“First fights almost ended. In some of the stages, seconds fights are about to start. But what is most exciting is, new alloy weapons with gold coin insignia.” Emcee shrieked with excitement. The three weapons with the cross and coin insignia won their battles. The audience was going mental with the excitement of a new player in the market.
Miles was happy to see the result. But it was time for him to battle already, so he walked to the stage. His opponent was waiting for him there, with an orb in his hand.
“Number 75, Superpower Ice Skin. Heart Seed. 2 body, three mind serums.” The teen on the stage said with a smile.
“Number 2, Superpower none. Body Seed. 5 Body, 5 mind serums.” Miles said slowly as he too held an orb. There was a bow behind Miles.
“Ladies and gentlemen. I would like you all to look at H Stage. Number 2 on the stage, has no superpower and has used 5 Body and Mind serums. It is a unique existence!” Emcee at this time shouted with excitement, pinning everyone in the audience’s eyes to Miles.
Miles was unperturbed and looked at the tutor without expression on his face. The tutor looked at two fighters and gave the signal. With two currents of electricity, two orbs melted. One of them formed a short dagger, while the other turned into a pair of wings behind Number 75.
“Sorry, but you are too strong. I can’t fight you head-on.” Number 75 said with a smile and lifted off from the stage.
Miles placed the dagger at his belt and grabbed the bow behind him. Although it was only a Grunt-Rank alloy bow, what mattered most was the arrows, not the bow itself. Miles willed his energy to move at his fingertips and formed arrows barely visible to the eye as he drew the string. Because of the distance, Number 75 couldn’t see the arrows at all, but he too was in the classroom when Tutor Olsen said his energy was different. So he knew Miles’s materializations would be invisible.
His eyes were locked on Miles, but he suddenly felt a serpent was about to bite him. He crossed his arm in front of him, but it was too late. An arrow clashed with his arm and glass-breaking sounds reverberated in the air. Number 75, reeled back with the force of the arrow, but there was only a pink mark on his arm, and no injury. Miles looked at the dissolving ice falling from Number 75’s skin and clicked his tongue.
“Oh, that was dangerous. Your arrow almost penetrated my ice skin.” Number 75 said with a smug smile and started to form icicles in his hand. Because his power was a passive ability, the icicles he formed would be stagnant too. He had to launch them himself, which would cost extra energy. In the first level of awakening, energy was a big headache for Heart Branch attacks.
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In Body Branch, materializations of a weapon would spend the energy only for once, and after that weapon could be used until it got destroyed. But in Hearth Branch, energy had to be supplied to keep the attack in its intended form.
The icicles in Number 75 hand flew towards Miles at high speed. Miles was already expecting them as they formed. He evaded them nimbly and fired arrows one after another. He tried to hit the same spot to see if the skin was repaired or not. But Number 75 could move his arm to evade the arrows too, so different parts of his skin got hit instead
“Let’s try that,” Miles said in his heart and jumped in the air to distract his opponent. He was vulnerable in the air, and his opponent knew that too, but he had to make a feint. When his opponent opened his arm to form icicles, Miles also formed two arrows at the tip of the bow. He fired one of them towards Number 75 and waited for it to connect with his body.
Miles also reached the end of his jump and was about to start to descend. More than five icicles formed in front of Number 75, while the arrow Miles fired connected to his opponent’s left shoulder. With great momentum, he reeled back once again, but he flapped his wings to stand steady. Icicles were still forming, and there was no injury on Number 75’s shoulder. But a big chunk of ice skin got destroyed.
“You think I don’t see through your plan. Even if I don’t dodge, I can move a little to evade your arrows hitting the same spot. But you are open now.” Number 75 said and icicles started to fly towards Miles.
Miles ignored Number 75 and fired the second arrow. The arrow pierced through the air and was flying the same spot as the first one. Number 75 sneered and moved his body only a little while controlling the attack towards Miles. All of a sudden though, Miles vanished from where he was standing.
Number 75 looked at the air and sky but failed to see Miles. Only to notice Miles was at the stage. “How—” He wanted to ask how Miles returned to the stage so fast while in the air, but he failed to as the arrow in front of him suddenly changed its trajectory. It was about to clash with Number 75’s arm instead of shoulder, but when its path altered, it clashed at the same spot and penetrated his skin.
“Ahhh!” Number 75 shouted and looked at Miles with his eyes red. “How?” He questioned but Miles nocked another two arrows. “I missed the heart on purpose, do you want to continue?”
“Just tell me how!” Number 75 said angrily and Miles pulled his leg forward. When he did, the icicle he dodged in the first round yoinked in his direction. There was a thin thread between his leg and icicles stabbed into the stage. Before jumping, Miles by using energy created a thread tying him to icicles. When the second round of icicles was about to hit, he pulled himself down with the help of the treads’ elasticity.
“You can already change the characteristics of the Energy?” Number 75 asked with bewilderment.
“Yeah.” Miles shrugged as he started to walk away. ‘ I have been able to ever since I awakened. I only discovered I could do so not long ago though.’ He kept the second part to himself.
“It is incredible. Number 2 won by changing the characteristics of his energy. He changed it to a rubber-like texture to yoink him back when he needed to. That is an advanced technique that usually can only be learned at the peak of Form-Rank. Looks like Number 2 is fighting for the first spot.”