Part XIX Selene Greattower

Since his defeat, Lazuro has been training hard. Every time he attends class, he always brings his control ball to practice controlling his mana. After a month, Lazuro finally shows Djuana his results. Impressed, Djuana calls Lazuro to the training room in the middle of the night. Carrying his mythbreaker, Lazuro sneaks out to the main building to meet Djuana. Djuana is seen sitting cross-legged on the arena floor with her eyes closed. Lazuro enters quietly, afraid to disturb Djuana.

"Why are you hesitating? Come here quickly!" Djuana commands.

Lazuro immediately approaches Djuana.

"I've successfully completed my task." Lazuro shows her the red ball.

"Very good, then can you show me when I connect with your mythbreaker?"

Lazuro takes out his mythbreaker and turns the control ball yellow.

"Very good, then I'll teach you how to create a technique." Djuana stands and prepares her mythbreaker.

"What kind of technique is it, a punch or a kick?" Lazuro scratched the back of his head.

“Techniques are divided into two categories: techniques that are innate to the beast's traits, or techniques you create yourself.”

“Traits?”

“Right, you should know that mythbreakers aren't completely inanimate objects. They contain the souls of beasts. If you can unite with those souls, you can gain the abilities of those beasts, which are called traits. My mythbreaker is the wind Byako. My mythbreaker's passive trait is to strengthen my attack thrust,” Djuana explained.

“Passive traits, strengthening thrust—wow, that's really like a game. So how do we find out what our mythbreaker's trait is?” Lazuro seemed interested.

“By meditating with the mythbreaker. Once you've entered the soul space and discovered the full form of your beast, you can unlock the full potential of your mythbreaker,” Djuana explained.

“Full form of the beast. You mean the form of the beast created from our mythbreaker?” Lazuro tried to guess.

“Right, mine is the white tiger.”

“Ah, I’ve met a green-haired girl a few times when I was near death.” Lazuro held his chin and raised an eyebrow. “Ah, I’ve met her in my dreams.”

“A girl—that’s really strange. Did she have a scary face?” Djuana asked.

“She’s just a normal, pretty little girl. She’s not scary at all,” Lazuro replied.

“I shouldn’t be surprised to see that your mythbreaker is also very strange. If you can meet that girl, you should ask about your mythbreaker’s abilities or the beast’s innate technique.”

“So I have to meditate first.” Lazuro held his chin again.

“No need, now we’ll create a new technique for you. Since you don’t seem to have an attribute, you can create a shaping technique.”

“A shaping technique?” Lazuro tilted his head.

"That's right. By gathering energy and shaping it, you can create various attacks. It's like a simple slash with your sword. When you perform an energy slash, you subconsciously gather mana and then create the shape of the slash. If you can do that, you can create your own original technique."

Djuana formed a small tiger in her hand and aimed it at the wall. The tiger leaped over the wall, and a huge explosion followed.

"Amazing." Lazuro's eyes widened.

"Try it, Lazuro. You'll need this for the match," Djuana said.

"A match?" Lazuro asked.

"Ah, of course you don't know, because this news will be relayed to the first years tomorrow."

"The hunt will be held in a month, and the annual tournament will be held. Students from the same year will have a practice match using an elimination system. This practice match will determine the hunt positions."

"Hunting positions?" Lazuro was curious.

"For the first hunt, the first-years will be in a group with the second- and third-years. The groups will be determined based on the rankings in the upcoming match. Those who finish first will be able to choose a hunting spot. You should know that some hunting spots are dangerous but offer high rewards. Therefore, this will likely be a crucial moment for the first-years."

"I see, then I'll give it a try. Something I want to shape, huh?" Lazuro looked up at the ceiling.

Having made his decision, Lazuro stretched his arms, visualizing a shape in his head. A ball of energy formed in Lazuro's hands, slowly morphing into a shape and growing larger.

"Son, try your mana dick." Djuana looked worried.

"I tried, but it's getting bigger." Lazuro raised his hands as the energy in his hands grew larger.

"Remember your training with the control ball? Then apply it to controlling your mana!" Djuana ordered.

Lazuro strained as he watched the energy in his hands grow irregularly shaped and larger. Miraculously, the energy finally stopped growing.

"Mrs. Djuana, what should I do with this energy?" Lazuro asked with a worried expression.

"Of course it has to be released. But if you release it now, the entire main building here could be destroyed. Then throw it at me!" Djuana ordered.

