BXBX NOVEL Chapter 177
Ollie gradually started to get the hang of his increased stats in this fight. He knew that the man before him is the best sparring partner he waited for so long to meet. After a few exchanges, Ollie guessed he became about twice stronger than he previously was.
Time waited for no one, and the five minutes are quickly running out. Surprisingly, even though Ollie didn’t have complete control of his new power, his body moved as he wanted.
“My turn.” Vincent perceived Ollie’s sword swing about to strike his gauntlets. Furthermore, Ollie strangely kept hitting on his gauntlets in the exact same location as if Vincent wasn’t moving at all.
Vincent kept a poker face after he noticed what Ollie seemed to be doing. He guessed Ollie was giving Vincent a handicap, yet it also showed how much focused and stronger he really is.
Ollie’s pattern became easy to predict and guard against, but the difference in strength made it hard to counter. It felt like Vincent could attack when Ollie felt like it wasn’t fair to keep on the offense.
Vincent frowned. He decided enough is enough and prepared to make a risky move.
.....
Vincent raised his arms to guard like he always did. Then, as the blade was about to land, Vincent curled his fingers to form a claw. Before the edge of the blade touched the gauntlet, Vincent brought down his claw-shaped hand with all he had and pushed the sword down.
Ollie became surprised when Vincent decided to take a dangerous risk instead of blocking. Ollie could understand how Vincent had a few brushes with death and didn’t have any fears of getting injured as if the pain wasn’t new to him.
Vincent made a possible life-threatening move without blinking nor showing his intention. It would leave a small cut and a bruise instead of a deep wound. At least the swords in the testing hall are almost blunt for safety.
Vincent smirked after his gamble worked. With his free hand, he clenched it into a fist and aimed to strike Ollie’s face. Suddenly, a burst of wind encircled Ollie after he murmured a couple of words and then ended with, “Wind Armour!”
Vincent had a few experiences fighting against the Wind Armour buff, yet Ollie’s version appeared far stronger than the Great Gray Wolf’s. His fist landed against the slightly visible current of wind, and after a few sparks flew, Vincent’s hand forcefully flung to the side.
Kazumi decided that Ollie became far stronger than Vincent. She summarised that Vincent might need the stats of many more retainers to compete against Ollie since Vincent has no offensive spells in his arsenal.
[Don’t lose your footing. Use the momentum to turn quickly, jump after you count to one and then bring down your fists like a hammer.]
‘One.’ Vincent immediately listened to Kazumi’s plan and repeated the exact steps flawlessly, surprising not only Ollie but everyone else.
Ollie raised his shield when he saw Vincent jump, clamp both his hands together, and prepping to bring them down with great force like a mighty hammer.
‘Vincent adapts to any situation in mid-combat. I like this guy. No wonder the Inspection Gemstone couldn’t rank Vincent. His only ability is a shapeshifting ability, and it’s the rare growth type.’ Ollie praised Vincent in his thoughts.
The mighty hammer filled with all of Vincent’s strength and momentum fell down, violently clashing against Ollie’s Wind Armour. Soon an annoying and disturbing sound of a hard substance colliding against a wind grinder followed.
Vincent landed on his feet, yet he continued to push his fists with all he had. Vincent tried his best not to have the same result and get flung to the side from the gust’s force.
Vincent remembered how the ability isn’t unbreakable. He recalled how the Great Gray Wolf’s Wind Armour didn’t fare well when his gauntlets were formed because of Overload. Vincent thought he might have a chance, and it kept his spirits high.
Ollie didn’t mind much at first. However, he soon started to notice a strange occurrence. The wind surrounding him suddenly started requiring more mana upkeep to keep it active.
Not much later, Ollie remembered how he felt the same weird sensation before. The Wind Boost buff effectiveness mysteriously reduced after he blocked Vincent’s attack and Vincent blocked his attacks.
The area where Vincent’s fists clashed against the strong wind was starting to become weaker. Furthermore, Vincent felt his finger moving. More specifically, his sense of touch returned to his right index finger.
Ollie felt this situation was starting to become dangerous. He used almost half his strength and pushed Vincent a meter away. Unfortunately, mana requires concentration to use, and so, this fight started to place strain on his body.
Ollie is, and now he might have become a high level C Ranker. But, unfortunately, a battle of attrition to keep the test fair and not having complete mastery of his new stats made Ollie perform less than expected of him.
‘It might end up in a draw if this keeps up. But it’s fun to have a spar of this level. ‘ Ollie positively thought with a slight excited smile.
