Chapter 149: Training I.
Most humans absorb energy quite simply; there are only a few special individuals. But for some races, their ability to absorb energy must be called a natural disaster; once a battle takes place, it can turn an entire vast region into a barren wasteland, even a small nation. So that is also a part of the reason for not allowing creatures of different species into the territories of other species.
Species such as Vampires, Demons, Angels, Elementals... they all have that capability. And the people in the group usually did not use it, because from the beginning until now, they have all been short battles that did not exhaust too much energy, so there was no rush to absorb. Not to mention the battles they faced were often skewed in power, so either they ended quickly or they were ended quickly by the opponent.
Aoto, as a mature Elemental, can already absorb, and Airi has also been able to for a long time. But she is still not used to it; while practicing the way to absorb during combat for a few days, she then ran away. Elyssia can, but her energy is abundant, so she does not need to absorb.
There are many weaknesses: Elementals must divide their focus to absorb, which is usually quite difficult during battles; Vampires do not absorb simply but must drink the blood of enemies during battles.
Demons use their horns to absorb; although they have the ability to hide their horns, they need to manifest them while absorbing; thus, they become targets for others. But Demons also have a lot of energy, not to mention because of the way they hide their horns and their flexibility, it is also difficult to slash them. Imagine in a battle between a Demon and a person: the person slashes a sword intending to cut the horn, then that Demon hides it, then manifests it again to absorb a tiny bit, repeating like that over and over.
As for Angels, they absorb through their wings, specifically at the base connecting to their back. Here, each wing has an eye used to absorb energy, which no one sees because the feathers of the wing cover it. But that is the absorption point, while in reality, the entire wing is the absorption organ; truly, even if one does not slash the base of the wing, slashing just a bit still causes the Angel injury. Just like a Demon having four horns, slashing a small piece off the tip of one horn also causes it severe injury. But a Demon is severely injured if slashed a bit, whereas an Angel loses a portion of power immediately if slashed a bit.
Although Angels' energy absorption is called mediocre, it still loses to Demons, Vampires, and Elementals; their recovery ability is quite weak, weaker even than Dragons. But in return, their strength is very great and they have many abilities and a few secrets. As for the time Elyssia was cut in half, that was because her reflexes were good; now if an arm were slashed away and she could not find that arm back, at this time her recovery ability would be very slow.
…
Takeshi was standing in the middle of the forest, eyes closed and concentrating; he was probing underground; the large tree foliage made the space below quite dark.
He recalled Mythyr using the earth element; she had created some kind of metal and spun it at an extremely fast speed and launched it at Kazuka, nearly killing him.
-"It's so confusing? Why use the earth element, how could she create metal? Don't tell me she also has the ability to use the metal element?"
-"Impossible, I think not. Surely she has some way."
-"But the earth element can only control earth and stone, and some types of raw metals. It cannot control metal that has been separated from stone. Moreover, I remember she even created it."
-"Previously in the Velmoura library, I researched it. My ability to control the earth element only includes a few types such as: limestone, marble, jade, quartz, diamond. But these are just hard substances; that wasn't diamond either, and to find diamond one must dig extremely deep; my current strength does not allow it yet."
-"Trying to risk it might collapse the large tunnels, or at great depths, I will find it much harder to control; I might be crushed to death down there."
-"But at that time Mythyr truly created that silver-colored double-headed spike, could it be real?"
Takeshi opened his eyes; as he sat down in mid-air, a stone mound rose from the ground and he sat down, his face quite troubled because he couldn't figure it out no matter how much he thought.
-"Ultimately, what method did Mythyr use?"
Suddenly he seemed to realize after thinking aimlessly for a while.
-"Could it be that it actually isn't metal, but just some kind of compound formed, and that power and destructive force are because she spins it at high speed?"
His face clearly showed joy as he slapped his thigh once.
"Yeah, that sounds reasonable."
But then the smile vanished; his face returned to a look of confusion.
-"Knowing that is one thing, but the important thing is to find what those compounds are."
-"I wonder how deep Mythyr is capable of going? I can only go down about 300 tharn; going deeper I risk losing control and being ground into meat down there."
-"It's hard to know how Mythyr does it, but probably try to take the metals that I have up, then do it myself; if it can be improved, that would be great."
But then he froze again when a doubt appeared in his mind.
-"Wait, if standing on top and using power, how can one go too deep? Absurd."
