The Storm (Finale)

The weapons flashed in the clouds, making it difficult for most people to know what was going on within the clouds. Camille and Em could no longer see the extent of what was going on but they had developed a certain faith in Rowan at this point and were confident that he would come out of this fight the victor but they had both been preparing for the worst while understanding that this fight was currently at a level that neither of them could hope to interfere in. Rowan had surpassed every human in Evergreen city the moment he stepped into level fifteen because while the system gave many opportunities through quests, it was something that you needed the talent to complete.

There were two people that were watching this fight from a far away building, though, and they could clearly see everything that was transpiring in the clouds thanks to one of their abilities, but they looked vastly different from when they met the mayor. Genma stood there with a mirror in front of him, but it did not show his reflection but the battle that was taking place in the clouds. His skin was no longer the sickly yellow but a healthy tan.

His beard was not ridiculous and long but instead was a closely cut brown stubble with patches of white. His body, that looked decrepit before, now hid cords of muscle beneath a three-piece suit. If Fiona was here, she would also notice that his obsidian name was no longer obsidian but a rainbow, just like the boy next to him. Speaking of Feng, he was staring at the mirror without ever blinking, as if he looked away he would lose something important. He no longer wore a leash and was not obscured by dirt and grime and wearing rags like he had been before. He was wearing what looked like a school uniform that had a weird ship symbol on its breast pocket.

It was complete with shorts and high socks and a black blazer with a white dress shirt. There was a single rainbow stripe on his right arm. He kept his eyes on the mirror as he spoke. "Master Genma, did we really have to come here under this charade? I thought you said this world was in the middle of nowhere and inconsequential." Genma smiled at the boy as he too focused on the fight. "Yes, I did think so before, but when we were flying by, I noticed not one but two tier zero existences on a planet that had just awakened to the system. It does seem like this planet has a means to reach the outer world, but they have hidden themselves. The boy has no one to guide him but the system it's sort of a shame. If we could take him away to the galaxy academy, then he would surely make waves. His attunement is completely unique on top of that and he's somehow fully awakened his bloodline without losing himself or reaching the fourth mana rank. He is barely about to step into the second mana rank and I dare say that the boy has the seldom spoken about battle gene, something seen as a blessing to some and a curse to others. The moment he steps into soul-stirring, he will realize that the feeling of boredom that he has never been able to shake was the battle gene craving violence and he will feed it and this whole world will be his whetstone."

Feng finally looked away from the mirror and at Genma. "Do you wish that you found him before me, Master?" Genma lightly tousled his hair and shook his head, you are my precious disciple that I found from a backwater planet much like this one, only that your world lost to the zombies with nearly record speed I was there investigating the recent evolution of our enemies and found you the last living human on the entire planet. You are eighteen this year, just like this boy and no less talented. You spent your time hiding and picking off foes that you could handle while running for your life. When I finally found you, you are already level fifty.

While I would love to bring him back with us to attend, I only have one pass for the galaxy academy, so hopefully he is able to survive this world himself and make it there on his own because I won't be given another pass for ten years and by then his most optimal time for growth will have passed. I only stopped here because our ship picked up on the signature of a tier 0 soul. It was impossible for me not to. I now suspect, though, that there is something special about this planet. I think it may give birth to more unique existences.

When you were level fifteen, do you think that you could have jumped 15 levels and two mana ranks to fight an enemy like that? I dare say that zombies have touched upon the laws of bone." Feng shook his head, "I didn't have the battle power to pull off something like that Master, it's like he's been fighting for years. It makes no sense."

Genma nodded his head. "The battle gene gives its user command over their physical body to a degree that people without it can never understand, not to mention the mana control and battle sense. They are beings meant to lay waste to battlefields. It was decreed in Ark year 150 that it would be categorized as a soul affliction, as other cases like it were discovered, like your harmony gene that's imprinted on your soul."

Feng nodded his head in understanding as he turned back to the mirror. "So what are we going to about those dumb people that want him dead?" Genman smiled and tousled Feng's dark black hair once again, much to his annoyance. "They are indeed very dumb, but they don't know the dangers of a tier 0 so there ignorance can be forgiven, they really think im from that city and still have not realized that we intercepted the transmission, it will give our little friend time here to grow in the meantime. The school doesn't open for admissions for another three years, so I suppose we can hang around here and monitor this world in the meantime, undercover of course. Plus, don't act like I don't see it in your eyes, little one. You want to battle that young man, don't you?"

Feng nodded his head to Genma's words. "I want to see what the differences are between us, so I'm going to not level while we are here, I will refine my mana control and battle ability and if he can reach level fifty before we leave then I will battle him when we give him the token to participate in the schools entry test." It was now Genma's turn to raise his eyebrows. "Oi brat, how did ya know I was going to give him a token?" Feng shrugged his shoulders, "You may be a tier 0 seer master, but your facial expressions give away your thoughts rather easily." Feng cracked a smile for the first time while Genma swiped at him with a cane that appeared out of nowhere before they both went back to watching the battle.

