CHAPTER 222: LIGHTNING ARMOUR

Riven rolled backward quick, barely dodging the attack. He pushed off the ground and got on his feet, staggering back a few steps before getting into his stance again, sword gripped with two hands and held in front of him.

"What’s wrong, brother? Are you getting rusty?" Noel asked before dashing forward with a diagonal slash. Riven parried the strike, their swords met for a few seconds before he twisted his sword out and countered.

Noel blocked the attack, stepped back, and allowed Riven’s sword to slide in before moving to finish with an attack, but Riven managed to twist his body and get out of it.

They both leaped backward. Since none of them could get a clean hit with their swords alone, they immediately switched.

Riven’s blade lit on fire, the blue flames covering the sword, and then he realized something, the flames were blue.

"Twilight, the flames are blue’ Riven said to her in his mind.

"Yeah, so? That’s how the flames I gave you are," she said casually.

"No, no, the flames are blue, blue flames for refining metal," he said, and it finally clicked.

"The flames are blue?" she replied in a high pitch. "How did I forget about the fact that my own flame purifies yours to make it blue? We had blue flames all along," she said enthusiastically.

"You seem awfully distracted, bro," Noel said, already in front of Riven, his sword covered in lightning.

"Oh shit," Riven said. He activated Flame Wall at the last moment, the sword stabbed into the wall and a small explosion happened, throwing Riven back. He slammed into the floor, rolled, and finally stopped.

Dirt and grass filled his mouth. He spat it out and got on his feet. He got into his stance.

"We will talk about the flames later, Twilight. For now, let’s handle my brother," he said and lunged forward.

"Not letting you get close," Noel said. He channeled his mana into his sword and attacked with a full slash. The lightning arc cut through the air, moving extremely fast.

Riven used another Flame Wall, blocking the attack, then dashed forward. He leaped into the air and pointed his sword down.

"Flame Blast," he called out. The attack fired out. Noel reacted fast and rushed out of the way. The attack slammed into the ground and exploded.

Riven landed on the ground and ran forward. Noel also dashed forward. They met midway, Riven swinging from up to down, and Noel slashed downward.

Clang.

They clashed and pushed themselves back, lightning and flames exploding in all directions. They continued into a flurry of attacks, each one causing flames and lightning to scatter around, setting grass ablaze.

They finally pushed themselves back, breathing hard and heavy. A smile was pasted on Riven’s face. He lunged forward at full speed and thrust his blade. Noel parried it, grabbed Riven’s arm, and used the momentum to throw him.

Riven flipped and landed on his feet, then used Flame Blast. Noel turned and blocked the attack with his sword. He was thrown back with force and slammed into the ground.

Riven thought for sure that he had won the battle. Even if Noel blocked it, the explosion was too much for him to recover from immediately.

But to his surprise, Noel got on his feet, his entire body covered in lightning. He cracked his neck slowly, and the lightning died down.

"What the hell?" Riven asked.

"Damn, I didn’t think that would work. I’ve only used that once before," Noel said.

"What the hell is it?" Riven asked.

"Hehe, it’s my Lightning Armor. I have been working on it for a month. I got the idea from a spell and forced myself to change it.

It creates a lightning armor around my body by pouring out lightning through every pore on my body," Noel explained.

"What the hell? That sounds painful and near impossible," Riven said.

"Painful, yes, but only at the beginning. I couldn’t get the lightning out with precision, but after learning smoother mana control I was able to finally execute it.

Honestly, the risk of learning it wasn’t worth it, but I realized that lightning battle mages don’t have defenses, just attack and speed. I wanted to change that," Noel said.

’So this is what true talent and genius looks like. He learned something that sophisticated in a month. His mana control must be out of this world, yet here I am struggling with infusing mana into an ore.

Maybe I relied on the crutches that I was given for too long. If the system left, I might be fully screwed, and I don’t want that,’ Riven thought. He looked up with a smile. "You’ll teach me that after here, right?" Riven asked.

"Hmmm, if you defeat me, I’ll teach you," Noel replied.

"Deal." Riven lunged forward, his sword burned bright. He activated his second circle, his flames immediately became more intense, he got faster.

"Let’s see how you handle this," Riven said and attacked full speed. There was no way Noel, who was in the first circle, would be able to block his attack.

But instead of feeling fear, Noel smiled and dashed forward. Riven was confused, but he didn’t stop either.

And then they clashed. Clang. A very powerful shockwave spread, ripping grass out of the ground and raising a huge amount of dust.

Riven stared at Noel as their swords remained locked against each other.

"You aren’t on the first circle anymore," Riven said.

"Same as you," Noel stated.

"When... when did that happen?" Riven asked.

"After I perfected the Lightning Armor. It was like it was the key for me to step forward. I told Quin after I reached it, he explained the concept to me. My spirit zone had since reached its max and was waiting for a push from me.

The Lightning Armor was the push I needed. I wanted to find a good way to tell you," Noel said with a smile.

’So this is what true talent looks like. Noel, you might get ahead of me and surpass me soon, I fear,’ Riven thought.