Bro, I’m not an Undead!

A golden light attracted the attention of all things in the city as it was set upon a high building, emanating from a single man.

It was akin to a neon light, its brightness having a distinct shade that was particularly attention-grabbing!

Stages were a form of power that allowed the physical body to become stronger in terms of strength, agility, endurance and potential.

The first three aspects could easily be recognised, but the third needed elaboration.

The human body was responsible for drawing out its own potential.

This also included its ability to draw potential from the core, regardless of colour as each had a set level of power it could unfurl.

The stronger the body became, the more it could utilise the core for many more things other than just mana and skills.

The Advancement Stage allowed the body to draw upon an energy that any core could produce whether it was white, blue or of a higher colour.

Aura.

While the efficacy and quantity differed with each colour, it was possible nonetheless and once the body reached the Master Stage, it would strain the core to pull on the advanced and perfect form of Aura, different from the basic Aura attainable on the Master Stage, which was dramatically more powerful and flexible!

When this was achieved, to maximise this aspect, most combatants would shape this Perfect Aura into unique forms which completely took advantage of the special trait of this Aura.

Yes, it could tremendously boost one’s physical attributes way beyond what Full Body Aura could.

Yes, it could dramatically enhance one’s skills, affinities and powers.

Yet, the one thing that set this aspect of the Master Stage above the rest, was a bit more interesting…

A shriek was heard throughout the entire city as Terian who stood above the building formed his Perfect Aura into a marvellously beautiful shape!

A massive bird was formed, different shades of gold highlighting its figure as it flapped its extensive wings majestically above Terian!

It was a hawk.

Its downward curved beak, sharp, reddish golden eyes which were adorned with black outlines as well as its bulky body which emitted a strange halo, like a flare garnered everyone’s attention with its call!

This was the manifestation of Perfect Aura into a Master Stage aspect called a Genuine Incarnation!

‘Hawk of Conflagration…’

This was the name of this marvellous bird made of Perfect Aura.

Threads of golden energy could be seen linking themselves from Terian to the hawk as both looked down with rapt attention from their height.

The moment this creature appeared, the grey skinned beasts looked up, some backing away in fright at the waves of energy that were being released from the hawk.

However, after merely a moment of hesitation, the creatures’ eyes became overtaken with a light of zeal, as if something commanded them to continue forward!

The octopus humanoids resumed their assault on the surroundings without paying Terian any mind.

‘Hmm? That’s unnatural. Are they being coerced into ignoring me by something else?’ Terian thought.

As he looked at the massive number of civilians either running away or hiding, he knew he couldn’t stall any longer while gathering sufficient information.

He raised his hand and focused on all the beasts that were closest to his location.

With a harsh breath that emitted a gust of blistering heat, Terian called out a single word.

“ABLAZE!”

The Hawk of Conflagration above him called magnificently as it raised its wings, its golden glow erupting with a greater intensity as a wild gush of mana poured from Terian’s brilliant blue core and wove itself into a Special quality spell that was simply named ‘Ablaze’!

The hundred of beasts that raced through the city near Terian suddenly ignited with a sound akin to crumpled paper, orange flames that dyed the surroundings with their tint roaring ferociously as they rose up with an unforgiving high temperature!

The old man hiddenly gnashed his teeth, as everywhere these beasts were, civilians could also be seen and thus he had to control the intensity of the flame otherwise he would be contributing to the death toll!

The horrifying flames turned the ground red in a matter of moments as over 90 of the octopus humanoids were set aflame!

Terian watched as some died immediately, while others kept swinging their tentacles as their enormous strength demolished entire blocks with but one swift lateral swipe!

They were incredibly durable!

‘Of course, they won’t be that easy to kill…’ Terian said as he made a gripping gesture with his arms, as if he was holding a bow and pulling on its string!

The Hawk of Conflagration called once more as with this sound, a large bright orange bow appeared in Terian’s hand with a wispy form, a thin, hot sliver of flame acting as the string.

A white flaming arrow appeared, ready to be fired as it had nocked itself on the bow already!

It produced a sigh of terrible heat as the air couldn’t stand for it, and started dancing instead!

‘Mollifying Flame Arrow!’ Terian’s mind subconsciously thought as he set the arrow loose, the white hot construct releasing a nerve wreaking crackling noise with its release!

The atmospheric temperature instantly rose as the arrow barrelled through the unsuspecting air, and in its flight, disintegrated into dozens of spots of blinding white flames that hissed as they targeted the wildly dashing beasts!

FSSP! FSSP! FSSP!

Seamlessly and accurately, the heads of dozens of the octopus humanoids were melted upon being smashed into by the sparks of white hot flame!

It had to be noted how ridiculous it was for Terian to perfectly aim at these creatures as they moved at such abnormal speeds!

The old man’s keen eyes made sure that each attack hit its target at the very least and in this way, he effectively struck down a few hundred of the enemies!

The response from the city was subpar and even though from a certain location, he could see a group of powerful ladies tearing away at the beasts strategically and effectively, this wasn’t true for all the others who were fighting the enemy!

This progress was still far from excellent.

The old man turned his head to the rising pillar of golden brown sand which had reached a height of half a kilometre at this point and he couldn’t be more glad to see the troublemaker he was constantly at odds with single-handedly pull much of the weight!

Tulnas who was above the sand pillar grit his teeth with rivers of sweaty staining his clothes as he struggled to keep the progress he had made.

‘I think this is enough! Drop them, Bradd!’ he gave the signal to his tamed beast.

The pillar of sand immediately began to tilt, along with all the trapped beasts as Tulnas switched his position to riding it like a wave as it arched and stormed over in a direction further away from the city!

The spin of the sand tornado accelerated in order to keep the beasts in a constant shuffling that limited their options for escape and as this occurred, the looming figure of the sand pillar above the city literally leapt over, detaching itself from the entrance to the Association building!

The leaning sand tornado then soared for more than a kilometre away from the city with its weight as it sailed through the air being felt as it from the night sky!

Tulnas immediately leapt off, his eyes remaining on the falling pillar which then went on to crash over the hard ground with a thunderous boom!

‘I doubt that killed any of them. If they are not stalled, they will reach the city again in no time,’ Tulnas thought as he looked at the city which was still plagued by the monsters that ran around with vivacious intensity!

Thankfully though, most of the Guilds and Knights were fighting against the monsters while saving civilians but the unfortunate truth was they were losing.

There were simply too many of these bastards!

“Damn it! At this rate everyone we’ll all be dead soon! Where the hell is Unbreakable?!”

*

Terian kept firing arrow after arrow while at times using the spell Ablaze, but the fact that he had to watch out for the damage he caused severely limited his abilities.

He had managed to kill tens more of the creatures with the enhancement effect brought on by his ‘Hawk of Conflagration’ when he suddenly turned to his left as his instincts warned him of imminent danger!

A milky white light rushed towards him through the air with a blinding speed, emitting a ferocious deceiving glow that almost hid its intent to vanquish!

Terian had barely managed to turn his head when…

BOOOM!