Chapter 265: Stacking

A few minutes later.

After a brutal and stubborn struggle, Muen finally exhausted his last ounce of strength and collapsed to the ground like soft mud.

His head of blond hair had been blasted into the shape of some cheap punk-dyed mess.

And once again, Teacher Meladomir sat gracefully on top of him, eating fruit off the plate with the slender toothpick in her hand.

“Not bad, kid. Three minutes and five seconds—stronger than I expected.”

“...”

With a numb expression, Muen turned his head to look at the slender toothpick in her hand, his eyes filled with deep lingering fear.

He had never imagined that an ordinary toothpick, in Teacher Meladomir’s hand, could erupt with such terrifying power.

He could feel how fragile that toothpick was.

He could feel that Teacher Meladomir hadn’t infused much battle aura, hadn’t even used much strength.

He could even feel that her move had still been just Thunderclap.

But that simple Thunderclap, when she used it, became something altogether different.

Thunderclap, Thunderclap.

Originally nothing more than shockwaves like a peal of thunder. But when she used it, it was as if it really became the evolution of ten thousand bolts of lightning.

Even now he could clearly recall—when he had held Elizabeth and clashed with that toothpick, the terror of feeling like he was being struck by a thousand thunderbolts at once.

But it wasn’t lightning.

Thunderclap was just an ordinary martial skill, without any elemental trait.

Its essence was still only shockwaves produced by the vibration of flesh or battle aura.

So why did such a simple shockwave have such a heaven-and-earth difference in power?

Was Teacher Meladomir’s “slight” improvement really that terrifying?

“Heh...”

She seemed to see through Muen’s doubts, but instead of answering directly, Teacher Meladomir asked:

“Kid, do you know what your flaw is right now?”

“My... flaw?”

Muen sucked in a difficult breath, thought carefully, then said, “My moves are too limited? A three-axe style? Lacking ★ 𝐍𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 ★ powerful martial skills?”

Truthfully, he didn’t need to think hard.

He had already noticed these flaws when he’d fought that enchantress whose realm was a whole stage above his own.

Right now, the skills he could use were—first, Shadow Step.

Second, the blade techniques derived from Dagger Combat Technique.

Third, Thunderclap.

That was it.

So it was the three axes.

The three axes worked fine against opponents of similar strength, but once the opponent’s raw power exceeded his own, the weakness showed immediately.

“Hoh, seems you’re pretty clear about your current state.”

Teacher Meladomir glanced at him in surprise and said:

“But if you ask me, your real issue isn’t there.”

“Isn’t... there?”

Muen frowned, puzzled.

“Skills aren’t about having more. They’re about having what suits you. That footwork and blade technique of yours fit you extremely well, letting you fully display the properties of your time-slowing. For you, they’re the best.

“Even the move you call Thunderclap...”

Teacher Meladomir closed her little hand as if seizing something. “Mm, short wind-up, rapid burst, high concealment, catches people off guard, interrupts many skills and spells—very broadly useful for you.

“But—”

Her tone shifted. “In your so-called three axes, there’s something missing.”

“Missing... what?”

“Exactly. A way to break force with force.”

“Break force... with force?”

Muen couldn’t help but frown.

He was confused.

Up to now, his path had always been speed, sharp blade work, fearless berserker-assassin lunacy, going all the way down that road.

To suddenly tell him to break force with force, wasn’t that a bit...

“A bit missing the point?”

Teacher Meladomir, as if reading his thoughts directly, sneered:

“Think carefully. The predicaments you’ve faced so far—under what circumstances do they appear?”

“What circumstances...”

Muen subconsciously fell into reflection.

Then suddenly, his eyes lit up.

It wasn’t hard to see. He hadn’t had many frontal confrontations with enemies so far.

And every time he’d suffered, it was because—

“‘Forced’ into clashing head-on, where my strength fell behind, so I took a huge loss.

Is that it?”

“...That’s right.”

“Exactly. No matter how fast your speed, how strange your steps, how strong your Eternal Clock, there will always be moments when you’re forced into head-on clashes, or fall into situations where you can’t display your advantages.

Like right now.”

Teacher Meladomir clapped her little hands.

Suddenly.

Muen felt the petite body pressing down on him become heavy, as if a mountain was grinding down.

Caught off guard, he nearly blacked out on the spot.

“See? Just like now—among your three axes, which one works?”

Teacher Meladomir lowered her head, looked at Muen’s flushed face, and asked with a grin.

“But...”

Muen sucked in a breath with effort, finally regained his senses under this crushing loli weight, and gritted his teeth:

“When the gap in strength is that wide, no move works, right.”

“Mm, yes. Normally that’s the case. But you’re different.”

Teacher Meladomir stared into Muen’s eyes. In those amber-red pupils burst an unfathomable, feverish glow.

“Although the degree you can use it now is very limited, as long as you can bring it out, the possibilities given by the power of time... are infinite!”

Infinite!

Those two words slammed into Muen’s mind like a chisel, making his spirit stir uncontrollably.

“You may have already sensed it subconsciously. That’s why you want to learn strong martial skills, because to some extent, strong skills can make up for this flaw.

But I don’t recommend you learn such powerful martial skills right now.

For two reasons.”

Teacher Meladomir lifted her fingers to count:

“First, powerful martial skills usually need a wind-up. Other warriors specializing in that path can use other moves to create those openings. You can’t.

“Second, most exquisite martial skills require reaching the Fourth Rank, the human limit, able to condense battle aura, before they can exert maximum power. For you right now, that’s a bad bargain.

So...”

“So...”

Muen stared straight at Teacher Meladomir, suddenly feeling parched.

“So your genius teacher seriously thought for a few tenths of a second and created a technique tailor-made for you.

—Stacking.”

“Stacking? That was the move just now?”

Muen smacked his lips. “But I didn’t see a thing.”

“That’s why you’re a dumb disciple, with such lousy comprehension.”

Teacher Meladomir pouted in distaste, then raised the toothpick again.

“This time slow-mo. Watch carefully.”

In an instant—

Everything slowed.

Unbelievably slow.

The toothpick in her hand extended forward so slowly that Muen even doubted whether it had moved at all.

Then.

The toothpick quivered once.

Thunderclap.

Quivered again.

Another Thunderclap.

Quivered again.

Ten times. Twenty times...

A hundred times.

A hundred Thunderclap quivers, but time was slowed so much that the aftershock of the first hadn’t ended before the hundredth just began.

Then, time snapped back to normal.

A terrifying surge detonated before Muen’s wide eyes.

A hundred Thunderclaps.

Exploding all at once.

Like thunder crashing from the heavens!

“Now you see it clearly, right?”

Teacher Meladomir chuckled:

“As I said, this isn’t some move, but a technique—a technique of stacking.

Stack power in an instant, then release it in an instant, exploding with unimaginable force.

Simply put: once isn’t enough, then ten times. A hundred times. A thousand times.

If endurance and strength aren’t enough, then win through numbers and bursts!”