…

Rowan and the bone collector had exchanged thousands of blows within the clouds. The bone collector's six arms allowed him to attack at tricky angles while also keeping up with Rowan knew that he would have to go all out instead of trading blows with the bone collector. He had wanted to hold back from using some of the new skills. Rowan had used weak point detection the moment they started fighting, but the bone blocked all the highlighted points. "Fairy wings" The moment his voice fell, four massive falcon wings made of cyan mana appeared behind him.

One pair sprouted from his upper back and the other from his lower back. They solidified and became cyan wings, with starry black tips. They began to beat and his feet lightly hovered off of the ground; he flapped them once and shot forward with so much speed that the bone collector wasn't able to block him in time.

The storm spear wormed through his defense and pierced right through its chest dispelling lightning inside of him and pinning him to the ground unfortunately this was the first time Rowan had used the wings so instead of stopping he kept moving which yanked the spear from the bone collectors chest and freed him from the stroke that would have killed him. Rowan, on the other hand, was rapidly approaching a building and, despite reversing the motion, was about to run into it. He then remembered that storm steps were still active, and he stomped forward in the air and stopped instantly.

He smiled to himself, the wings for massive bursts of speed, and storm steps to stay in perfect control and execute complicated maneuvers. All of his active skills made it so that his current ability was at more than double its base. Mana's body pushed it from 110 to 230 naturally while the added fifty percent from the wings and it made his total agility 345. That was further boosted by mana armament, which added another 20 percent to all of his stats. His agility was currently at 414. The bone collector got up and roared in his direction.

"World grinder!" Pale white mana flowed from his body and into the ground as hundreds of bone spikes burst out of the ground before rotating just like the teeth in its mouth had. They then grew to be just as tall as the surrounding building units and grew serrations as he began to mince the world around them, the clouds churning with the movement. Rowan zipped in between the blades that sought to turn him into a meal for the bone maw. He was being kept at bay and now, with so many skills active, he was burning mana too quickly.

Rowan gritted his teeth and used the last skill that would need to be activated, but he had been holding off on. "Berserkers Trance!" Rowan felt his mind empty of almost everything nearly in an instant. He even forgot of the pain he was still struggling with over Akari. Now it was just pure killing efficiency. Rowan wasn't able to see it, but cyan tribal lines had appeared on his body and began to pulse with mana.

The skill had also involuntarily interacted with his battle Gene and accelerated his abilities further as if he could feel the mana thrumming in the world around him. Rowan spread his hands and tens of storm points flew out from his hands and into the surrounding clouds. They all began to pulse and release a mist into the clouds, making them more dense before they started dividing themselves further and further.

The surroundings were completely obscured so the bone collector was not able to even realize the massive danger that had now surrounded him. He swung his scimitars wildly, forming a barrier of sword light around him which would have kept Rowan at bay if he was ever trying to get close to him. Rowan shot higher than even the bone spell and looked downwards as the now thousands of tiny storm points were ready to head Rowan's call.

He snapped his fingers and spoke out loud, "Powder Keg." There was a sound like a battery rapidly charging while the storm points released cyan lightning mana and it was like the mist and the clouds were dry kindle doused and gasoline and his snapping finger was the match. The lightning consumed everything in a massive explosion that shook all of Evergreen city. The lightning exploded outward and wiped out everything that existed in the clouds.

The buildings were turned to rubble; the bone spikes blackened and then toppled. Rowan knew the fight wasn't over because the quest was not complete and he could see the blacked and smoldering figure of the bone collector trying to raise himself in the aftermath. Rowan set up close to ten extra large storm points as he prepped the final blow.

"Storm Stoop!" Rowan touched the first storm point and shattered the sound barrier evidence of the poof. The storm point shattered across him and the hawk form manifested around him, now with four wings, the wings tucked and he touched the second storm point and his speed doubled. The next storm point and he was already at four times the speed of sound with 8 more storm points he connected to them all and became a massive realistic falcon image. One of his massive wings passed through the neck of the bone collector, never aware of the spear blade that the wing tip signified and hid.

It left a cyan line on his throat while cyan cracks spread throughout its entire body. Its head fell away as Rowan blazed past. He touched the ground and stabbed the spearhead into the ground as he spun in circles, tearing the ground up as he moved, spinning in circles to dismiss his speed. He let out a mighty raptor call that echoed across the city, blood visible on his body from several wounds, as his skill deactivated. He was the final victor once again.

Genma and Feng stood there with their mouths open, both of them surprised at the way that this had ended. Genma tapped on specific parts of the mirror rapidly. It was his Astra and it was directly linked to his seer abilities. He quickly analyzed the skills that Rowan had used and his jaw dropped at some of their descriptions. It was Feng that broke the silence between them. "I don't think I'll wait until he's level fifty. I don't know if the current me would survive what he just did." The silence that hung after his words was rather daunting, but it was Genma's follow up that scared Feng even more. "Yea… Me either."