Chapitre 50: Blood Awakening
The scene around them changed, and Asher standing beside Atticus saw a man training at the mountaintop with a huge wolf, a little bit bigger than Sirius lying not too far away. The stars adorned the dark skies, and it seemed like they watched the man swing his blades with great mastery.
Around the man were several boulders that were set in a way that it seemed like a naturally formed formation that had existed for decades.
Asher squinted.
"That's you!"
"Yes, that's me. I was 29 then. I had spent ten years in Bashan, gained fame, discovered mysterious barbarian tribes with unique abilities no noble in the high plain has ever encountered, and saw some races we thought were extinct. I had to train to survive since I wanted to walk a lonely path back then, and this was when I created my own battle skill."
Atticus looked at Asher.
"Blood Awakening."
"Blood Awakening…" Asher muttered.
Right at that moment, the young Atticus began to increase his pace. The speed at which he moved and swung his sword gradually increased and kept increasing, but there seemed to be this air of calmness lingering around him.
It greatly contrasted the intensity of his movements.
"Blood Awakening grants me the ability to see..." Atticus paused and took a deep breath.
Swish!
At that moment, the young Atticus cut a boulder into three parts, neatly sheathed his sword, only to unsheath them and cut the boulder behind him.
"It gives you the ability to see weak spots of your opponents, whether living or rocks. Your blood flow experiences a sudden change, and you kick start it by executing a flurry of strikes. Then, like diving into the water, your mind enters a strange state where the flaws of your opponents have scarlet markings."
Atticus smiled and continued.
"At first I did not understand that my battle skill had been born, it was until I faced Khan."
Swoosh!
An eastwind blew the scene of him training away and they saw a scene of him facing a white lion that stood on two legs! It wore metal pauldrons, vambraces, a loincloth, shin guards, and held a great two-handed axe.
"Beastmen are still existing?!"
Asher gasped.
"Of course they are."
Beastmen, though they talked, behaved, and looked like humans in some things, still did not lose their animal parts. The same way they could walk and run on two feet, they could also revert to running on all fours should the need arise.
This was true for the bear folks, cat folks, and many others, but maybe not the elephant folks.
Both fighters stood in the midst of bodies, staring straight into each other's eyes. Their killing intent was enough to suffocate a diamond-ranked knight!
Clang! Clang!
Sparks flew as the sword and axe clashed continuously. The tempo of their battle was slowly increasing, and Khan's strikes were heavy, unrestrained, and ferocious while young Atticus played the defence card.
"I was 30 here, and I came to fight for a human clan who were oppressed by the Snow lion clan. Khan was the best warrior in that region, feared by all clans, but I saw him as a means to sharpen myself. It was either I die trying or succeed."
Clang! Clang! Clang!
At this moment, the speed was extremely high, and both fighters were at their toes. A mistake could cost their lives, and it was then that Atticus activated his battle skill. Asher saw strings of red lines connecting Khan's elbow to Atticus' left sword and Kahn's thigh to the right sword.
Asher's eyes trembled because he noticed those spots were left open in that small span. Based on Khan's attack, those spaces would only grow wider until they clashed.
Atticus swiftly unleashed two sword strikes that hit those spots. Khan growled in pain, anger, and shock as he discovered he had been struck. He forced himself to launch another attack, but Atticus was already seeing the line connecting to Khan's neck, so he slid under Khan's axe, sprung to his feet, and swung his sword backward.
Asher expected Khan's head to fall off, but Khan's body turned to pure adamantine!
Instead of killing Khan, Atticus faced a rebounce of force that affected his joints in that arm!
The sudden turn of events threw Asher off.
"Talents are the most unpredictable and most dangerous weapon in a battlefield. I honestly don't like it." Atticus said coldly.
"But… It still can't overthrow true, unrestrained power."
"The next move is called synergy!"
Swoosh!
Right at the moment, young Atticus' eyes gained a white hue and water droplets began to fall from the skies like it was raining heavily.
Khan's expression showed his shock.
Young Atticus spun his sword and executed a swift horizontal slash without even looking at Khan. Where his sword ended, the water took over and formed a massive blade that blasted Khan into the distance.
Atticus stared at the azure water blade as it dissolved, and it stopped raining heavily. As it drizzled, he sheathed his sword and began to slowly walk away.
Long after young Atticus was gone, Asher and Atticus stood there in silence. It was actually Asher who was the silent one.
"What was that?"
He asked with a soft tone.
"It's called synergy. Water and ice are two different things, and although they can appear out of the other, it doesn't make them the same element. My wolf, Sky, is a dual elemental pet beast skilled in water and ice. Synergy gives us, the masters of our pet beast, the grace of wielding our beast's elements."
Atticus looked at Asher.
"You don't know about this?"
Asher shook his head.
"Haven't you been reading the tomes of our past?"
"I've been reading the Ashbourne Records."
"That's just a book about our first ancestor."
Atticus replied.
Asher turned to face him.
"So when my talent activated, I somehow gained the ability to use your synergy!"
Atticus nodded. "It shows how terrifying your talent is. I don't know what sort of talent you awakened because the Ashbournes were known for our ambidexterity talent. Only you and your sister, Mary, awakened a different talent, and both of you are not of noble birth."
État de l’alimentation hebdomadaire
-- Classement
Power Stone 
-- Power
stone