42. Eto vs Menato (IV)
CHAPTER 42: ETO VS MENATO (IV)
Menato extended out his hands. A flurry of magical energy released from his. Forming a large pure blue magic circle. As his mana flowed into the circle it started to emit an intense glow.
"Water Magic: Water Wave!!!!" He called out.
From the circle out came a wave of water. Eto didn't expect such a quick change of fighting technique that he was washed away by the water. It still was not over however. Menato quickly raised his hands to the sky and released even more magical energy. So much magical energy that the ground itself started to shake. The rocks and pebbles nearby started to get crushed from the sheer pressure of mana he released. A super large magical circle of white colour formed right on top of Eto. It was so large it had a diameter of 100 meters. Just like before he poured more magical energy into the circle that it started to glow.
"Snow Magic: Blizzard!!!" He roared.
From the magic circle out rushed a storm of snow and wind. The snow and winds covered an area twice the size of the magical circle. Which included Eto who was caught still inside the water. The water froze around him. Meaning he couldn't move or save himself anymore. Ending the fight as a conflict right there with Menato as the victor.
Merus and Jake managed to get away from the area in time to avoid being caught in the blizzard. Menato using Elemental Magic and Null Magic was simply too big a game changer. Elemental Magic wasn't as common as Martial Skills Magic but certainly was still common. The most rare is Null Magic. Some people go their entire lives without finding out they have Null Magic. Just because your mother or father have it doesn't mean you will. Even both your parents can have it but you can't be sure you'll get it.
As for Menato, well he was born in the northern Mara Mountains. He was born in a place that snowed 10 months of the year. Part of the famous Snow Wolf Tribe that were nearly hunted to extinction half a century ago. Their specialty bloodline magic was highly sought after, coupled with their natural speed and agility as well as enormous reserves of mana.
Menato was bought by the Okutake Family as an infant and raised to use his abilities for whatever purpose they saw fit. Using experimental runes they further increased his natural speed and agility as well as his mana reserves. His reserves were so large they were comparable to the royal Detalia family.
The Water Wave spell he did was known as a fourth tier Elemental Magic spell. As could be seen by the complexity of the runes and patterns of the magic circle as well as the four layers. Each layer was one tier. No matter how big a magical circle, it's power only depends on the number of layers. Of course the size of the circle adds more volume and power but true power comes with runes. The more complexities you have the more mana it requires to activate and therefore the larger and more powerful the spell. This only works for Elemental and Martial Skills Magic.
Martial Skills Magic users don't use magic circles. So instead they have the runes written on their bodies. These runes only show or activate once the user flows their mana through them. They have their runes inscribed in tiers as well. Since different types of runes can hold different amounts of mana The more you have the more mana you can use. If you have only tier one you can add more if you want but they won't be as powerful as tier two runes. Most experts have different tier of runes for different types of enhancement. Speed, Agility, Strength, Defence, Attack. Any physical ability can be enhanced.
To activate the runes of a specific type enhancement all you do is flow mana through the specific runes to which ever tier you want. You can only start from tier one and improve. You cannot go straight for tier three. Menato for example is an expert of speed and agility. His highest tier is fifth tier for Martial Skills Magic and Fourth Tier for Elemental Magic.
Back to the battle.
Merus watched from a far the conclusion. He for one second never believed Menato would lose but he didn't expect Eto to put up such a fight. No wonder the Okutake House Patriarch was curious about Eto. To him however this guy will only cause more problems in the future. He needed to be dealt with, even at the cost of going against the wishes of Akira Okutake. The most powerful man in all of Rostalio. He started to take steps towards Eto frozen beneath the 12 inch snow.
Jake was also surprised by the sudden ending of the battle. He didn't expect such a fight from two relatively unknown fighters. This was surprisingly a good quality fight but things however weren't over.
Menato suddenly showed up in front of a shock and stunned Jake. His mana still had that fearsome glow to his body. He had a raging killing intent aimed straight for Jake.
"That took longer than I initially thought but now that he's done, how about you and me go head to head." He said.
Jake was momentarily taken back by the guts and overconfidence of the man in front of him. Yes he was impressed by his speed and mana reserves but Jake was a Captain of the Imperial Knights. He wasn't some pushover that could be defeated that easily. In fact he was more than confident he could win, and win easily at that.
Watching from the corner of his eye he noticed Merus taking a beeline for Eto. He didn't really care what happened to Eto but he could tell Merus was up to no good. Plus he owed Eto for the escape. The least he could do was let the guy finish his own fight.
Suddenly the atmosphere went quiet. The ground started to rumble as the cold morning air started to heat up. Merus started to release a tremendous amount of magical energy. So strong that it even pushed Menato away with its sheer pressure. A fiery red fearsome aura of magical energy surrounded him. The aura raging like an inferno of flames. Smiling at the pushed back Menato, Jake raised his right hand to the sky.
A fearsome magic circle of fiery red flames formed a few feet high into the sky. It's five layers showed it as a Fifth Tier Elemental Magic Spell. Yet again it was a hundred meters wide. It's glow started to intensify as Jake poured more and more energy into the circle.
"Fire Magic: Majestic Destroyer Flames!!!" He roared.
From the circle out poured a flurry of flames that turned the whole area into a sea of flames. The flames spread to an area twice the size of the snow. The snow quickly turned to steam as the water melted. Menato and Merus just barely escaped the rain of fire. They were both burnt black from the flames.
It still wasn't over however as the ground continued to shake like a quake. A surge of energy still continued to rise inside the steamy area.
"KAAAAAA!!!!! MEEEEEE!!!!!" A voice began from inside the steam. Merus and Menato turned in shock. They knew who that voice was.
"HAAAAAAAAA!!!! MEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!" Eto continued. The strong winds started to clear the flames and the steam to reveal him. Holding that iconic pose as water continued to drip from his clothes. He had this vicious scowl on his face. Menato and Merus didn't know what was coming but they knew it wasn't good. In his hands they saw a tiny dark red ball of energy that continued to get concentrated.
"HAAAAAAA!!!!" Eto roared and extended out his hands towards the two. The ball of energy quickly enlarged and shot out a percussive beam of concentrated energy right for the two. The beam of concentrated energy start to disintegrate and be In through everything it touched until it got close to the two.
Menato and Merus exchanged a quick look and nodded. Menato quickly rushed to the side of Merus as the beam was right over them. Just before it touched the two vanished. The beam continued high into the sky until it eventually left the planet altogether.
Right where their feet were, Eto saw a weirdly shaped magic circle. He realised that Merus had teleportation magic of some sort. He didn't care in that moment. The two were no where nearby and were heavily burnt from the flames. As was he which added to all his preexisting injuries. With that last attack he was out of energy and collapsed to his knees. His vision became blury and darkened. His mind went blank and he fainted right there.
Jake was in awe of what he just witnessed. This was like nothing he'd ever seen. That attack was almost Imperial Magic Knight level. Key word being almost. This young man in front of him was indeed full of secrets and mysteries. Perhaps he should stick around to do what he came here for in the first place. Maybe it will lead to him discovering some of those secrets. He also wanted answers on the situation with the Okutake Family and that familiar Magical Energy he sensed a while back. If they really are involved in this, the Okutake Family are way over their head. They even pose a threat to the empire itself. It would be best to delay his return to the empire until he got more information.
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