“Almost all of you, are pathetically weak.”
Azmakul spoke with a condescending tone, he approached them, taking one small step at a time. But they perceived it differently. Each step of his felt like an earthquake. There wasn’t any, but the mental pressure was intense.
Even though he seemed different from before, he was easily recognizable by his odd mask, Whether it was his real face, or the skull of an enemy he had slain before, no one knew.
All they knew, was it sent shivers down their spine. It made their chests heavy, and breathing, already a task difficult in the savage planet of Lanekia, was made even laborious.
He was finally in front of Emma, who wanted to cower but couldn’t. The pressure he released made her want to kneel, but his oppressive mana kept her in place.
“A pure blooded royal of the Nine-tailed fox clan, yet your healing ability is subpar.”
His eyes pierced through her very body, every fiber of her body, analyzing everything. Every part of her body screamed under the weight of his eyes.
“Ah, You are a lost one, no wonder you don’t know your family’s techniques.”
He paused for a moment, releasing the pressure from his [Dragon eyes.] He moved towards Edward, and asked a question.
“What do you believe you are good at?”
He was forced to answer, even if he wanted to keep it as a thought, all would be revealed, whether willingly, or unwillingly. [Dragon Eyes] would see through everything.
Especially those of an Ancient dragon, who had no limit on his usage of [Dragon eyes], unlike those of young dragons like Alan and Kazikato. Azmakul’s dragon eyes were perfect for him, even disregarding the special powers it possessed, the normal functions of dragon eyes were well within his grasp.
“… Fighting…”
Edward said, barely able to make a sound. It even sounded like how a child would say something after being hit, or whilst crying. Azmakul laughed.
“No, you are not.”
He moved to Olivia, and asked the same question. But she couldn’t answer. Stuck on what to answer, and what to truly believe. What was she excellent at? Studying? Fighting? Magic? She was quite the all-rounder.
She couldn’t muster up any answer, even under the influence of oppressive mana and the weight of Dragon eyes. Even Azmakul’s eyes confirmed it, she didn’t know.
“Pathetic than most.”
He commented, moving towards Alice. She had an answer, however, unlike Olivia, and unlike Edward, Azmakul didn’t ridicule it.
“Alchemy… I’m good at alchemy.”
Azmakul looked down at her with a new, different light in his eyes. She still couldn’t raise her head to see that, though. The mask on his face shifted into a smirk, and he mumbled.
“Good.”
Alexander and Kazikato were the only ones he didn’t question, as they were next in line. Kazikato was spared for obvious reasons, while Alexander just received a look of approval from Azmakul.
He reached Sabrina, and asked the same question.
“What do you believe you are good at?”
She answered, confidently.
“Magic.”
Azmakul’s eyes shone, Sabrina almost crumbled under the pressure of the power of [Dragon eyes], and she would have, if the oppressive mana had not helped keep her in place.
“To say that in front of a dragon requires grit. Good.”
He spared a glance at Alice, and turned to Maxwell, asking the same question.
“What do you believe you are good at?”
Maxwell stopped to think for a moment, What should he answer?
Keeping things in order? Keeping things in check? Making sure they had enough supplies? Logistics? The only one with common sense in the group?
There were many things he was good at, things he knew that no one besides Sabrina could replace in the group.
And he hoped to believe that even if she could, she wouldn’t be able to reach his level.
He listed all the things he did, all the things he believed he was good at. To the shock of the others. Not many could say so many things with confidence to an Ancient Dragon, especially under so much pressure.
“Hmm.”
Azmakul flicked his fingers and sent him flying, outside the courtyard. Maxwell landed on his already frozen buttocks and suppressed out a scream. He was about to curse the dragon in his mind, but swallowed it down, terrified of the implications it would cause.
After all, what would he do if the dragon could read minds? It wasn’t that far from a possibility…
Azmakul sent one more person out of the courtyard, gently. Kazikato was picked up by constructs of mana and lay down on a bench nearby, to the envy of Maxwell and everyone else.
“Now, How do I train you all?”
The world turned dark all of a sudden, and they felt the cold assaulting them disappear, replaced with an eerie warmth.
Alan approached the pillar of glowing ice, and put his hands on it. He was trying to get a feel of it, but failed. He couldn’t see how the mana in it was structured, how it moved, how it flowed. There was nothing.
Taking a deep breath, he punched it with all his might, but except for his hand being turned into a sorry sight, the pillar was unscathed.
“Yeah, I knew it wouldn’t be this easy.”
He knew it wouldn’t really work. It was just a test to find out how the pillar would react to force. Surprisingly, it responded similarly of how cold metal would react to force.
‘So is it metal?’
Alan jumped back, healing his hand and taking out the Ame-No-Sakahoko, taking a stance. It wasn’t the stance of the Heavenly Sky Spear, he knew that technique wouldn’t do much.
Taking one more deep breath, he activated his mana and activated the unique flow of the Chaotic Spear art.
The flow of mana, in which every individual particle flowed in its own course, spinning at a speed, so great, nothing could stop it. Only be destroyed by it. The mana flowed from his body to the spear, and assumed its course before joining his body once again.
It was like the working of a chainsaw, except the blades were small, atomic particles of mana, each one capable of reducing anything that opposed it to dust if performed correctly.
He raised his spear, and took a deep breath, and unleashed the first step of the chaotic spear art, [Abyssal Rend].
The world quaked, and his mana was unleashed as a crescent arc, far more powerful than expected. Alan had released it using normal attribute mana, but frost attribute mana was
unleashed instead.
‘It transformed into frost element mana as soon as it left my body…’
He noticed, perhaps it was Lanekia, or the river above. Whichever one it was, he was pleased
to see that his attack was much more powerful. Without wasting another breath, he did it
again.
[Abyssal Rend]
And again.
[Abyssal Rend]
And again.
[Abyssal Rend]
And again.
[Abyssal Rend]
“Haa…”
That was it, he couldn’t do any more lest his arm would explode, or even worse, his entire
body wouldn’t be able to handle the impact. The strengthening of the attack had its
drawbacks as well.
Still, it was a considerable improvement from his first and previous attempts to use Abyssal Rend, Alan had advanced so much that he could use the move a few more times before
succumbing to the drawbacks.
It was a great improvement from his first time, where he had been left at death’s door and almost caused Shield to issue an emergency attack notice.
He healed his body with the powers of the Phoenix, and went to check in on the pillar of glowing ice. The glow dimmed, but the pillar was relatively unharmed.
‘Would the second movement be better? It does focus all the force to a single point…’
Taking a slight moment of reprieve, Alan moved back once more and initiated the stance of the second movement of the chaotic spear art, [Oblivion Thrust]
Despite the odd name, it was still the strongest move in his arsenal for dealing with a singular foe, he just needed to be accurate with it. It focused all the destructive force at one point,
though.
He repeated the move as many times as he could, shaking in his boots and using the Ame-No- Sakahoko as support when he reached his limit.
There was slight success this time, the pillar wasn’t unscathed. There was…destruction.
In the form of a simple, small chip, of course. Alan sighed when he saw that his most powerful attacks could only cause a small chip, but he wasn’t disheartened.
He was ready to change his approach, He could try the same move he did with Azmakul, using [Glacial meteor] to make conduits for his [Gravity Field] spell, and adding more weight to his
thrust. He was sure that would do some damage.
He just hoped his spear wouldn’t break.
Or…he could try another approach, one he was willing to try after listening to Azmakul’s long speech about sorcery and elemental relations.