Chapter 445: A Nice Little Vacation

Julius was going to die.

These little fuckers were absolutely relentless. It didn’t help that there were so many of them that he couldn’t even count how many. It also didn’t help that they were extremely fast.

Most of them were Tier 3s, with only a couple of them being Tier 4. However, at this point, he would much rather fight the bears again. These things were like overgrown mosquitoes and kept on pecking him with those sharp little beaks of theirs.

The fact that he was fighting in the sky was another issue. While he had much better control over his flight than before, it still didn’t mean he was automatically an expert. It definitely didn’t mean he would be able to fly as well as creatures who were literally born with wings.

He was a mere fledgling when compared to the birds harassing him.

He cursed loudly once more when a bird got lucky and managed to poke him right in the eye. All the vision in his right eye was gone, and he felt blood pour out of it. At least he didn’t let the bird go without punishment; he snatched it out of the air with his hand and snapped its neck. He then took its body and threw it at the swarm.

However, now that the bird’s body wasn’t being actively reinforced with mana, it just exploded into red mist. He let out another grumble as dozens of birds attacked him once more.

His barriers worked, but there were so many birds that it was hard to keep up. They also possessed a penetrative skill that allowed them to break through after striking the barrier enough times.

He quickly blasted himself away and started to weave throughout the sky. If he was going to be forced to fly around, he might as well take this opportunity to practice his flight skills. He dodged and weaved as best as he could, although it still didn’t help him that much.

There were just too many enemies, and they were too damn nimble, which allowed them to get away easily.

After a little more time, he realized that practice was pointless since he wasn’t really learning anything and was just a pin cushion for these birds.

Therefore, he sighed in annoyance and blasted kinetic energy in an outward sphere. They were weak enough that they were injured just from this. It also did a decent job at clearing out a good portion of them. It wasn’t what he had planned, as he could really use some training, but he also realized this might not be the best time.

He let them get close again, but it was harder since they were a little more wary now. However, eventually, he had another opportunity to let loose another blast, taking out one more nice chunk of them.

Unfortunately, that was the only chance he got anymore. They were smart enough to understand not to group up so closely anymore and stayed at a distance. Julius tried to taunt them, hurling insults left and right, but predictably, they didn’t understand what he was saying, so it was ultimately pointless.

They appeared to be attempting to tire him out or something, and didn’t attack him very much. They surrounded him and prodded him with attacks.

Eventually, he got tired of them and made his move. He was planning to practice his kinetic energy to improve his control, but it was clear that his kinetic energy was ill-suited for a battle like this one. It was mainly a close combat affinity, and he wasn’t like some of the other students who were able to use it for long-range attacks.

For example, Arthur was really good at creating compressed lances of invisible kinetic energy to pierce his opponents from long range. Julius wasn’t that talented and, as such, had to resort to mostly punching things.

He grumbled to himself as he dodged another stubborn bird. It wasn’t like he was jealous or envious of such a skill. That would be silly.

Regardless, now he was forced to use his other affinities to take care of the birds. He looked at the hovering birds, using his kinetic energy to keep himself stable in the air. On a good note, he didn’t bob around like he used to.

When he first started to fly, he would often bob up and down as he constantly adjusted how much kinetic energy he needed to stay aloft. Now he could stay still and have more control.

He let his fire mana rush through him and quickly gathered his mana together. He let out a small laugh as he felt his mana respond to his demands so eagerly. Despite his concentrated efforts on kinetic energy for these past months, controlling mana still came more naturally.

Additionally, it almost felt like his mana control got better with his improvements to his kinetic energy. There were similar aspects to both that he was able to implement into his mana manipulation.

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In a matter of seconds, he was able to form dozens of small, concentrated needles of mana. Each of them had a shimmering blue that pulsed with power. He immediately noticed the bird’s reaction to this. Their auras had brief flashes of confusion and wariness.

It was much too late by the time they realized what was happening. Julius sent these constructs outward, and a blizzard of superheated needles rained down on the birds. They were still pretty fast and small, though, which meant he wasn’t able to get all of them.

However, that wasn’t the end. He made sure to keep control of these needles before they shot into the distance and had them wrap back around.

He waved his arm and let these needles swirl around him like a tornado. Everything within fifty feet of him was turned to mist as the needles ripped through the frail birds. Some immediately decided to run and try to escape, but Julius was right behind them.

Their speed was impressive, but it was their nimbleness that made them a threat. In an all-out race, he could go faster if he pushed himself. He chased down the largest section of retreating birds, controlling his needles to follow right beside him.

Funnily enough, he was generating so much speed from the circling needles that it created a vacuum effect. Thus, the light-bodied birds found themselves getting sucked into the vortex of wind and vaporized.

He laughed manically as the little fuckers who had been ganging up on him were torn to shreds.

“Yeah, not so fun now, is it?!” He hollered out as he chased them down.