On the stage, Max was surrounded by mist, and he found himself unaware of Arthur’s location. ’He seems to be using this mist… I wonder what his class is…’ Max mused as he activated his Three Dimensional Body skill.
Everything under the mist became clearer to him, as if the mist had turned transparent under his skill.
He saw Arthur—or rather, eight versions of Arthur—surrounding him, preparing for an attack. ’A clone skill? Or an illusion?’ Max wondered, releasing a bit of his Soul Force into the mist. It slowly radiated outward and collided with all eight Arthurs. However, the moment his Soul Force touched them, it was repelled.
’They are all true bodies, then…!’ Max was shocked and became alert as ten blue glowing dots appeared around him. He activated his Magic Bullets skill. The ten bullets carried the combined power of ten regular magic bullets, so the energy they radiated was immense.
Max launched the ten bullets, and they tore through the mist surrounding him.
Bang! Bang!…
The bullets struck the eight Arthurs, but instead of penetrating, they were repelled in all directions, much to Max’s surprise.
"Don’t think it will be this easy to defeat me." One of the Arthurs sneered. "I know all your moves. I’ve seen them all. Therefore, anything you use against me has already been used against Revenna, so it will be useless."
"Is that so?" Max chuckled, his figure hurtling through the mist, arriving before the Arthur who spoke.
Clenching his fist tightly, Max struck him with the full power of 15 Draconic Essence.
Bang!
Arthur exploded into smithereens, but there was no blood, only more mist released from his body.
’Strange… he didn’t attack, nor did he try to block my attack…’ Max frowned, turning to the other seven Arthurs with a troubled expression. ’Whatever… Let’s just destroy all the Arthur figures… One of them has to be real.’ He decided as he appeared between another Arthur figure and punched him, turning him into mist.
Without wasting any more time, Max repeated the process a few more times, only to realize that none of the Arthurs were real. All of them turned to mist under his fists.
"Are the people from the South this cowardly? Hiding behind mist?" Max taunted, feeling frustrated by Arthur’s tactics.
"Coward?" Arthur’s voice echoed through the mist. "You fool. This is how we from the South fight, or rather, you should never expect a fair fight from anyone from the South." With those words, all the mist suddenly flowed toward a certain point on the stage and transformed into Arthur’s figure.
However, something was different about him this time. Thin strands of white mist flowed all around his body, like a cover protecting him—a film of thin mist outlining his entire form.
Max observed him carefully, frowning when he sensed that Arthur’s energy level was beyond the chart. ’Previously, I could sense that he had the strength of level 10 of Adept rank, but now I can’t…’
Suddenly, Max’s eyes widened in shock as Arthur appeared in front of him with a burst of speed, his fist hurtling toward Max like a cannonball.
Reacting swiftly, Max crossed his arms in front of his chest, bracing for the inevitable impact.
Bang!
The collision was deafening, and a shockwave rippled through the air as Arthur’s punch connected. Max was sent hurtling backward, his body a blur as he was blasted hundreds of meters across the stage. His feet scraped against the ground, carving deep grooves into the floor as he struggled to regain his footing.
Dust and debris swirled around him as he finally came to a halt, his arms still crossed in defense. Slowly, he lowered them, revealing a faint smirk on his face despite the force of the attack.
"Not bad," Max muttered, shaking his arms to dispel the lingering numbness. "But you’ll need more than that to keep me down."
Arthur smiled sarcastically. "Don’t worry. That was just one-eighth of my true power."
"One-eighth?" Max frowned upon hearing him. He could still feel the slight numbness from that fist, but the strength behind it was just one-eighth of Arthur’s full strength? He doubted it.
"Don’t be so surprised." Arthur said, seeing Max’s astonished face. "In fact, I have to thank you too. Without you, I would have never been able to achieve this state I’m in now."
Max frowned, not understanding a word of what Arthur was saying.
"Hahaha," Arthur smiled, pointing to the mist outlining his body. "Don’t you see the mist outlining my body? Guess what else outlines one’s body?"
Max thought for a moment before his eyes widened in disbelief. "That couldn’t be…"
"Yes, it definitely is…" Arthur nodded, smiling in satisfaction at Max’s reaction.
"Vital Shell…" Max muttered, feeling shocked. "But Vital Shell could only be possible in Seeker Rank. Most importantly, you would need to open the Gate of Life in your heart before you could even use Vital Essence."
"That is correct." Arthur smiled. "But anything is possible if you have the required class for it. My class is a very unique one called Mist Breaker. I can break any limits on my body if certain conditions are met."
"Conditions?" Max now understood what Arthur had been thanking him for earlier. "Those clones of yours… are they part of your conditions?" he asked realizing.
Arthur smiled wider as he saw Max understanding. "Correct. Those eight avatars of me were eight locks of my heart. You can’t do anything to them if you use mana, elements, or even weapons. They are immune. However, if someone surpasses my physical strength, they can break an avatar. If all my avatars are broken, the lock on my heart opens temporarily."
He continued, "Well, my class is only B Rank on the surface and severely limits me to using mist-related skills. But if one knows how to play with the conditions, then one can truly be invincible with this class of mine."
Max frowned, taking a moment to understand Arthur’s words. "You mean that everything you’ve done so far was part of the condition manifested by your Mist Breaker class? And by destroying all your avatars, I gave you the power of Seeker Rank—the ability to coat your body with Vital Essence? But your body isn’t covered in Vital Essence; it’s covered in a layer of mist."
Placing a hand on his chin, Max smirked. "So, that’s the limitation of your class. Your class manifested a false lock for the Gate of Life. After breaking it, you awakened the ability to enforce your body with false Vital Essence - Mist Essence."
He added with a sneer, "If you had truly opened the lock for the Gate of Life, you’d probably be using the original Vital Essence instead of Mist Essence."
Arthur frowned. "It doesn’t matter if it’s Vital Essence or Mist Essence, since both do the same thing: increase one’s defense and combat power to very high levels." Discover stories with freewebnovel
He clenched his fists. "Even if mine isn’t the original Vital Shell, my Mist Shell is no weaker."
As he spoke, two white swords made entirely from Mist Essence materialized in his hands. "Now, it’s time I play with you, the trash from the East, to my heart’s content."