[Break] was an unranked Active Skill that upon activation gave me the ability to spot the weaknesses within the intricate formulas of magic skills and spells as well as gave me the ability to exploit said weaknesses and disrupt them or completely shatter them.
It all depended on my understanding of Anti-magic which sadly wasn't much, for now. It also depended on the strength of the magic spell/skill and so far I could affect 90% of magical attacks within the First Star Order and maybe about 10% within the Second.
The [Break] skill was an ace that had helped me out in a number of situations and it is safe to say that without it I would have died ten times over and it seems it was about to save my life yet again.
Golden arrays of gears spun in my irises. Each eye holding two gears each that rotated clockwise and anti-clockwise repeatedly. The structure of the tendrils heading my way became clear. Their hidden complexities simplified to the point that I could tell which way the mana was flowing and on top of that where it could affect the attack.
There was just one problem, my mind's perception skill was far too slow to process over ten of these destructive attacks at once… that is until it wasn't.
Everything seemed to flow in a slower and smoother state into my mind and suddenly I could process them all. My mind split into different sections. The movement of the lightning tendrils seemed slower than they actually were and that was because the speed of my thoughts completely transcended above them.
[Charged mind] was active and with it came a processing capability that was comparable to a Mainframe computer.
A destructive tendril of purple flashed from my left but it didn't escape my perception. I moved and in one solid motion swung the flat side of my sword into it. There was a spark of purple and then the tendril seemed to have lost its structural integrity as it dissipated into specks of purple dust.
Shadows shifted towards my feet and the familiar feeling of weightlessness took hold of my senses, except this time with how high my agility was, it felt like I would float into the clouds with a simple gust of wind.
I moved. One moment I was surrounded by tendrils of purple from all directions and the next, I was weaving through them as though I knew exactly where they would be and at precisely which moment.
[Black Salamander's] blade flashed with a dark intensity
The Alpha Bear roared out as it increased the output of its magical attack, creating more and more purple magic circles to take shape. Soon it was as though hundreds of magic circles had taken place and from them destructive purple tendrils of volatile mana shot forward.
They bloated out the skies and moved like a colony.
All of them converging on my approaching figure. I regarded the colony of purple lightning that was aimed to incinerate me. My heart beat calmly in my chest, my eyes were as clear as fresh blue waters and my thoughts were fluid.
'I could use [Sun God's Palm] but that would be too destructive and I have a feeling that I would be caught up in the explosions' my eyes darted to the side and I spotted the panther with the fiery mane standing about 20 meters away, while its pack seemed to have retreated even further.
It was watching the battle with calm eyes as though nothing that happened here was of any concern to it. However there was still a spark of greed in its eyes as it looked on.
I thin smile played at my lips as an idea formed in my head.
'Lets go with that'
…
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
A series of explosions rang out behind me as tendrils of destructive purple smashed into the ground and released earth shattering explosions. The ground shook and given the concentration of attacks that rained down I was sure that plumes of hot and molten rock were shooting off in all directions.
A wave of heat stroked my back but I continued to move across the battlefield. By the now the area was a no go zone for the weaker bears, in fact a few of them had actually been unfortunate enough to be eviscerated by a stray beam or another.
And speaking of stray beams.
A streak of purple manifested above me. A tendril of purple death fell from above. It felt like a tribulation from the heavens themselves.
My head shot up and my mana dipped as I activated [Break] and swung my sword just as the purple tribulation fell. It shattered on impact, turning into harmless colorful specks of purple that resembled pixie dust.
ROAR!
The Alpha Bear roared out once more, clearly frustrated that its prey was managing to skirt through its attacks and worse yet it hadn't even managed to land a single blow yet.
Its mana was dropping at a dangerous pace due to the strain that came with maintaining this kind of attack. It had to do something and it had to do it now.
A tendril of lightning flashed directly into my face. My pupils dilated and my sword snapped forward to intercept. There was a clash but unlike the usual specks of purple dust that came with such a collision, this tendril didn't shatter.
