Chapter 331: Frostmist Form

Liam POV

He knew he was talented. Ever since he was a young child, his parents had reminded him of his talents and didn’t let him squander it. They hired some of the best ice users they could find to instruct Liam the moment they knew about his perfect ice affinity.

They spared no expense in cultivating his talent. He spent several hours every single day practicing the exercises his teachers had created for him. He rarely had time to play with the other children. No matter how much he did, it never seemed to be enough for his parents. They always wanted more.

However, it wasn’t like he didn’t enjoy it either. Some days were more boring than others, but overall he had fun training. Not that he would let his parents know that.

Regardless, it was his parent’s expectations that burdened him. They wanted him to achieve something they never could. Becoming an elite fighter who stood at the top of his generation. They tried it with his siblings, but they hadn’t been able to handle the pressure.

Out of his many siblings, only his sister had grown to become an elite fighter. However, the irony in it was their overbearingness had ended up pushing her away. She didn’t talk to anyone in the family anymore, but rather spent her time with her friends and her husband’s family. He didn’t blame her either.

If not for his uncle, he might have felt the same way. Uncle Travis helped ease the pressure his parents placed on his shoulders, constantly reminding Liam that it was his path to create, not his parents.

His parents were ‘strong’ in their own right. Each of them was Tier 4, but they weren’t anything special compared to others at the same tier. They had reached Tier 4 at a relatively young age thanks to the consumption of natural treasures and special potions.

He doubted they would ever reach Tier 5 and if they did, they would forever be at the bottom of the tier, unable to get any stronger. At least that was what Uncle Travis explained to him. It was at that moment that he decided that he never wanted to become like that.

So when he had arrived at Goldencrest, he had searched for similar people to make friends with and who could keep up with him. And he believed that he had found that.

However, they didn’t want anything to do with him. Even Aubrey, a girl he still couldn’t help but have a crush on after all these years, wouldn’t give him the time of day. She would spite him over and over, no matter how much he tried to befriend her.

It wasn’t entirely her fault either. Liam wasn’t the most warm and fuzzy person. His ice affinity gave people the impression that he was numb and cold. This was especially true these past couple of years and to make things worse, he had noticed that his desire to befriend them had slowly turned into bitter resentment.

Then when he saw Julius so easily achieve what young Liam had desperately wanted without any trouble, he couldn’t help but feel that same resentment start to build toward them, including Julius. He had tried so hard to be friends with them and all of his attempts had ended in failure.

Yet, when the young boy burrowed his way into their friend group with such ease, it was a bitter pill to swallow and he started to despise the boy. It was the reason why he had harassed the poor boy. Liam wasn’t proud of his behavior and wished he could have gone back in time and prevented his old self from making such a dumb mistake.

But the past was the past.

Then to make things worse, he ended up getting matched against Julius. He still couldn’t believe that the young first-year had managed to reach Tier 3 in such a short time. Not only that, but ended up being good enough to make it to the top sixteen.

Liam had seen his fight with Darren the other day. It was impressive and he had proved he was someone to be taken seriously.

Still, the way Julius fought was inspiring. Skill, power, and an unnatural calmness that allowed him to be in complete control of himself. However, there was still this sense of pride and egoism that showed throughout the fight.

Liam could tell that the boy was purposefully taking his attacks without dodging. He wanted to prove to Liam that even his best wouldn’t break through his defenses.

It was both irritating and exciting. Then, before he fully realized it, he was having fun. This had been what he’d been looking for all these years.

However, Liam’s eyes widened in alarm as he saw these constructs appear over Julius’s shoulders. The only time Liam had seen Julius’s constructs was during the fight with Bethany. However, during that match, Julius had only created a single spike at a time. So Liam was very surprised that the young boy was able to control half a dozen.

Liam sent a strong surge of his willpower and his skill to disrupt these constructs. He could feel stunned as it felt like his willpower and skill hit a steel mountain. In that brief battle of wills, he swiftly understood that Julius’s willpower was stronger than his own.

Much stronger.

His icy exterior and his focus skill broke for a brief moment, as he let out a surprised laugh. The challenging look in Julius’s eyes only envirogated him and he chose to meet this challenge head on. If Julius wanted a fight then he would get it.

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He took control of all the surrounding ice mana he had been placing around the field and gathered it into six swords of ice. He infused his Emblem into them before sending them blistering toward his opponent.

His eyebrows raised when he saw the other boy’s spikes tear through his swords. His swords had only been enough to destroy five of the six spikes. The last one was still piercing through the air, heading right for his head. Fire mana was truly the bane of his constructs.