Wrock flickered and appeared in front of the massive amount of moving stone. Throwing a fist forward he slammed against the 'face' of the creature. In response to such a powerful blow the moving stone rippled. Like slapping the surface of ballistic gel.
It was almost like time paused. A momentary period of shock. Wrock's fist, which easily took care of the previous Chimeras, was ineffective. Suddenly the face of the moving stone split apart like a mouth and bit down on the arm.
Tring~
Wrock seemingly teleported next to Yielya's side. His arm covered in a semi-translucent bronze energy. Rubbing his wrist he frowned, "How troublesome."
Gear immediately felt despair. Just when he believed such people could be of help the Chimera's grew in strength yet again! It was like he couldn't catch a break. Always needing something stronger, nothing ever being enough!
Everyone else moved in action however. Spinning runes forming a magic circle formed at the palms of Kan'na. Tilia lifted a tower shield made of her War Sight. Jarvis' book began to flip its pages. Though despite all of them moving almost immediately, Igneel was the first to jump into action.
Throwing a punch towards the Chimera space seemed to be pulled. Igneel's fist made contact with the belly of the moving stone, also proving to be ineffective. However the space around his fist stretched slightly, and then snapped back into place.
{Rending Heaven Fist}
BOOM-!
The Chimera stumbled back, and Igneel immediately felt pain sprout up his arm. Although he managed to perform such a technique, all it did was gain the ire of the Chimera!
Wham-!
A massive arm of moving stone slammed into Igneel. Dust made a shockwave outward from the force of the impact and he was sent spiraling towards the wall. Yielya tapped her staff and a small bell ring sounded, Igneel suddenly changed places and flew towards Wrock.
Catching him Wrock couldn't help but be amazed. That move was used by the 'other half' of Igneel, but as far as Wrock could tell it was still Igneel in control! Did this mean he learned the move from his other half? Or did he simply remember what his body did to perform the move? Either way it was incredibly impressive, for such a technique would normally take years to master!
Although Wrock had many questions, Igneel was unable to answer them. After receiving such a blow Igneel fell into a slump and remained immobile. Gently placing the unconscious figure on the ground he turned his attention to the Chimera. Watching his party leap into action he merely crossed his arms.
Moving its massive arm it threw a punch towards the nearest person. Tilia responded by raising her shield. As the two clashed Tilia merely bent her knees in response to the force. Her immunity to knockback proved incredible at moments like these. It almost seemed like the attack wasn't worth mentioning. However if it had been any other person receiving that blow. . . Yielya might have had a lot more work to do.
A hand placed on Wrock's shoulder, "Are you just sitting around?"
"Oh good, you're here."
Igneel slicked his hair back, "You say that as if you were waiting for me."
"More or less. Umin. . . was it?"
"So you know me, but I-"
Umin suddenly frowned, "Wrock. . ."
"Must say having the introductions done for me is a benefit for such a Title."
"For me to know your name upon a glance. . . How interesting."
Umin changed his focus towards the giant creature of moving stone, "Moreover a few of you have such a thing. The one known as Tilia, I still feel the blow I received yet she's handling them easily."
A grin formed on Umin's face, "And here I thought this world was full of worthless half-done disciples! Yielya! It seems fate allowed us to meet again."
Yielya snorted, "Yeah okay, you're just going to ask for some healing. Already done."
"Good! Allow me to handle this 'thing'. Consider it a gift for my unannounced arrival."
Now it was Wrock's turn to place a hand on a shoulder. Stopping Umin Wrock said, "Your help isn't actually needed. I merely had some questions for you."
". . . You waited for my arrival, letting this 'thing' continue to roam?"
"More or less."
"Hmph, a primitive way to gain my attention. Here I was thinking you were of some promise too."
Umin walked towards a wall and leaned against it, "Fine. But you need to earn it. Handle that 'thing' in under a minute. Only then will I answer your questions."
