"Blood Art Technique: Negative Touch."
In my mind, I envisioned the precise location of the artery Lana had shown . My heartbeat quickened, racing to a furious tempo.
A chill spread across my chest as mana pulsed from my heart, following the selected artery. My right arm tingled, a sensation akin to a snake coiling around it, as waves of gravity coursed through the blood vessel.
My clenched fist grew heavy, vibrating with a low hum of energy. A dense, cold pressure built from my shoulder, flowing down to my clenched fist. I clenched my jaw, determined to show no hesitation, and drew back my arm, mimicking a pitcher poised to hurl a baseball.
In one fluid motion, I propelled my hand forward, the weight of the movent gathering in my shoulder. My fist connected sharply with Lana’s palm, an unmistakable impact resonating like a thunderclap.
A powerful shockwave surged through Lana, clearing the snow behind her as it tore toward a cluster of five towering tamarack trees, sending ripples of energy into their trunks. As the wave hit, deep fissures crisscrossed the bark, and the snow that had blanketed their branches tumbled away.
My hand wasn’t purple, my arteries unhard—I had successfully channeled mana through the desired artery.
"How does it feel?" Lana took my hand, carefully inspecting my nerves.
"I feel great," I replied, flexing it. "I’m surprised none of the recoil recoiled back to my shoulder."
Lana unsheathed the sword from her hip and raised it. ’Your body evolves and strengthens with each beast pearl consud, and the C-rank pearls you’ve taken have made you considerably stronger.’
Lana poked my scabbard with her sword. "Take it out," she commanded.
Evelyn tugged at Lana’s shirt. "Um..." She glanced away, her ears twitching. ’Can Liam test his gravity wave on ? I want to help.’
Lana’s head snapped toward Evelyn. "Use his alias, ’King.’"
"But we’re alone," Evelyn protested.
"Even so, use the alias; you never know who is lurking in your shadows."
Evelyn leaned in, her face inches from Lana’s. "Fine, so can he hit next? ’It’s been a while since I’ve felt one of his punches.’"
Lana pushed Evelyn’s face away, her gaze snapping to mine. ’Now, we move to the next stage: you’ll learn to channel your gravity technique through an external object.’
Lana took a few steps back, stopping to point her moon-shaped sword at . "I noticed you always chant when activating your skills."
A snow crystal fell on Lana’s nose, and she brushed it away. ’Skills are recipes your Mana Heart uses to turn mana into supernatural phenona. It’s like a recipe for rose tea; if you follow it and use the right ingredients, you will always get the sa result.’
"What does this have to do with my chants?" I asked, clenching my sword tightly.
Lana rushed toward and struck a vertical blow targeting my shoulder. I raised my sword and parried it. The slash felt light, as if she wasn’t putting much effort into it. ’When you chant, the skill will always activate with the sa effect. However, you won’t always want your skill to activate with that exact sa effect.’
"What do you an?" I asked, glancing directly into her green eyes.
Lana withdrew her sword and spun on the sa axis. She slashed toward my other shoulder, and I countered it. The impact released a loud clanging sound, creating faint orange sparks.
Lana pulled back, resting her sword beside her fitted trousers. ’So people prefer their rose tea with milk, others don’t,’ she explained. ’If your skill is a recipe for rose tea with milk, you can modify it to activate without the milk. It’s a difficult task, but it’s possible.’
Lana held out her sword. ’Look at this,’ she said.
I watched as it slowly shimred into invisibility, only the hilt remaining visible.
Lana advanced, slashing horizontally at my head. I crossed my sword above , grasping the hilt with one hand and bracing the flat of the blade with the other, parrying the blow. The impact caused my boots to sink deeper into the snow.
"I turned my sword invisible without any chant. I didn’t activate the skill for full invisibility," Lana explained.
She maneuvered her wrist, thrusting the invisible sword toward my chest. I attempted to counter it but failed. The sword poked my belly button, not my heart—the spot I’d expected her to target.
"Blood Art Technique: Invincible," Lana whispered.
Her whole form vanished instantly, and footsteps began to appear on the snow.
Evelyn and I watched as footsteps ford in the snow around us, betraying Lana’s position.
Lana’s footsteps vanished. After a few seconds of silence, her invisibility flickered off, and she materialized behind Evelyn, her sword inches from Evelyn’s throat.
’This skill eliminates all traces of my existence,’ she said, her eyes darting to my location. ’Now, I want you to shoot a gravity wave from your sword without chanting—modify your skill to make it happen.’
Lana moved three ters away from Evelyn, then turned to . ’Swing your sword and shoot gravity toward ,’ she instructed.
I inhaled deeply, exhaling a cloud of white vapor that hung montarily in the chilled air. With a surge of determination, I lifted my sword high above my head, gripping it tightly as my foot sank into the snow, anchoring in place.
Focus... Focus.
My heartbeat quickened, racing to a furious tempo. In my mind, the sword transford into a vibrant tulip, its roots intertwining with my veins, drawing mana from my heart as if from a deep wellspring.
A surge of energy coursed through , my veins pulsing and my arms vibrating. The gravitational force focused and thickened around my blade, intensifying with each passing mont.
With a sharp, decisive swing, I brought the sword down, envisioning the tulip blossoming from the essence I poured into it, its power reaching out toward Lana.
’Clang!’
Lana moved like lightning, her sword eting the wave of gravity with a resounding clash. She deftly redirected the gravitational wave from my strike, and I watched, awestruck, as it tore through the air and slamd into a cluster of trees to the west.
With breathtaking precision, the wave sliced through ten sturdy trunks, splintering them with a violent crack.
I stood in stunned silence, the sheer, devastating power of my gravity wave, unleashed so completely, dawning on with an unbelievable force.
This attack not only increased my range but, crucially, allowed to channel gravity waves through my sword, significantly reducing the strain on my body.
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