Chapter 54 - Solidification

[Warning!]

- This chapter is a draft. That means this is written with heart, not with brain. This has grammatical errors here and there and needs to be proofread and edit. The author will edit the drafts after a while.

Cough.

Alistein coughed blood. He was certain Blaze standing far enough for him to react before the blow. He even expected Blaze's power level at least about at the second stage with 100% Hyper Surge empowering her Incipient Stage.

'This burst of speed... Perspicacious Breathing Art!? How is she this fast in Incipient Stage?' Alistein grabbed and rotated Blaze's attacking arm, sending a mean blow on his own.

Unfortunately for him, his fist struck a melting afterimage of Blaze who went below and entangled her feet around Alistein's torso. She grabbed the wrist of the arm holding her forearm to reverse the control. By spinning around him, Blaze mounted his back and strangled his neck – his head in the middle of Blaze's one arm, pulling the strangling arm using the other from the back.

"It's not just Perspicacious Breathing Art, amateur. It's one of the foundations of Dragon Slayer Fist that you can't mimic, Liquefication. I told you don't underestimate a genius martial artist," Blaze whispered in his ears as she continued to strangle him.

Alistein's eyes shook in fear. He faced Blaze with his mind elsewhere, his goal to execute his father. And that was his biggest mistake and resulted in his current position. He couldn't beat Blaze if he continued to treat her as a pest.

And so, Alistein made up his mind. He grabbed Blaze's arm that was around his neck, forcing it open by brute force.

"That was a fluke. I didn't know you can use the cultivation art you chose right away. Don't worry it won't happen again."

Alistein threw Blaze in the air. Blaze flipped around and landed back in front of Alistein.

'I executed Berserker Jab perfectly yet... it had little to no effect on him. This is the same power that overpowered and nearly killed me. I can't let it happen again. I need more strength.' Blaze circulated the draconic energies in her body and manipulated it to discharge the balance dragon power according to her will using the Fervent Concentration Emission Art to dash around Alistein.

'Impressive! You've performed two cultivation art almost flawlessly, Blaze. Fervent Concentration Emission Art is a good way to catch from the wide gap in overall strength but don't forget that it will divide your attention from your fight because of circulating draconic energies and manipulating the discharge process in your dragon circuit. That is quite straining for your overall mental strength,' warned Azurion.

'I appreciate the guidance. I'll finish him as soon as I can, Azurion.' Blaze circled Alistein with her newly found dragon power along with boosts of the elixir and her peak human strength thanks to Hyper Surge, leaving countless afterimages.

The Warchiefs arrived to help after Blaze left them earlier. But it seemed they would only get in the way if they try to make a move on the battle ensuing in front of them.

'I can hardly see, Blaze. I thought she's already fast when I tried to catch up with her earlier going here but this far exceeded the speed she utilized earlier. What the hell is happening?' Bolt shivered in both astonishment and frustration. The Warchief who thought he became the strongest person in Lunargard after Batarak's passing found himself chasing another Estereon's footsteps. Wave and Terry shared the same thoughts.

'As expected from Batarak's only daughter. She chose Profound Amalgamation Art out of her greed.' Alistein pushed his glasses upwards, unbothered by Blaze's inhuman speed. Of course, it was because it was something he couldn't perceive with his extraordinary senses. Compared to the surprising burst of speed from Perspicacious Breathing Art, Blaze's current speed was slow.

"And you're not the only one who can do that." Alistein circulated the energies in his dragon circuit and manipulated the discharge process as well. If he has something he could depend on about himself, it was his mental fortitude as well which was perfect for the cultivation art he chose.

Alistein vanished from Blaze's sight and reappeared in front of her, fist already prepared to punch her.

Boom-!!

Blaze tumbled to the ground after Alistein fist landed on her face. Shortly after, the system's screen appeared in front of her blurring view partnered by the system's mechanical voice.

[Health is reduced to 95%]

Alistein's eyes narrowed in confusion about the damages she received from the blow. Did he expect much more or he underestimated Blaze's toughness? Certainly, something was off.

'Solidification? Right, that's it. And she utilized it on top of Elite Body Tempering Art to minimize the damage in split-second knowing she couldn't evade using Liquefication.' Alistein clicked his tongue in annoyance. He knew Liquefication and Solidification were the foundation of Dragon Slayer Fist that requires extreme training to attain. Thus, making everything exponentially intenser about the practitioner.

And Elite Body Tempering Art paved the way to improve the Dragon Channels and Dragon Paths, binding them closer to the physical bones that would result in remarkable toughness. If improved so much, the dragon's nigh-indestructible bones were no longer a dream for an Elite Body Tempering Art user.

'A sloppy Berserk Jab. He should be grateful for his more advanced dragon power than mine. Or I'll destroy his imperfect Dragon Slayer Fist.' Blaze wiped the blood off his nose.

'You shouldn't worry about his sloppy techniques without looking at yours. Your strikes are not powerful as well. You're relying too much on your fighting techniques without squeezing my power. Your technique and my power should mesh together not fight each other. Plus, you're getting more power because of my unique dragon ability the more you take damage without getting used to your current power yet. If you truly want to win, you need to make my power your own,' Azurion nagged.

'That's pretty good. I'll take note of that.' Blaze chuckled. It was so long since she felt somebody teaching her how to fight and become more powerful. Since his father and brother's passing, no one would spar with her and tell her about her weaknesses anymore. Even Winter left her, even so, what they were doing most of the time was a different kind of sparring. Still, she missed them so much she wanted to cry.