The Sovereign Chronicles novel Chapter 3

"I heard you fumbled your way into The Spirit Warrior Tier on your own. Feeling proud? Feeling arrogant? Today, I am going to make you understand that you and I are on completely different levels. You and I... do not share the same destiny!" Jaden's aura surged as he broke into a wild sprint. After a dozen steps, he vaulted into the air, executing a flawless seven-hundred-and-twenty-degree flip that landed him directly behind Kaelen. His movements were fluid, seamless, and fiercely fast. A cold sneer touched his lips as he swung a brutal punch aimed squarely at the back of Kaelen's neck.

Roaring flames boiled furiously around his right fist.-

He wasn't just going to defeat Kaelen; he was going to humiliate him completely. He had waited far too long for this moment.

"Yes! Yes!"

"Beautiful!"

"Cripple him!"

The lackeys cheered wildly, completely unhinged with excitement.

"Jaden, you've gone too far!" Celine hastily moved to intervene.

But in a fraction of a second, Kaelen spun around. His tightly clenched right fist suddenly opened into a wide palm, blinding arcs of lightning violently dancing across his fingers.

Bang!!

His open right palm impossibly caught Jaden's flaming fist. Lightning and fire clashed and erupted, neither willing to yield an inch.

Kaelen didn't move a muscle, his feet practically nailed to the stone paving.

Jaden was stunned. How was this possible? He had been supremely confident in his ambush. He was at the Third Phase of The Spirit Warrior Tier, while Kaelen was supposedly only at the Second Phase.

Celine's mouth parted in disbelief. Third Phase? Why didn't I know about this!

Kaelen's open hand clamped down over Jaden's flaming fist like an iron vise, brutally crushing his knuckles.

"You..." Jaden suddenly snapped back to reality.

Kaelen blinked, the corner of his mouth curling upward. Aether surged through his entire body. Channeling the power through his waist, he stomped the ground and vaulted upward in an instant. Gripping Jaden's fist, he swung the boy's entire body like a ragdoll and smashed him ruthlessly into the ground.

With a deafening crash, Jaden was plastered against the dirt, his arm twisted almost into a knot. There was a few seconds of dead silence before a pig-like shriek of agony echoed through the warehouse courtyard. "Ah... ahhh... my arm..."

"Senior!"

"Peasant! Let him go!"

The panicked lackeys frantically rushed forward.

"My apologies, but I'm also at the Third Phase of The Spirit Warrior Tier! You were right about one thing, though: we are definitely not on the same level." Kaelen dragged Jaden around the courtyard, swinging and smashing him into the ground over and over again as he ran. It looked exactly like a man swinging a sack of grain, except this sack of grain was screaming in blood-curdling agony. The scene was utterly absurd.

Kaelen possessed freakish physical strength and explosive power.

Before the group of lackeys could even close the distance, Kaelen spun in place three times and suddenly let go, hurling Jaden straight toward the warehouse's iron gates.

With a thunderous boom, Jaden skidded across the ground, leaving a trail of blood, before crumpling into a heap.

Celine covered her mouth in shock at the sight.

"Thrall Kaelen! You've really crossed the line..." the lackeys cursed as they charged at him. Kaelen's brows narrowed dangerously as he unleashed a deafening roar: "Get lost!"

All five of the youths shuddered violently, actually freezing in their tracks.

Jaden struggled to his feet, just about to explode in rage, when he realized Kaelen was already marching briskly toward him. "Kaelen... stay back... don't come any closer... let's use our words like gentlemen, no need for violence, we can talk this out... don't come any closer... are you deaf? I said stay the hell back..."

Kaelen stopped right in front of him, cracking his neck and rolling his shoulders, his joints popping like firecrackers. "Does it hurt?"

"Yes! It hurts! Please don't do this... we've known each other for years... there's no need... really, there's no need for this..." Jaden was both terrified and panicking. How was this possible? What was going on? How did Kaelen reach the Third Phase?

"What's in here? The Glimmerpearl Herb? I'll take that off your hands." Kaelen ripped the Embroidered Satchel right off Jaden's waist.

"You..." Jaden nearly leaped out of his skin.

"Hmm?"

"Fine, fine, fine!"

"Much obliged." Kaelen weighed the satchel in his hand, reaching in to pull out a vibrant, emerald-green stalk of grass that shimmered with a faint luminescence. It was indeed a Lesser Aether-flora, the Glimmerpearl Herb.

He had never used a treasure like this before, but he absolutely knew of it and was fully aware of its value.

Jaden scrambled backward to put distance between himself and Kaelen, his mind on the verge of collapsing. I schemed and suffered to finally reach the Third Phase, how the hell did Kaelen manage to do it?

His lackeys finally snapped out of it and hurried over to support him.

"Senior, something's not right. How could he have advanced so quickly?" None of them could believe Kaelen's level of strength.

"Celine, it's you guys! You're the ones behind this!" Jaden turned his fury on Celine. The Grand Elder had previously decreed that no one in The Azure Sky Sanctum was allowed to privately provide Kaelen with Aether-flora or Martial Arts, nor were they allowed to give him any martial guidance. This was Kaelen's punishment. For Kaelen to suddenly leap to the Third Phase, there had to be foul play involved.

Celine raised her chin defiantly. "So what if we are? So what if we aren't? Look at you, acting like a coward. You only reached the Third Phase by riding your sister's coattails. With talent like yours, even if you get into The Vanguard Vault, you'll still be a failure. I shouldn't even waste my breath on you, yet here you are acting all high and mighty."

"You..."

"Don't think just because you have some slutty sister that you can throw your weight around. Your sister isn't even a big deal in The Azure Sky Sanctum."

"Good! Very good! You just wait!" Jaden turned and left with his crew. Before stepping out the door, he shot an incredibly reluctant glare at the satchel in Kaelen's hand. His heart was bleeding!

"Come back anytime, and don't forget to bring gifts." Kaelen waved them off.

"Don't get cocky! You're going to regret this!"

"Heh, what an idiot, practically hand-delivering me a Glimmerpearl Herb." Kaelen chuckled, sitting back down on the stone stool to inspect his prize. He had been sick of hearing phrases like 'you just wait', 'I'll cripple you', and 'do you yield' for the last eight years.

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