Reincarnated With The Van Helsing System
Chapter 429.2: Quantity vs quality (part 2)The atmosphere tensed up at the white hill, Skyflame has raised to become well known since his flames evolved, from the basic orange color that fire has to a deep red one, at first people thought he was just playing some tricks to make his fire look more threatening.
The color of an element can be modified with some practice, it's a simple trick that doesn't affect the strength of one's element at all, but there is a second way to make one's element manifest an external change, which is advancing in the comprehension one has over it.
Even here in Neptune where Stellar ranked exist, people have very little knowledge regarding laws, in fact the person that for Daimon seems to have understood how it works the most, isn't even an Arch rank, no, in fact is someone that can't be considered a mage anymore, the teacher of the elite class, Aliya.
If what Daimon supposes is correct, then Aliya's theory "Concept" is the way to use laws to alter one's element, that being said she might be the first that has been able to give form to the idea, but it's not like there aren't people with modified affinities.
There are those who are naturally born with it, Variants like Aura whose element is a mix of lightning and wind, which Daimon baptized as plasma since that's the closest resemble he could find, thanks to the knowledge he has from his previous life.
The little tiger girl Dana whose lightning has substance thanks to a combination of earth element is similar to that, and his black water affinity is also on that category.
Then there are those who learn or create one, his Demon Light and Aisha's Lightning Empress are perfect examples of it, and to his surprise the wings of the Risha sisters are also like that, but in their cases their elements seem to change according to their emotions, it's a vast subject but so far be it by luck or a simple coincidence the principles of Aliya's theory are in line with all the cases Daimon has met.
Skyflame isn't an exception, his flames just became better than the regular ones not too long ago, could be because his lineage concentration increased after advancing to the peak of the Archmage realm, since he is rather young, being below the one hundred years old mark.
But for Daimon, his flames were trash, he had the same trouble than the average native of Neptune, a lager mana reserve was the only thing he had, without that, if his flames were to meet Leslie's in the same realm he will lose.
And he was suppressed to the Early stage of the Lord rank, that's why Daimon easily crushed him.
As angry as Abaris was, he probably noticed it too, that's why he hanged the format of the next fight, from a one exchange duel to a normal fight, because if Purplehaze were to be forced to reduce his realm, he will also lose, in a sense since the moment he asked the conditions to be changed it was already his lose, but right now he didn't care what methods he had to use, he just wished for Daimon to be defeated, if Aurora and Thea weren't watching him like eagles eyeing their prey, he wouldn't have minded using some underhanded methods to interfere with Daimon.
'Little Haze, you must win no matter what, if you defeat that brat then I'll announce your engagement with little Jasmine, I have trained you with the purpose of taking care of her, as the next Shaman, don't disappoint me', Abaris sent a message right to Purplehaze's ears as he saw him getting onto the stage.
Purplehaze could barely contain his excitement, since the moment of his birth he was blessed with talent and status, during his awakening ceremony when he turned five, he was brought to the castle of the main territory of the Elemental Sea, where those with light or darkness affinity gather.
He who never lacked anything, was bewitched by the girl who took the test before of him, her light was the most dazzling and pretty one he has ever seen, and since that moment he decided that he should have her.
Only she was worthy of being his partner, to his luck he not only had darkness affinity but poison affinity which complemented it, and as if the universe was helping him, the most respectable man in the whole Elemental Sea took him as his disciple.
Later he came to know that the girl with which he was infatuated, was actually the princess of the Light Palace, and he who had become the direct disciple of the Shaman was the young master of the Black Fortress and also the young master of the Purple Haze sect.
With this he had everything but then, the day he went and tried to court the girl he liked, he was rejected even before he could do anything, but unlike the others he wasn't stupid, keep pushing it after getting a negative answer will just bring an even bigger negative reaction.
Follow on NovᴇlEnglish.nᴇtInstead of that he kept his distance and waited, he accumulated merits and achievements until no one could be mentioned on the same phrase as him in his native sea, only then he decided to give it a second shot, but he couldn't because Jasmine suddenly returned to Twilight city accompanied by another guy, and not only his master but even his wife who always made sure to keep him in check, seemed to approve of them getting friendlier.
Nothing really happened between them, because he made sure to follow them all the time, but he didn't have a chance to be alone with Jasmine, after that they left to the Mermen Sea and his master was in seclusion to heal, so he was left behind with all this hatred inside.
But once again he endured it and instead put all his energy into training, he had witnessed the strong light element of his love rival, and so he focused on creating something that could crush it, he was decided to prove that only he is worthy to be with her.
And now, Abaris has promised to chose him as Jasmine's partner if he wins this fight, so how could he not be happy, all those years of observing from afar will finally come to an end.
