The Extra's Reincarnation-Chapter 161: Seismic Fortitude

Uzan's eyes widened at the sight of Julian's crimson eyes.

"Enough games," Uzan growled, slamming his foot down with tremendous force.

The arena floor fractured beneath him as three massive earth pillars erupted from the ground, each one as thick as a tree trunk.

With a roar, Uzan kicked them in rapid succession, sending the stone columns hurtling toward Julian like battering rams.

"Let's see how serious you can be!" Uzan shouted, his voice echoing throughout the arena.

Julian didn't flinch. With his enhanced perception, the flying pillars appeared to move in slow motion.

He analyzed their trajectory, mass, and velocity in an instant, his mind calculating the precise force needed to counter them.

-Is he not planning on dodging them?!

-That first years insane.

-There's no way he's doing that…

The crowd gasped as Julian rushed directly toward the incoming projectiles instead of dodging.

BOOM!

He met the first pillar head-on, his fist connecting with the solid stone.

What should have been suicide became a display of raw power as the pillar shattered into fragments.

Without pausing, Julian pivoted and struck the second pillar with his opposite hand, obliterating it just as thoroughly.

The third he met with a devastating kick that reduced it to rubble.

"Impossible!" someone shouted from the stands.

Julian didn't stop. In the blink of an eye, he vanished from where he stood, leaving only a gust of displaced air.

"…!"

The entire arena fell silent as everyone, including Uzan, tried to track his movement.

Whoosh!

Too late, Uzan sensed a presence to his right.

Before he could turn, Julian appeared beside him, leg already swinging in a devastating arc.

CRACK…CRACK…CRACK…

Soul energy crackled along Julian's limb, manifesting as lightning that wrapped around his calf and foot.

"Wha—"

BAMMM!!

Julian's foot connected with the side of Uzan's head, unleashing a blinding flash of lightning.

The impact sent Uzan flying, his massive body crashing into the ground with enough force to create a small crater.

The crowd erupted like crazy. No one had ever seen Uzan Modan Jr. knocked down—not in any sparring match, not in any tournament.

Uzan's instincts took over before his conscious mind could process what had happened.

As he hit the ground, he immediately slammed his palm against the floor, channeling a massive surge of earth magic.

"Spell Arts Of Earth: Earthen Dome!"

A protective dome of stone and soil erupted around him, encasing him completely just as Julian landed where he had been lying a split second before.

Inside his earthen shelter, Uzan wiped blood from the corner of his mouth, his eyes wide with disbelief.

"What the hell was that?" he muttered, touching the side of his head where Julian's kick had connected.

Uzan caught his breath and channeled his mana to recover from Julian's devastating kick.

The side of his face throbbed with pain, a sensation almost foreign to him after years of battles where opponents could barely scratch him.

"Just need a moment," he muttered, feeling his natural regeneration beginning to work.

"Then I'll—"

A high-pitched whine cut through his thoughts, followed by a blinding blue light that pierced the darkness of his shelter.

Uzan's eyes widened as he realized what was happening.

"No—"

BOOOOM!

A massive beam of concentrated mana tore through his protective dome like paper, punching through the reinforced earth and striking him directly in the chest.

The energy burned through his defenses, sending waves of searing pain across his torso.

The force lifted his massive frame and hurled him backward through the remains of his own barrier.

Uzan skidded across the arena floor, his body carving a deep furrow in the stone as he struggled to halt his momentum.

Spectators scattered from the lower tiers as he approached the edge of the ring at alarming speed.

'I hope this should be enough…'

Julian landed gracefully on his feet where the dome had been, his hand still smoking from the mana beam he'd just unleashed.

Without hesitation, he dashed forward, closing the distance between them with inhuman speed.

'Too fast!'

With a desperate surge of strength, Uzan dug his fingers into the floor, arresting his slide mere feet from the boundary.

Stone crumbled beneath his grip as he forced himself to a stop.

His chest burned where Julian's attack had connected, the fabric of his uniform scorched away to reveal angry red skin beneath.

"Enough," Uzan growled, pushing himself to his feet.

He turned to face Julian, who was already halfway across the arena.

And in that moment, Uzan finally realized what must be done to to win this fight, he needed to abandon all restraint.

'Father said there'd be no monsters on the Aethel continent,'

Uzan thought bitterly as he braced himself for Julian's approach.

'He was dead wrong.'

The thought of his fathers words reminded him to always be at level with his head.

If someone half his size could match him in strength and surpass him in speed, everything he'd believed about his own superiority might be false.

The comfortable certainty he'd lived with his entire life that his royal bloodline made him exceptional suddenly seemed like a child's naive fantasy.

"No more holding back," Uzan declared, his voice echoing across the silent arena.

