Peak of magical arts
" Mana Zone─Absolute Form "
As he uttered these words, a subtle shockwave of magic rippled through the ground. Soon, golden lines reappeared on the floating chunks of rock. Within seconds, the rocks began to radiate heat, transitioning from brown to an ominous black.
The golden lines on the blazing black rocks resembled a scene from a volcanic eruption. Freya, bewildered by this sudden turn of events, felt the temperature in the arena steadily rise.
Everyone present, including Freya herself, was awestruck by this display of magic. It was as if they had been transported to an entirely different realm. She bit her lip, sensing the ever-increasing heat. Desperation fueled her as she poured all her magic power into reinforcing her protective water barrier.
In less than a minute, a thin layer of water materialized from the air, enveloping Freya in a bubble. This makeshift barrier shielded her from the searing heat. However, Ray merely chuckled as he casually strolled towards the opposite end of the arena.
"Your water barrier is indeed formidable," Ray admitted, pausing his steps to address Freya. She strained to maintain the barrier's integrity, channeling all her magic into strengthening it.
"But the key flaw remains: your barrier is still vulnerable to physical attacks," Ray elucidated, adopting a combat stance and launching himself towards the nearest rock chunk, primed for a punch.
"No way..." Ben's eyes widened in disbelief as he recalled a similar situation from his previous battle with Ray.
"Freya, RUN!" Ben's voice rang out, and his body posed to leap into the arena, but it was futile. Ray had already initiated his move.
With all his might, Ray unleashed a punch at the first rock chunk. On impact, the rocky mass exploded into countless small projectiles of searing stones, which struck adjacent rocks and ignited them in succession.
It was reminiscent of Ray's battle with Ben, where he punched an earth wall with a fire punch, releasing a barrage of flaming rocks toward his opponent. However, this time, the blazing stones continued to collide with other chunks, triggering a relentless chain reaction.
In an instant, over a thousand miniature flaming projectiles hurtled towards Freya, their velocity nearly imperceptible to human eyes.
"This looks bad," Ben said as he leaped into the arena. Using the maximum of his agility, he ran as fast as he could. His initial plan was to pull Freya out of the arena, or at least from the point of focus.
As Ben entered the arena, the entire arena became a relentless maelstrom of explosions, each blast hurtling toward Freya with even greater intensity than before. It was as if the entire battleground was engulfed in a storm of golden sparks, the deafening cacophony threatening to overwhelm the senses.
Freya, her eyes wide open as she beheld the colossal onslaught bearing down on her, cautiously moved forward. Her hands trembled uncontrollably as she watched her water barrier disintegrate before the onslaught, much like a cotton plant torn asunder by a fierce gale.
Within a matter of seconds, the searing heat began to seep through her skin. Tiny particles of sparks danced across her flesh, their minuscule forms piercing through her epidermis. There was no time for blood to flow; her life flashed before her eyes.
"Humans are feeble; they don't have even one tenth the magical powers compared to elves." These words had been etched into the core of her being and drilled into her consciousness countless times. Over time, she had cultivated a sense of superiority due to her half-elf heritage, believing herself to be superior to the likes of mere humans.
Yet here she was, unable to withstand a spell from a human. Is she even weaker than humans? Is that why her clan despised her? Was there even any point in seeking revenge? Was there any point in trying to change the world?
What if she is a lowlife, not fit to be in her clan? What if her clan was right from the very beginning?
Doubts and questions swirled within her mind, gnawing at her self-assured façade. She could sense her motivation waning, like a light dimming in the encroaching darkness. The deeper she sank into this abyss of uncertainty, the harder it became to breathe. Perhaps surrender was the only answer.
Darkness closed in as she abandoned her will, her body plummeting towards the unforgiving ground. Just as she was about to succumb to the relentless barrage, a hand reached out to save her.
With his augmented speed, Ben managed to reach her just in the nick of time. Gritting his teeth, he hugged her tightly, bracing for the impending impact. It was already too late to take him out of the place. That's why Ben decided to use his body as a cover; his regenerative abilities will make it pretty quick for him to heal and withstand the attack in comparison to her comrade.
