*BOOOM!*
The power of his fist was disastrous, akin to a small nuke going off.
The impact created a powerful gust of wind that spread out from the two in the centre.
The ground shattered under the weight of the force as it rippled like the surface of a lake, creating a large crater of more than 100 meters in diameter.
"What the hell?!"
Julia exclaimed as she and Ross raised both hands defensively to protect themselves from the shockwaves, forgetting about the aura protecting them.
They had been moved back several meters, yet the shockwaves reached them with ease!
"Impressive."
Alex heard Mason utter in amusement. He stepped back and watched as the S-Class hunter just brushed off his chest like dusting away something.
Seeing this, Alex was not surprised. If his fist could move a Class S hunter, then something was wrong with the universe's law.
But he himself was surprised by the kind of power he unleashed. And this time, with just his fist without the aid of the spear.
"And as we guessed, your strength and speed don't match the mid-tier aura you were giving off."
His eyes shined with delight staring at Alex's Manastorm that continued to flare like heated air around him.
Zol brought the others close who were still in a daze to listen to the remarks of Alex's power punch.
"Your strength in this state places you in the early stages of a high-tier Class E awakened.
"And trust me when I say this, the difference between mid-tier and high-tier is not just in name."
Alex clenched his fists once he understood where his physical strength lay.
'But it still doesn't change the fact that I'm stuck at the Class F level… The moment we find a way for everyone to access the Manastorm, the only advantage I'll have will be the Voidflare.'
"Don't stress the small stuff, kid. In time…"
Mason and Zol could see through what Alex was thinking.
"So, did you find a clue on how we can do the same?" Julia changed the subject, being more interested in taking the same form.
Of course, that was not to say she didn't care about how Alex was feeling. She just didn't want to be left behind.
"Well, …"
Mason turned to Zol who took over the explanations.
"It's still the same as before. Alex is able to use his void energy as a trigger simply because he cannot use his mana otherwise.
"We're still not clear on why it's that way for him."
Zol gestured for Alex to depower his state to conserve mana before continuing.
"What we can do is see if we can do the same with our mana and I think I've found a way."
"What?"
Mason echoed everyone's surprise.
"Why didn't you say anything?!" He felt cheated for doing all the work and Zol reaping the rewards.
"Because I just thought of it."
He looked at the mess around them and gestured for the group to find another place to continue.
Once everyone was seated with eager expressions, Zol went ahead to explain how he came about the idea.
"For the longest time, what we do is when we channel our mana, it flows from their organelles into our mana pathways to power our abilities…"
Everyone nodded at his words, already familiar with this process.
"What Alex does with his void energy instead is that he uses it to trigger the mana in the organelles to abruptly release their energy. But the mana doesn't go into his mana pathways.
"Note that his mana is in a saturated state."
Mason's eyes widened in realization when he caught a glimpse of what Zol meant.
"Let me finish." Zol shut him down before he could do anything, but the kids turned to look at his beaming expression, feeling excitement about what they were about to learn.
"Mana has always flowed on instincts once we call for it and from the very start we awaken, that is how it was and we grew with that fact. So it became the default thing that mana flows through mana channels."
Ross and Julia could feel the excitement in the bit of their stomachs as their heartbeat picked up pace, already getting a clear picture of what the hunter was saying.
Zol did not comment on their expressions as he too was surprised when the answer was right in their faces.
He continued despite their seeing their impatient expressions to try it out. He had to stop Mason from doing so around the kids as his mana pool was just too vast.
It could harm them if Mason wasn't careful.
"What we failed to realize is that our mana is under our control and we can decide where to channel it. That includes stimulating the mana and explosively releasing it instead of using it to power our gifts."
"Hehehe… You're a genius, Zol!"
Mason exclaimed in excitement and promptly took to the skies, reached several meters away from the kids and sat cross-legged in the air.
"He's about to attempt it."
Alex muttered looking up at Mason with his friends, all of them with excited expressions.
Zol could have done the same but decided to wait and protect the kids from the storm that was about to befall them.
Mason closed his eyes and focused on his large mana pool as he slowly stirred it while making sure the energy remained in place.
'It's working…' He flashed a small grin as he continued to stir his mana, sensing the energy release rhythmic pulses as if waiting to go boom.
Down below, the kids could feel the rising energy coming from Lord Mason and they gulped in fear as the aura reaching them made their legs wobble.
"Thank you, uncle."
Only after Zol cast his aura around them did the feeling dispel. He waited a bit as he wanted the kids to appreciate how heavy a Class S hunter's presence was without actively holding back.
Mason sensed the energy reach a threshold, but still had more than 95% of his mana remaining.
'This should be enough for a test. Going out may be catastrophic for the planet.'
Finally, Mason unleashed the charged-up energy instead of directing it through his mana pathways and the moment he did…