never imagined that the fundamental knowledge about "battle arts" could involve so many classifications.
Beyond this, the books also helped Yam understand what constituted a High-tier Battle Art and what defined a Mid-tier Battle Art.
Mid-tier Battle Arts weren’t simply characterized, as Giggs had previously told him, by the inclusion of a supplementary footwork technique.
The most significant difference between Mid-tier and Low-tier Battle Arts lay in the power execution and the techniques of application.
Take "Eagle Strike Swordsmanship" for instance, fundamentally, the battle art only comprised three moves: thrust, slash, and sweep.
Perhaps its sword power was stronger than Yam’s simple use of those three moves because of an additional bloodline energy flow pattern, but the core techniques were essentially unchanged.
The secret that allowed it to be classified as a Mid-tier Battle Art lay in its synergy with "Eagle Strike Step": through the use of Stride, Arrow Step, and Glide Step, the attack power of "Eagle Strike Swordsmanship" could be doubled.
This was the true reason "Eagle Strike Swordsmanship" qualified as a Mid-tier Battle Art.
Therefore, the true determinant of a Mid-tier Battle Art was not simply having a supplementary movement, but possessing a method that could amplify the technique's power, or employing another kind of special technique. That technique could be footwork, or it could be any other type.
As for High-tier Battle Arts, compared to Mid-tier ones, they included something more "secret arts."
So-called secret arts were essentially a specialized evolution in the technique of power usage.
Mid-tier Battle Arts still had logical patterns, for example, the combination of "Arrow Step" and "Piercing Peck" in "Eagle Strike Swordsmanship" essentially utilized the forward momentum to enhance the lethality of a thrust.
Normally, such an effect would require running, but Mid-tier Battle Arts enabled the practitioner to bypass the running entirely and achieve the effect with a single step, simulating a charge of tens of meters.
But secret arts did not.
They defied logic!
They were utterly irregular!
Yet, they could still amplify the power of a battle art by at least twofold!
Take for instance "Flame Stream Strike," which Marquis Visen had delivered to Yam through Baron Ster.
This battle art’s offensive method involved converting the flame of a Fire-elemental Bloodline User into a special liquid-like state.
When Yam currently activated his bloodline power, the flame simply coated the sword in a burning blaze. But if he used "Flame Stream Strike" to imbue the flame onto the sword, there would be no flaming blaze, instead, the sword would be covered in flame patterns flowing like liquid.
It significantly enhanced the sharpness of the weapon and allowed the flames to solidify and stabilize, preventing them from dissipating easily.
Previously, Yam could project flames with a sword strike using his bloodline power, but unlike Akar, he wasn’t adept at such control, so his "flame sword aura" could only travel three to five meters before vanishing.
But if he used the technique of "Flame Stream Strike" to unleash it, the flame sword aura could easily reach ten meters without any loss of power.
That was the offensive method of "Flame Stream Strike," equivalent to the thrust, slash, and sweep of "Eagle Strike Swordsmanship."
The technique of "Flame Stream Strike" taught the user how to rapidly condense a broader flame stream that could even form shields, armor, and more.
The advanced secret art effect of "Flame Stream Strike" enabled it to generate an explosive effect. Moreover, this explosion would not harm the user and could even be controlled voluntarily in terms of power intensity, range of effect, and more.
So, the moment Yam saw the secret art chapter of this battle art, what came to his mind was the explosive effect of Andre’s "Raging Overlord Fist."
He had asked Monica about it.
Monica responded that "Raging Overlord Fist," being the ancestral battle art of the Billy Family, had indeed reached the threshold of a High-tier Battle Art, only half a step away.
But in truth, this final half step was the most difficult one, when the ancestors of the Billy Family developed this punching battle art, enabling the erupting flame to avoid harming the user upon explosion was already a rare feat.
Only when members of the Billy Family could precisely control the explosion’s trigger and power, so it wouldn’t detonate instantly like when Andre’s first "Raging Overlord Fist" was cut by Yam during their duel, could the technique truly be called a High-tier Battle Art.
Still, Monica also made it clear to Yam that a High-tier Battle Art could not realistically be mastered by a Second-Tier Bloodline User.
The minimum requirement to learn it was being a Third-Tier Bloodline User, and some particularly special or powerful High-tier Battle Arts might even require Fourth-Tier or Fifth-Tier Bloodline Users to fully grasp them.
Yam had indeed seen this requirement in the text of "Flame Stream Strike."
Its technique section set the minimum threshold at Third-Tier Bloodline User.
The secret art section even required Fourth-Tier Bloodline Users to train in it.
The more Yam understood the value of "Flame Stream Strike," the more helpless he felt.
Just as Akar had said before, others might think the two brothers were geniuses, but they themselves knew exactly how that “genius” title came about.
Without the purification effect of the rusty sword at home, even if the two of them had become Bloodline Users, they would have reached no more than the Second-Tier, perhaps not even achieved their current strength so quickly.
But even with the sword’s purification effect, it could currently only purify up to Third-Tier bloodlines, so they had no hope of reaching Fourth-Tier unless they could recover the missing components of that sword. Only then might there be a chance to break through.
As Yam was caught in his thoughts, a hurried knock sounded at the door.
He quickly went to open it and found Monica standing outside with a solemn expression.
"What happened?"
"Anna and Joshua were ambushed!" Monica said gravely. "How's your recovery? Can you fight?"
"I can force myself to fight, but it might leave some lasting issues," Yam shook his head.
Monica remembered how her grandfather had specifically instructed her not to let Yam get injured again, so she had to say, "What about Akar? We need his help now."
"He should be at the training grounds," Yam replied. "What exactly happened?"
"Let's talk on the way!"