In a way, Jason couldn’t help but think that being separated from the other superhumans was a good thing. Jason knew that the superhumans all needed battle experience if they were going to grow, and they wouldn’t have gained enough experience if they were always around Jason. The fact that they were all sent to different regions meant that they would have to put in actual work rather than relying on him. This was the best way for them to grow as fighters.
’But why the hell did that Runic Sequence activate when we came in here? Is it something that only activates after a certain number of people enter the Gate? I only sent one or two subordinates inside the gate to survey before, and none of them were ever teleported anywhere else. So either the Rune is number specific, or power specific. It could be that the group needs to be above a certain power level before it activates.’
Jason frowned as he thought about this, and Jason’s coat billowed in the wind as a massive gust of cold air suddenly flashed across the area from behind him!
WOOSH!
Arcticus let out a bellowing roar towards the incoming horde of Sky Serpents, and all the Sky Serpents in the air immediately froze solid as they began falling from the sky and shattering against the ground like ice sculptures! Jason let out another icy breath, and he turned away from the falling monsters as he continued walking!
Boom!
Boom!
Jason turned to the side as he heard the sound of fighting coming from a small distance away, and Jason used [King’s Substitute] to exchange places with one of his subordinates that was standing near the fight! Once Jason appeared, the first thing he saw was Stragga bringing his sword down with a massive scream to cleave off the head of one of the TITAN Rank I Sky Serpents! Stragga’s blade cut into the serpent’s skin, but he couldn’t cut through it completely, and a Bishop Rank Machina had to come in to finish the serpent off! There were hundreds of serpents covering the sky above Stragga, and massive explosions were going off as Jason’s Rooks and Bishops fought desperately to defeat all of them!
"RARRGGHH!"
SLASH!
Stragga yelled out a battle cry as he dashed towards another Sky Serpent, and his large sword glowed with an intense red light as he unleashed a blast of fire towards the serpent! The serpent hissed angrily, and Stragga quickly jumped to the side as the serpent let out a sonic attack that blasted the ground to pieces!
BOOM!
A large Rook Rank Adamantine Ant appeared from the side and body slammed the serpent out of the sky, and Stragga used that distraction to quickly circle around the serpent! Stragga’s sword glowed with a red light that filled the battlefield with a smoldering heat! Even from his place far in the distance, Jason could still feel some of the heat from the sword washing over him. The sword turned white hot from the sheer amount of mana pouring through it, and Stragga brought the sword back with a look of absolute determination on his face! The downed Sky Serpent turned around sharply when it felt the heat, and it quickly tried to fly into the sky to avoid getting hit by the attack, but it was already too late! Stragga stepped forward and slammed his foot into the ground before bringing his sword down in a perfect vertical slash!
PHWOOM!
A wave of super-thin fire suddenly tore across the air, and the Sky Serpent didn’t stand a chance as its body was immediately cut in half from the attack! Jason whistled in appreciation as he saw the serpent’s body burst into flames before falling to the ground in two halves.
’I think he’s done it.’
Jason turned to look at Stragga, and Jason saw Stragga staring up at some other Sky Serpents with narrowed eyes. There was a red aura surrounding Stragga’s body, like a shield of fire, and Jason smiled as he watched Stragga’s mana explode in flames as he took off from the ground and shot into the sky! Jason’s smile widened at this sight, and Jason almost laughed as he found the solution to a problem that he had been facing for a while now!
At this moment, Jason was certain that Stragga had finally taken his first step away from the realm of the mortals, and he was now a TITAN Rank I. It was still the weakest level of the TITAN Rank I’s, but it was enough for Stragga to challenge and win against the TITAN Rank I Sky Serpent mobs! But that wasn’t what shocked Jason so much! Jason was shocked because right now, Stragga had used an ability that wasn’t related to his gift at all! Stragga’s gift allowed him to unleash waves of superheated mana through his sword, but right now, Stragga had just used his flames to explode off the ground, and this meant that Stragga had channeled his fire through his legs!
’That’s a completely different ability entirely! That means Stragga actually broke through his limiter just now. Is that really the only thing we need? Is it that easy for humans to break these limits?’
Jason was shocked that it had taken him this long to figure this out, but as Jason thought about it, he realised that he shouldn’t be so shocked! Jason hadn’t been with Gina when Gina broke through her limits, but Gina had broken her limits in the battle of Radagan, and Jason knew that it was during that battle that Gina first became a TITAN. That meant the only known way for a human to break through the limits placed on them by their gift was by breaking out of the mortal realm and becoming a TITAN! Jason grinned at this thought as he looked up to see that Stragga was battling against another Sky Serpent! The red flames surrounded Stragga’s entire body now, and every swing of Stragga’s sword unleashed a superheated blade of fire that shot towards the Sky Serpent like cleavers! The Sky Serpent unleashed a sonic wave from its mouth to try and push Stragga back, but the Adamantine Ant from before appeared again and body slammed the Sky Serpent! This gave Stragga the opening he needed to unleash a supercharged wave that tore the serpent’s head off its body!
Stragga was breathing heavily as he saw the serpent fall to the ground, and Stragga was surprised when he finally realised that he was flying. Stragga looked down at his hands, and he saw the aura of red fire surrounding him.
’This is not my gift. What happened to me.’
Stragga was surprised by the strange ability that he had gained, but for some reason, this ability didn’t seem foreign to Stragga at all! It almost felt like Stragga had always known about this ability, but it had just been locked away from him all this time. It felt like meeting an old friend all over again! Stragga’s hand tightened around the hilt of his sword as he glared towards the large horde of Sky Serpents in front of him, and Stragga felt a grin appear on his face as his sword glowed with an intense red light and he charged forward with a roar!
In the distance, Jason just smiled as he watched the sky light up in red, and he told his subordinates to watch out for Stragga and make sure he wasn’t killed. Jason knew that the power rush would make Stragga feel like he could do anything, and it was usually at moments like these that people start to overestimate themselves, and they end up getting killed in the stupidest ways! The subordinates responded that they understood, and Jason vanished using [King’s Substitute].