Chapter 99: The Formless Heat

Bam! Bam! Bam!

David knocked down a few trees down his road with his speed but that just made him slower as the obstruction stalled him.

David's expression changed he was horrified but he could only watch with widened eyes as the Soaring Threadserpent bit at his hand.

In that moment, he felt a great force grip his wrist tightly and seven sharp needles penetrating his hand.

A sudden chill was then felt as his hands was starting to go numb almost immediately.

His mind suddenly turned blank. He knew he was in trouble this time.

He was stronger than the beast, that was a fact he knew and even the beast was aware of but what was this helplessness he was feeling?

He recalled the information about the Threadserpent's poison.

The Threadserpent could be categorised as a mid-level dark haze beast.

Thw only reasin it was even categorised was because of its speed and its poison. Its strength was negligible to say the least.

David could only hope that the thread serpent had accumulated its toxins for just a few years or if he was lucky, months.

He might be able to survive if it was that little.

Suddenly, his eyes flashed as he remembered something.

If he was going to go down, he wasn't going down this easily. Dying was still a terrifying term to him which had scarred him. He wasn't going to go through the process one llce more.

Suddenly, his muscles undulated as his heart constricted.

Five-fold strength!

Boom!

His hands instantly inflated in size and his a veins throbbed in absolute strength. But that wasn't all.

Scorching Fury!

Whoosh!

The air twisted and the temperature rose at an astonishing degree. His muscles oscillated as he activated the technique.

Pssh!

Suddenly, tiny bits of blood sprouted out from his hands like a gyser as the tiny veins in his hands exploded one by one with force!

Sssssss!

The Soaring Threadserpent swiftly released its grip as the hissing sound of misery escaped its lips.

Its suddenly dropped to the ground and started twusting its tails as though it was about to die.

David finally breathed out a sigh of relief.

He had gambled upon this method but he wasn't sure if it would work.

He wasn't sure if only Scorching fury would work awhuch was why he added the Three-Fold Step technique to it.

Three fold step increases one's leg muscles by three times which also simultaneously increases ones speed by three times.

But the wired thing about this technique was that it also stake an increase in other techniques when used.

At first, he wasn't sure of his conjecture when he had previously practiced it but now, it had been confirmed.

The chills he had felt also subside as the hidden effects of this Exercising method - Formless Heat: thermodynamics.

The power was also amplified and chilling energy in his body was also converted into heat.

First law of thermodynamics. It would always try to convert any form of energy that was intruding its host into its form without reserve.

The convertiin had been quite slow, but as David activated the tree fold steps, its power also exploded and the chilling energy in his hands was almost gone now.

He quickly deactivated his technique as a few strong vessel was about to show signs of tearing due to the friction produced by the blood circulation that had forcefully increased with the activation of the Three-Fold Step technique.

He then stared at the dead Threadserpent in front of him.

A sweet aroma entered his nose bur David was in no mood to enjoy such things.

The body had been burnt completely black as though it had been cooked from inside out.

Its mouth had even almost turned to ashes and David wasn't sure if it would disintegrate under his touch.

That's the law of heat transfer. Heat can be transmitted through conduction as anything would accept and absorb heat.

There are very clear differences between heat and flame.

Flame" is the visible energy when burning something.

"Heat" is given off a flame and countless other things.

Flame produces heat, but heat does not always generate from flame, and heat almost never produces flame (friction might count)

HEAT: a form of energy that is transferred by a difference in temperature.

FLAME: the process of combustion of materials producing heat and light and (often) smoke.

If you want to think of it a different way:

Flame is what you see when you look at a fire and heat if what you feel from the fire.

Heat is formless, invisible and traceless. But you can see flames as it is being transferred from one body to another.

While flame is visible and untouchable, you can still see it with your eyes and avoid touching it.

You would never touch a pot that is on fire with your bare hands but you will definitely touch a pot that is on the floor, not knowing it was on the fire a few minutes ago.

"I almost died." he gazed downwards with a complicated expression.

It was still a mystery to him, he was clearly stronger than the damn beast but he had been deceived into thinking he had the situation under control when it was completely opposite.

"This forest is more dangerous than I had imagined." he shivered as he remembered what he had just bring through.

Then he heard a voice speakung out.

"Killed a mid-level, dark haze beast. 10 points acquired.

Congratulations, you have activated the Institute's rankings list for this competition.

And your position... You are 698th on the Rankings.

Please kill more beasts or mutated beasts to ensure you stay at your current position."

His eyebrows rose upon hearing the words from his AI.

"698th position? That is too low. Seems I need to go on a rampage." David muttered to himself.

It was as if he had forgotten his previous predicament.

His nose twitched. The aroma was tickling his nose and his throat bubbled up and down as he gulped.

"It surprisingly smells good." He blinked his eyes and he looked left and right.

Without ceremony or any care, he totally dismantled the body of the beast. But he kept the poison sac and the needle thread to himself.

It might come into good use.