Way of the Knights

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"Tch." Ryan clicked his tongue in disappointment hearing Madman Floyd's remark. "That body is abnormal. Although I knew beforehand that this guy is a body refiner, I wasn't expecting him to be unscathed after that attack."

This statement of Ryan speaks volumes. In his life so far, there's only a few people who could achieve the feat of being unharmed by his Ice Laws. Sure, if his Ice Laws were like any ordinary Ice Laws, then it wouldn't be as shocking, but the thing is, his Ice Laws are different from the norm. 

"What's wrong? Is this the best you can do? If it is, then I'm afraid that the reputation of the Pale Moon Umbral Ice, is a bit exaggerated." Madman Floyd said while shaking his head in a disappointed manner. 

Floyd's voice was loud enough for others to hear him. So when he revealed the matter about the Pale Moon Umbral Ice, it brought myriad reactions from the crowd. 

"Pale Moon Umbral Ice? What's that?"

"I don't know exactly what it is but I think it's a form of a Natural Treasure."

"So it must be an Ice Essence right? The one that allows one to use a different form of power compared to the usual elemental properties."

"Yeah, I think so too."

Back in the room where Raven and the rest were in, they too heard the sudden revelation of Ryan's power. Albert frowned and tried to recall his memories. He could tell that he came across such information before but he couldn't remember what exactly the details were. 

"As I thought, it truly is the Pale Moon Umbral Ice." Raul said while looking at the match with a renewed interest. 

"What's a Pale Moon Umbral Ice, Father?" Albert asked since he couldn't really remember everything. 

"I'm sure you've heard about Natural Treasures right?" Raul asked, to which Albert nodded. 

"Natural Treasures are treasures birthed by nature itself. They don't belong into the usual category of strength measurement as regular Spiritual Treasures since in some ways, they transcend that. And the most common factor about them, is that they could cultivated, thus allowing them grow stronger alongside their owner." Albert replied, earning a nod from Raul. 

"Pale Moon Umbral Ice is a Natural Treasure, but even within the ranks of Natural Treasures, it falls under a unique category." Raul revealed, causing Albert to be confused. 

"Unique Category? I don't get it." 

"I'll be shocked if you did." Raul stated, earning a scowl from Albert. "Like I said, Pale Moon Umbral Ice is a natural treasures. Compared to normal ice, it possesses unique characteristics."

"The Pale Moon Umbral Ice could only be found on the Moon itself. That alone makes this treasure already incredibly rare to possess. That being said, it doesn't just appear so casually. In order for it to appear, one must possess a very high compatibility with the water element and their talents must be beyond what normal people possess. This is just in order for it to show itself. Next, in order to capture it, one must learn a unique method which is a highly-guarded treasure of a clan. Fusing with it and cultivating it also requires specific methods that I don't know of."

"Nevertheless, all the trouble is worth it." Raul added, "Compared to the erosion, structure and overall temperature of normal ice elemental property, the Pale Moon Umbral Ice is a definitely leagues beyond. Additionally, the Pale Moon Umbral Ice is said to be carnivorous. Meaning that it feasts on its prey, possibly turning itself or its master stronger the more they kill."

"And because it is considered as a Natural Treasure, it can grow stronger to a point where it forms a unique Law Path, different from regular Ice Laws. Undoubtedly, this child must be an important member of his lineage for him to possess this treasure at such a young age."

Hearing all of the details from his father caused Albert to be momentarily dazed. 

Albert had encountered many surprising events before his life but this is the first time he encountered a situation where some people would go out of their way, travelling to the moon and back, just to allow their descendant to have an edge compared to the rest. 

He wasn't jealous to be totally honest, he's just surprised. 

"If you're thinking that Ryan must be an irreplaceable existence within his family, then you're horribly wrong." Raven's sudden comment woke Albert up from his amazement, causing him to look a him. 

"What do you mean?" He asked. 

