?Ssnded hard on the ground, his heart pounding in his chest as he gazed up at the monstrous figure before him. Panic etched across his features as he realized the only person who could possibly defeat this foe was the chief, and he was nowhere to be found.
Suddenly, several pirs of earth erupted from the ground, bending unnaturally in the air before hurtling towards the man. Ss''s eyes widened in disbelief as he watched an enormous earth bear appear, its pristine topaz and bronze aura emanating powerfully around it.
But even more shocking was the one-eyed man who casually pped away the pirs as if they were nothing more than flimsy curtains. Ss could feel the sheer strength and danger exuding from him, and he realized this was the power of a true warrior.
''He saw me jump and attacked right after. He''s not trying to hurt us. He must think of Syra and me as valuable items, but if it were the church who had called him in, wouldn''t they want us dead? None of this makes sense!'' Ss thought frantically as he sprinted towards his grandmother''s mana signature.
Syra was still screaming and struggling, but Ss didn''t care. All that mattered was getting her to safety.
As he reached the shelter, he saw several bandits attempting to break down the barricaded doors. Without hesitation, Ss summoned a magic circle and unleashed a deadly water-de spell, slicing through all of them in an instant.
"Open the door! They''re dead!" Ss shouted as he pounded on the door.
But before he could enter, he sensed danger and jumped back, unleashing a powerful water-bullet spell toward the individual who had just attacked him.
"Ss! Move out of the way!" Lochras'' voice rang out in his ear, and Ss watched in awe as his father appeared in front of the attacker, dodging Ss''s bullet with ease.
At the same time, Lochras'' de easily passed through the man''s body, as if he was nothing but a ghost capable of attacking while being incapable of receiving damage.
The man swung his de down towards Lochras, but before he couldnd a hit, a massive ball of water exploded onto him, sending him hurtling through the air and mming into a nearby building.
Ss''s heart raced as he watched the man walk out of the wreckage unscathed, his toki now murky and almostpletely ck.
"Hahahahah! Your son is a real pain in the ass, you know that?!" the man, also known as death, taunted, his eyes shing dangerously.
Ss felt a shiver run down his spine. He could not help but feel slightly helpless in front of so many strong opponents. The man before them was so much stronger than the shadowswarm he almost died to more than a year ago. Sure, he improved over that time, but he was still weak.
If the chief didn''t show up soon, they were all doomed.
Death''s toki, which was now murky and almostpletely ck, exuded off his body like a steady stream of mist. It was visible to the naked eye, something that could not be said about most mana.
''Talking about visibility...'' Ss looked at his father with a raised brow. He had never seen his father wear toki as some kind of armor, but that was most likely due to the fact that he always either had his armor on him or simply didn''t need it.
''Since when was toki visible? Did thepactness of the armor make it visible? Or does toki work in different forms too? Ethereal, gaseous, liquid, and then solid? How does that make sense?'' Ss wanted to rub his temples, but he stopped himself and simply sighed.<novelsnext></novelsnext>
"Ss. They''re trying to get you and your sister. Go find somewhere to hide." Lochras grit his teeth.
''I wonder if he can move through walls. What if he touched the ground? Does he drop right through? How does he get out, though? Is it a martial technique too? If it is, then it is most likely a really strong one. I don''t know their ranks, but for a martial technique to allow you to move right through solid objects...'' Ss thought before he realized something.
''He can move through solid objects, but it must work on an activation basis? Or maybe it doesn''t work with mana? He had to dodge my first attack and was blown away by my second. The only think that protected him is his natural toki...''
Natural toki and toki were a little different.
After studying his father, the chief, and chief''s assistant, also known as woman #143, Ss realized that toki was a lot moreplicated than he first thought.
While yes, at first, toki is purely instinctual, that seemed to be only the case with a person''s natural toki.
Everything Ss had seen from his father''s training was just that natural toki. It was always around its user, protecting them and increasing the strength of their bodies instinctually. This made their skin tougher, their muscles naturally stronger, and their senses more powerful, even while not intending to use toki.
However, after reaching the second stage of toki, it seemed like warriors like Lochras and Nymira were capable of calling upon more toki, this time with the capability of controlling it, which was essentially what Ss did to cultivate.
Which brought up a problem.
Why wasn''t he capable of using pure mana the same way they did?
That was because toki should and probably wasn''t considered an energy in the past. It was probably considered a martial style built upon the human body''s connection to mana.
That''s why it has 5 stages of mastery, possibly even more that had been lost to time.
So, if Ss wants to awaken toki, his control of mana, his affinity to it, and his mana-rich cells are not enough, even though Ss doesn''t yet know why.
He didn''t really know if he even had the capability of awakening toki, but if there was a chance of awakening it, today would most likely be the day, right?
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