The combat art was still challenging, but after trying a few times, Ju made some progress.

“The key was to gather and release as soon as possible, but it required proper control.”

Previously, Ju didn’t have to control the essence he released expertly; in other words, his usage of essence was crude, to say the least. Ju relied more on melee techniques and close combat than long-range skills like Zabel and Tylen.

It was not as if he had a choice either; before Ju could use essence, years in the wasteland forced him to fight in a certain way and find moves that were the fastest and most efficient way to kill your enemy, as simple as that.

Flowery and grandiose techniques, in Ju’s opinion, only got you to be slower and easier to counter.

“However, the more I interact with other Essence users, the more I see the need to know other ways to utilise Essence; I doubt that I could become an Essence artist or perform Essence arts just by hacking and slashing.” The teenager sighed.

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A loud blast sounded as the leaves of a tree shook. Right at the centre was a medium-sized hole that destroyed some tree bark. Ju breathed slowly. His Hunter’s thorn was still too weak. This sort of impact still needed work.

Ju then sat cross-legged and meditated to recover his essence. An hour later, his nodes were refilled again. Ju pushed forth his palm and started channelling. The essence slowly gathered. Ju then clenched with only his index finger pointing forth. Unlike the previous attempts, he held it a bit longer. His index finger started to tremble. The longer the essence gathered on the finger, the more strain it would be.

'If I am not careful, an injury might even occur."

Ju's right eye lit up as he shot Hunter’s thorn; this time, the tree shook more violently than before. He then went forward to inspect and saw a small size hole right at the centre; a look of joy showed on his face; according to the book, when the hunter’s thorn was properly mastered, it would have a penetrative ability that easily went through flesh, in close combat, such an attack on vital area on the human body would be fatal.

“ If it could pierce through tree bark, then it should deal some skin damage… and maybe scales."

Ju thought to himself.

"The major aspect is that I still needed to shorten the time it took to gather and release essence."

Ju's eye shone as he extended his right hand once more.