Chapter 177 Steel Sharpens Steel 4
If he could create an avatar, could he not create armor or weaponry using Aura? All of them saw how Hiro would play around with floating knives made of various calibers. Whether because of disposition or some strange coincidence the only one who could follow and mimic him naturally was his sister.
Having greater talent in Caliber manipulation, she could control Spirit constructs without any support. In contrast to Hiro who needed to first create Mana constructs before moving them using Spirit. The rest of them could only create caliber constructs in an extremely limited fashion.
Yet against all preconceived notions, Aurum successfully manifested a 40-meter Caliber Avatar. The line "It only sounds impossible until it's done" cemented the idea he could do it, he just needed to know how.
"Creating another behemoth like the one before is impossible, for now, my biggest issue is the venom these snakes keep spitting on me."
Even as he used [Aura Armor] to protect the spots the venom hit, the fluid naturally dripped and landed on his battle suit, melting it bit by bit. While not materialistic, the vast array of uses of the Battle suits slowly spoiled the San-Baka. None of them wanted to go back to wearing armor.
Aurum who grew extremely partial to them got furious when he saw the new holes appearing on his brand-new suit. "STOP MELTING MY BATTLE SUIT YOU FUCKING PIECE OF SHIT! I JUST GOT THIS LESS THAN A DAY AGO!"
Of course, the Jormungandrs could care less what Aurum was saying. Originally they acted with much bravado using their bodies to block the carriage due to the feeling of superiority over the humans.
However, that arrogance came back to bite one of them as a caliber avatar sliced his neck in two. The other snakes, unsure If the avatar could come out more than once, choose to fight cautiously. They stayed away and dominated the lower species to serve as meat shields for them.
Despite Aurum's best attempts to get close, the large number of meat shields available made reaching the snakes a herculean task. "Guess that really is the best idea." Aurum then used his Aura to create armor pieces around his body that had angled edges. These modifications would direct blades and fluids away instead of allowing them to pool.
As the battlesuit didn't protect his neck and head, his face got melted a couple of times due to the poison. A lesson after much pain, do not forget to protect your face. After his aura constructs fitted his body the weight they granted felt weird.
"Fuck, my balance is all wrong. How do I even move in this." Noticing their opponent having trouble standing upright, the Jormungandrs spat out volley after volley of venom. Aurum counters by creating an angled shield made of pure Aura.
Unlike simply enveloping his body with Aura, these constructs didn't boost his body, but they also didn't break upon impact. They persisted just like actual armor. Aurum now looked like a heavy knight from legends with an energy shield tanking hits from an evil dragon.
Annoyed that their attacks no longer worked, the snakes sent the rest of the fodder to overwhelm the son of Standar. Yet even while being burdened by Aura construct armor, the [Noble Fencer] triumphed. Irritated that this went nowhere the snakes opted to send their long tails to smash the Aurum to dust.
It should be noted that similar to humans the only way for monsters to gain levels was to take life. Thus those who were truly high-level, have very conservative mindsets. The impulsive or arrogant would soon meet its ends once it came face to face with the monsters who could plot and plan. Similar to humans they used logic and weighed risk and reward.
They got came here coerced by a mating call that turned them mindless. The beasts then stayed due to the bait of gaining levels due to the high-level system users present. More than a couple of hours lasted and the prey in their midst didn't get tired at all!
To them, there is no reason to purposely take your opponent at their best, not when you have a ton of body bags you can throw to wear them down. Thus for the last few hours they waited, every time they saw the son of Standar close to death, he would suddenly heal and continue fighting.
Perplexed, the monsters started to doubt if this man was even human. Twenty of them came, but one suddenly died of a human technique of their prey. As no one wanted to be the next one to die, they all waited each other out. But the fodder was starting to thin out, and the reptiles started to get pissed. Just who was this meat bad that they needed to act like cowards?
The highest-leveled one among them threw caution to the wind and charged Aurum intending to bind and crush him in its grip. Unfortunately for him, Aurum expected just that. The man turtled up to force the Jormungandrs to attack him personally. When one did, his blood burned in anticipation.
Aurum may be lacking in some areas but he wasn't stupid. The moment he created the Avatar he checked his status screen and learned he gained a new caliber. Spirit had the general properties of allowing faster movement and speed. He had mediocre AGI compared to Geo and Lars. So how could he use it?
Personalities naturally manifested in combat styles, and inclinations guided how one fought. Aurum's philosophy is one he recently chose. "I will be unstoppable. Like air when I come for you, you will die or let me pass. I will never retreat." Thus with his simple mind, he prepared his first active application of Spirit.
Angry and frustrated a Jormungandr darted its body aiming to sink its fangs into the son of Standar. "Perfect." at that moment, an aura platform appeared on his feet which changed his angle to directly meet the beast.
"SPIRIT BALLISTA FIRE!" upon command a large amount of Spirit nearly 80% of everything Aurum exploded and sent him forward like the fully drawn bow! The son of Standar flew like a crossbow bolt at the sudden acceleration. The speed defied all common sense due to the Spirit being repeatedly compressed like a spring. The moment it was allowed to move the blond warrior got smashed like a bullet out of a gun barrel.
Unable to change its trajectory the Jormungandr knew running was no longer an option. It coiled its body to grant more power to its strike, but the heavy knight slammed into its mouth like a brick on glass. Despite its scales being capable of resisting any attack below rank S, the human aimed for the vulnerable insides of its mouth.
When Aurum entered the insides of the snake's mouth he raised his blade downward and ran with all his might. Due to the momentum of his entry and the weight of his armor, the soft tissue inside the snake's body granted no resistance. Even when the monster clamped its mouth shut its death was already got drawn in stone.
The courage to wait till the right moment strike, the knowledge of the weakness of the snake, and the balls to charge into a high-level beast's mouth. These factors allowed Aurum to battle like a lunatic. Yet the dead Jormungandrs whose body he bisected in two stood testament to the courage of the son of Standar.
When he landed back on the ground the Aurum roared like a lion declaring its majesty. His bellows echoed in the entire battleground he then faced the other snakes and charged towards them. "I AM AURUM STANDAR! DESCENDANT OF THE STRONGEST KNIGHT CAELUM STANDAR! COME!"