KINETIC

Chapter 134 One Last Test (Part 2)

Five of the Golems were surrounding Leo in a pentagon formation while the darker one was standing just in front of Connor.

[Fire Bolt]

A small ball of fire appeared, hovering just over Leo's palm. He lifted his hand and faced his palm towards one of the Golems and the Fire Bolt shot forward.

The fire slammed into the Golems chest and a small explosion erupted from the point of impact.

There was a large crater in the Golems chest with cracks spreading over most of its torso.

The crowd erupted with chatter as they tried to make sense of what they were seeing.

"First it was wind, then strength...now he's using fire!?"

"What's his ability!? Does anybody know!?"

Clay and the others noticed they were being looked at by many of the spectators who must have assumed they knew something about Leos ability.

"They can look at us all they want, we barely know anything too." Cain said as he continued to watch in awe.

"I know he told us the basic premise behind his ability but it doesn't help me in understanding how he's able to do some of these things, creating fire in particular..." Clay was stumped. He couldn't think of a way to create fire using just movement with the knowledge he had.

The damaged Golem was able to recover after a few seconds had passed. Leo once again chose not to attack and allowed the Golem to repair itself.

All the Golems suddenly and simultaneously moved towards Leo while lifting their arms and swinging them down towards him.

[Leap]

Leo crouched slightly and then suddenly shot off into the air with a massive jump. While moving upwards, another ball of fire appeared in his hand, much larger than the first one.

As he reached the pinnacle of his jump at around 60 meters, the ball of fire in his hand suddenly shrunk and the colour changed from a light orange to a darker red.

[Fire Ball]

The fire launched from his hand right into the center of the five Golems that were now very close together after attempting to hit Leo.

As the fire touched the ground there was a sudden flash of light and a thunderous boom as an explosion engulfed all five of the Golems and everything else within 15 meters.

There was an intense wave of heat that slammed into the spectators, forcing them to shield their eyes and faces on instinct.

Once the heat began to dissipate and everyone felt it was safe to look, they opened their eyes.

The Golems had been reduced to chunks of rock that were now spread all around. Contrary to what everyone believed would happen, the Golems did not merge back together and repair themselves.

Leo descended back to the ground much slower than he should have, to the point where it looked like he was floating down rather than falling.

As he landed and looked at the destruction he had caused, Leo nodded with satisfaction. He also noticed that the Golems weren't reforming this time.

"So there was a limit to how much damage they could take before being completely destroyed." Leo pointed out as he looked at Connor.

"Of course there's a limit, it would be ridiculous if there wasn't. Besides, after a certain point it's easier to make a new Golem rather than fix the old one." Connor replied.

"That black Golem you've got over there, I'm assuming it's stronger than the others?" Leo asked.

"Correct."

"Well, let's see how much stronger it is then."

[Wind Blade]

The Wind Blade flew towards the Golem just like the last time and impacted its mid section horizontally. A small smile appeared on Leo's face.

There was a cut in the stone around 30 centimeters deep, about one third of the way through the entire Golem. 'This one is much tougher than the others... Good.'

[Fire Bolt]

The fire slammed into the Golems chest and a small explosion engulfed its torso and head. Once again, the damage was far less than the previous time, with only a small crater the size of a fist appearing at the point of impact with some slight cracks spreading a few centimeters.

Withing a few seconds all the damage Leo had inflicted was repaired. "My turn." Connor said and the Golem ran towards Leo.

Although it was the same size as the other Golems, this one was capable of moving at seemingly double the speed. 'Its almost as fast as I am.' Leo thought as the Golem approached him.

The Golem arrived in front of Leo and tried to slam its fist down on top of him. Instantly, Leo was able to tell that this attack was much stronger than anything the other Golems had produced.

Wanting to test his own capabilities some more, Leo lifted his arm and attempted to catch the attack like he did earlier.

[Absorb]

[Redirect]

The fist slammed down on his open hand and although it was definently stronger, Leo was still able to handle it.

As he caught the Golems fist, there was a sudden discharge of force around Leo's body that caused a gust of wind to spread around him.

Absorb and Redirect both work off of percentage. When combined the two skills are able to remove 40% of the force from an attack.

Because they remove a percentage of the force, rather than a fixed amount, the difference in power is less significant because the amount of force removed is also higher.

After catching the Golems fist, Leo pulled his arm back and prepared to throw a punch with some Energy behind it.

"I had a feeling you'd repeat the same attack." Connor said with a smile.

The Golem twisted it's hand and grabbed onto the arm Leo was using to hold back it's fist. It lifted Leo into the air and slammed him back into the ground.

[Absorb]

[Redirect]

The Golem slammed Leo into the ground hard, causing dust to burst into the air and surround them. Once the dust cleared Leo was already standing back up and there was a small crater in the ground beneath him with cracks spreading across the floor for a few meters.

[-10 Health]

'I lost 10 health from that attack, even after I used Absorb and Redirect. Without diminishing the force with my skills, it would only take a few hits to kill me. It's strong.' Leo thought, impressed by the Golems strength.

'I thought I wouldn't get the chance to use this one. Let's see how much of a difference it makes.' Leo lifted his hand and directed it towards the Golem.

Connor saw this and with genuine confusion he asked "What are you doing, you've already seen that the wind and fire attacks can't destroy it."

"This one's a little different." Leo replied.

[Wind Blade]

[Combine]

[Wind Bullet + Fire Ball]

The Wind Blade appeared and flew towards the Golem with something else following just behind it. A small burst of wind the size of a finger with a red ball of fire inside of it.

The Wind Blade did the same as last time, cutting about one third of the way through the Golem. The Wind Bullet followed right behind it, going straight into the same cut that had just been made, making a hole that went further inside the Golem.

"I win." Leo said, releasing the bubble of Energy he had placed around the Fire Ball to keep it contained.

A massive explosion erupted with the Golem at its center. The radius of the explosion seemed to be less than the last one and the amount of heat that was felt by the spectators was less as well.

In the place where the Golem had been standing a moment ago, there was now nothing. Connor let out a sigh "I concede."

"General Rune wins!" Leonard announced.

? "The General is so strong!"

"How can he do so many different things?"

"Who cares, he's on our side and that's all that matters!"

"It makes sense why he was chosen to lead us if he's this powerful!"

Dozens upon dozens of Infernai shouted out their praises and questions as they applauded the spectacular fight they had just witnessed.

Connor walked up to Leo "So, how did I do? You didn't tell me the conditions of the test, only that we had to duel. I have no idea if I've fulfilled your requirements or not..."

"Hmm? Oh, you don't have to worry about that. I just wanted to test your ability myself." Leo said with a satisfied smile. "I got to test out my new attacks too, so I got a lot from this fight."

"That's good... I guess. I mostly realized that I'm nowhere near as strong as you are right now. That doesn't mean I'll always be weaker than you though, one day I will beat you in a fight." Connor said with a confident smile.

"You didn't give up once you realized your Golems couldn't beat me and even now you're still not moping around and blaming your loss on other things, instead you're already planning on improving so you can defeat me next time. I like how you've handled yourself today, Connor."

" Wait, does that mean...? "

"Yes." Leo took a step back and raised his hand, signaling for everyone to quiet down.

"This duel was the last test for Connor. Thanks to his performance I'm now sure of my decision. Connor Leary is being promoted into the rank of Captain!" Leo announced.