Chapter 214: Conclusion

As a class-associated combat technique for 【Meteor Blade Safari】, 【Gravity Etching】 had become one of Xia Nan's standing items for daily training ever since his promotion.

On one hand, its inherent limit of "3" uses and the special mechanism of recharging once every six hours made training this technique relatively simple.

One only needed to manage the recharge time well and use up the fully charged counts; the efficiency of increasing proficiency was far higher than that of other techniques.

On the other hand, it was also due to the exceptional effects of 【Gravity Etching】.

Compared to techniques like 【Spin Slash】 or 【Tooth Hunt】 that emphasized physical movement and skill, 【Gravity Etching】 was more like an "enchantment."

It condensed pure energy onto the surface of the weapon, providing a single, large burst of damage for an attack.

And more crucially, the type of damage it dealt was "force damage."

A unique, pure, intangible energy directly shaped and guided by magic particles.

It was different from elemental types like "ice" or "fire," physical types like "piercing" or "slashing," or others like "necrotic" or "psychic."

"Force" could be impact or cutting, and it could also be a barrier or shield; it was intangible yet possessed physical substance.

The vast majority of magical creatures in this world, including adventurers who had attained professional levels, possessed a certain degree of resistance to various types of damage.

Even Xia Nan, who had only been promoted for a few months, possessed resistance to "radiant," "fire," "slashing," and "piercing" damage under the support of various feats and equipment.

—The former came from the 【Light-Bather】 feat, while the latter three originated from the "plate-chain composite armor" he wore, forged from Malan patterned steel.

Although each resistance was not high, they accumulated to be enough to offset some damage for him.

The reason why force damage was often prefixed with "noble" in many instances was because:

—In the multiverse, almost no creature was born with resistance or immunity to force damage.

This meant that even ancient dragons, demon lords, or even outer-planar creatures and constructs that could withstand mid-to-high-ring spells with their bare bodies alone,

would have to take the full brunt of the damage if Xia Nan slashed them with a longsword imbued with 【Gravity Etching】.

Of course, exactly how much damage it could cause... was hard to say.

To a certain extent, calling it "true damage" was not an exaggeration.

This was also the most significant and important characteristic of force damage compared to other damage types.

Pure and intangible, stable, versatile, reliable, and possessing near-absolute penetration.

This made 【Gravity Etching】 one of Xia Nan's trump cards.

And at this critical moment in the battle, combined with 【Gravity Control】, it dealt a lethal blow to the enemy.

Hum—

Ochre-red energy erupted violently from the surface of the blade!

First was the left arm of Bo He, which had been severed by the longsword from the upper forearm; the surging, expanding energy was like a bloodthirsty maw filled with sharp teeth, descending fiercely along the direction of the severed arm.

Blood gushed, and the small remaining stump below her elbow was also swallowed by the force energy.

One could almost see the pale bone shards and shriveled flesh at the clean wound exposed to the air.

At the same time, the ochre force energy also spread and covered Bo He's chest.

The jet-black mane, which had been scorched by the raging flames of the fire oil bomb, was instantly devoured; the skin, tougher than tree bark, offered no resistance, turning into minced meat and splashing outward.

Muscles, bones, and even the faint outline of internal organs beneath the chest diaphragm could be seen.

The force energy then receded silently.

"It's a heavy injury!"

"But it's still a bit short of ending the battle."

Xia Nan gripped the sword hilt tightly, observing the opponent's movements while his peripheral vision swept over the wounds he had caused.

Thoughts raced through his mind.

Not giving the opponent a chance to catch her breath, his left leg, which had just landed on the ground amidst the wolf howls, stomped forward again, his waist and abdomen, along with his arm, exerting further force.

The sword tip, flashing with a sharp, cold glint in the night, was thrust toward the enemy's vital chest cavity, now devoid of fur protection.

Suddenly, a sharp sound of something tearing through the air reached his ears, and a streak of jet-black flashed past his side.

His heart turned solemn.

If he continued to thrust this sword, the Bearman before him might not die but would likely be left with only half a breath, but at the same time, his own head would be struck by the opponent's claws.

Trading his life for damage was clearly not worth it.

His arm immediately retracted, and using the momentum of the forward charge, he bent his knees and shrank his body downward!

Whoosh—

Carrying a gust of wind, a chilling coldness grazed over the top of his head.

And Bo He in front had already taken the opportunity to retreat two steps.

Holding onto the idea of maximizing gains, Xia Nan twisted his wrist, shifted the blade horizontally, changing the thrust into a slash; as he exerted force, an iron-grey arc of light spilled out alongside scarlet blood in front of Bo He.

