Chapter Eighty-Seven: An Advanced Martial Master? Part Two

After spewing out a mouthful of flame, Catherine immediately felt much better. The temperature inside her body dropped sharply, and with a flash of joy in her heart, she hurriedly tried to cough out another burst of fire. Sadly, this time not much flame came out at all, only a few scattered sparks. Even so, her body temperature fell rapidly, returning to normal within a few dozen seconds.

The instant her temperature normalized, control of her body returned to Catherine. She sat up, turned her palm upward, and focused her will into the center of her hand. Soon, a tiny red flame took shape in her palm, swaying in the wilderness wind. As she gradually increased her output of energy, the flame grew larger and larger until it became the size of a basketball. Then Catherine hurled it outward with all her strength.

The fireball traced a graceful arc and slammed into the ground dozens of meters away. With a thunderous boom, it blasted a crater about two meters across and half a meter deep into the earth. Seeing this, Catherine did not feel delighted; instead, her brows knitted tightly.

Ling Mo glanced at the crater in the distance and smiled. “So? Anton’s Gift is pretty useful, isn’t it?”

“If you only mean guiding the heat in my body outward and cooling down quickly, then yes, it is quite useful,” Catherine said, praising it at first, but then frowning. “It’s just that the fireball’s power is far too weak. That one blast consumed at least a tenth of my stamina, yet its force still can’t compare with the third-tier fire spell Blazing Bomb. When I was still a high-level mage, casting twenty or thirty Blazing Bombs in a row was nothing.”

She paused, flexed her palm a few times, and sighed again. “And this fireball is extremely inconvenient to control. Since it contains no spiritual power, once it leaves my body, I lose control over it. I can’t turn it, accelerate it, or do anything to it at all. It can only hit whatever it collides with by sheer inertia, and it can’t be detonated in advance either. In plain terms, it’s no different from throwing a rock. Far too impractical.”

“That’s only natural. When you were a mage, there was actually no energy inside your body; you relied on immense spiritual power to command the magical elements in the environment. But this fireball you’re using now consumes your own energy entirely, so of course its power can’t compare to a mage’s fireball.” Ling Mo smiled. “Still, just the ability to help dissipate heat is already excellent, isn’t it? You should know that if, during battle, you consciously use these flames to carry away the heat in your body, then in effect you will already possess the endurance and explosive power of a high-tier martial master while still at the middle-tier martial master stage.”

“I’d already thought of that. It’s just that, well, I suppose I’m a little greedy, always hoping there are other benefits too.” Catherine scratched her hair in distress. “Is it because this is flame granted by an eighth-tier magic beast that my expectations were too high? Fine, just this one ability alone is already amazingly powerful.”

“Mm, having that mindset is naturally a good thing. At your current level, you could be called a ‘pseudo-high-tier martial master,’” Ling Mo said with a relaxed air. “However, Anton’s flame would never be that simple. You’re just using it the wrong way. Now, let those flames envelop your fists, condense without dispersing, and be ready to erupt at any moment. Can you do that?”

“Of course I can. Isn’t that just the method used for the third-tier spell Fire of Sacrifice? I’m familiar with that!” Catherine answered immediately. Narrowing her eyes slightly, dark red flames instantly ignited over her palms and feet. These flames hovered just a little distance above the surface of her skin. Though not particularly fierce, they burned continuously without pause.

From afar, Catherine looked as if she were enveloped in flames, mighty and imposing, her aura extraordinary. In truth, however, she herself was suffering rather bitterly. At such close range, even though the fire did not burn her directly, the heat was intense. On one hand, it continuously drew energy from within her body, lowering her temperature; on the other, the blazing flames kept raising the surrounding temperature. It was practically a world of ice and fire at once.

Catherine looked at Ling Mo with a puzzled expression. She believed her master would not have her do something so pointless. Ling Mo pointed toward a small tree not far away. Catherine thought for a moment, then took a few quick steps to the tree. Raising her right fist, still wrapped in flame, high above her head, she smashed it straight into the center of the trunk.

The slender tree, not even thick enough for one person to encircle with both arms, broke cleanly at the blow. The flames attached to her fist immediately spread along the trunk, crackling and burning. Catherine was exceedingly pleased with her present condition. Her strength was secondary; what mattered most was the terrifying toughness of her body. Even after her fist struck the tree, she felt very little pain.

Just as she was carefully pondering the changes in her body, she suddenly felt a warm current pass through the flames around her, seep through the pores of her skin, and flow directly into her body. Her spirit jolted, and her stamina rose by a small but noticeable amount.

“This... this!” Catherine stared in disbelief at her own palm. Was it an illusion? How could punching actually restore stamina? She quickly swung her left fist as well, smashing it into the remaining trunk. The same warm current appeared once more and flowed back into her body. Though the stamina recovered this time was not as much as with the previous strike, she was now completely certain that this effect truly existed.

Seeing the delighted expression on her face, Ling Mo knew she had already understood. He asked, “If you think the cooling effect isn’t impressive enough, then is this one strong enough for you now?”

“Too strong! Too strong!” Catherine nodded repeatedly. “The flames Anton gave me actually have the ability to recycle energy! That is simply incredible!”

“Of course. For a creature as enormous as Anton, no amount of energy would ever be enough for it to squander. Siphoning energy from the environment is not a long-term solution; the truly terrifying thing is how far it can push the use of its own power to the limit.” Ling Mo said, “Right now, when you throw a punch, the amount of energy recovered is less than a tenth. But Anton, even when unleashing a seventh-tier spell, can recover nearly eighty percent of the energy! After all, it is a tortoise-type species. If you think you can wear it down through sheer numbers, you would be gravely mistaken!”

Eighty percent energy recovery.

Catherine was secretly astounded. She had already imagined an eighth-tier magic beast to be terrifying beyond measure, but she had never expected her imagination to be this lacking. As she was mulling it over in silence, she suddenly heard Ling Mo say offhandedly, “Actually, Anton’s flame has one final use, though it’s a rather optional one.”

“What?”

“Do you remember the Tartan Fire Spirit?”

“Mm, yes. Isn’t that the magic beast that looks like a squirrel?”

“Exactly. Its flame is actually a variant of Anton’s flame. When used to roast magical beasts, it can lock seventy percent of the energy into the meat. Naturally, the original Anton flame has this property as well, and it’s even a bit stronger. It can probably retain about eighty percent of the energy.”

Catherine stared at Ling Mo, who remained as calm and unruffled as ever, and a million curses surged through her mind. Master, who cares about those boring abilities like absorption and heat dissipation? This one is the most important, all right?

Alas, this week I won’t make it onto the featured rankings. Sigh, feeling down.