Chapter 912: Unshakable 2.
However, while others were watching with curiosity or awe, Liam, on the other hand, had a sinking feeling in his gut, he had landed a strike—or so he thought, but only he knew the truth that his attack hadn’t connected with anything.
There was no resistance, no sensation of his clawed strike piercing flesh, and that realization triggered his suspicions that something was wrong.
Just as doubt clouded his mind, he noticed something chilling, the body he had struck was dissipating like mist.
“How much longer are you going to stare at my afterimage?” Lucas’s voice came from behind him.
Startled, Liam spun around and jumped back from both his current position and the direction of the voice.
“How the hell did you do that?” he demanded, raising his arms as arcs of lightning sparked between his fingertips.
“If I told you, I wouldn’t be able to use it against you again, now would I?” Lucas replied casually, as Liam froze, unsure of how to respond.
In his heart, he wanted to believe it was just a technique, some illusion or speed-based skill Lucas had picked up, because if what just happened was Lucas’s base speed, then Liam knew he was in serious trouble as he hadn’t even been able to react to that.
Still, he wasn’t some weakling, he was a Tudor—royalty born with both bloodline and talent, that privilege had always fed him with a certain unshakable confidence, no matter how dire the situation.
So even with the odds looking stacked against him, and even though the voice in his head warned him otherwise, Liam threw aside his hesitation, with renewed resolve, he lunged at Lucas, fists flying and kicks whipping through the air.
His attacks came in fast blurs, but no matter how precise or swift, they failed to connect.
Lucas didn’t even unfold his arms, he simply tilted, weaved, and stepped around every blow with calm precision, like a shadow dancing through light.
[> Mid-Tier Spell – Lightning Discharge <]
Liam finally unleashed his first spell, after realizing that landing a physical hit on Lucas was almost impossible as he couldn’t match his speed, he switched tactics, opting for an AOE lightning spell, his goal was simple: to paralyze Lucas, even if only for a moment,
So he could land a few meaningful blows. However, what followed was completely unexpected.
The wave of blue lightning bolts surged outward like a storm ready to consume everything, but instead of evading, Lucas charged straight into it with his right hand, which was still cloaked in Qi energy, he stretched out his hand toward the crackling bolts while performing some hand signs with his left hand which was drawn back.
[> Qi Technique – Absorption <]
To Liam’s disbelief, Lucas began absorbing the lightning.
It was as if his arm had become a conductor, as he grabbed one of the arcs mid-air, and the scattered lightning bolts shifted direction, drawn to him like moths to flame, pulled by some unseen vacuum.
“Arrrggghh!”
Lucas roared in pain as the lightning coursed through his body, and Liam involuntarily shivered at the sight, even though he had cast the spell, Liam didn’t possess a natural lightning affinity.
His special ability allows him to mimic spells he had previously seen, and before the match, he had observed six different mages, each from varying elemental paths, demonstrating their strongest spells, so he could carefully select six of those spells to memorize and temporarily wield for the next six hours, ( that is the longest duration he could save a mimicked spell at his current realm).
However even those spells are limited to Mid-Tier rank powers, even if he decided to go off copying a High-Tier one, it would only result in a downgraded prowess back to the Mid rank spell model, it was one of the limitations of his rare talent.
Still, casting spells from elements outside his natural affinity came with risks.
Like Austin, Liam wore a customized spirit equipment set beneath his uniform, specially crafted to mitigate the backlash from using elements he lacked resistance to.
And since Liam had only copied the lightning spells and wasn’t really using his body to create the lightning, the recoil wasn’t too severe, he is using himself as a gun and his Mana as the bullet which recreates the copied spell, as long as he is not in the range of the attack he won’t be affected.
Even if he was, that is why he had the spirit equipment armour under his school uniform that was specially crafted for him, but watching Lucas absorb the lightning with his body made him realize just how insane his opponent really was.
By now, Lucas had completely absorbed the lightning bolts, as arcs of blue electricity danced across his body like writhing snakes, crackling over his skin, even his hair had turned spiky, standing on end from the sheer energy surging through him.
“How?” Liam muttered, barely audible—so soft that Lucas almost missed it.
“Simple, I’ve always had a low affinity for lightning, in my clan, elemental affinity wasn’t something we showed off about, so I never thought much of it.” Lucas replied, his voice calm despite the current running through him.
He paused, his gaze briefly shifting toward Alec.
“But then I met someone who embraced even the element he didn’t really like, all just because it made him stronger, that changed my perspective.”
Lucas took a deep breath, the lightning crackling louder around him
“I realized I was being childish by ignoring my affinity just because it was weak, it made me stronger so I decided to go back to training. It wasn’t easy when I started training again, having a low affinity meant I had to burn through more mana just to summon a spark or even use lightning to enhance my attacks.”
“It was frustrating. But while my elemental affinity is low, I have an absurd talent for Qi manipulation, so I began training my body to store lightning through Qi control, painstakingly shaping my body into a perfect vessel that can house lightning.” He smirked, raising his lightning-covered arm.
“And just when I was almost empty, you generously recharged me. So of course, I’ll make use of it.” Lucas concluded his small explanation, however Liam wasn’t listening anymore, the moment he heard that Lucas had been using his body to store lightning, his mind began to spiral.
Such a cultivation method was not only dangerous but also brutal, the very idea of letting lightning flow through one’s flesh sounded like madness, even the royal mage academy elders were surprised as they have always warned the Royal Mage Academy disciples that the pain could cripple a man, or worse, kill him outright if he followed such cultivation method.
They could only imagine how much agony Lucas had endured, using his Qi to shield his internal organs and keep the lightning from tearing him apart from the inside.
Practically everyone was stunned by Lucas’s revelation, everyone except Alec Gordons’, who already had an idea of what was going on with Lucas, though Alec hadn’t known from the start, however after the incident involving his eyes, everything changed.
Now, as he looked at Lucas, he wasn’t only seeing the outline of his body through the 3D blue light display created by his evolved vision, what stood out even more was the massive amount of residual lightning energy swirling inside him.
Alec had simply given
him the perfect platform to test his new cultivation method.