LXVII: Thunder.

Alex was certainly having a blast, whether it was elves or magical creatures that appeared in his path, he would give them several slashes at an amazing speed and solve the problem. Seone said speed was power, though he reminded her to practice her techniques well and not rely on raw strength. He was grateful to

Seone treated him like a younger brother and always looked for ways to help him, be it with his doubts, training, missions, and even how to pick up girls. Yes, even though he was technically a woman before, he didn't know how to deal with them.

He never cared about those aspects, and now that his body's reactions were in line with male ones, he began to regret his previous carelessness. Seone laughed at him and told him that he had an excellent chance in life and missed it, but that he would help him. This was echoed by John and Axel, although their advice...

"How do I ask a girl out?" asked Alex as he and his three companions scoured the lush forest on a reconnaissance mission. Hovering several inches in the air, John looked at the distressed Alex and couldn't help but crack an easy-to-report smile.

"Do you want to try your 'sword' yet, brother? Don't be afraid, you're a pretty boy, not a homo. It's simple, walk up to the girl, look her in the eyes, shake your hair subtly, and say: "Do you want to practice swords? After saying that, Seone, jumping from branch to branch like a ninja, stumbled and almost fell.

Seconds later, the four of them burst out laughing, especially John, who made a smug face as if he had said the line of the century. After a while Alex had the feeling that he hadn't learned anything, after what he had seen before, no boy would dare to say that to a woman, he would undoubtedly get slapped.

"Seriously now, tell me how to do it," Alex said again, the urgency in his tone contrasting greatly with his usually cheerful and excited mood. "

Well, first of all, you have to know a few things about the girl, nothing too deep, for example, if she is in a relationship, her sexual orientation, if her job allows her time off, also if you like what you see of her, not only her physique but also how she behaves.

You don't have to stalk her or investigate her, just approach her and strike up a conversation, generally, it would be appropriate if she is having an open conversation with several people and if you have something to contribute, you can join in.

You can learn a lot about a person, however superficially, in a chat like this," said John, pouring out precious drops of wisdom.

"Don't forget to make things clear, if you want friendship or something more intimate, if it's for one night or something that can escalate deeper, even if it's complicated, you have to be sincere. You may get a lot of rejection, but you will also have new friendships and maybe some good nights.

But let's say you meet the girl, you're attracted to her and all, try to be patient with her, if you can't be, she's not the one for something really serious.

Patience is just as important as trust or communication," Axel added, based on his experience with Jessica, which made Seone and John give him funny looks.

"Little brother, something important is not to idealize her, look and know her virtues and flaws, her beautiful and ugly features, learn to love her as she is and help her to improve, not to change her, but to make her a better person, because that will help you to improve yourself too," Lord finished to complete the advice the three gave Alex, making him fall into reflection.

...

"There's a small group ahead, it doesn't look too complicated. Alex, it's your turn to show off, this chapter should be for you," John said to Alex, who was quite happy about it.

"Okay! I've got a few ideas I'd like to run by you," his body turned into a green flash as he disappeared from the three of them.

"I envy your speed," Seone commented after using his senses to perceive the accelerated movement of Alex, who was now in a small clearing in the forest facing three elves.

"Everyone has their unique advantages," Axel replied, his eyes and his newly-emerged 'divine sense' allowing him to see Alex take a quick draw stance.

"And Alex is one of those who doesn't know how many advantages he has," John finished as he saw the things he was about to do in a crystal ball, even from this distance the magical energy the boy stored could be felt.

Alex, who was standing in front of several unnamed elves, did not feel much hurry or apprehension, rather he felt a lot of excitement because the fight Seone had recently with the elf knight named Ishmael gave him many interesting ideas on how to manipulate his already uncontrollable magical power.

He knew that it was a disadvantage because of its unbridled nature, in addition to the fact that his lightning wasn't just lightning, it was more of a strange manifestation of the light element he possessed due to his cheat, which he had recently figured out to make it his own.

Before, when he wanted to move at an incredible speed, he would make noise by using intense electricity; now, it looked like a light feather as it moved, smooth and silent. Now, in front of the nameless elves, he was about to reveal a new technique. He calmly placed his hand on the hilt of his sword and began to pump a large amount of magical power into it.

Elves are sensitive to mana, so they quickly noticed his actions and began to attack him with arrows, spells, or close combat. But Alex didn't even bother to count how many enemies there were, it didn't matter considering the technique he was about to use. 

"Sword of Light: 108 slashes," Alex said softly, the world seemed to stop, and then he let go of the handle of his sword let a cloud of steam come out of his mouth. 

His body was incredibly hot, but he didn't care, nothing mattered before the magnificent sight in front of him. The various spells were destroyed, the arrows and other projectiles were destroyed, and the weapons, armor, shields, and helmets of those elves were shattered. 

