Julian and Luck stood opposite each other, the rest of the Black Bulls, including Yami, watching as the audience. Julian's main weakness was his inability to react to fast attacks, making him eager to master KI.
Luck covered his hands and legs with electric armor and shot towards Julian. "Too fast!" was Julian's only thought as he dodged, but Luck's leg still grazed his cheek, drawing a line of blood.
Julian sent a wave of fire, which Luck dodged perfectly. He knew from the dungeon arc that Luck had advanced mana sensing with his electric waves. Luck's strongest point was his speed. To compete, Julian had to use wide-range attacks to trap him. Melee combat was out of the question since Luck could easily overcome his defenses. Julian released his mana, setting the area around him on fire. He took out his dagger and prepared for an assault.
As Luck approached, Julian manipulated the flames to cause an explosion in Luck's face, slowing him down. Although it didn't completely succeed, it slowed him enough for Julian to land a strong slash on Luck's arm, removing the armor.
Luck became cautious and moved outside Julian's field. He then condensed lightning on his arms and shot bullets at Julian. Julian dodged most of them, but a few hit him. He swung his arms, sending a wave of fire all around.
Luck ran around the entire space as Julian shot pillars and beams of fire at him. Luck jumped into the air and launched himself towards Julian like a missile.
Julian caused an explosion from his legs and zoomed towards Luck with a flame-condensed fist, creating a shockwave all around. The fight continued for twenty minutes with spells and physical combat. They were evenly matched throughout the fight.
As they prepared their next attacks, Yami shouted, "STOP! It's enough for today. Continue later on; I want to sleep and don't need any disturbance." They had no power against him, so they agreed.
"You are one of the strongest opponents I have faced after Captain Yami. I can't wait to fight you more," said Luck with a smile.
Luck and Julian agreed to complete their battle another day. During the fight, many of Julian's attacks didn't connect properly with Luck but hit him due to the large range of his magic. Julian felt his mana reinforcement was strong, but the power behind Luck's attacks was nothing to joke about. Some attacks managed to hit him, and getting electrocuted was no fun experience.
The next day, Julian was woken up by the mayhem caused by Luck and Magna. He went to the cafeteria, ate Charmy's food, and waited for Yami. After breakfast, Yami decided to complete his part of the deal.
"Listen, kid, I'll tell you this once. KI is predicting attacks by sensing your surroundings, your opponent's breathing, muscle movements, and the vague sense of attacks and objects around you. It's a skill that doesn't need mana and can be used on nonliving targets too. I saw that during your fights you did that too, but on a small scale. The best method to learn is through combat. Draw your blade and fight me. Use only your instincts and don't use mana." Julian nodded and went to strike him. Yami parried his attacks perfectly, continuously giving different commands.
After mercilessly beating Julian to help him analyze, Yami left to attend to his captain duties. He didn't use mana, knowing it would be over for Julian, but his sword was equally deadly. Julian had almost comprehended KI as he already knew the basics.
Julian asked Luck and Magna for help, and they happily agreed since they got to battle more. Both of them attacked Julian with long-range spells while he tried dodging using only KI. After countless attempts and getting hurt, Julian finally learned KI. Three days later, he sat under a tree with tattered clothes and a bleeding body but ignored it. He activated the Phoenix Robe and watched the notification that popped up.
******************
Skill upgrade: basic KI -> KI
BODY POINTS: 70
MANA POINTS: 135
*********
Energy filled Julian's body, and he sighed with relief, having learned another useful technique.
His body points had reached a bottleneck due to his age.
He didn't want muscles like Asta and Yami, so he maintained a balance. Even without large muscles, his physical strength should be on par with Asta's. For the next seven days, Julian spent his time battling Luck, Magna, and sometimes Yami, though he didn't even manage to scratch Yami and got severely beaten up.
One day, half the members were gone on missions, so Julian had to stop his practice as Yami brought news from the Black Market.