172 THE HUNT FOR STORM
"I drew inspiration from an ancient martial art," Kalmer explained before the hologram of several famous martial artists appeared.
He scrolled through the fighters before he came on one particular master…Bruce Lee, one of the founders of modern Multiple Martial Arts.
"Chain Punch is popularized by the legendary Bruce Lee. It's about speed—rapid, successive strikes on a single target. When paired with your fusion energy, every strike will deliver a lightning discharge. Add the echo resonance from your meta core, and each impact will multiply into a powerful storm. The total output will be devastating."
Damen's eyes gleamed. "That's fantastic."
"But there is a drawback", he frowned.
"What's the matter?" Damen asked.
"Such a skill would require enormous output of meta and strength… you may only be able to use this skill fully after you reached Rank A", he said.
"Don't worry about that… Rank A is not a long shot for me. Meanwhile I will train with the skill", Damen replied.
Kalmer grinned. "Great, then you're going to enjoy this one."
He injected the serum into Damen's arm, and the young meta stepped into the transmutation chamber. Lightning coursed over his skin as his body absorbed the new energy, adapting to the rhythm of the fused technique.
Just as he was about to test it, the fortress alarm blared through the intercom.
Kalmer laughed. "Well, looks like you won't need my simulator after all. Time for live practice."
"Right. Thanks, Kalmer." Damen gave him a nod and headed for the fortress wall.
----
Liorea was already there, watching the distant horizon as dust rose from approaching creatures.
"It might get dangerous here," Damen warned. "You should head back to the lower decks."
"I've always wanted to fight monsters," she said softly, "but my powers… they're not meant for the battlefield."
Damen gave her a short, sympathetic glance. "Listen, Liorea—I'll be going farther out this time. If I don't come back soon, return to Silver City with the meta materials. Ask Captain Green to escort you."
"I can take care of myself," she insisted.
"I'll feel safer if the Captain goes with you," Damen said firmly. "We'll need his team in Silver City once our new HQ is operational."
Captain Green stepped forward, giving a respectful nod. "Don't worry, sir. I'll make sure she gets back safe."
Damen smiled. "Thank you."
He turned toward the horizon. The ground trembled as the first roars echoed from the wasteland beyond.
Without hesitation, Damen leapt from the fortress wall—falling like a thunderbolt toward the battlefield below.
"This time", he thought, as lightning began to spark around his fists, "I'll return much stronger."
-----
Damen activated his new fusion skill.
As a Shadow Hound of Anubis lunged toward him, he dashed forward, both hands primed. The first jab came like lightning—then a second, a third—each faster than the last.
It was the classic chain Punch… but with a twist.
Within a breath, a dozen strikes flashed out in a seamless blur.
Every punch released a burst of thunderous electricity. Each impact sent an echo of lightning arcing behind the hound, chaining through its pack. Bolts leap from body to body, forming a brilliant web of destruction.
"So, this is how my electricity echoes out… like chaining bolts", Damen murmured with awe at the manifestation of his new skill.
When the last strike landed, the first hound collapsed in smoking ruin. Behind it, a dozen more fell, scorched and twitching, their forms dissolving into ash.
"Wow," Damen breathed, stunned by the aftermath. "This skill… it's incredible. It'll grow even stronger once I find more Cores of Electricity to assimilate."
From atop the fortress wall, Liorea and the soldiers could only stare. The God of War had become a storm incarnate—every blow sparking a new chain of devastation.
"My boss has a new skill," Liorea whispered.
Kalmer saw it too, stunned. "I just created that skill in the lab only moments ago… now its being used to massacre the aliens?"
Captain Green gave a low whistle. "That boy's unreal. You wouldn't believe it if you saw him back then—hiding behind camouflage, terrified of these hounds. And now look at him. He's wiping out entire armies of them."
"He's grown so fast, from wimp to god?" Liorea said softly. "Are you sure?"
"Yes," Green nodded. "The whole fortress has seen it. They're already calling him Lord Nicaesa's successor."
"Lord Nicaesa… he's Rank S… a Superhero," she said.
"Exactly. Even Nicaesa himself believes it," Kalmer added.
Liorea said nothing more.