On her upper body, near the neck, another blood-drenched wound was added.

A touch and then separation.

His physical fitness, far exceeding that of ordinary people, and the attack speed that came with it, meant that this series of seemingly complex maneuvers happened in the blink of an eye.

Standing from a distance, what one saw was Xia Nan riding the wolf-head phantom approaching rapidly, while the Bearman's body paused slightly in place.

The next second, the severed arm flew high into the air, and an ochre-red light flashed past.

The wolf-head phantom had not yet dissipated, leaving only a perfect arc of light, while the hulking figure had already retreated rapidly amidst the spraying blood.

Not until the heavily injured and broken Bearman stood still did the sharp-spirited, black-haired youth turn his body back after the technique, gripping his longsword in a defensive stance.

Only then did the half-severed forearm land leisurely on the ground under the moonlight.

"Huff... huff..."

Xia Nan panted, his jet-black eyes reflecting the lithe and hulking figure of the Bearman ahead, his gaze sweeping rapidly over the stump of her arm and the wound on her chest.

Another round of confrontation; thanks to the surprise of 【Gravity Control】 and the force damage of 【Gravity Etching】, he had made good progress.

Although he failed to win with one strike using his trump card as expected, he had caused considerable damage to the opponent, putting her in a heavily injured state.

Xia Nan could feel that the scales of victory were tilting toward him.

Having lost half an arm and being severely injured, Bo He could naturally no longer display the same intensity as before.

For the next part, as long as he maintained mobility using 【Tooth Hunt】 while being careful of the surrounding thorns and the siege of the beast herd, he would always find an opportunity to get close again and use 【Gravity Etching】, which still had two uses left for the day, to let the force energy... take the opponent's head.

Xia Nan pondered in his heart, but his gaze suddenly paused.

"Huh?"

He saw that Bo He, who was heavily injured ahead, not only showed no signs of decline but instead roared, her momentum climbing steadily.

The intense pain and the smell of blood filling the air made her beastly nature, which had long since taken over her body, become increasingly feral.

Her muscles swelled and bulged, even the thick, tough skin was stretched and cracked, seeping blood; her already hulking body grew even larger and longer, and the shadow cast on the ground looked like a twisted monster.

Even the beast herds on both sides felt the manic aura in the air, howling and roaring amidst the thorns that made the ground heave like waves.

And what was most suffocating was the water-drop-shaped earring hanging from her left ear, swaying gently amidst the roars.

A verdant light, filled with the aura of life, was rippling slightly in the air with it as the center.

Those gentle halos seemed to be able to detect the wearer's injuries; the emerald light spots were like tiny fireflies, swaying their bodies and gathering on the wounds on Bo He's left arm and chest.

On both sides of the blood-drenched wounds caused by the force energy impact and cutting, granulation tissue squirmed and proliferated, like tiny synapses, combining and merging with each other under the emerald light.

Visibly, the wounds were recovering rapidly.

The severed limb might not be able to regenerate, but the life force lost with the blood was being replenished to the body at an abnormal speed.

Xia Nan could clearly feel the Bearman's rapidly rising stamina.

He was anxious. The original plan was instantly disrupted, and his brain raced.

Undoubtedly, the pendant hanging from Bo He's earlobe, the magical accessory that Kashi and Weiruisi were tracking, possessed some kind of healing ability.

Xia Nan didn't know how many times this effect could be used, but what he did know was—

He absolutely could not just stand by and watch the enemy's injuries recover.

He had to do something!

Roar—

The wolf-head phantom, which had not yet fully dissipated after the impact, condensed again, rolling up the broken branches, leaves, dust, and gravel on the ground, roaring toward the hulking figure shrouded in green light ahead.

Approaching Lv4, the damage attached to 【Tooth Hunt】 itself during the impact tore the thorns under his feet, devouring them to become part of the wolf-head phantom's swaying mane.

And those sharp, blade-like gusts of wind also blocked the beast herd gathering around.

The barrier of space was crossed in an instant, and 【Gravity Control】 was activated to the maximum extent he could currently exert.

Like two invisible limbs reaching out from deep underground, they tightly bound the feet of the beast-kin before him.

Once again covered in red light, the decapitation longsword, under the powerful impact force carried by 【Tooth Hunt】, thrust straight toward the beast-kin's heart.

Sss—

A momentary resistance came from the sword tip; it was the unique tactile sensation of a metal sharp weapon piercing flesh.

"Success?"

Xia Nan felt surprised in his heart; 【Gravity Etching】 had been activated in an instant.