In front of him, only bloody pieces of what had once been an elven reconnaissance unit remained, but there was no damage to the trees or the ground, not even wind or the like, something Alex actively sought after following Seone's advice to control his technique to perfection.

But what on earth was he doing? Simple, he made 108 slashes, each one imbued with magical light power for extreme acceleration, and in addition to sending flying slashes, his sword also touched his enemies. His movement was so fast, yet so subtle, that he didn't seem to have moved, he didn't even seem to have drawn his weapon.

Soon, the other boys approached him and watched in amazement at the scene before them, Seone for his part looking at these slashes with much envy. He didn't have a proper weapon, just a standard army sword, the weapon he wanted would take a while to make, especially since superior methods would be used to make it his unique weapon. 

 "I never expected you to have such a fucking fast attack, it would be difficult for me to defend myself unless, of course, I get my mastery," Seone said, examining the cuts on the armor, weapons, and shields, they were smooth as if they were so natural.

"Fuck, how could Seone's fight inspire something as fucking dangerous as this technique? John, you taped this, right?" Axel asked his partner, even though he saw all the cuts Alex made with his good dynamic vision, he knew very well that it would be very difficult for him to evade or defend against such a technique.

John was relaxed, he had so many defensive spells on himself that he wasn't worried about a similar or more powerful attack on his person, it was because of things like that that really powerful mages were hard to fight, they all seemed to have a phobia of being touched by others with so many defensive spells on them. 

"Oh yeah, I also put captions on it, I slowed it down so you could appreciate it better, and I even added sound effects and background music to make it much more enjoyable to watch," John replied as he waved a light screen in his hand like it was a small toy, on it played the 108 cuts Alex was performing.

"By the way, why do I always feel like magic is too convenient?" Seone asked, suddenly realizing a fact that we tend to ignore most of the time.

There was an awkward silence from the group, but then they went on as if it didn't matter. They all know that magic is fundamentally unfair, so they put it aside and focused on what was important.

"Seone's fight inspired me a lot, especially the special status he showed at the end of the fight, and I have some ideas on how to have a similar one and not just a lightning armor like the Raikage," Alex spoke, continuing the previous conversation.

"Oh, I always forget the fact that your magic has the light element, I feel like it's just as much to dig into as the electric version, imagine, soon you'll be cutting people at the speed of light... or at least much faster than a certain yellow monkey," Seone said in a somewhat teasing tone as he ran his hands over Alex's hair.

Alex wanted to push Seone's hand away from his head, but he was much shorter than him and he didn't know why, but he always had the feeling that he couldn't escape the fate of his disheveled hair. Resigning himself, he just shook his shoulders a bit reluctantly. 

"Yes, even though the Light Element is a very clichéd thing, there's no denying that it's strong, and it's a lot of fun to come up with techniques for it. Don't be surprised if I make an Angel cameo in the future," Alex joked a bit, laughing as he imagined himself descending from the sky with a pair of light wings, a halo over his head, and religious music in the background. 

"Well, we should keep exploring, the elves have gotten a lot more crafty lately," Axel said, reminding everyone of the task at hand. 

Soon they all started moving through the forest, scanning the places they passed and noting down some details they came across, such as the distribution of certain animals, trees, herbs, and mushrooms. This kind of work was not necessary for them, but it made things easier for the army left behind. 

Sporadic meetings with some elves allowed Alex to show the new techniques he had developed, realizing some details that he could only realize during a fight, thus improving the quality of them and increasing his strength a little. 

The three gave him advice in certain aspects, if they could, they would do their best to help Alex with any doubts he had, especially in personal matters, he looked like a little boy and inexperienced in many subjects of various Indoles, and although that made them laugh, the help they gave him was genuine.

When the mission was over, Alex rejoined his group and as they ate, he told them about the things that had happened during the mission, excitedly explaining some of the parts he had excelled at or the advice his fellow missionaries had given him.

"It's good that you're having a good time, Alex," Monic told him when he finished talking, giving him a small smile. 

"Oe, you didn't get hurt, do you feel uncomfortable when you use that sword technique, do I install a biological cooler...?" Monic covered Violet's mouth, who was getting a little intense with this biomechanical enhancement thing lately, claiming that Seone's fight would have been easier if he had one of his enhancements. 

"Looks like that brat Seone has grown up a bit," Samantha commented with a hint of sarcasm in her voice, but Alex didn't quite understand her words. 

Jack, who was sitting on a dry tree stump, looked at the excited Alex and couldn't help but feel happy for his partner, it was good that he was having fun in such a conflicting situation as the war was. 

"Want to practice?" the question from Jack made Alex excited, even though he knew he would lose miserably, he always had fun fighting his partner.

"Good!"

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AN: Latin American issues, but this is the Thursday chapter, enjoy~