Chapter 330 - The Thrill Of a Fight

"Hey, John." Said Zestari as she suddenly appeared in front of him.

She crouched down at his helpless figure before muttering.

"If you don't take this seriously, you'll die." 

The moment he heard those words, his eyes widened.

"Not by me, but by the other angels who are probably on their way right now to hunt you. Today, and tomorrow and every other day from now, you will be trained for one hour in this room with me. You mustn't lose a single time, nor must you release the 2nd layer of the seal. Are we clear?" Zestari asked.

After asking such, the pressure of gravity suddenly left John, leaving him lying on the floor.

'So that's what it was…' John thought to himself as a smile formed on his face.

"Yeah…" He muttered as he got up. He did a few stretches before staring straight at Zestari as he said "Thank-"

*Boom!*

In that one moment, John rotated his body mid-air into a position where he would be able to propel himself at Zestari like a cannon when suddenly.

*Crash!*

He crashed into the white wall. Confused he got up and looked back only to see that he had already reached the end of the room.

'!?'

John was surprised because the room was big. A large cubic room at least a kilometer cubed in area. He was standing in the middle of the room and wasn't even traveling that fast, so how did he suddenly hit the wall?

Did he teleport? No, even if it was faint, he would have noticed it. John looked around and his eyes widened when he did so

'Don't tell me…'

"Yeah, that's right… This is your consciousness but I have full control over this space." Said Zestari as she began walking towards John. "You know what that means, don't you?" Zestari then asked

It wasn't that John had gotten teleported towards the walls, but rather, the walls in the room had moved towards John.

John looked up only to be surprised once again by the large clouds which had formed in the ceiling. He could feel surges of electricity spark around Zestari and the air as the space around her started to become distorted.

Zestari began letting off masses of overwhelming pressure, being able to counter and overpower that of his own. John was speechless. Even he couldn't believe whether or not he'd be able to defeat such an unstoppable force.

"Wrath of the thunder dragon." Zestari muttered

0.1 seconds

*BOOM!*

Suddenly, lightning in the shape of a dragon came crashing down from the clouds straight onto John. It happened fast, too fast. Faster than he was able to react.

The dragon crashed into him, violently digging it's fangs made of pure electricity into John's shoulder. It was in no way holding back it's power.

The sound of thunder and static shocks could be heard as it dug it's fangs further and further in.

Following that, a large flash came as the attack dispersed. 

"Get up. I know that wasn't enough to finish you." Said Zestari.

"True Fulgurationem." John muttered as he got up. Translation: True Lightning Flash

In that instant, electricity started to surge through his body. John's black hair seemed to become spikier due to the shock.

'That was close. If I hadn't predicted that move and deployed Fulgurationem in time, the fight would have ended.' John thought to himself 

A dimensional rift then opened in front of John waiting for his next move. Zestari watched as he placed his hand inside, pulling out his sacred treasure as he did so. 

There was something about it that had always bugged her. It's appearance, always seemed to surprise Zestari. She recognized it, but didn't remember where from. Despite that, she kept it to herself and decided to keep it until she could remember.

A dagger, with a clock frame placed on the blade, just over it's handle. A black and blue metal blade with incomprehensible ruins and patterns embedded on it. It was a very peculiar weapon, however she didn't let her curiosity distract her.

Zestari ceased the opportunity where John was distracted to attack. 

*Pierce*

Confused, John looked down at the edge of the spike which had pierced it's way through his stomach. It was a surprise to see that there was no blood coming out. But that was the least of his worries, for now he couldn't move. Or so it seemed.

"An illusion…" Said Zestari as she turned to the right

A few hundred meters to the right of her, John could be seen completely unaffected and unwounded with his sacred treasure in his hand.

She then looked back at the figure of John which had been pierced only to see it  disperse and disappear, almost as if it had been a distortion in the space the whole time. Exactly as it was.

"Where are you looking?" Asked John as he suddenly appeared beside Zestari with a full  swing in motion.

Without hesitation, in one fellow sweep he slashed straight at Zestari's neck. He assumed that it wouldn't be a problem for her since they were in his mind.

However, he had bigger things to worry about. He had used the dull end of the blade and yet he sliced right through. It was a fake.

'An illusion-'

"Bam." Said Zestari

*Boom!*

John was suddenly hit again by a surge of pressure from the right sending him flying to the left. He subconsciously tried to shadow step as there was no other way to avoid it but failed again.

As he tried to recompose himself again mid-air, still uncomfortable with being unable to shadow step, he was hit by a surge of pressure from an invisible force, this time it hit him from above, forcing him to slam straight down onto the ground.

Just as that happened, A pillar rose from the ground, heading straight towards John's neck. It's edge was pointing, and with the force acting upon him, he had no choice but to move body to dodge. 

"Stop."

But by the time he realized it, his muscle and body wouldn't budge. At the same time, through the corner of his eyes, he could see the golden chains heading straight at her.

He was trapped. 

Zestari watched paying attention to every fraction of a second, making sure she wouldn't miss it. Just what was it that he'd do in such a situation? Usually, he'd just shadow step to dodge it, but what if he wasn't able to?

What if there'd come a time where she herself wouldn't be able to help him? Such was the point of this first day of training.

'Hm?!' 

John simply stood there, motionlessly, levitated. Pillar seemed to have been blocked off by something. After getting a closer, look Zestari noticed a small magic shield formed from condensed mana.

"Law of inertia." Muttered John.

The Law of inertia. A law which states that if the forces acting upon an object are balanced, then the acceleration of the object will be 0 m/s. In other words, the object will be at equilibrium.

John countered the force acting upon him while using magic to generate another force, pushing against him on the opposite direction of the force generated by Zestari.

'Hm… But now how will you deal with the chains?' She wondered. 'Let's make it harder.' She thought to herself.

Another five pillars rose from the ground, each aimed at a vital part of John's body as they did so. 

It was over. 

That's what it was supposed to be, however, that was far from the truth.

*Ba dump* *Ba dump*

'How long has it been since I was in such a situation…?' John wondered.

His heart began to beat faster and faster as the thrill of battle started to return. Thanks to possession, he had long forgotten the feeling. The exhilarating feeling which he'd gain in a fight.

Ever since that incident, he stopped feeling it. He had stopped feeling anything. And so, why was it that now, it had suddenly come rushing back?

John couldn't contain the emotion, he couldn't contain the thrill. But most of all, he  couldn't harbor the thought of losing.

He had sworn. Since the day he was betrayed by his master, the day he separated and lost both Serena and Ariel. He swore to never let anything like that ever happen again. 

*Ba bump* *Ba dump* *Ba dump*

The rest of the pillars which had risen were blocked by other shields of condensed mana accurately formed right where they were needed to stop it. 

*Tic* *Toc* *Tic*

John's daggers began to glow. The sounds of clock ticking could be heard. In that moment, Zestari felt a chill go down her spine.

"Sacred Treasure Release… Partial Awakening."