Chapter 121: Lessons from the Shameless Master PT 4

Drenched from head to toe in sweat, chest heaving with every breath, Sera absolutely refused to give up. She swung her weapon relentlessly, turning into a blur of fierce strikes. Yet, her goal wasn’t even to defeat her opponent anymore — she just wanted to land one single hit.

Myra, on the other hand, was practically taking a stroll in the park. She merely swayed from side to side, effortlessly dodging every single one of Sera’s strikes with her hands still resting on her hips, casually letting out an elegant yawn.

Meanwhile, standing safely on the sidelines, Lucian was fighting the absolute hardest battle of his life: trying to hide the massive, greedy grin threatening to split his face in half.

Ding!

[You have gained 12 FP]

[You have gained 10 FP]

[You have gained 8 FP]

’Just as I thought...’ he internally cheered, closing his eyes in pure, unadulterated bliss. Whether it’s practice, combat, or pure hard work... as long as my girls do the heavy lifting, I just get to sit back and reap the free stats.’

After a full hour of non-stop, relentless swinging, Sera had pushed her physical body to its absolute limits.

Wiping a thick bead of sweat from her forehead, she narrowed her eyes, glaring fiercely at Myra’s thoroughly bored, yawning expression.

’Tch... nothing is working. She’s not even flinching, Sera gritted her teeth. Forget holding back now ’I need to unleash more power.’

She closed her eyes, taking a deep breath, trying to steady herself—though zero luck in that.

"Damn it... FINE! Just ONE hit. That’s all I need!"

Focusing every ounce of her remaining inner energy — the very same power she had been relentlessly practicing to control — she channeled it straight into her blade. Suddenly, the air around her cracked. A violently swirling aura of intertwined black and white energy erupted, fully coating her sword in an ominous light.

"Whoa...! Aria breathed, eyes wide as she covered her mouth. Even Elira gawked in quiet surprise at the intensity of the aura.

’That’s quite a pleasant surprise she’s got there,’ Lucian observed. ’Now that I think about it... she’s actually managing to manifest and control her energy without having to draw her own blood first. That’s a massive improvement for her.’

Sensing the sudden spike in mana, Myra’s eyes finally focused just a fraction of an inch.

"An interesting little weapon you’ve got there, kid..." she purred while lifting a single hand and lazily gestured for her to come.

"Come on, then. Show me."

Thoroughly mocked by that boring, dismissive expression, Sera’s blood boiled as she kicked off the ground, lunging forward.

"You better get ready! "I’m hitting you THIS TIME!" Sera roared, swinging her blazing sword down with everything she had.

Yet, Myra didn’t move a single inch from her spot. Her intentions were absolutely clear — she was going to take her strike head-on.

CLANG!

A shockwave blew through the cavern, though there was no sound of flesh tearing or bone breaking.

Instead, Myra had moved her hand.

With nothing but the very tips of two long fingernails, she casually pinched the edge of the flared sword. That black-and-white energy wasn’t even touching Myra’s skin... It was as if some invisible, overwhelming power surrounding her fingertips was automatically deflecting the blade’s intense aura.

Seeing her ultimate strike stopped by literal fingernails, Sera’s eyes widened in absolute shock...

But the shock wasn’t just from the effortless block. Actually, the grip of those two delicate nails was so impossibly tight that Sera couldn’t even pull her sword back, no matter how hard she struggled.

"Oh my... did you really think, honey, that such a flashy little swing would be enough to make me move?"

Myra tilted her head, a dark, shadowed smile creeping onto her lips...

"So... ready for your lesson, sweetie?"

Sera gulped hard as he breath hitched at the same time.

"Oh, Don’t worry, honey, even if a few of your limbs break or get sliced off, I’ll fix them right up as good as new... so now then brace yourself—"

"W-wait, Miss Myra! I didn’t mean toooooo—!"

Mid-sentence, Myra simply flicked her wrist leaving Sera instantly sent flying like a broken ragdoll... shooting straight up toward the towering ceiling. Spinning wildly through the air, she slammed into the hard stone above with a sickening crack echoing from her arm.

Aria screamed in sheer terror.

"SERA!"

Tossing his blazer toward Elira, Lucian was already on the move.

’System, hurry! Buy any skill that can help me jump high...’

[Oh, so now you’re playing the hero? How noble of you...]

’Shut up and show me the damn skill!’

[Yeah, yeah... just so you know, only a Dark Skill can help you right now. But all of them are one-time purchases... you’ll have to buy it again every time you want to use it—]

’Just buy it, damn it!’

[Skill Unlocked: Ebon Exhale]

[Remaining Fate Points: 57,900]

[Effect: Exhale a dense mist of dark energy that completely nullifies the gravitational pull around the user. Duration: Mist can be exhaled for 30 seconds, and the anti-gravity effect will last for 60 seconds.]

Hearing just that, Lucian took a deep breath and immediately exhaled.

A dense, dark purple mist poured out from his mouth and nose, quickly enveloping and coating his entire body in ominous dark energy.

In the next second, his weight felt even lighter than a bird’s feather... The hold of gravity vanished completely.

He was practically swimming through the air... but just floating wasn’t going to be fast enough to catch Sera.

Aiming both his palms downward, he blasted Wind Magic to propel himself higher... shooting into the air like a rocket.

Mid-flight, he twisted his body around.

’Almost there...’

Sera was still completely conscious as she plummeted downwards, accompanied by a shower of falling rock and debris from the ceiling.

One of her arms was bent at a completely unnatural angle...

With a final, focused burst of speed, he closed the distance and tightly wrapped his arms around her waist, catching her mid-air.

"Got you..."

She flinched, slowly opening her tightly shut eyes.

"L-Lucian..."

Just as the thirty seconds were about to run out, Lucian seamlessly opened a portal right there in mid-air and safely teleported them both back down to the ground...