Her gaze followed Damen as he rolled through the battlefield, a human thunderstorm tearing through the enemy ranks. Everywhere he passed became a field of crackling lightning…. a field of death.
"Damen Dark…" she murmured under her breath, eyes glinting in awe. "What is your secret?"
-----
Within an hour, Damen had slaughtered over a thousand aliens—mostly Shadow Hounds, though a few other species had fallen as well. He could already feel his armor recovering its lost resilience.
The blood transfusion in Silver City had stripped away a third of his Armor stat, but now, with every kill, that strength has returned.
He checked his stats:
Name: Damen Dark
Strength Rank: B Meta Rank: B Blood Rank: BB
Strength: 696 | Charm: 382 | Meta: 513 | Command: 512 | Blood: 1427 | Armor: 1908
In just one battle, his Blood stat had surged back to Rank BB, and his Armor was brushing the threshold of Rank BBB. His body now felt nearly indestructible.
But then he became disappointed. "Damnit, once I hit Rank BB, it's almost impossible to grow Blood or Armor further by killing weaker creatures. Otherwise my Blood stats would have grown more…."
It didn't take long. He soon got over the disappointment. He's found something to compensate for.
"Wait a minute….This is a crazy loophole," Damen muttered, analyzing the numbers on his display.
"After replenishing my Blood to a certain level, and with a transfusion, I can reset my Blood stat lower while keeping part of my Armor intact, and this can be repeated continuously…" he reasoned.
He grinned, his eyes gleaming with the thrill of discovery. "Each time I return to battle, my Blood climbs back to BB, but my Armor keeps climbing beyond its limit. At this rate…"
A low laugh escaped him, dark and satisfied.
"…I'll soon become indestructible."
------
Soon, the Annunakin horde sounded the retreat horn.
The creatures withdrew swiftly as the twin suns of Anu sank beneath the horizon.
Damen did not return to the fortress.
Instead, He was going hunting. He followed the thunder.
Beneath the night sky of Anu, a storm raged in the distance—bolts of lightning rained down, illuminating the wasteland in flashes of silver and violet.
The soldiers of Myrone avoided these places like plague. But this was exactly where Damen was headed.
"Storm Wraiths... here I come," he muttered.
He had a plan.
He needed to specialize his power.
Since the Core of Electricity enhanced his Halo's Judgment, it made sense to build his strength around it. He no longer needed to scatter his power across multiple elements—only refine the ones that mattered.
To grow stronger, he needed more Cores of Electricity. And to get them, he had to hunt Storm Wraiths.
Before long, he reached the storm fields. Lightning spiraled above like coiling serpents, and in their heart, he found it—a serpentine being of pure current: the Storm Wraith.
Without hesitation, Damen struck.
The Wraith reacted instantly, surging toward him, drawing all the storm's lightning into its form. Electricity tore through Damen's armor, the ground igniting into bursts of plasma…but he endured it.
His Annunakin armor was built for this. He was resistant to electricity.
He extended his blood blades and lunged.
He had fought a Storm Wraith before. He knew where to strike. His blade pierced straight through the creature's heart.
"Rrrawwwrrr!" the Wraith screamed, its body fracturing into wild arcs of light.
Damen's eyes locked onto the shimmering core within its chest.
"There it is—the Core of Electricity," he murmured.
"Assimilate."
The glowing core dissolved, its energy transferring into him.
[Core of Electricity successfully assimilated.]
With a final motion, Damen Drained the creature. The Wraith's form disintegrated into sparks, and as its essence faded, the storm above began to die.
For a moment, silence returned to Anu.
The lightning ceased. The clouds broke apart. The wasteland lay still beneath the twin moons.
Then— there was a shriek echoing across the horizon. It was not the cry of any living thing, but of the elements themselves—as if the heavens were being torn open in rage.
The ground trembled. The air shimmered with static.
Damen turned toward the sound, his every nerve alert.
"Damnit… what the hell is that?" he muttered.
No enemy approached. No shape emerged.
But something was there—watching him warily with interest and….malice.
He could feel it—an immense consciousness stretching across the atmosphere, its gaze colder than lightning, patient and ancient.
"What the hell did I draw out this time?" he murmured as he watched the sky.
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