Chapter 70: Difference
Severin just sat there with his eyes closed while the others trained. He was thinking, anxious about what would happen next, and all the while he didn't let it show on his expression.
His House members, on the other hand, didn't have the patience to just sit still. They began to train.
Serena and Ethan went at it.
Ordinarily, she wouldn't have been any match for Ethan, but with Severin's power, she matched him in Talent Ability power. The only thing holding her back was experience fighting with that much power.
Julius and Derrick watched them.
The ashes that came out around Serena bloated the space around her and formed into an armor of hardened black and red. With a reaper sword in hand, she threw herself at Ethan without care, the rest of her ashes trailing behind her like an overgrown cloak.
But suddenly, she was slammed down by a force that made the air ripple. She gritted her teeth, pushing against the force that was holding her down, back hunched. "This is why fighting you is difficult."
Severin had opened his eyes at this moment, and he couldn't help but agree with her. The guy, Ethan, had an unfair advantage that he could just hold his enemy to the side and crush them with sheer force.
Making the space around them so heavy that they would be smashed down.
Ethan rested on his hammer and tilted his head. "This, Severin's power, is actually interesting. You, a D-ranked, are actually holding against me. What about if he uses it on me?"
Indeed, Severin had thought the same and had been itching to try it, but the relationship between the two of them was the worst of the whole group.
He was literally blackmailing him.
But still, Severin couldn't help but salivate at the thought of just how powerful his pawns would be when he was done investing in them.
He watched Serena display the gains of his investment. "Holding against you? I was the strongest in Class Four. I will be the strongest in this House as well."
Ethan, who wasn't even an official member of the House, straightened. His face darkened. "That's the position that's mine."
And then the weight on her doubled, nearly sending her to her knees. She grunted. "I've been saving this."
All the ashes in the air rushed towards her. Those pressed down by gravity crawled over her like worms, warping around her body and then forming layers over her.
In the end, what stood around her was a gigantic suit of armor that reminded Severin of a Transformer but with someone underneath, and with it ending only at the torso.
He was surprised. He didn't think she could bring forth something that spectacular. If it was during their fight that she brought out something like this, he was sure his defeat wouldn't be pleasant.
The gigantic armor held a sword in its hands.
The space around it rippled and cracked because it was also as if a giant ember was standing there, raising the temperature in the room.
But Serena?
She was laughing.
This was the first time ever she was able to pull something that big off. Manipulating ashes isn't easy, but manipulating them into different shapes and then getting them to work? That's even harder.
But not only that, the armor she created has a will gotten from her. It must protect her. It's like a guardian spirit.
And it was all thanks to Severin.
Ethan gritted his teeth as he felt his power on the space around Serena stretch and bend. The weight he placed on her broke as her giant armor of ash grew. "This is troublesome."
He stretched out his hand and then brought it down sharply.
Gravity stretched and changed around the armor, but the ash was simply too big that it did nothing to it.
Serena smiled. "Now we can fight properly. Let's see you pull off the same tricks."
With a single step, she leaped forward, the armor giant always above her. freēwēbηovel.c૦m
Ethan tried to stop her with his gravity, adding more weight to the ashes, but the giant held it easily.
"Fuck," he muttered as he got himself ready. He couldn't remember the last time he had to get physical while fighting.
Immediately, Serena got within striking distance. Not for her, but for the giant above her. She struck.
Woosh!
The room was suddenly filled with the sound of rushing air.
Swish!
The sword came crashing down, sending a faint ripple in the air with the heat that followed.
Ethan was instantly covered by his power, wavering air all around him, the space itself bending to his will. Ethan could control and manipulate gravity.
It sounded cool and easy, but it was one of the most difficult things to control.
He raised the hammer and swung.
His hammer seemed like a stick before the falling sword.
Bang! Crack!
But he made the gravity around it extremely heavy at the last moment and then used the momentum to clash with the sword.
Embers flew into the air, and the ground beneath him cracked. The shockwave sent him reeling back, and he grunted.
But it wasn't that easy.
He evaded the first attack.
What of the second that was sent almost simultaneously with the other sword slash?
The giant was made of ash with two hands. It could swing two swords at once without issues because it had no complications to stop it. It only moved as the owner wanted.
Ethan didn't see it in time, but his reaction speed was still impressive as he activated his shield.
A small disk of gravity that looked like a twisted mirror appeared beside him seconds before the sword clashed into it.
And yet it wasn't enough.
Bam!
The sword slammed into the shield and into Ethan. He was lifted sideways and then rammed into the wall with force. The only thing that stopped him from getting split into two was his shield.
And the runes set in the walls.
Julius adjusted his glasses with a sharp gleam in his eyes. "The protective shield activated but didn't work. That was fatal."
Derrick was breathing hard, and he wished he was out there fighting as well. "Fuck, even with Severin's power, I can see the difference between us all."