Chapter 84: Testing Out His New Body

Julius and Aubrey were facing each other once more. This time, he wasn’t just going to allow her to hit him again.

Aubrey kicked off just like last time and headed right at him. Julius created several spikes in quick succession and threw them at Aubrey. He was happy to notice that the spikes were created much more effortlessly than before. Each step of the process that went into making his constructs was easier and more natural than before.

The mana flowed right into the constructs. It was like his body was starting to get used to using mana like this and was now doing it instinctually.

Aubrey dodged the spikes using her clones and teleported between them in order to avoid the attack. She had also gotten an idea of Julius’s style and was no longer caught off guard by his long-range attacks.

Julius knew that the spikes had little to no chance of hitting her, but that wasn’t the point of them. He was only delaying her for as long as he could. In the time he had distracted her with his constructs, he was able to create layers of hardened mana over his skin.

It wasn’t quite armor yet, but the layers of mana were quite strong and were compacted with a lot of mana. Then he used [Empowerment of Will] to enhance [Arcane Construct] and [Pure Compression], making the layers even stronger.

Aubrey was on top of him at this point. He dodged the flurry of strikes she blitzed out, with an ease that he wouldn’t have been capable of yesterday. She had always been faster and stronger than him by a noticeable amount.

The only thing that had allowed him to keep up was his perception skill and [Savage Dance]. Now, he could track her punches and kicks with much more clarity. This allowed him to predict her strikes more easily and gave himself the space to capitalize on her mistakes, not that there were many of them.

If anyone had paid close attention to their previous spars, they would notice that he wasn’t dodging as much as usual. He was dancing in and out of her reach, much more confident now that he was stronger and faster than before.

For a few minutes, both of them were brawling it out. Julius deflected a strike that was set up by a particularly nasty usage of [Mirage Phantom] and tried to back away. She didn’t let him do that and continued with her aggression, pressing Julius further back and closer to the barrier.

However, unlike most times, he was controlling the pace of the fight much better. The way he retreated wasn’t as panicked or frantic. He was much more calm and steady. He was just waiting for his opportunity to strike.

Finally, he got his chance.

There!

Aubrey pulled her eyes away for a quick second and lowered her guard just a little. But in that short period of time, Julius sent an overloaded mana spike right at her, forcing her to protect herself with her [Diamond Skin] because she didn’t have enough time to teleport to one of her clones. He then created small balls of kinetic energy all around her and started to bombard her to oblivion, not giving her a chance to recover.

While he was doing that, he was bum-rushing her, clearing the distance within a blink. His speed was much faster than when he was Tier 1 since his body could take much more stress, and he made sure he took advantage of that. He flooded his body with so much kinetic energy and aura, that his body felt the toll even though he had already advanced to Tier 2, then he pushed it even further, creating small explosions at his feet.

The rush of power was exhilarating and addictive. He couldn’t even begin imagining what Tier 3 or 4 would feel like.

He appeared right in front of Aubrey’s face and unleashed a brutal punch, full of kinetic energy, aura, and pure raw strength, everything he could possibly use, straining his new body to its limit. She had been so distracted by his bombardment that she failed to react in time and took the shot right in the chest.

Julius felt his constructs shatter upon impact and his fist made direct contact with her, crushing into her sternum with a powerful boom. He broke his hand, his feet were burned, and the energy that flowed through him created tears throughout his body while doing so, but he had also finally broken through her defenses.

At the very end, he had felt her [Diamond Skin] crack. It was unable to withstand the force of his punch and he felt something inside of her break upon contact. Aubrey went flying away much like Julius had not too long ago, but somehow she managed to control her flight and land on her feet.

She was wincing in pain while grabbing her chest. There weren’t any actual injuries, but Julius knew from experience that it still felt like there were.

“God damn! You hit like a Tier 3 that’s for sure,” Aubrey complained loudly, still rubbing her sternum.

“What, I didn’t before?” Julius asked her.

“That was different, your constructs hit like a Tier 3, but your physical attacks weren’t even close. Now, that is no longer the same case,” she grumbled.

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Edgar had been off to the side watching their fight unfold and decided to say something too. “I agree. That last attack was powerful, not to mention the speed you showed to split the distance was ridiculous for a newly advanced Tier 2.”

“Yeah, I almost didn’t see you move. I thought you didn’t have a movement skill yet?” Aubrey asked him.

“I don’t,” he told her.

“Bullshit.”