"You did it again," Vlad looked at Arad with a giggle, "What's that steam for?"
Arad took a deep breath, taking a stance with a clenched fist pulled to the back. The muscles on his shoulder and chest expanded as his thighs almost ripped his pants off, "Slowly!" He growled, the knuckles on his fist turning black as they opened to his void, pulling air in at a violent rate.
"GAH!" Vlad gasped, his body getting pulled toward Arad's fist.
CRACK! Vlad plunged his legs into the ground to resist the wind's pull, "What are you up to?"
The wind pull stopped, "Second come the push!" Arad swung his fist forward, unleashing all the air he sucked into his stomach at once. It was akin to a man swallowing air only to burp it back a second later, but at the scale, Arad was doing it through his fist. The result was devastating.
The unleashed air took the form of a thin layer of compressed air flying toward Vlad in the form of a shockwave, blasting him away alongside the buildings around him.
Vlad flew away, "A seventh-tier wind blast? No, that wasn't magic." He burst laughing, "Are you trying to surpass magic itself?"
[Wind Breeze] Is a 0-tier spell that creates a weak breeze. It's a simple spell that's easy to learn and doesn't consume any mana. Anyone can learn it to fan the heat in the summer. But any man can achieve the same effect by fanning his face with his palm alone. No need to resort to magic, and to most, it's only a choice between spending either stamina or mana to achieve the same thing with a different method.
Arad's stomach is a biological function of his body as a void dragon, to him it's like breathing. It doesn't need that much brain power to use, even in his limited state due to the lack of blood going to his brain, it's still perfectly usable. So why won't he use it to achieve effects similar to magic now that he doesn't have the brain power to cast spells?
"Who said that I can't use spells without magic?" Arad stared at Vlad, lifting his arm up. He swung it down, releasing a boulder from his stomach out of his palm and sending it flying toward Vlad at a blinding speed.
Vlad tried to dodge, but he was a bit late, losing his left arm to the flying boulder. "Stone cannon? You keep pulling those things out like they're nothing,"
"Of course they are nothing," Arad said, taking a step toward Vlad with his shoulder muscles growling larger as he got ready to throw another thing out of his stomach, "It wouldn't do to be limited by magic,"
SWOSH! Arad swung his arm, and a long chain emerged from his palm like a whip, wrapping around the building beside Vlad as he dodged it. With one pull, Arad pulled himself toward Vlad at high speed.
Follow on NovᴇlEnglish.nᴇtVlad flapped his wings, flying back and laughing his ass off, "This fighting style,"
Arad swung from one house to another with the chain, pulling a longsword from his stomach and swinging it at Vlad's neck.
"It's just like Alcott," Vlad dodged Arad's attack, pulled a large scythe out of his palms, and swung at Arad.
Arad dodged and swung back at Vlad's left wing, cutting it.
Right before falling, Vlad pointed two fingers at Arad's stomach, "BANG!" A condensed, one-foot diameter ball of blood flew right through Arad's torso, sending him flying back with a trail of blood until he hit the city's wall.
Thud! Vlad landed on his feet, "You're getting faster by the second," He smiled, watching as Arad fell on his knees, his stomach wound healed and he stood once more. SWOSH! A violent gust of steam burst from his back.
"And here it happens again," Vlad stared at him, "What are you doing? Charging a spell? Regenerating your void?"
Arad bent down, took his boots off, and threw his already half-ripped shirt away.
"Did you know," Arad said, "Witches paint their nails and toenails with enchanted ink so they can use them as Arcane focus instead of staves of wands? It allows them to cast spells with their feet,"
"Common knowledge," Vlad replied, "What are you getting at? Your nails aren't pained with anything, you aren't a witch,"
"One of my wives is a witch, and I was wondering what spells could she even use with her feet besides elemental kicks, and it finally dawned on me," Arad stood, extending his arms outward, "What if I did this?" He bent forward, taking a running stance. ^I can release what is in my stomach with any part of my body, not only my hands. That burst of air, what if I did it like this?^
BAM! A shockwave exploded from beneath Arad's soles, sending him flying forward at a blinding speed.
Vlad gasped, lifting his arms in a boxer's guard. CRACK! Arad swung a punch right through Vlad's guard, smacking his face and sending him flying back.
The two of them burst through several buildings before landing in the middle of a tavern.
Vlad opened his eyes as his face healed, sitting up and staring at Arad.