A small yell of pain escaped from lips as part of the lightning travelled down the shaft of my blade and up my arm. I felt the destructive energy sear part of my skin leaving behind dark scotch marks but I pushed forward, grabbing the hilt with both of my arms.
I felt my muscles freeze up due to the volatile energy and I had to put more strength into my arms than I usually did.
Fighting against the tyrannical energy I had no choice but to stop and dig my feet into the ground.
I grit my teeth and pushed with all my might, a roar of my own coming from my mouth. My arms burned, both from the strain and the shock from the destructive volatile energy of the tendril of lightning. I wrestled with it for a second or two before I finally managed to push it off to the side.
I heard the explosion in the distance.
A faint smile formed on my lips but before I could celebrate my small victory, another tendril flashed from the side catching me completely off guard.
There was barely anytime, to curse or to activate [Aura skin] at the same time.
A thin protective layer of blue managed to cover my body just as the lightning struck.
BOOM.
[Aura skin] shattered barely managing to weaken the attack. I felt the side of my ribs burn just as the force of the blow threw me back. I hit the ground more than ten meters away, my body rolling and digging craters into the ground with each impact before coming to a stop within a small valley dug around my body.
My body shook. My internal organs screaming out in protest at the abuse they had been put through but they held intact with a minimal amount of injuries.
I had [Inner strength] to thank for that to me honest. If not for the passive skill's influence the damage would have been far worse than it is now.
Cough.
"Shit that hurt more than I thought it would" I coughed out. Feeling as though my throat dry as though I had been walking in the desert for hours.
The [Full coat] had also managed to do its job as well although it now sustained a small amount of damage, the material it was made out of managed to hold and that was good enough too.
[Sun God's Palm]'s passive 20% resistance to heat also play a major role.
Without all these factors coming together I would have probably lost consciousness and been cooked into a black mass of charcoal. I pulled myself up into a sitting position and the Alpha Bear was already barreling towards me like a siege ram.
A spark of glee, gleaming in its eyes.
However, the temperature rose by several degrees catching everyone off guard. From the sky, something caught my eye.
I looked up and my eyes widened as a fiery mass of fire plummeted towards the ground. The air was super heated by the excessive heat radiating off it. The Alpha Bear froze, its head snapping to look up at the fiery mass that was hurtling towards it.
It barely had enough time to react. A purple magic circle shimmered above its head before a tendril of purple lightning shot forward to meet the mass of red.
BOOM!
The explosion was violent. The air shuddered under the overwhelming might of such an impact and the space threatened to shatter. The ground instantly melted under the intense heat wave that spread out with such a force that debris of rock were sent flying in all directions.
I had to shield my eyes with my arms as a wave a heat washed over me. I felt like someone was boiling a pot of water with me in it, sweat fell down my face causing my hair to stick to my nape as though someone had used glue on it.
By the time things seemed to have cooled down somewhat the entire landscape had changed. The area around me seemed to have sunk into a crater that ran more than 10 meters wide and 6 meters deep. And at the center of it all the rocks still boiled with intense heat, their surface giving off an orange glow and slight steam rising from them.
But none of these things were what held my attention.
It was the Panther that stood on the other end of the crater that did. Its once bright and healthy fiery mane was scotched and missing some patches of furs. Its dark coat was marred with burns and its eyes burned with fury as it locked gazes with the Alpha Bear.
It didn't look so good either. Its grey coat of fur was sizzled and burned, exposing burnt skin underneath, part of its face was darkened as though someone had personally painted it with a dark paint and its skin seemed to be falling off.
Its green eyes equally locked on the Panther, practically spitting malice and a promise of death.
Both creatures seemed to have forgotten all about me and were instead planning to face off against each other.
Standing in a distance at a position that was remotely in the middle of these two behemoths, I smiled.
'For a moment there I almost thought I took the hit for nothing.' I thought.