CHAPTER 15(BATTLE OF THE FRAGMENTS II)

[BATTLE OF THE FRAGMENTS HAS BEEN INITIATED]

[CHALLENGER: ROSE BLACKWOOD LV69]

[FRAGMENT: NINE LIVES]

[OPPONENT: DAMIAN PETERS LV 29]

[FRAGMENT: PUPPETEER]

I was teleported out of the mansion and found myself 20 meters away from Rose. The woman had a weird smile on her face as she looked at me.

[Lone Wolf activated.]

"Why are you here?" I asked, while silently buffing myself.

[Strength of the Wild activated.]

"My, I thought you already knew that," she replied. The weird smile remained on her face.

I looked at the woman: blue eyes, black hair, a weird smile, and a black suit. She matched the description of the one who killed my sister, and my gaze turned cold immediately.

[ Battle Aura ]

[Oppressive Aura]

"Three months ago, a girl named Stephanie... Were you the one who...?"

"Oh, Stephanie! Yes, I killed that little girl. Are you by any chance related to her?"

I was very angry but I knew I couldn't half-ass her like I did with Draxus. I summoned my puppeteer armor and my three avatars. Sophia was the first to flare up as she saw Rose.

" You b*tch" she shouted angrily

"oh, aren't you that little girl from before"

"Damian, she's the..."

"I know," I interrupted. "Do you know how she fights?"

"She's an elusive one. She's a mage, but she also has close combat skills. She's highly unpredictable. A dangerous opponent to face."

"I see. How would you fare against her in a one-on-one battle?"

"I should be able to keep her busy, but that's about it."

"That's enough. you just need to keep her in place "

Sophia nodded and raised her hand. A gigantic magic circle appeared in the sky, from which numerous specters and ghostly apparitions began to rush out. Another circle appeared on the ground, from which a dozen jiangshi appeared. Numerous circles began to appear on the battlefield. We all looked at Sophia in shock. She really wasn't holding back.

Sophia and Jenna begin to cast their buffs while I equip my puppeteer armor and activated two skills one from me.

[BEAST TRANSFORMATION ACTIVATED]

And one from my armor

[SHAPESHIFTING ACTIVATED]

After the transformation, I stood over 10 feet tall, with broad shoulders and a powerful, stocky build. Two antennae rose from my forehead like horns, and my entire body was covered in the dark, charcoal gray armor, with glowing blue lines running across the surface. The chest and shoulder plates were thick and overlapping, and massive wings sprouted from my back. My limbs were covered in powerful, muscular armor, and my glowing blue eyes behind the visor seemed like they could pierce through souls.

______________________________________________

A few days back

After hearing about the fragments from Sophia, I knew that one of them would probably come after me soon. After all, it's easier to steal fragments from someone who's weaker than you. I started thinking of ways to fight back. I crossed melee combat out, because no amount of buffs or ki enhancement could bring me to the level of the other fragments, and even my spells wouldn't be able to harm them. But then something clicked.. 'mana'. Even if some fragments were physical fighters, most of our abilities as fragments still required mana.

I began to study the concept of mana and how it interacts with mages to form spells. When a mage casts a spell, it's not just their own mana that's being used - mana from the environment is used as well. For example, when a lightning spell is cast, the lightning mana from the mage comes in contact with the freely existing mana in the environment.

Freely existing mana is naturally pure and devoid of any element. However, when it comes into contact with the mana of a spell, all the freely existing mana transforms into the same form as that of the spell and flows together in the same direction. This process creates the spell itself. Talented mages are able to affect more mana particles in the air, which causes their spells to be more powerful for the same - or even reduced - mana cost.

DING!

[YOU'VE ACQUIRED SKILL: BASIC MANA MANIPULATION]

So I began to think of a form I could take that could amplify the effect of this new skill. I asked Sophia if she had any device that could see mana particles, and she gave me one, which I forged into an armor. I believe I don't need to explain what I did next, but I'll do it anyway. I used the [Assimilation] skill of my armor on the device.

[Assimilation (3-star): Able to absorb and copy the abilities of other armors.]

After a lot of pondering, I decided to take on the form of a humanoid insect with long, horn-like antennae. The antennae had the function of sending out different frequencies, which could either communicate with mana, disrupt it, repel it, or attract it - effectively giving me the ability to interfere with my opponent's spells while amplifying my own. In addition, the insect had another ability that was augmented by the blue lines on the armor, but I'm keeping that one a surprise - I don't want you telling the enemy now, do I?