CHAPTER 54: LAYERING

The training with Lin had come to an end once again and Baal had once again come to pick up the duo. This also marked the beginning of their third month of training.

"Seems like they're holding up well." Baal remarked when he saw the siblings who seemed to have matured quite a bit.

"Yeah, they were able to cope with the training fairly well." Lin said and Baal nodded before turning his attention to the duo.

"In any case, we can start learning things related to combat now and not just turn you two into mush using gravity and weights. Though, those two will still be part of your training." Baal explained and the duo nodded.

"Well, let's get going. See you next month Lin." Baal said with a wave before covering the siblings using his magic and then disappearing with them, leaving Lin on her own.

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The three arrived at the castle once again, but this time, where the large field usually was, there was a massive black metallic platform that was a few tens of meters in diameter.

Gideon and Victoria stared looked around with curiosity as they stepped unto the platform before Baal explained.

"This platform is made from a very resilient metal called adamantium. This is where you two will be training for the time being." As he said that, a set of items appeared in his hands. They were a pair of arm and leg bracers.

"Put them on." Baal instructed and the siblings complied. Baal then brought out a device resembling a switch with a knob and turned the knob slightly.

*HUM*

A loud humming sound came from the adamantium platform below and the duo immediately felt their arms and legs become heavy.

"The adamantium is also highly magnetic, so from now on, you guys will be training with these on." Baal finished and the duo took around ten minutes to get used to their weights before awaiting Baal's instructions.

"Now tell me, when it comes to creating weapons and things of the sort with you magic, what do you do?" Baal asked a question and Victoria answered.

"We summon our element and create the desired shape before infusing astral energy into it to make it solid." Victoria finished and Baal nodded.

"Correct, now, have any of you heard of the term 'layering'?" Baal asked and the duo shook their heads.

"Thought as much, anyway, watch closely." Baal said before throwing a casual punch in the air which created an air cannon that flew for hundreds of meters before dissipating.

"That was raw strength without any assistance from magic." After that, violet flames covered his fist and he threw a punch with the same level of strength, but this time, the air became a vacuum and a huge shockwave was generated, pushing the siblings backwards.

"That was with basic magical enhancement. Now, pay close attention." When Baal said this, his fist was covered in his element once again, but instead of it burning like before, it seemed to have become a thin layer, and there were multiple layers that overlapped with one another, moreover, they seemed to be vibrating.

*CRACK*

Baal once again threw a punch, but the moment his fist hit the air, the very space shattered like a mirror and black cracks stretched out for a few meters.

Gideon and Victoria watched with pale faces as they felt that if they were to get touched by any of those crack, they would get torn apart.

"Now, what did you two observe from that?" Baal asked as the strange energy coating dissipated.

The duo then got rid of their shock and began to ponder seriously on what they saw. After about a minute, Gideon answered.

I'm not sure, but I think that you condensed your flames into thin sheets and added multiple layers around your fist." Upon hearing Gideon's answer, Baal nodded.

"Indeed, but that's only half of it. Now, conjure a cylinder of your respective elements." Baal instructed and the duo complied and very quickly, two cylinders, one purple and one green.

"Great, now I want you two to start rotating the elemental particles. Not the cylinders themselves, just the particles, and make them spin very fast." The siblings brows furrowed slightly as the difficulty rose quite a bit, but they still did it regardless and made it work. Soon, the elemental particles that made up the cylinders started to spin incredibly fast and were difficult to follow with the naked eye.

"Now while maintaining that speed, I want you two to flatten the cylinders." The siblings had sweat in their foreheads as they concentrated to flatten the cylinders while maintaining the speed of the particles, and they only succeeded after ten or so minutes.

"And now, wrap it around you fist or weapon." Hearing this, Gideon brought out Hades while Victoria wore her right gauntlet. They then with some effort managed to wrap the now thin films of astral energy around their weapons.

"Finally, attack." Baal said with a mild smile and the siblings nodded before punching and slashing simultaneously.

*BANG*

*SLICE*

The air exploded while a green line sliced a cloud in half. The siblings were dumbfounded by the amount of destruction that they caused even though the astral energy they used to create the layers were minimal.

"That's actually crazy." Victoria muttered and Gideon nodded in agreement.

"If you two think that that is crazy then wait until you can increase the speed of the particles and create more layers." Baal said before giving a cheeky grin.

"Besides, I asked you two about weapon creation initially, so, how about this." Baal snapped his fingers and in front of the eyes of the bewildered siblings, thousands of weapons made of purple flames appeared behind Baal. Moreover, they were all made using layering.