Daimon observed the daydreaming expression on Purplehaze's face and he chuckled, Skyflame was an idiot but he pursued Jasmine like a normal person, at the very least he indeed liked her, but this guy wasn't like that, he only wanted her because she didn't want to be with him, it was a matter of obsession instead of love.
'That's an idiot darkness and poison user for you', thought Daimon.
All the elements have a certain effect on their users, it's not rare for a high ranked mage or knight to lose their mind over a wrong practice, if one's will isn't strong enough one will be consumed by its own powers.
That's why Aisha didn't want Daimon to lose himself in hatred, as a darkness user and a really strong one on that, he could go down the wrong path, but nowadays that wasn't a problem anymore, Erin and the others made sure to keep him balanced, in a sense he was their light and they were his.
This time both Aura and Abaris were the referees, they stood next to each other and they both raised their hands to give the signal, two rays one black and one white were shot from them and the fight officially started.
The very moment the fight started, Purplehaze took some distance from Daimon, as a mage be in close combat with a knight it's a stupid decision, but that isn't everything, he took a deep breath and then shouted.
"Darkness Haze!".
The Shaman and everyone on the side of the Black Fortress were positively surprised to see black and dark purple mana come from all the directions and gather around Purplehaze.
A large black and purple wake formed around him, it was as if the world was helping Purplehaze, since all that mana was surrounding him like a mantle, the sight was amazing, especially because no one had seen something like this happening to any Lord ranked before, for them it was similar to the ability that only very few elites on the peak of the Mortal or even on the Stellar ranks developed, a domain.
For a split of a second, Daimon was also surprised, not because of the mana or anything, but because that was a Manifestation Phenomenon, the trait Lord ranks gained after their advance.
"What do you think, I created this spell only a few days ago, it was for the sake of defeating someone stronger than you, but you can be my guinea pig", he pridefully said.
Daimon could imagine to whom he was referring, unfortunately for him, Adam not only disappeared, but he was stronger than him, and to make things worse, even if he had a Manifestation Phenomenon, he was a noob in what using it regards, to the point that he had to use mana to create it like an active spell, instead of it being summoned just by releasing his Lord ranked aura to the world, like it should be.
On the other hand, Purplehaze's strength did increase a lot, especially because there was a huge mine of darkness mana crystals near them, the black and purple wake thickened and fully covered half of the stage, perfectly hiding Purplehaze from Daimon's eyes.
"Black Fog Demon Claw!", Purplehaze's voice came from the completely dark space in front of Daimon and series of black arms with sharp razor-like claws emerged from it, aiming at Daimon's vitals, chest, neck and head, naturally some also sneaked towards his legs, in case he dodged the first ones.
"Booom!", Daimon didn't move, his body exploded in white flames that reached around five meters above the ground, compared to the half of the stage which was completely flooded in a black wake, it didn't look as amazing.
"Heh, senior brother Purplehaze can control way more energy than that knight, the fight is over…".
The words that the guy who was talking was about to say stuck in his throat as the next scene unfolded in front of everyone, arms and monstrous heads formed of black and purple mana came from Purplehaze's side, the corrosion caused by his poison enhanced darkness mana, made some small black dots appear on the tiles of the stage.
Meaning he was able to corrode a peak Mortal material which made those who supported the Black Fortress cheer and roar, but then their eyes nearly popped out of their sockets when they saw the ground around Daimon distort and then melt.
Not only that but all the attacks of Purplehaze dissolved before they could reach the area five meters around Daimon, he just stood there with a calm expression while white flames enveloped him.
Abaris immediately frowned, his disciple had managed imitate a domain while being in the middle Mortal level, he was ecstatic as he felt the respectful gazes of all his subordinates, the master of such a genius can't be mediocre after all.
But then, the incredibly strong darkness mana of Purplehaze which should be the best among the young generation of the whole Elemental Sea, lost in a direct confrontation against the battle aura of the silver haired masked youth.
He turned to see Aurora who had an "As expected" expression on her face, and he gritted his teeth as he said.
"How many resources and treasures have you given him!", he demanded to know, because in his mind, the only way Daimon was surpassing Purplehaze was because Aurora gave him something, probably the rumored array in the main residence of the Flying Citadel in which he has yet to set a foot by the way, helped too.
Aurora didn't bother to answer, Daimon was the one who explained her about Lord rank traits, how could he not be used to see them, in her eyes, Purplehaze was like a street thug trying to brag about knife skills in front of a professional.
'He is this strong without having reached the "Lord" rank, what will his trait be like when he does it?', she wondered as she was amazed by those white flames of Daimon.
Daimon actually did have a Manifestation Phenomenon which he can use when he is in Core Synchrony state, but… it's a sensible matter, so he has yet to use it, because unlike his public realm which the he can manipulate with the bracelet as he wishes, he can't do the same to it, also the price in mana of keeping a Manifestation Phenomenon increases according to the strength of the latter.