Ollie stopped using Wind Boost, and the breeze surrounding his body and weapons stopped. Next, the Wind Armour seemed to become fiercer and filling the air with a brisk wind.
“I understand what I felt. Now I understand your new power. You are draining my mana after touching anything linked to the circulation of my mana. Additionally, the mana that is near the absorbed area is temporarily disrupted. Isn’t that right?” Ollie guessed.
Vincent took a fighting stance and replied with a smirk.
After everyone heard such a wild guess and then getting confirmed by a quick smirk, they perked their ears and bulged their eyes from surprise. Lupa was the only one who giggled after she thought Vincent was being praised.
“I once learned of classified information similar to what Ollie is saying. There is only one classified record of an object or ability that can do a similar thing.” Gevan mentioned a sword that seems to be very powerful.
“I believe it was an Artifact grade sword made by the last dwarf prodigy who Awakened into the strongest legendary Synergist class with the best abilities ever seen up until now. The only information is that it was a sword. It could absorb mana or impact, and the last words were a mana blast.” Gevan added while curiously rubbing his goatee.
“Guild Leader Gevan, is it safe for you to tell us classified information? ” Belowin worryingly asked.
“No need to worry. No one knows where the sword is or how it looks. Also, I’m calling it a sword, but the information only mentioned a blade. It could be a dagger or a large sword. I’m saying this because Vincent might be doing what the report on the mysterious blade mentioned and also... ” Gevan looked at the BABBO team, then turned his gaze at Ester and Lupa and continued, “I trust everyone in this room to keep what happened today a secret.”
The BABBO team, Ester and Lupa, nodded not to say a word.
*Tzzzz... thud*
Vincent jumped back after he lunged forward and tried hitting the Wind Armour with all he had. However, the impact immediately circulated along with the gust of wind spinning around Ollie, getting distributed and dispersed in mere seconds. The Wind Armour became fiercer.
“My mana is becoming weird again, as I guessed. Everywhere you hit, it’s taking me a lot of mana to restore the damage. But, hehe, let’s see who will hold first in the few seconds remaining. My mana or you shapeshift.” Ollie said with a frown and then ended with an excited chuckle.
-Kazumi. How much time left?-
Vincent asked since he wanted to keep fighting until the promised five-minute time ended.
[Umm... ten seconds until five minutes pass. No matter what happens, stop using Overheat to keep the actual duration a secret for now.]
Vincent quickly retreated a few steps back and took an unusual form. He extended his right arm and held his index finger with his thumb as if he planned to flick Ollie.
Vincent focused all his concentration on the only finger he could feel. He started to use Overflow and attempted to absorb as much mana in the air as possible.
Vincent could slightly feel the suction like a vacuum cleaner around the back of his hand. As he wished to achieve, Overflow seemed to be working.
However, Overflow has a price to pay. Vincent didn’t know how much longer he could last. Such deep concentration started to strain his body by the second.
Overflow seemed to place a considerable burden on the body. Vincent tried his best only to use Overflow whenever he wanted to attack or defend. But the more he used it and kept it active, the heavier his gauntlets felt and the more winded his body felt.
Vincent’s arms considerably trembled. He used his left hand to keep his weak right arm raised because it became too difficult without support. At a second glance, Vincent looked similar to holding a heavy gun.
“Three... two...” Vincent started counting. He wished to shoot a projectile of stored mutated mana if possible. The description mentioned this possibility, yet a lot of mastery with Overflow might be required.
Ollie felt it was starting to become dangerous. He, his teammates, and Gevan also felt a dangerous power building to the point of exploding.
Ollie stopped using Wind Armour and uttered, “O soothing wind, grace me with thy protection. I offer mana as a bountiful price of thy benevolence. Wind Dome.”
Ollie fell on his knee, and suddenly, a mighty gust of wind circled around him until a two-meter wide dome surrounded him. Ollie heavily breathed, and his body looked weak. It appeared Ollie used a high-cost spell when Vincent forced his mana tank almost empty.
“On... ONE!” Vincent shouted before...
*BOOM!*
A loud ear defining roaring blast reverberated inside the testing hall. Almost all the spectators covered their ears, but Lupa was forced to as her hearing is much higher than the rest.
However, that wasn’t the end. Vincent’s mutated blood gauntlets both shattered and exploded from the force and recoil generated, sending a large amount of tiny to small fragments shooted in all directions at high velocity.
Belowin and Gevan looked at each other and nodded. Then both said, at the same time, “O bountiful earth, support me with thy shelter. I offer mana as a bountiful price of thy benevolence. Earth Wall!”