"You must've been in awe, thinking that Ryan's parent's will go to out of their way to accompany him to the Moon in order to receive acknowledgement from Pale Moon Umbral Ice so that he'll grow up invincible. But I can tell right now, that neither his parents nor Ryan himself stepped onto the moon ever in their lives." Raul was the one who replied to him this time around. 

"It is just like uncle said." Raven added, "Ryan didn't personally went onto the moon and gained the acknowledgement of the Pale Moon Umbral Ice Essence. It was more like they took someone who possessed it first and stole the Ice Essence for their own use." 

Raven's revelation caused Albert's eyes to widen unconsciously. He had to admit that he didn't think of it that way, which caused him to feel embarrassed. He had forgotten about the fact that the Divine Realm, even in its peaceful state, is still a place where competitions are intense. Plundering something from the opponent's corpse is something that happens left and right here.

"Well that's embarrassing." Albert chuckled while rubbing his nose. "I forgot that we're talking about someone from an Imperial Lineage here."

A family who ruled over countless of lives. Although this sounds impressive, doing so is incredibly difficult. One couldn't just expect a peaceful reign. There's bound to be bloodshed not only on the way to the throne, but also during the time spent sitting on the throne and stepping down from the throne. 

Killing and pillaging would be parts of this process, specially to those who doesn't have any ideas to pass down the throne to the outsiders. 

"Don't act so cocky now, you brute." Ryan smirked coldly. "If it weren't for the fact that I'm not allowed to kill you, you would've long turned into Ice Dust. You've just experienced a mere percent of its power and you're already as if you've won."

His words somehow caused alarm to creep up Madman Floyd's heart. His face turned a bit somber when he saw Ryan moving.

Ryan then assumed a stance and said: "You want to see the fabled reputation of my Pale Moon Umbral Ice? Prepare yourself. Five percent should be enough to deal with the likes of you." 

As soon as he finished speaking, the temperature suddenly dropped sharply causing many people to be alarmed. Everything around Ryan turned to ice, and not just any regular ice as well. The influence of the Pale Moon Umbral Ice caused the air to turn into a glimmering silver color. 

Ryan's silver hair glowed as well and were being lifted by the fluctuations off of his body. The whole arena was frozen solid and covered by a glimmering silver ice. The weakening hail that Ryan caused earlier raged on once more but this time, more stronger and more dangerous. 

A faint image of silver moon could be seen on Ryan's forehead. Right now, he was unmistakably upholding the reputation of being the Pale Ice Prince, all that he's missing is a silver crown and he'll be a King. 

Ryan's Knightly Armament also appeared at this point. His armor looked like it was crafted from the purest form of white ivory. It had many aqua-marine carvings on it's surface, each carvings glowed with power and beauty. There's also a long blue caped draped on his back, attached on his shoulder pads. 

He raised his sword, pointing it to the sky while saying: "Champion's Influence - Pale Moon Territory!"

Ryan's body glowed with a violet-golden glow, revealing that he indeed possess a Perfected Deity's Champion Physique as well as his Territory. 

The image of a Pale Moon surrounded by silver shroud was projected through his territory. It glowed with a pristine brilliance, captivating many eyes. At the same time, due to him releasing his Territory, Ryan's presence completely overwhelmed the entire stadium. All eyes were on him and his ethereal and princely image left a long-lasting impression to many people, specially maidens and maidens-at-heart.

Ryan assumed another stance, holding his sword horizontally using both of his hands. White shroud covered the entire arena and the Pale Moon above shone with an outstanding brilliance. 

"Pale Moon Sword Style: First Dance - Pale Moon Cascade!" 

As Ryan performed a horizontal swipe, the whole arena glowed with silver light, blinding almost everyone. The Pale Moon shone even brighter and sent out a concentrate beam of its cascade, which was reflected on arena. 

When the audience regained their vision, all they could see, was an enormous pillar of silver ice which was as tall at the whole stadium itself. This image left many people slack jawed in shock, and got them thinking how in the world could a difference between one percent and five percent be this much.action

But before they could come up with an answer, a loud roar of laughter echoed in the stadium. 

"THIS IS MAKING ME HARD!!!"

*BOOOOM!!!!*