He slammed his fists together, and the air around him began to distort with waves of heat and power.

HWAM…

Here at this moment of time.

Uzan Modan Jr. activated his gift.

Seismic Fortitude.

As his skin began to transform.

Small spherical bumps appeared… dozens, then hundreds of them erupted across his exposed flesh, covering his arms, neck, and face in a pattern reminiscent of ancient dwarven armor.

Each sphere pulsed with an inner light, glowing the same deep purple as his soul energy.

"Seismic Fortitude," Julian whispered, recognizing the legendary gift of the Modan bloodline.

The crowd fell into stunned silence as Uzan's transformation continued.

Intricate tattoo-like markings appeared on his skin, forming ancient symbols that seemed to shift and move of their own accord.

These weren't ordinary markings, they were the physical manifestation of a birthright passed down through many generations of Modan rulers.

-This is unexpected, Vykekard's voice echoed in Julian's mind.

-That's a sovereign-class gift and one I'm quite familiar with.

'I know.'

Julian watched in fascination as waves of mana visibly flowed through Uzan's body, healing his injuries and enhancing his already mighty physique.

Muscles swelled beneath his uniform, and the burned skin on his chest began to regenerate before everyone's eyes.

"Seismic Fortitude,"

Drothgar rose from his seat, his expression betraying genuine surprise for the first time.

"I didn't think he'd need to use it in a first-year match."

Uzan flexed his transformed arms, testing the new power flowing through him.

The spherical bumps covering his skin pulsed in rhythmic sequence, storing and channeling energy in ways that defied conventional magic theory.

"My family's gift," Uzan explained, his voice deeper and more resonant than before.

"Passed only to the chosen successor of each generation."

The spherical formations weren't just decorative, they served a specific purpose.

With his Divine Eyes of Convergence, Julian could see the true nature of Uzan's transformation.

Each pulsing sphere on Uzan's skin were functional energy reservoirs, creating a network across his body.

As Julian watched, he saw kinetic energy flowing like liquid light between these spheres, constantly shifting and redistributing.

"I see… your Seismic Fortitude allows you to absorb kinetic energy into those pockets, then redirect it however you want."

Uzan's eyes widened slightly, surprised by Julian's quick analysis.

"You figured that out just by looking?"

"It's only a guess, but it looks like I'm correct."

At this point, the fight was no longer about defending his family name or responding to a challenge.

This was a rare opportunity in itself to see a legendary gift in action.

If he was going to put himself through this pain anyway, he might as well learn something valuable from it.

"In that case," Julian said, settling into a new stance, "let's see what you can really do."

HWAMM…

His hands began to glow with intensified soul energy, the crimson aura around them darkening to a deep blood-red.

This time, Julian wasn't holding back.

He was committing fully to understanding how Uzan's ability functioned under pressure.

"Now you're speaking my language." Uzan grinned.

WHOOOSH!

They charged simultaneously as their bodies blurred with speed.

When their fists connected in the center of the arena, the collision of their soul energies created a shockwave that rippled outward with devastating force.

Windows throughout the arena cracked, and several spectators were knocked backward in their seats.

BOOOOOM!

The impact was tremendous, sending both fighters skidding backward. Neither had given ground, and neither showed any sign of backing down.

Without hesitation, they clashed again.

Julian landed a clean hit to Uzan's sternum, his soul-infused fist driving deep.

But the spheres on Uzan's body glowed brilliantly, absorbing the impact.

In the next instant, Uzan redirected that energy through his elbow, catching Julian in the ribs.

"Gah!" Julian gasped, feeling something crack beneath the blow.

He recovered quickly, launching into a combination of strikes.

BAM! BAM! BAM!

Three rapid punches followed by a spinning kick connected with various points on Uzan's massive frame.

Each impact was absorbed by the pulsing spheres, but Julian noticed that when multiple hits landed in quick succession, the spheres couldn't process the energy fast enough.

"Found your limit,"

Julian said with satisfaction as his seventh punch broke through, connecting directly with Uzan's face.

Uzan grunted in pain but didn't retreat.

Instead, he caught Julian's arm before he could pull back and delivered a devastating counter-punch to Julian's already injured ribs.

"And I've found yours," he replied as Julian staggered backward, momentarily winded.

The two fighters circled each other, both breathing heavily now.

Blood trickled from a cut above Julian's eye, and Uzan's lip was split, leaking a thin line of crimson down his chin.

"You know, in most fights, I'd be looking for a way to end this quickly."

"And in this one?" Uzan asked, rolling his massive shoulders.

"It's obvious, you're strong. Nothing less."

A slow smile spread across Uzan's face.

"Then let's not disappoint each other."