Chapter 293: Miscalculations
Burst Hop was a skill that allowed the user to tighten their muscles, infuse them with kinetic energy, and release it in a single burst of force.
The principle was simple to state and hard to execute cleanly: coil every fiber without leaking power, align the joints to the exact degree, then uncoil at the precise instant so the stored momentum transfers as one.
Until now, Adyr had used this skill in his legs to increase his flying speed, kicking the air to propel his body forward, but in this strike he tried the skill with his arm for the first time.
While swinging the blade covered in Sonic Burst, he also fused Burst Hop into his arm muscles, feeding the swing with compressed kinetic energy, blending it with the sound wave, and creating a single, clean sword arc that carried both steel and sound together.
This was Adyr’s most destructive attack so far. What he had in mind next was, what if he blended this combo with his Malice as well?
He wanted to see what kind of destruction and force it could bring, but for now he couldn’t make it real in the situation he was in. He set it aside to try later, when there were not as many eyes watching him.
"The first match of the day, and the opening match of the tournament, concludes with the win of Velari Team 1." Caprion’s voice echoed high over the crowd, pulling everyone from their thinking and assessing process as he declared the winner.
Adyr, after sheathing his sword back into its place on his back, unfolded his wings once more and returned to Collossith’s head under watching eyes.
—
"Thalira, what do you think?" Silverlight Zephan asked his daughter, indicating the outcome of the battle as the last echoes of the crowd slowly settled across the stone tiers.
Thalira Luna looked the same as before, with her serene expression and upright posture, yet the shine in her silver eyes and the full, steady focus with which she followed the young man who had just shocked so many, calmly beating his wings and returning to his place as if nothing had happened, explained everything.
The light played in those silver irises as she tracked him to the crown of Collossith’s head, her chin lifted slightly, her breath even, her presence collected.
"He is strong... and very talented." Thalira finally found the two words to describe her thoughts. Saying "strong" alone did not justify the attack she had witnessed; to pull off something like that, one had to possess a capable understanding of their skills and precise control over the body.
Each movement had been measured, each transition tight, the kind of efficiency that comes from training that does not waste a single thread of energy.
Hearing his daughter’s assessment, Zephan looked satisfied and asked again, "What do you think if you faced him in the arena?" His voice carried the calm interest of a commander weighing the true margins between fighters, not merely their public reputations.
Thalira Luna fell into another silence, her brows tightening slightly in deep thought. "His attack has a power I shouldn’t take directly, and it’s quite fast, but it’s not something I can’t dodge with my speed." She analyzed quickly and in detail, already able to imagine the scenes of a possible encounter in her mind.
The sequences sketched themselves in her thoughts: the opening line, the feint that would pull him to commit the first cut, the half-step that would take her just outside the arc, and the window to counter on the recovery.
"He is Astra Path, more balanced among all Paths, but not a master in a single aspect. If I use my speed advantage, I can turn the flow of the fight easily in my favor." Her tone remained even. There was no bravado in it, only the clean statement of a plan: avoid the direct line, force lateral movement, and shape the tempo until it belongs to her.
Zephan, hearing her words, nodded once again with satisfaction.
Her analysis of an opponent and using their weakness to her advantage was a general yet effective strategy. It was the method he valued most: identify what must not be met head-on, find the gap that belongs to you, and make the fight pass through that gap again and again.
Also, knowing Thalira was not only the fastest Practitioner among the new generation of Lunari but probably among all other races that follow the Ignis Path as well made her words carry considerable truth. Speed like hers was not just motion; it was initiative, and initiative was control.
The only thing she or anyone did not account for in their assessment was that Adyr was not only Astra Path; he carried the full stat spread, including [Will] from the Ignis Path, which made him fast enough to match even Thalira in this aspect.
The margin she intended to seize was not as wide as it appeared, and the assumption that balance meant slower response would not hold against him.
—
"The attack is strong but not something my body can’t endure," Kharom said with full self-confidence, his completely dark eyes overflowing with arrogance as he watched the replay of the crescent cut in his mind. His jaw set, shoulders square, he gave the impression of a wall that had never moved for anyone.
He did not have enough speed to dodge an attack like that the way Thalira could, but he had the sturdiest body among the new generation, so his confidence was not baseless. Bone density, layered muscle, the kind of frame that absorbed impact and returned pressure; these were the foundations of his approach.
"Good. You should take the first strike, nullify it, and close the gap before he attacks again. As an Astra Path, his body shouldn’t be as durable as yours, so when you are close enough to hold him, that is when he will collapse under your attacks," Sevrak said, nodding as he gave his grandson the necessary insight and the strategy to follow.
His tone was plain instruction: shield the initial edge, break the distance, smother his rhythm, and do not let him set the tempo for a second swing.
But like Thalira and her father, Zephan, he was also missing a point.
Adyr had [Resilience] among his stats, giving him a body as durable as a Nether Path Practitioner. The assumption that an Astra Path frame would fold under a clinch did not apply to him, and a plan based on that assumption carried a hidden flaw that would only show itself at the moment of contact.
—
"Brakhtar, you must never let him use that attack on you," said Throgar Gorat, known as Soulforge Throgar. He sat cross-legged on his floating Giant Eye, his massive ogre body balanced easily on the hovering orb.
He spoke without raising his voice, addressing the young one waiting respectfully behind him; the air around them felt heavy with the quiet of command, the kind that needs no volume to be heard.
"Yes, Chief," Brakhtar answered, hands clasped into fists before him, head slightly bowed. His posture signaled discipline and a readiness to receive instruction and act on it without delay.