Path to Transcendence

Chapter 558: Show Off

Julius wasn’t able to breathe. The weight of the mountain that Liam had dropped on top of him was extraordinary and had some disruptive effect that prevented him from using his mana as freely.

He was stuck.

Yeah, I deserved that, he noted to himself with a wheeze.

If that wasn’t bad enough, he could sense that Liam was still attacking him. While Julius was pressed between the ground and the mountain of ice, Liam was sending some kind of attack through the ice. A wave of freezing ice mana ploughed into him; he could feel his skin instantly turn to ice, and all of his nerves felt like they were on fire.

He let out a laugh. Or at least as much of a laugh as he could with how much ice was crushing his lungs. Then, before another wave of ice reached him, he pulled on his mana.

The familiar sensation of chaotic space wrapped around his body, and he disappeared from underneath the mountain, reappearing above the arena in the air.

He finally saw with his own eyes what Liam had hit him with. It wasn’t quite a mountain, but Liam still somehow managed to create a block of ice the size of a large house, flattening Julius with it.

He saw Liam looking around the area, confused as if searching for something. He must have realized that Julius was no longer underneath his ice. He finally looked up and spotted Julius floating high above him.

Julius saw a dozen emotions flash across Liam’s face. However, the one at the forefront was indignation.

“Oh come on! I thought I had you there,” Liam shouted at him.

“You were planning that?” Julius asked with a tilt of his head and tapped his chin in thought.

“Of course I did. I have been thinking about how to limit your mobility since our last fight,” Liam said with a frown.

Julius merely shrugged.

“I really thought I almost had you there,” Liam noted with disappointment.

“Sorry?” Julius offered.

Liam scoffed and shook his head. “And of course, you have a teleportation skill. I should have predicted that.”

“If it makes you feel better, you are the first one who has forced me to use it,” Julius commented. He was being honest, too. Most people hadn’t forced him to use such a skill. It showed that Liam was a level above the other participants.

In fact, Julius had barely realized he used the skill in the first place. He had reflexively activated the skill the moment he realized he was trapped underneath the pile of ice. The only other way out was a more destructive, even flashier method.

Liam looked at Julius with a flat expression. “No, it doesnʼt make me feel better. Now, my entire strategy is ruined.”

Julius was going to apologize again, but Liam must have been feeling annoyed because Julius quickly found himself under attack while he hovered in the sky. The two eagles, which had been separated, flew up at him with murderous intent.

The sky sparkled with ice mana; each flap of the creature’s wings released more frost over the field. Julius tried not to become engrossed in their beauty, which was honestly a more difficult task than one would expect.

However, he observed the extraordinary amount of power these creatures generated. They weren’t things he could easily dismiss as threats. Even with his healing skill, he suspected that getting hit by them directly wouldn’t be a pleasant experience.

Not seeing a reason to hold back, especially since Liam had forced him to use [Void Step]. He pulled on his fire mana, letting it flow into his crown, which greedily fed on the morsels of fire mana.

He could feel the crown’s exuberance about being allowed to go wild. It flared brightly with blue flames as Julius felt his eyes change with the infusion of his ruinous aura. A manic smile slowly crept to his lips, enjoying the sensation of the power as he let go of his self-established reins.

The ruinous fire mana ripped through his channels with such speed that he was a little worried. However, to his surprise, he realized that his mana channels had undergone a slight change. They were able to receive the large influx of mana with much more stability than before.

It was a very minor change, but for someone who had excellent control over his mana, he could tell right away. It must have been due to his exercises with life mana. That was the only plausible explanation he could think of.

He held back a laugh.

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It was just another reason to keep on practicing those insane techniques.

Like normal, the ruinous flames were a little tricky to handle, even with the crown’s assistance. Still, he steeled his willpower and quickly molded the mana into deadly spikes.

He admired them for a brief moment, letting their shimmering surface glisten in his eyes for a second, before he sent them blistering toward the eagles, setting the air on fire as they pierced the sky.

The eagles did their best to avoid the spikes, but that was easier said than done. Julius had already sent out a pulse of kinetic energy, doing his best to hold them in place.

Interestingly, his kinetic energy didn’t take hold as he expected it would. These eagles had a special willpower of their own.

At most, he had believed them to be attached or even an extension of Liam’s willpower. However, this wasn’t the case at all. These eagles had a willpower entirely of their own making, one that Julius found difficult to grasp.