Arad growled, standing up, "Sorry, I don't know how to land," He stood, shaking his head, and took a step aside, grabbing a barrel and sniffing it.
"What are you doing?" Vlad stared at Arad, confused.
"HOO! It's dwarven fire wine, you won't find anything stronger than this available around," Arad lifted the barrel with one hand, gulping it down like it was nothing.
CRACK! Arad dropped the empty barrel, "This bar, I feel like I was here once before," Arad looked around with a smile, "Yeah, it's the one owned by Amber's dad. I've stayed here for a night as we brought Isdis home,"
"What are you babbling around?"
"I'm saying I know who owns it so I can pay him for the barrel," Arad opened his mouth, and a massive burst of fire gushed out.
"You're using magic, fine," Vlad waved his hand. [Dispell magic]
SWOSH! The flame hit Vlad, setting him ablaze. He growled, staring at his hands, "Wait, this isn't magic?""I can separate water from alcohol in my stomach, do you know it can catch fire?" Arad lunged forward with a burst of air from beneath his soles, punching the burning Vlad in the face and sending him flying away.
Arad simply separated the alcohol from the water, concentrating it further in his stomach, and since the dwarven fire wine was already as strong as whisky, it got done in a few seconds. What Arad breathed was alcohol set ablaze by the heat generated from the [Ho-white nova] in his chest.
Vlad gasped. The flame around his body wasn't fading as the alcohol stuck to his skin, then mixed into his wounds, and started acting like fuel.
BAM! BAM! Using the air bursts coming out of his soles, Arad could jump off air. He flew over the building to chase Vlad's burning body. His control was still sloppy as he was just learning to fight with his stomach and without using magic, but it was still enough to disorient the vampire who used sensing magic to predict opponent attacks.
Jumping off the air, Arad flew past Vlad and clenched a fist, punching him again and again, bouncing his left and right as if he were playing catch with himself.
Follow on Novᴇl-Onlinᴇ.cᴏm"I see," Vlad growled, "I shouldn't treat you like any other opponent, you're quite special, not just strong, but a quick adapter that learns and improvises on the fly,"
Clensh! Vlad grabbed Arad by the wrist and punched him in the chest. "Is this how void dragons fight? I never met one before." Vlad smiled as blood gushed out of his skin and diluted the alcohol to stop the flames.
Arad swung his fist at Vlad, but the attack was dodged. He was far smaller than Arad and could wiggle around his fists.
CRACK! Vlad punched Arad once more, "I've changed my mind. I'm not killing you." He punched Arad again, "You're built differently. You must be studied," Vlad screamed, unleashing a barrage of fists toward Arad, pummeling his chest and face.
SWOSH! Another burst of steam gushed out of Arad's back, even larger than anything that came out before. His cooling system was getting closer to perfection, and he'd be able to supply his brain with enough blood to fight at that moment.
"Vampires! Answer my call!" Vlad shouted, and ten vampire lords rushed in, surrounding him and Arad. "Even if I can beat you on my own, I'm not wasting energy or taking any chances. You're too unpredictable to be taken lightly,"
Vlad clenched a fist, "Only blame your talent for your misfortune," He conjured a massive blood blade, "I'll cut him apart, and you lots take those parts and stay a kilometer away from each other. Don't let him regenerate,"
VOM! Arad suddenly swung his arm at Vlad's face, but it got dodged again.
Vlad smiled, only having a faint scratch on his cheek, "I'm watching your every move, you won't hit me ever again,"
As Vlad smiled, his nipples burst into a stream of blood as his eyes saw the shiny little knife poking from Arad's palm.
Arad took the chance and grabbed Vlad by the neck, stabbing him several times with the knife in the face. With each stab, Vlad's nipples re-exploded, opening a massive hole in his chest.
While still grabbing Vlad and stabbing him, Arad flew away using jets of air from his legs and ground his skull on the capital's streets, painting them red.
"Bastard!" Vlad screamed, kicking Arad's jewels at full strength. "Get away from me!" But he quickly gasped, finding Arad unfazed.
"Dalla's slaps hurt more," Arad pinned Vlad to the ground with his foot, ignoring the charging vampires. He lifted his right fist with the exploding nipple knife poking from between his fingers, as well his left open palm.
BA-BA-BAM! Arad unleashed an endless barrage of punches and slaps at the pinned Vlad, sending a shockwave across the ground strong enough to send the vampires around them flying away.