Chapter 46: First Time Witnessing Arcane

His elbow slammed into the Ember’s jaw, snapping its head backward from the impact and forcing the massive creature to stagger five steps before regaining its balance.

Declan landed firmly and prepared to press the attack, but the Ember had already recovered. Its two upper arms folded inward as it prepared to bring them crashing down.

Declan moved first.

Following through with his initial attack, he jumped and drove his right knee upward, slamming it directly into the Ember’s returning jaw.

BOOOOM!

The impact was strong enough to force the creature backward another five steps, and Declan landed on the ground beneath it.

Yet instead of immediately attacking again, his expression subtly changed as he glanced toward his right side.

His right arm was hanging uselessly beside him.

...It had been broken.

___________________

"HEHEHEHEHE!"

An evil cackle escaped from the Ember’s maw as its long, serpentine tongue slowly rolled out between its teeth.

"Don’t get too cocky."

Declan pushed himself back onto his feet, keeping his gaze fixed on the creature.

"You’re not that much stronger than I am..."

CRAACK!

The sound of bone grinding back into place echoed through the stony terrain as Declan braced his broken arm against the remains of the mountain beside him and forcibly reset it.

Pain shot through his body, but he ignored it, waiting until his fingers began twitching before slowly curling them into a fist and opening them again.

Once he confirmed that he could move the arm, he raised both hands and settled back into his fighting stance.

The Ember’s grin widened.

VROOOOOOM!

The air tore apart as its massive leg swept toward him.

Declan bent his body almost horizontally, allowing the limb to pass over his face by the narrowest margin, only for a massive fist to follow immediately afterward.

BOOOOOOOOOM!

The fist smashed into the ground where Declan had been standing, but he was already moving. His hand touched the ground behind him as he pushed off and somersaulted backward, narrowly escaping the crushing impact.

The Ember didn’t give him even a moment to recover.

It crossed the distance between them in a single step.

SHRIIIIING!

SHRIIIIING!

SHRIIIIING!

SHRIIIIING!

Four sharp slicing sounds rang through the air as all four of its hands opened, and crescent-shaped claws suddenly extended from each palm.

Every claw was roughly 30 centimeters long, gleaming dangerously as the Ember raised all four arms above Declan.

Then it brought them down.

The four claws tore through the air toward him, leaving pale streaks behind their paths.

Declan’s arms immediately jerked backward, his fingers tightening into fists as he called out,

"Activate Apex Strike."

____________

FICKKER!

Neon-blue lines suddenly appeared across his arms, illuminating them with concentrated energy as Declan thrust both fists forward.

Shockwaves erupted from his movements, his fists meeting the descending claws head-on.

BOOOOOOOM!

BOOOOOOOM!

BOOOOOOOM!

BOOOOOOOM!

For the next several seconds, the sound of metal-like impacts continuously rang through the battlefield as Declan’s fists moved at incredible speed.

Phantom-like afterimages of his punches surrounded his body, each one intercepting another claw before it could reach him.

Then, without warning,

BOOOOOOM!

A kick slammed into Declan’s stomach and sent him stumbling backward.

He barely managed to regain his footing before the ground beneath his third step exploded, and he used the force to launch himself forward once more.

His right fist drew backward, neon-blue light gathering around his arm with even greater intensity.

Then he unleashed it.

BOOOOOOOOM!

A violent shockwave erupted as the punch tore through the air and slammed directly into the Ember’s face, forcing its massive body backward by three steps.

Declan immediately pursued.

BOOOOM!

BOOOOM!

BOOOOM!

The ground beneath his feet cracked and collapsed with every step as he surged forward, closing the distance in an instant.

A claw suddenly swept toward his shoulder.

SLASSSSSH!

The air itself seemed to split apart as Declan twisted his body and narrowly avoided the attack, following the movement with an uppercut that drove straight into the Ember’s jaw.

The blow lifted the creature’s entire body roughly five centimeters from the ground.

BOOOOOOOOOM!

Before it could recover, Declan’s leg shot forward and slammed into its chest, sending the Ember flying backward.

Its massive body bounced across the ground several times before crashing into a mountain, the impact reducing the structure to a cloud of dust and rubble.

Yet somehow, the creature managed to halt its momentum.

"HEHEHEHEHE!"

Its demonic laughter echoed through the battlefield as it slowly turned toward Declan, who was already walking toward it.

Both of his hands were clenched into fists, his expression calm despite the intense battle that had just taken place.

He stopped three meters away and watched as the Ember pulled itself from the rubble.

