CHAPTER 65: DANCING WITH DEATH

ROARR!!!

The out-worlder roared, no longer able to ignore and endure Sean’s consistent lightning strikes.

The out-worlder was clearly one that had basic intelligence. A rare one, and one of the mist dangerous kinds of out-worlders.

In his simulation trainings, Sean had not won a single exchange, against Stage-2 intelligent out-worlders... Those that could use and manipulate the elements too, and now he was openly antagonizing an intelligent Stage-3.

The beast was clearly wary of them... Malek particularly. Before Malek came, it was wary of Victor and that was because it was restricted.

Yet when it was free, it sensed Malek’s presence that made it wary again, one even more suffocating and wrong than Victor’s.

Now, that Sean was going all out, allowing his mana to billow freely, wild and unrestrained, the Stage-3 was even more wary of joining their battles.

But as intelligent as it was, it was still an out-worlder. To Sean, there was no difference between an intelligent out-worlder, and an unintelligent one... safe for their ability to wield elemental affinities, like humans and beasts.

Compared to the Stage-2 beast that Sean had met in the pits... Scratch that... Compared to its Stage-1 pups that had showcased an astounding level of intelligence, communication and strategy, this Stage-3 out-worlder, was dumb as a rock.

Intelligence could not override its natural instincts to attack people. It was staying it’s hand because it was wary, but how long would it remain unresponsive to constant provocation from its natural prey?

Thick bolts of lightning left Sean’s body, slicing through the air and water molecules in the air, following its natural route of less resistance, and striking the behemoth.

Unlike Emma who fine tuned her control of lightning, so much that it became like water in her hands, Sean’s was wild, and untamed.

Lightning in its nature, was wild, direct, rebellious and judgemental... Controlling it required specific requirements to be met.

Trying to fine tune control of it, while it made it more precise, and easier to manipulate, consumed mana at an astronomical rate.

Ironically, letting it run amok, was a waste. What Sean did was find a balance, a balance grounded in practical and common physics.

Lightning, and electric currents in general, followed a path of attractive charges, that provided least resistance. So instead of forcefully trying to rein in the lightning and dictating its path, he manipulated the charges in the air, to direct the path the lightning would pass.

It was a more roundabout method, that required a lot of mental strength and energy to pull off.

It was one thing to force a person down a road, and it was a completely different beast, to continuously arrange the network of different roads, into one that the person would walk through on their own, with smiles and bubbly energy.

It was far more effective than the forceful control that the Crofts and many other fictional lightning users he had read of, used their lightning... but it put the whole load of unnecessary calculation on the user.

But there was a reason Sean was called an academic genius.

The behemoth roared from pain.

It was even made worse that it was in the water, the worst place it could have been, with blood already pooling from its mouth, and it’s skin charred black.

BOOM!!!

The ground splintered as the out-worlder erupted into action, vanishing from its position, and appearing beside Sean, eyes blazing with rage.

BOOMM!!!

The ground cracked open, as the raised paw of the massive bear-like out-worlder, slammed down, intending to crush the puny human.

Both Malek and Victor immediately retreated, their expressions becoming solemn.

Malek felt like giving himself a tight slap. When he told Sean to go all out, he didn’t expect him to bring in the Stage-3.

Fighting a Whitlock... No, trying to kill a Whitlock, and still having to defend against a walking behemoth, was not something he had put into consideration.

Victor landed deftly, his eyes raising up to Sean’s previous position, only to see a streak of blue blitzing towards him from the corner of his eyes.

He turned, and immediately crossed his hand in defense, as Sean’s fist came with a raging force, pushing him back and almost throwing him off his feet.

Sean followed up with a kick, his shin whipping for Victor’s head, when a shadow streaked through the air, faster than he could dodge.

The shadow exploded on his face, at the same time his leg connected with Victor’s head, and the world went black again.

Instantly, the terrifying sensation of being lost and abandoned returned, along with the deafening scream that threatened to turn his brain to mush, the devouring pain from inside his body.

He gritted his teeth, blood dripping from his nose as he powered through it. Unlike the last time when the effects had caught him off guard, this time he was prepared for it.

Even as the panic returned, his heart galloping like a war stallion in his chest, his mind was unmoved, and his will focused.

’It’s fake! It’s all a lie!’ He roared to himself.

He knew deep well, that he truly felt abandoned in a way, but if he had to delusion himself, to push through, then so be it. That he felt lonely and abandoned, did not mean he was abandoned.

He didn’t know how this ability worked, nor how it made any sense. To affect his mind using shadows... For a logical world like this one where everything was grounded in science, it made only a little amount of sense to him.

His death sense pulsed again at the right moment, clearing his head, and warning him of another incoming danger in the form of the out-worlder.

His quads flexed, tension coiling in his tendons like a spring, his calves tensed, and his core tightened.

Like a jumping spider, he erupted from his location, jumping to the side with shocking agility, effectively escaping the wide range of the out-worlder’s massive paw, and at the same time, evading a volley of small weapons from Victor.