Chapter 75: Fairly Easy Fight
Countless shards of ice became deadly projectiles, shooting everywhere, making several students scream.
"LOOK OUT!"
Alicia immediately transformed, her tiger’s claws digging into the earth as she intercepted several ice fragments while Emma’s shadows rose into the walls. But even with that...
"Agh!" Peter cried out as an ice shard tore through his shoulder. Christian blocked another with two extra arms, one shattering instantly upon contact, causing blood to splatter across the frozen ground. Before anyone could recover, Gromda moved. Green light exploded around her fists, causing the air to tremble. She leaped. Despite standing nearly seven feet tall, she looked tiny before the gigantic orc, yet she showed no fear.
"RAAAAAAH!" Her glowing fist slammed into its ribs, and the shockwave alone flattened every tree within a hundred meters. The giant orc actually staggered while the camp collectively held its breath.
"She moved him..."
"No..."
The giant orc looked down at Gromda, recognition appearing in its eyes.
"You..." Its grin vanished. "...Traitor."
Gromda answered by punching him again. This time, the monster blocked with one forearm. Even then, the impact split the hill under them, cracks racing across the landscape. Silas reappeared overhead, a massive pink circle manifesting behind him. Dozens of glowing arrows materialized.
"I only need an opening!"
The arrows fired, pink streaks crossing the battlefield. The giant swung its club, and every arrow exploded upon impact. The explosions merged into one continuous detonation, causing the surrounding mountains to shake. Dust engulfed the battlefield as Silas landed several hundred meters away, immediately stumbling. His breathing became heavier.
The arrows... they had drained him again.
[Your mana throughput is reaching its current limit.]
’Terrible timing!’ Silas clicked his tongue. For some reason, the arrows had been draining him quickly lately. He needed answers, but first... The earth exploded under the giant.
"Don’t forget about me!" Ryan Fatars finally joined. He slammed both of his hands into the ground, and the entire mountain answered. Hundreds of gigantic stone pillars erupted upward simultaneously, and the giant orc was launched into the air.
Without giving it time, the pillars bent, compressed, and merged, forming a colossal stone fist nearly the size of a building. Fatars clenched his own fist.
"EARTH CRUSHER!"
The stone fist rocketed forward and struck the airborne giant square in the chest. For the first time, the monster spat blood, and the camp erupted.
"He hurt it!"
"Mr. Fatars actually hurt it!"
Ryan smiled... only briefly, because when the dust settled, the giant orc was still standing. It wiped the blood from its lips and smiled.
"Hehehe..." Its laughter echoed across the valley. "Hahahaha..."
Then, it became louder.
"HAHAHAHAHAHA!"
The mountain itself shook as its aura exploded outward. A crimson pressure swept across the battlefield like a tsunami, causing dozens of students to collapse instantly. Several tents were blown away, while the stone walls shattered. Some of the weaker awakened even vomited blood on the spot. Mr. Fatars slid several meters backward, his pupils contracting.
"He’s been holding back."
Silas slowly stood again, his pink eyes meeting the giant’s glowing crimson ones. A grin slowly spread across his own face.
"Finally," He rolled his shoulders. "Now we’re getting somewhere."
It seems the violence-loving Pinky was out.
***
The laughter echoed through the valley. It wasn’t the laughter of someone who believed he had already won, but the laughter of a warrior who had finally found opponents worthy of killing. Silas slowly exhaled, his grip tightening around the daggers. Everything gradually faded as his world narrowed until only one thing remained. The giant orc.
His pink eyes glowed brighter than before as thin, invisible threads spread across the battlefield once more. They intertwined through the air, wrapped around every pebble, every blade of grass, every heartbeat.
Thread Sight. Thread Perception.
He pushed both beyond anything he had attempted before, and the strain came instantly. Blood trickled from the corner of his left eye, and the system spoke.
[Warning!]
[Thread Processing has exceeded recommended output.]
[Continuing may damage your optic nerves.]
’I don’t care.’
The world slowed, and his perception had become so absurdly sharp that everything appeared slower. He could see the orc’s muscles contracting before every movement. He could see snowflakes drifting through the air. He could even see tiny fractures spreading across the earth after each footstep.
"So..." Silas whispered. "...that’s how it works."
Something clicked inside him: Mana. Until now, he’d simply been using abilities, but now, he could feel it: the countless particles floating through the atmosphere. They weren’t entering him: they were responding to him. Without realizing it, mana gathered around his body.
It flowed over his skin, wrapped around his muscles, and coated his bones. It wasn’t anything flashy; only a faint pink shimmer was dancing around him, and Mr. Fatars noticed immediately.
"Impossible." He had never taught the boy this, and nobody else had. In fact, they were yet to learn it. Mana Reinforcement. One of the most fundamental and difficult combat techniques among the awakened. Normally, awakened spent years learning to reinforce their bodies. Silas, on the other hand, was doing it instinctively. This once again proved the monstrosity of S-Ranks.
BOOM!
The ground exploded as Silas disappeared. The giant orc swung instinctively, but it was too late. Silas appeared behind it and slashed three times, but its skin still refused to split. The giant spun and its elbow tore through the air. Silas swiftly crossed both daggers, blocking the attack, causing a shockwave to erupt.
But, instead of being launched away, he remained rooted. His boots carved trenches hundreds of meters long through the frozen earth. The students stared in shock, but Silas smiled. His arms trembled, every muscle in him screamed, but he was enjoying this. He hadn’t been blown away and had actually matched the strength behind the attack.
"So this..." He clenched his fists. "...is mana."
The realization spread through his body, causing his movements to become smoother, faster, and cleaner. Every step wasted less energy, every swing carried greater force, and every dodge became almost effortless. The giant attacked again, the attacks becoming a blur, yet another blur danced around them. It was even moving too fast for such a huge monster like that. It was a freaking twenty-feet-tall monster! Pink afterimages filled the battlefield.
Every clash sent shockwaves ripping across the mountains. Mrs. Loraine barely managed to maintain the defensive line.
"Keep those barriers up!"
Stone walls shattered, and wind barriers exploded. Miss Gertrude caught another avalanche of debris before it crushed dozens of students, but it still wasn’t enough. After all, there were bound to be bad luck and stupid people, and this was on the side of stupidity.
"AAAH!"
One of the newer awakened was thrown backward by a stray shockwave, while another student rolled across the ground, coughing blood. Nobody dared complain as their eyes remained fixed on the battle.
Silas was smiling, and the giant noticed too.
"Hahaha! You’ve finally become interesting, little human!"
Silas disappeared again. This time, the giant completely lost sight of him, its eyes widening.
"When-" A fist slammed into its cheek. It was coated in compressed mana, along with the gauntlets. Its head snapped sideways, while Silas twisted midair and landed another punch, followed by a spinning kick. Each impact sounded like artillery. The giant was forced backward, causing the camp to fall silent.
"He’s evolving," Mr. Fatars slowly lowered his hands in disbelief.
The giant wiped fresh blood from the corner of its mouth, its smile slowly widening.
"Excellent."
Its aura erupted again, but Silas just rolled his neck. His glowing pink eyes met the giant’s crimson ones, and the invisible threads surrounding the battlefield multiplied once more.
