Chapter 638: That’s Not A Problem, Is It?

*Bang!~*

No one said anything or gave any kind of start signal before Elizabeth kicked off the ground hard, crossed over 10 metres in a single bound, and threw a punch straight towards Celestina’s face.

Of course, being a veteran Complete High-Rank Adept, Celestina was still much stronger and faster than Elizabeth was even after the latter’s recent breakthrough, so she had no trouble blocking this attack.

That said, the moment Celestina caught Elizabeth’s fist with her palm, her brow rose slightly. She wasn’t forced back, and she didn’t look like she was struggling in any way, but clearly something about this punch had caught her attention.

Falling back, Elizabeth rapidly re-set her stance then delivered a swift roundhouse kick to Celestina’s mid-section.

Against, Celestina calmly intercepted the attack, blocking it and the follow-up high-kick her opponent transitioned directly into after her initial roundhouse failed to connect.

Had this been an ordinary spar, this would have been the perfect opportunity for Celestina to counter-attack, but that wasn’t the purpose of this bout, so she simply solidified her guard in preparation for the next assault.

What followed was a rapid exchange of punches, palm strikes, elbows, knee strikes, and kicks, the overwhelming majority of which came from Elizabeth while Celestina focused almost exclusively on blocking, parrying, and deflecting, allowing her old friend to attack to her hearts content.

Unsurprisingly, none of Supreme Elder Carlson’s attacks actually landed or did any damage, but that didn’t matter to the old woman. Elizabeth wasn’t trying to win, that was impossible, she was trying to assess her limits and adapt to her newfound strength in the most efficient way possible, live combat.

The noise from this spar, which quiet honestly sounded a bit like a distant thunderstorm, naturally attracted the attention of the others inside The Lab, so it wasn’t long before a crowd a few dozen in size had gathered.

Most of those who came out from the workshops to see what all the commotion was about were Mortal Realm craftsmen or researchers, and they were universally surprised to find the Marquess and her honoured guest from the Carlson Family engaged in what they could only perceive as a lightning-fast battle.

Two Adept-Realm masters duking it out was a very rare sight in Misty City, or in the Rockwell Kingdom as a whole, so none of these young men and women, all of whom had dreams of becoming strong themselves one day, was going to miss the opportunity to spectate such a fight.

Only a few of the older craftsmen and research leaders were able to keep their wits about them and make some inquiries to the ones they felt might be able to explain what was happening.

"Hey, Brat," Braxton, who was still holding a hammer and had some grease on his face, asked Lucas directly, "What’s going on?"

Smiling over at the old man he considered a close friend, Lucas explained simply, "Lady Elizabeth just achieved a breakthrough and was eager to test out her strength. Master... happened to be around and decided to oblige her."

"Is that so?" Braxton stroked his beard calmly as several thoughts flashed across his mind.

He might not have been privy to Project Ascension’s existence, but as the top Spirit Smith in the Balfour Family and a High-Rank Martial Initiate, Braxton was definitely tangentially involved.

What’s more, the old man was quite wily, so he was able to put 1 and 1 together fairly easily.

That said, he was also smart enough to know what he could and could not ask about, so for the moment, he simply accepted Lucas’ answer and re-focused his attention on the ongoing spar as it was quite a sight to see, even for the old blacksmith.

Braxton wasn’t much of a fighter himself, but that didn’t mean he couldn’t appreciate the raw power and skill on display here today.

Half-an-hour later, Elizabeth Carlson was sweating heavily and breathing hard while Celestina only seemed a bit winded, making the outcome of the spar obvious to everyone.

This was hardly surprising, though, and when the match ended, cheers went up from the crowd praising both fighters regardless who the winner was.

Shaking her head wryly, Celestina allowed her old friend to catch her breath while she turned to address the gallery, "Alright, you’ve all seen enough, now get back to work! I’m not paying you to stand around gawking at me!"

Knowing the Marquess’ carefree personality, most of the craftsmen and researchers simply laughed at this ’scolding’ before bowing or saluting and heading back to the various workshops and laboratories to continue with their various projects.

.....

After the field had been cleaned up, and everyone involved in Project Ascension had moved to a secure location, Elizabeth asked bluntly, "Well, what do you think?"

"I think you’re stronger than you should be. Probably 10% to 15% more than I had originally anticipated," Celestina replied seriously, before a smile crept onto her face, "That’s not a problem, is it?"

"Of course not," Elizabeth laughed carefreely, but still shook her head, "However, I’d still like to know why."

"Isn’t it obvious?" Celestina shrugged, "The Unarmed Foundations Art works wonders for those in the Mortal Realms when it comes to building strength and improving fine control. It may not be able to help us cultivate faster in the Spirit Realms just yet, but it stands to reason it would have a similar benefit to our foundations."

"We’ll need more results to confirm that," Elizabeth argued.

"You just broke through, and the first thing you think about is going back to work? You’re as stubborn as always, aren’t you?" Celestina sighed.

"I don’t want to hear that from you," Elizabeth snorted, "You may claim to hate working, but you’re the only noble I know of who would race around the kingdom putting out fires of her own free will."

"I do not!" Celestina insisted.

"Really? So, you just happened to be in the South-West Province right after the greatest disaster in the Rockwell Kingdom’s history? And you just happened to bring dozens of elite soldiers, thousands of troops, and millions of Gold with you?" Elizabeth stared blankly.