This meant he couldn’t immobilize them as he typically did with kinetic energy. Regardless, he adapted quickly and fell back on his proven strategy.

Use even more kinetic energy.

This worked pretty well, too. The eagles staggered as the crushing wave of kinetic energy crashed into them. This allowed his spikes enough time to barrel into them. His spikes made of ruinous aura and mana were no joke. They exploded upon impact, damaging the ice creatures.

They were pretty impressive themselves, so they didn’t get destroyed right away. But Julius had half expected this and was already sending another volley at them. These spikes did a much more thorough job and severely affected the eagles.

Eventually, they were unable to withstand the powerful spikes and shattered. Sounding as if someone had smashed a thousand wine glasses next to Julius’s ears.

He winced at the sound and shoved some mana earplugs into his canals. He had a feeling that this wasn’t going to be the last time he would hear that noise during this fight.

He spotted the shattered fragments of ice swirling in the sky. He sent a burst of flames at these fragments, hoping to melt them before they could coalesce. Unfortunately, this didn’t work, and his flames washed over the ice without much effect.

Then the original and larger eagle appeared where his flames had been. He moved to the side, sensing Liam attacking him while he was distracted. He tried to swing his elbow at the close mage, but like their last fight, his limb went straight through Liam’s body. His frostmist skill allowed him to avoid any direct physical attacks.

Liam blasted him in the face with a cloud of frost before teleporting away again. Julius sensed where he was going to appear, but he didn’t chase after him. He was too busy neutralizing whatever poison/debuff Liam had just hit him with.

It was like the previous frost attack that made his body sluggish. However, this was many times more potent. Julius could feel his mana and mind react with a slowness that he hated. Plus, it was freaking cold.

He sent a rough pulse of ruinous aura to purge this effect, and his crown was even considerate enough that it let some of its blue flames brush over his body, warming him up.

He mentally thanked the crown, and it returned a bright sparkle.

Who said that this crown was a tragedy waiting to happen? Whoever that person in the vision was, they must not have treated the crown very well. Because, from what Julius had been learning, the crown was quite reasonable.

It was a little greedy and destructive, but compared to Drasilʼs greed, the crown’s was nothing worth noting. Also, it wasn’t like Julius didn’t have his destructive moments.

He set up another barrier at his back, blocking the breath of frost the giant eagle was suddenly attacking him with. It was a powerful breath attack, too; the force alone was enough to strain his barrier. The ice crawled along the surface of his barrier, slowly seeping into it, infecting it with its mana.

Julius didn’t like this and quickly dispersed the barrier while simultaneously creating another one to replace it. Then sent another volley of spikes at the eagle. However, it must have shared the same ability as Liam because his spikes went straight through the body of the eagle without having an impact.

Actually, that might have been incorrect. He saw the form of the eagle ripple when the spikes and ruinous aura went through it. So there might have been some damage. That was something to keep in mind.

However, that begged another question. Why hadn’t the other eagles avoided his spikes in the same fashion? Why would they take the attacks straight on if they could let them pass straight through them?

Julius thought about it for a brief moment before he finally remembered something. During his previous fight with Liam, he had been able to come out on top for a simple reason.

He had exhausted Liam’s mana.

If his memory was correct, Liam’s intangibility skill had taken a shit load of mana to use. So, despite being an improved version of before, Julius suspected it still had the same weakness.

It was mana-intensive.

So with that in mind, he smiled and started to gather even more mana. He knew exactly what to do.

He stared down at Liam, who was now standing on the back of the eagle, grinning like a madman.

Liam must have seen the expression on his face because Julius spotted a hint of panic flash across the other Goldencrest student’s face. This was followed up by a massively complex gathering of mana.

Julius used his kinetic energy to keep himself afloat. He didn’t bother with the wings for the moment. For one, he didn’t really need them anymore. His control of kinetic energy was good enough that he didn’t need them to aid him.

The main reason he kept using them was pretty simple.

They were cool as hell.

He grinned. On second thought…

A pair of brilliant azure wings manifested into existence, unfolding like a beautifully bloomed lotus flower. He had already shown that he could teleport and could fly. Hence, he would afford himself this small luxury.

And based on the crowd’s sudden cheers, he believed they enjoyed them as well. Their reaction made him smile wider than he thought he would.

While Liam collected his mana, Julius also began to make his own preparations. A staff of deep blue weaved itself together in his hands. He spun the staff in his hands, slapping his left hand at the base of it as he waited for Liam to finish.

He wanted to show off… just a little bit.