Hum-boom—

The ochre-red light cluster swallowed the beast-kin, along with most of her chest including her heart, in an instant.

He could even see the dimly lit shrubbery on the other side through the wound.

Surprised, his perception ability, as high as 10 points, quietly took effect, noticing something strange.

"Something's wrong!"

Xia Nan turned around instantly, his decapitation longsword already blocking in front of him.

And at the same time, along with the hulking body that he had blasted through the chest with 【Gravity Etching】, it turned into a crude dummy woven from thorn vines.

Bo He's true body also quietly emerged from the shadows behind his blind spot.

The only remaining right claw flashed with a lethal cold light in the air, swinging straight toward the back of his head.

Fortunately, Xia Nan reacted in time, turning back to block with his longsword, causing the claws that should have pierced his skull to collide violently with the sword body, failing to hit the vital point directly.

"Clang!"

Sparks flew!

Xia Nan only felt a massive force lifting him backward along the sword hilt, and at the same time, intense pain surged from his right hand.

The beast-kin Bearman was already much stronger than him in pure strength, and coupled with his hasty turn, his legs couldn't stand firmly, lacking sufficient force.

This caused his hands to go nearly limp under this blow, the longsword blocking in front of him tilted slightly, and the claws landing on the blade slid along the sword body.

The three protruding claws left three blood-drenched wounds on Xia Nan's right arm.

And immediately following that, under the influence of strong force, pain, and numbness,

the heavy decapitation longsword was also knocked high up, causing his entire center of gravity to shift upward.

He felt that something was wrong.

Under normal circumstances, no adventurer would dare to abandon their weapon in such an intense battle.

But his innate combat instinct told Xia Nan at this moment that if he let this situation continue, his arms moving upward with the longsword would only cause him to lose the ability to act in a short time.

Even if he forcibly exerted force to grip the longsword again, this short gap equivalent to a stiff state would be enough for the enemy's claws to pierce his chest.

Decisive!

A flash of determination crossed Xia Nan's jet-black, sharp eyes.

His hands loosened accordingly.

The iron-grey longsword that had been held in his hand flew out directly, stabbing into the ground not far away.

At the same time, his still-intact left hand reached behind his head, and the wooden sword 【Pine-Green】 was already unsheathed.

The battle entered a white-hot stage; the extremely high action rate left no time for him to think.

Following his combat instinct, Xia Nan not only did not retreat but instead headed straight toward the hulking figure ahead.

Hum—

Accompanied by a short, dense whistling sound, the black-brown wooden sword drew an arc like a crescent moon in the air.

While forcing the pressing beast-kin back half a step, he also adjusted his steps and arrived at the opponent's side.

Simple and unadorned, he thrust the wooden sword with one hand toward the Bearman's vital neck.

Feeling the threat, the beast-kin naturally could not let Xia Nan attack like this.

An arm thicker than an adult's thigh swung fiercely toward his chest.

Yet unexpectedly, facing this blow capable of piercing gold and stone, Xia Nan did not dodge or evade, but took another step forward.

His spirit was highly concentrated, and a grey light flashed in the depths of his eyes.

Just as those claws were about to touch his body...

His legs suddenly exerted force, his body tilted slightly to minimize damage, and at the same time, both feet left the ground, and he jumped up slightly.

The next second, those jet-black claws landed on his chest.

Sizzle—

The plate-chain composite armor protected his chest, and the grey-black matte iron surface was instantly scratched with five deep claw marks.

The wooden sword slipped from his hand, and Xia Nan was sent flying by the momentum.

The massive force surging from his chest made his eyes go black, but at this moment, his heart was strangely calm.

There was no panic at all.

He was just following the crazy plan formulated by his combat instinct in the haste just now.

Fully focused, his perception and mental power were exerted to the limit at this moment.

【Tidal Shaping】... 【Gravity Control】!

The air around his body suddenly became as stagnant as water, and the speed of his backward flight suddenly dropped.

An inexplicable gravity emerged from the void in front of him, pulling his body, which was nearly stagnant in the air, forward fiercely.

And the direction... was exactly behind the Bearman, who hadn't had time to retract her force after the attack.

With the help of this tightrope-walking, thrilling operation, Xia Nan gained a precious opportunity in the enemy's blind spot.

Both weapons were no longer in his hands, and there was no time to draw the short dagger at his waist.

He just held his fist high and tight under the pull of gravity.

The next second, symbolizing the last 【Gravity Etching】, an ochre-red condensed light burst forth on the surface of his knuckles.

It landed on the back of the beast-kin's head.

Hum-boom—

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 215 =====