For Ben, while the attack was swift, it was not fatal; he could easily mend his wounds using his vampire abilities. But for Freya, the outcome might not be so forgiving.
Ben hugged her tightly and greeted her with his teeth, preparing for the damage. But suddenly, he felt a strange pressure in the arena. It was a sensation all too familiar to him but still somehow unknown.
Ben's eyes widened, his heart pounding as he lifted his gaze. Both he and Freya were enveloped by a protective cocoon of black smoke. These shadows looked simple, but like a vast nothingness eating everything in its way.
Thousands of burning stones were hurled toward them, but despite the onslaught of a myriad of fiery projectiles, none could breach the barrier forged by the shadow. Each particle dissolved into nothingness as it made contact with the shadows, like a wooden ship being sawllowed by a cyclone.
In the next few seconds, the tornadoes of flames subsided, and there was nothing left of them but the previous clear arena.
"Are you guys alright? Honestly, I was afraid that I didn't make it in time, hehe!"
Ben heard a concerning voice from behind him. Just when he turned around to face the voice, he found out that it was none other than Alex, who was using some kind of artifact in his hand that was absorbing all the flames around him.
"Yes, I am fine; Freaya looks fine as well," Ben answered, standing up as he let go of Freya, dropping her on the ground like nothing.
"I am sorry; it's my mistake. Ray always goes overboard when it comes to battles; I should have been more careful with this." Alex said it with a genuinely apologetic expression as he turned off the pot-like artifact in his hand.
"No, no, you don't need to apologize like this; it doesn't feel appropriate for us to see you embarrassed, right, Freya?" Ben asked with a visible irritation on his face. "So, rather, just bow down on the ground and rub your head against the dirt at least 10 times, you motherfuckers."
"Wai- " Alex, taken aback, tried to speak, but his words were cut short.
"I didn't complete yet," Ben almost shouted. "Didn't your parents teach you not to interfere when your elder is talking? Just think about it: what would have happened if she got seriously injured in that attack or something? Who will take the responsibility?"
"Oi, chill gramps, everything is under control. It took me a while to get this from the storage room, but as long as it worked out," Alex said, looking at the brown clay pot in his hands. Judging by looks, it was just a normal clay pot, but the blasts and fire from earlier were all absorbed by this pot; this was magical equipment.
"Well, just this time, as long as everyone is fine." Ben said, looking at Ray, who was sitting on his knees sweating buckets, "I don't assume that a blockhead with multiple personality disorder would be this strong."
"Ray is strong? Bruh, you have gotta be kidding me." Alex chuckled as if he heard a joke or something. "That move you saw there was the peak of his powers, and it's not even mature. The time it takes to activate and all, any enemy would walk out of it."
"Not to mention, he has a price to pay for using an immature skill," Alex said, pointing at Ray, who was barely breathing anything but normal. "
"And that is?Ben asked.
"He will stay like that for 3 hours, unable to use anything more than basic magic." In a tone of sarcasm, Alex replied with a smile.
"Ahh...well. He is still strong, though. I will go and see my guard duty. Just inform me when my shift is over." Ben said, walking out of the door.
"That will take more than 3 hours, though; don't you think you should let Freya rest in here?" Alex asked, feeling a little disappointed, thinking that Ben now has trust issues thanks to him.
Ben, on the other hand, was looking at Freya's status with his lips twitching.
╔═══«STATUS»════╗
Name: Sylvan Freya
Bearing: Slave
HP: 100% MP: 12%
╚══════════════╝
As Ben walked towards the village boundaries, an unknown sensation was rushing through his body. He didn't know what it was, but he clearly knew what it meant. It was a hunger to grow better than others.
'System, tell me the ways I can grow stronger. I need more blood skills and magic as well." He asked with determination, while Freya silently followed him from behind. It was unknown to Ben what was going on in her mind.
[ Current options: host] There are two ways you can grow stronger.
Kill more beasts and level up to level 5. There, you can unlock a new blood skill.
[Obtain as much beast core as you can—at least 100 normal tier cores. ]
"Then I know what I need to do in here," Ben stated, looking at the sun, falling below the horizon.
......
[ According to my analysis, if you donate more power stones to the author, then he will upload more chapters.]