<h4>Chapter 737 - SEMI-FINAL 2ND ROUND: WINGED TASSEL VS NOCTIS (II)</h4>


    WHEN Winged Tassel first saw the gem, he immediately knew what it was – Elementum. He had seen a picture of it from a scroll given by the Elder in the Tengu n. He was very sure of it because the picture on the scroll was very detailed. And by now he had already curved those details in his mind.


    It was because before the tournament round of the Carnival, he was doing thest part of the hidden task that he started doing from the Tengu race’s Origin Vige. By then, he had already been doing it for more than a month. But he couldn’t put it down because of the main reward he would get – the legendary sword [Muramasa].


    It was a powerful katana that had unbelievable sharpness and durability. But the most important of all was the fact that it could make one’s elemental affinity ten times stronger whenever it was being used.


    For him to finish the hidden task, he needed to give materials to the cksmith of the Tengu n and let him forge the sword for him. He had all the materials except for one – the Elementum.


    Through his search, he discovered that the Elementum belong to the tribe leader of the Kitsunes. It’s basically the symbol of being the head of the tribe. But when he went to the location of the tribe, what he saw was just a ruined vige.


    He was at a lost back then. But it didn’t take long before he found out that the Kitsunes were actually attacked by the dark mages, massacring everyone and destroying the whole vige. With this information, everyone woulde to the conclusion that the Elementum had perished alongside the vige.


    He thought of going to Achaeus himself and interrogating some dark mages there. He even wondered if the Elementum was there. Considering its power, it wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say that the dark mages attacked them because of it.


    But before he could decide whether to do that or not, the time for the tournament round began. So, he decided to just put it on hold first. But who would have thought that he would find what he was looking for in this tournament?


    The first time he saw the ck fox, he almost couldn’t believe it. He had to stare at him for quite some time just to make sure. At the end, he still arrived at the same conclusion – the blue gem on the fox’s forehead was indeed the Elementum. But really, what surprised him more was the fact that the ck kitsune was actually Noctis’ pet.


    Knowing that the Elementum could only belong to the current leader of the Kitsunes, how did a yer managed to get someone like that to be his pet? It was aplete mystery to him.


    But when he heard the duke’s introduction earlier, about Noctis being lucky and finding hidden tasks one after another. The other might have obtained the kitsune from one of those hidden tasks. Tch. What a lucky bastard.


    Winged Tassel had been thinking of ways on how to get the Elementum ever since he’d seen the kitsune. But all the ns he’d thought of would only be possible if he fought with Noctis during a match. Sadly, this white-haired bastard ruined it.


    But really, at the end, it was probably still his fault for being too obvious. He definitely should have controlled his facial expression more. Sadly, no matter how much he wanted to control his emotions, it still leaked whenever his feelings were too strong.


    He couldn’t even force himself to smile like he usually did.


    He stared at the white-haired elf who was continuously attacking him. This guy could really annoy people to death if he wanted. He thought that the other was a mild-manner teenager who was easy to talk to.


    But instead, the other turned out to be a ck-bellied person, one who seemed to be very familiar to scheming. Not to mention, the way Noctis could easily offend someone to death just by him speaking. That’s truly a talent, for sure.


    Winged Tassel decided to no longer respond to what the other was saying. He felt like his virtual blood pressure would rise if he did.


    Sadly though, his opponent had a different opinion.


    "Come on, just tell me the reason why you’re so keen on having my pet fight you," Luo Yan said while still continuing his attack. "Is it some big secret that you can’t tell anyone? Or are you really just a furry?"


    "You talk too much," Winged Tassel said in response.


    He waited until both daggers hit the de of his sword. He then swung it. The swinging movement he made was apanied by a strong gust of wind. This was the element that he had high affinity with. Actually, all Tengus could use wind in one form or another. That’s why his attacks would always contain the wind element.


    The gust of wind interrupted Noctis’ attacks, pushing him back. Winged Tassel took advantage of that and swung his sword upwards. Then he quickly shed it half-way down before swinging it horizontally. This set of movements produced a cross-shaped wind sh that was nowing towards Noctis.


    He knew that the other would most likely just evade it, so he nned to quickly follow that up. His speed wasn’t as fast as someone under the Assassin ss. But he could easily make up for it with his wings. With just a few ps of his wings, he could easily double his normal speed.


    ck wings appeared on his back. He was about to rush forward when he noticed that something was wrong. It made his steps falter, almost freezing him on the spot. He tried to move his wings to fly but he couldn’t. He tried again and it really didn’t move. A word shed in his mind at that moment.


    ’Handicap’!


    Before he could fully react on that discovery, Noctis suddenly appeared before him.