Chapter 62 Phantom Dance
It had been six weeks since the traveling party departed from Moon City. They had crossed two kingdoms and had passed through many cities, towns, villages, and hamlets.
For the most part, their journey was smooth sailing. However, there were a handful of instances when they were attacked by greedy bandits. During such times, the mercenaries hired by Edward swiftly took care of the nuisance.
Adam was grateful for the convenience afforded by the actions of these brave mortal warriors. He realized that if one had problems in life, they could just spend money to make their problem someone else's. Such was the comfort money provided.
Thanks to that, Adam was able to focus his whole attention on practicing the Astral Tyrant Manual throughout the journey.
On this day, the traveling party had stopped by a small creek to set up camp for the day. They had already entered the borders of the Fabio Kingdom and were only a few days away from Hoffman County.
Lisa was wetting her legs in the creek while reading notes in her grimoire, meanwhile, Ennea was lazily lying beside her. Edward and Aquila had already passed out and were sleeping on top of one another, snoring.
The maids and servants were setting up camp and had already begun cooking meals for everybody. The dozen mercenaries, however, had gathered near a tree in the distance and were waiting in anticipation.
Right underneath the tree, Adam was standing calmly with his eyes closed. His short, black, wavy hair fluttered in the wind and his lean and muscular upper body was laid bare. His posture was as straight as a spear, and he gave off an aura of an immovable war general.
One of the younger mercenaries looked at the youth with shining eyes, waiting for the spectacle to unfold. "Lord Adam is really amazing! The things that I've witnessed him do have really opened my eyes. I didn't even think a human, no, a Magus could perform such moves."
An old man beside him wearing leather armor replied, "Indeed. Magus Adam is very different from the rest of the Magi that I've had the fortune to meet. Unlike them, who are always buried in books and scrolls, Magus Adam focuses more on practical combat."
Another mercenary, a middle-aged woman, chimed in, "Very true. He's so young but he's already so proficient in fighting. Yesterday he defeated every one of us in sparring, and he didn't even use mana!"
"Shh! Quiet down. I feel like he's about to begin!" The mercenary captain, a burly man with red hair, instructed everyone in a hushed tone.
Suddenly, Adam opened his eyes and made his move!
The Astral Tyrant Manual contained a set of 10 magic combat techniques specialized in unarmed combat. It was called the Hand of Doom.
No weapons were required as the creator of this technique believed that practicing the Hand of Doom would transform the user into the ultimate weapon capable of destroying everything in their path.
However, the vast majority of the techniques of the Hand of Doom required the expenditure of a large amount of mana, which Adam was currently incapable of executing. Thus, right now he was practicing the most basic technique of the Hand of Doom.
Phantom Dance!
With every step he took, it appeared as if he was possessed. It looked mesmerizing and bone-chilling at the same time. He moved forward in a straight line, sometimes in a circle, and other times backward. All the while, he continued to launch attacks from his hands and feet.
All the mercenaries had their eyes wide open and their jaws nearly touching the ground. To them, Adam seemed to be in a trance. To the untrained eye, Adam's movements looked like that of a drunken novice fighter.
The youth punched with his fists, struck with his palms, and even utilized elbow and shoulder shots. And when it came to lower body attacks, he utilized his knee, shin, and feet spectacularly.
Each of his attacks had such penetrative force that when they struck the air, a muffled sound was produced and a ring of vaguely visible air was generated at the point of impact.
Adam continued to inject bursts of mana into his feet and performed a series of footsteps. Moreover, his steps made no sound at all. His movements were unpredictable. It appeared fast when it was slow. Similarly, it appeared slow, when in truth it was very fast.
This was the mobility technique called Stellar Steps, a footwork method included in the Astral Tyrant Manual.
Adam continued to practice for a long time. Right when he felt that his mana reserves were about to be completely depleted, he opened his eyes and disappeared from his spot.
This, however, wasn't teleportation. It was just an extremely high-speed. The next moment, he appeared in front of a boulder a few meters away and drew all the remaining mana he had in his right palm.
Adam's eyes were focused as he tried to execute one of the moves of the Hand of Doom. He drew his palm back and clenched his fingers, forming a claw. Then, with all his strength he thrust his palm into the boulder.
CRACK!
The four-meter-tall giant boulder began to crack from Adam's attack, and before long, it broke down into several pieces.
"Whoa! He broke it with a single attack!"
"Is that even possible for someone his age?!"
The mercenaries were full of awe. At the same time, a chill ran down their spines. They couldn't help but wonder what would happen if any one of them was standing in place of the boulder. Thinking this, they involuntarily gulped.
Adam fell to his knees, exhausted. With that last attack, he had completely exhausted his mana. He looked at the broken boulder in front of him and sighed. I'm still too far away from perfectly executing the moves from the Hand of Doom…
There was a reason why Adam wasn't satisfied with the results. After all, the palm strike that Adam had just executed, in theory, was capable of destroying a whole mountain!
Still, he wasn't dejected in the least. He knew once he advanced to the next rank and continued to diligently train, he would be able to execute all the moves of the Hand of Doom perfectly.
He got to his feet with newfound vigor, turned around, and screamed ecstatically, "Alright! I'm in a good mood. Who's ready to spar?"
However, there was no one around him. They had already fled!
"Hah… can't be helped." Adam sighed helplessly. "I'll just do some more shadow practice then."
The mercenaries, who were hiding in the bushes in the distance, saw Adam punching and kicking the air and couldn't help but curse inwardly.
This muscle-head! Does he know nothing other than training?! Why can't he be like a regular Magus and read a book?!
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