For a moment, neither moved.

Then the Ember’s eyes drifted downward, its gaze settling on the neon-blue energy still flowing around Declan’s arms.

The grin on its face slowly disappeared, replaced by a somber expression.

Declan noticed the change immediately.

Then the Ember raised two of its arms and brought them together, forming a strange hand seal, while its remaining two arms folded above them and created another seal.

Together, the four arms formed a circular shape with a rectangle positioned within it, all of them facing directly toward Declan.

The moment the formation was completed, a chill crawled down Declan’s spine.

Every instinct in his body screamed the same thing.

Danger.

Then came the sound.

CREAAAAAAK!

It sounded like iron scraping against iron.

Declan’s gaze snapped toward the Ember’s stomach as the strange slit running across its navel slowly opened.

What had appeared to be nothing more than a scar was actually a massive maw, its blood-red interior exposed as thick crimson liquid dripped from its edges.

Then the Ember spoke.

Its voice echoed through the battlefield as though a thousand voices were speaking at once.

"Nakrio Artio:Bladio Cleavio!"

RIIIIIPLLEEEEEE!

An invisible wave suddenly spread outward.

Declan’s heart beat once, and then his entire body locked in place.

He couldn’t move, not even an inch.

The stony terrain beneath his feet seemed to vanish, and in the blink of an eye, Declan found himself falling through an endless Void.

Pitch-black darkness surrounded him, but when he looked forward,

The Ember was still there.

Its four arms remained locked in the same formation, but the somber expression on its face had disappeared, replaced by that same mocking grin.

Then it spoke one final word.

"Endio!"

The command echoed through the darkness.

RIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIP!

RIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIP!

RIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIP!

RIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIP!

Declan heard nothing but the sound of space itself being torn apart as brilliant white flashes erupted around him from every direction, filling his vision with blinding light.

Then everything went dark.

When Declan opened his eyes again, he was back beneath the familiar gloomy sky of the stony terrain.

For a moment, he didn’t understand what had happened.

Then he tried to move, only to freeze.

He felt...Nothing.

There was no pain, no sensation, almost as though his body was no longer connected to him.

Declan slowly turned his gaze to the side.

His entire right arm had been severed from his shoulder and lay roughly a meter away, divided into three separate pieces.

His left arm was in the same condition, also lying about half a meter away in three pieces.

Both legs had been severed from his waist as well, each divided into five pieces.

All that remained attached to his neck was his torso.

"H... how?"

The words barely escaped his lips before footsteps echoed through the silence.

Declan slowly raised his gaze.

The Ember stood above him, all four arms crossed over its chest as it looked down with that same devilish grin.

His eyes unconsciously drifted toward its stomach.

The massive maw was still open, dripping crimson blood that fell onto Declan’s face.

’So this is... Arcane?’

That was the final thought to cross Declan’s mind before his consciousness faded into darkness.

When Declan opened his eyes again, he was back in the familiar glassy Void, and a blue mote of light rose from his forehead before dispersing into the surrounding sea of lights.

He sat upright, and almost immediately, he noticed something strange.

Around a hundred pairs of eyes were staring directly at him.

"Huh?"

Declan blinked, staring back at them in confusion.

"You’re the last one to wake up."

The voice came from nearby, and Declan turned his head and found Combat Kydra looking directly at him.

"You fought the Ember the longest."

"Oh."

A small sound escaped Declan’s lips as he processed her words.

Then,

DRIIIING!

His device suddenly vibrated, and Declan looked down, only for his eyes to widen.

[{+150 Points Obtained}]

[{Reward For Exceptional Performance in Combat Training}]

’I just gained 150 points!?’

Combat Kydra’s voice pulled him back to the class.

"I believe each of you now has a taste of what Arcana is, don’t you?"

Declan’s brows furrowed at the word as his thoughts immediately returned to the simulation.

He was already around 80 in total stat points, while the Ember had supposedly possessed 100.

It had been stronger than him, but he hadn’t been completely helpless against it.

With Apex Strike, he’d been able to fight it head-on, yet in the end, that technique had appeared.

That Void.

Those slashes.

And when he woke up, his entire body had been carved into pieces.

How was that even possible?

"That is Arcane."

Combat Kydra’s voice echoed through the Void.

"A lower Arcane Art that an average Ember can employ."

"It may seem impossible to evade or defeat, but it isn’t."

"In the next class, we’ll dive deeper into the various Ember Arts, and you’ll learn how to defend against them."

"Class dismissed."