-"So before coming to the fight with Kazuka, Mythyr had prepared beforehand. But why didn't she create those metal spikes from the beginning; why did she need to stand still and waste more time? Difficult, isn't it?"
Takeshi turned deep inside himself. Vermyx was still inside Takeshi's soul. Although the connection would still exist if both died, currently Takeshi's soul held all authority and could torture Vermyx without being connected to the pain. But when he ran out of energy and was in a weakened state, Vermyx might seize his body once again.
Currently, Takeshi had also grown a bit stronger, meaning he could contain more of Vermyx's power, and if he had his body controlled when he was very strong, Vermyx might return to his strongest state. So in the time fighting that young dragon, it was best for Takeshi only to stand on the outside.
"Hey, is there any way to help me?"
Although Takeshi knew that Vermyx would have bad intentions toward him, he couldn't do anything else either; well, just be cheerful then.
Vermyx appeared with a black shadow like a plume of black smoke with no further features.
Seeing Vermyx, he again remembered Maia and Velmuth. Velmuth was the one who implanted this monster into him and nearly caused a major incident, but luckily nothing happened; consider it a blessing in disguise.
That time, indeed, Velmuth precisely on a whim implanted the monster Vermyx into Takeshi. Seeing the group was quite interesting, not to mention multiple races traveling together. Another part was because he was still young at that time, only researching for fun; actually, he wasn't interested. He researched and summoned Vermyx, then wanted to see if it could follow him, but Vermyx was too hard to control; the books said so too. So he had to give up; just then the group discovered his secret place and everything was exposed, so he just temporarily implanted it into Takeshi as an amusement, partly to avoid wasting the long research effort.
Naturally, the group hated Velmuth very much, but at that time Maia was quite strong and they were not her match. But water wears away stone; even in Takeshi's heart, the weight was gradually lightening.
Vermyx's voice was low and echoing, feeling like speaking through a sewer:
"Want to ask me? Are you stupid?"
Takeshi shook his head and shrugged, an expression of helplessness on his face.
"I only asked you because I'm stuck; don't you tell me about your legends and that profound wisdom every night when I sleep? Now that I speak of it, you say no?"
Vermyx gave a cold "hmpf," his voice clearly showing contempt:
"I'm not so idle as to help you. If you get stronger, what happens to me?"
Takeshi rested his hands on his hips, his face changed color, and a cunning and cold look appeared in his eyes. Vermyx also recognized that; he suddenly shuddered.
"Help me, I'll let you control my body for a moment."
The more Vermyx heard, the more he felt he was being provoked, and he roared loudly:
"No way, then you break the deal, then what? Not to mention if you still have strength, then I go out and then have to crawl back in?"
Takeshi's voice was mocking as he smirked:
"So am I as stupid as you to hand over my body when I'm weak? No way."
Being insulted to his face, Vermyx was very angry, but he couldn't do anything. As long as Takeshi still had strength, he still couldn't steal it; it could only be a depletion of energy, strength... generally being weak. But even while sleeping, when the head seemed to stop, he still couldn't manage to seize his body.
"You brat... aaaaaaaaa..."
Takeshi grabbed into the void, a white transparent hand; it was like a copy of Vermyx, but it was his soul; he bent that finger. Takeshi had also researched quite a bit while at the Velmoura library, but there was almost no way. It was unclear how Velmuth put Vermyx into his body, but indeed it could not be found. There might be a way, but a dangerous way, or it must be a way he hadn't found yet, but generally, currently, there was no safe solution.
It hurt so much, Vermyx was forced to give in and hurriedly said loudly:
"Fine, fine, I'll help."
Takeshi smiled triumphantly.
"That's better, wouldn't it have been better if you were a bit more sensible? Making me have to use strong measures."
Takeshi's voice was teasing:
"You're a good boy. Speak it and I'm afraid you won't believe it, but I cherish you the most."
Naturally, this made him even angrier, but he didn't dare roar loudly anymore. Takeshi bending his soul finger was bending the actual soul; if he did it a lot, it could cause the soul to deform and become something terrible.
The soul was quite interesting, being a copy of the body with a white transparent shape, equal in size... But the interesting thing was, no matter how the body was attacked, the soul was not attacked; it was always safe and untouched. But if hit by purifying light or light energy, it could directly damage the soul and, terribly, lead to loss and death.