"Are you sure?" Lazuro swallowed.

Djuana spread her arms wide to signal her readiness. Left with no other choice, Lazuro threw a ball of energy at her. Djuana accepted Lazuro's energy and created a spherical wind shield to contain it. Djuana shouted, trying to make the windball containing Lazuro's energy shrink. Slowly but surely, the ball Djuana created grew smaller, now only the size of a marble. Djuana quickly exited the building and threw the small ball in her hand into the sky. A loud bang rang out, and with it, Djuana ordered Lazuro to return to his room.

***

The next day, all students received an announcement about the first-year hunt. First- through third-year students would be grouped together based on their combat rankings. Students were asked to check the names of their opponents for the fight. After the announcement, Lazuro checked his first opponent. To his surprise, he learned that his first opponent was Selene.

"Looks like you'll be fighting Selene. Don't lose, and meet me in the finals," Tristan said.

That day, the first match officially began. One by one, the students competed, frustrated with losing, as they were destined for a weak team. Finally, after five matches, it was Lazuro's turn to step onto the stage with Selene.

"Finally, we face the person who's always clinging to Lord Tristan." Selene pointed her sword at Lazuro.

"Clinging to Tristan? He's my friend. It's only natural we're close," Lazuro said.

"Friend, someone with no background like you wants to be friends with Lord Tristan? You should know better. Besides being a noble, Lord Tristan is the heir to the Flambreaker. He will bring humanity freedom and rule the underworld of beasts."

Everyone seemed impatient with Selene's ramblings. They all shouted, hoping Selene would hurry up and start the fight. Annoyed, Selene stopped talking and charged forward with her shield held out in front of her. Lazuro met Selene's shield with his sword. Lazuro realized Selene's strength was so great that he was dragged backward.

"So strong!"

Lazuro looked back and realized Selene's intention to push him out of the arena. He tightened his grip to prevent himself from being dragged further out of the arena. However, it was all in vain, as Selene's strength was much greater. This left Lazuro in a corner of the arena, waiting to be pushed back. With one powerful thrust, Selene pushed him away. Lazuro, unwilling to give up, used his energy to tilt his sword and then push himself to the side. Lazuro fell, rolling to the ground. Lazuro got up to see Selene, who hadn't fallen despite her forceful push.

"Why are you looking at me like that? Did you think I'd fall that easily?" Selene grinned.

"It looks like she twisted her body, then pushed herself back to the center of the arena with her feet. She's a very strong girl." Lazuro swallowed.

"If you think a fight like this will favor the attacker, you're wrong. We in the front row are trained to be very resilient."

Selene lunged once more at Lazuro. This time, Lazuro wasn't fooled. He dodged to the side and delivered an energy slash at Selene. Lazuro's energy slash flew.

Selene lunged at Lazuro once more. This time, Lazuro wasn't fooled. He dodged to the side and delivered an energy slash at Selene. Lazuro's energy slash flew, hitting Selene's shield, but it didn't do anything.

"Damn!" Lazuro grumbled.

Selene charged forward once more, thrusting her shield forward. Lazuro dodged to the right, but Selene made an unexpected move, throwing aside her shield and using the sword in her right hand to slash. Selene's slash cut Lazuro's chest, though not deeply.

"Damn, don't I have a way to defeat her?" Lazuro readied himself again.

This time, Lazuro charged forward, but he moved sideways to find an opening. Lazuro tried to attack with energy slashes. However, all of Lazuro's attacks were deflected by Selene.

"This girl's weakness lies in her back. But my speed isn't as fast as Julian's or Mrs. Djuana's. So it'll be very difficult to launch a surprise attack that targets that weak point. Then I'll try this."

Lazuro increased his speed by jumping. Like a frog, Lazuro used the footholds in the arena to jump and approach Selene, causing numerous cracks in the arena in the process. Unfortunately, all of Lazuro's attacks were still too slow for Selene to block every slash he delivered as they approached. An impatient Selene planted her shield in the ground.

"Lava form, Heat Wave."

The front of Selene's shield opened into four sections, revealing a blood-red crystal nestled in the center of the eye motif. A wave of heat surged out, sending Lazuro flying, nearly out of the arena. Lazuro tried to defend himself with his sword, but the heat forced him to close his eyes. That's when Selene lunged at Lazuro with her red shield.