Returning to the fight, from within the dark space, Purplehaze saw his attacks not even reaching Daimon and his expression became twisted, he has crossed sword with Terry once before and in his calculations, this should be enough to force him to use his innate ability, but Daimon wasn't using his.
They thought Daimon's innate ability was a boosting one, like the White's, confusing Core Synchrony as it, since Daimon changed what it looked like for others, to an increase in his knight realm, while in truth it only boosted his mage realm as of current.
'It was Jasmine's grandmother, she prepared this bastard to get in my way!', he inwardly swore, without realizing he was slowly losing control of himself, while being surrounded by all the darkness and poison mana that gathered around him.
But right now, none of that mattered, the only thing in his mind was to defeat the one who was stopping him from having what he wanted.
"Black Fog Disaster!", Purplehaze's scream echoed through the area, then to everyone's surprise he actually called more darkness and poison mana from the atmosphere to his side.
The black space then started twisting and distorting as it expanded, countless of black hands came out of it, it was a sight taken out of a nightmare, unfortunately no matter how many hands tried to reach him, all were dissipated the moment they approached exactly five meters from Daimon.
Follow on Novᴇl-Onlinᴇ.cᴏm'That's enough, it's good to see that the natives of Neptune can get a Manifestation Phenomenon, what a shame this way rushed it and he is now stuck in this incomplete state forever', he concluded.
The entirety of Daimon's battle aura and three-quarter parts of his mana reserves that turned into light and lightning then condensed in his right hand, forming a three-meter white light spear.
"White Heavenly Javelin", with those words, Daimon threw the javelin frontwards, his infinity eyes were able to see through Purplehaze's black space from the very beginning, so he never lost his track.
Though Daimon threw the spear, the truth is that for everyone was as if he shot a laser beam, because they were only able to see a thin white line of light leaving Daimon's hand, at least those below the Arch rank, which is understandable there were forty tons of raw strength behind that throw.
"Aghhhh!", a horrible scream came from inside the black space which cracked and disappeared on the spot.
"Booom!", but right now the attention of the spectators wasn't on the stage, but on the huge explosion of white light that was released behind all the people from the Black Fortress.
Countless of gazes fell on the impact point and they jaws dropped, the white spear clashed against the black bridge which Abaris had created before, and it actually made a small piece of it crack.
"A-Are my eyes deceiving me, a middle Mortal level knight caused damage to something created by Lord Shaman!", exclaimed one of the Hall Masters of the Purple Haze sect, Abaris was the same he was in disbelief over the sight of his mana construction being damaged by Daimon.
The only one who focused on the stage instead was Purplecloud.
"Haze!!!", he shouted like a wounded beast, there was a hole in Purplehaze's chest from which white flames could be seen, Daimon's spear pierced his body and easily continued its way, until it clashed against Abaris's black bridge.
"Like I said, it's a matter of quality not quantity", said Daimon as he walked towards Aurora, ignoring the hatred filled gaze of Abaris, since he practically affirmed that his mana was better than the one of the Shaman so if they were in the same realm he will lose horribly, just like it happened to Purplehaze.
And that hit a sore spot for him, because his whole life he has lost against Vincent, even if their realms are the same.
'First that bastard and now this brat!', he thought as he gritted his teeth.
Aurora on the other hand received Daimon with a smile, while the girls clapped, in fact all the people from the Light Palace cheered him, because he is a light affinity user, meaning he is one of them, so how could they not be happy when he destroyed the best darkness user from the Elemental Sea.
Though their thought was wrong, Demon Light contains darkness mana, so in terms of offensive, Daimon is both the strongest light and darkness affinity user in the Elemental Sea.
"Incredible, he defeated the disciple of the Shaman, no wonder why he was chosen by Lady Aurora to accompany miss Jasmine!".
"Gabriel---Gabriel---Gabriel!!!", the crowd started shouting Daimon's nickname while they roared, the battle was short but they got to see something incredible.
Purplehaze was trembling seeing that the one who beat his son so horribly was being cheered by the people of the Light Palace, but he could only swallow his anger and take his son away with him to cure him.
Naturally he threw the token of his treasury to Aurora because he didn't want to be humiliated like Skyfire, Abaris on the other hand glared at Daimon who was being warmly received by Jasmine and the others and he snorted.
"After he takes his prize, I don't want to see him in my territory Aurora, he is banned from my half of the Elemental Sea!", he said as he turned into a black line of light that shot towards the black castle.
Aurora didn't care about Abaris's petty decision, territory meant nothing in front of the threat that was about to fall upon them, Abaris can go fuck himself for all she cares, the only important thing is that Jasmine is happy and safe.
And now that's what she was looking at, her granddaughter was smiling as she talked with the silver haired youth, which reaffirmed her determination to support Daimon no matter what.