"A generous amount of time. I was planning on getting some payback for what it attempted to do to my arm anyway."
After undergoing the process of Rebirth Wrock gained more than just a massive boost in power.
Rather it was better to say that the increase in his physical strength was a beneficial side effect. Where the true benefits lie came not from the strength increase, but rather the much finer and subtle change.
After being reborn in the divine flame Wrock's body became the perfect vessel to host his Spirit. Coupled together with his improved control and quality, the effects were incredible. But even this wasn't what made it truly great.
Rather it came from the effectiveness increase of his Spirit. Even if the other benefits didn't exist, this lone change was enough to undergo the process of Rebirth. Now what exactly it did? To explain it simply you must compare two forms of Wrock. One without the usage of Spirit, and one who merely used it to enhance his basic attacks.
If the two were to fight, the Wrock who used the Spirit in the most simplest and straightforward way would win with no competition.
In other words, by merely strengthening his blows, or performing the various attacks, his strength was multiplied greater than when he used {Arising of the Phoenix: Pseudo} pre-Rebirth.
This was where the true strength of Rebirth lie. Although such a benefit was quickly dwarfed during the fight against the Sword Saint. But that was merely because of the incredible amount of power she had.
If this wasn't enough to properly convey just how truly incredible it was. . . Just consider the fact that Wrock's first punch was easily negated.
Gear blinked, and the only thing he saw for a moment temporarily frozen in time was a blue ember where Wrock once was.
For those with enough strength to gain a glimpse at what was happening, it looked a bit different.
Wrock seemingly teleported behind the Chimera. Spirit swirled around his fist and he threw it towards the back of the Chimera's head. A basic punch that was merely enhanced by Spirit, but the difference was vast!
The Chimera's head jerked forward, such a sickening motion would've broken its spine if it was an ordinary being. With such recoil it fell forward, its massive size tumbling towards Tilia. In response to this she expanded her War Sight into its mountain form, creating a rock for the Chimera to rest upon.
Kan'na released several spells, they hovered around the Chimera and golden ropes shot forward to bind it. With its movements restricted Kan'na commented, "So holy energy doesn't work."
"It is Heresy young Sage. The Holy energy was designed to be a counter to those of the Abyss. For their ideals are direct opposites.", Guarton commented as it appeared from Jarvis' book, "The enemy of Heresy lies within the world. Its greatest weapon is the Sun, not a weapon devised by one of the creations."
"The Sun, wouldn't that make ordinary flame effective?"
"While you may think they are similar, it's not the same. Even light magic pales in comparison of what the Sun can provide."
This only spurred thoughts in Kan'na. If an element could be considered as "pale", then perhaps there was forms greater than that of what she was using. If light was a lesser form of "Sun", then perhaps she could utilize such power herself. Similar to that of Primordial Mana.
Several stone spikes shot out of the ground and impaled the Chimera. It struggled to move with all that was happening. Wrock gathered more Spirit towards his fist, "We can chat about weapons later. I'm afraid I only have a minute."
The Azure flame condensed around his fist and he threw a punch forward. As Gear witnessed such swift action he could've swore the punch changed. Rather it was like an image was implanted into his head.
It was a reaper on a small boat, floating down a stream. Everything was dark, except for a hanging lantern at the end of the boat. A flickering blue flame that lit the way.
{Spirit of the Phoenix: Guiding Flame}!
Wrock's fist smashed through the Chimera's body. Inside the moving stone a blue light began the form, as if somehow the stone was glowing. It expanded and grew brighter, until the next moment when the Chimera exploded.
A small shockwave made of blue flame expanded before flickering out. Wrock shook his hand as he watched the various parts of the Chimera fall to the ground. Each piece covered in a burning azure flame.
"So, was that satisfactory?", Wrock asked.
Umin smirked, "It seems this place has promising talents indeed. Very well, as promised I will answer your questions. However that will have to come later. He's awakening. Don't tell him of my existence though, that time will come to pass on its own."
Before Wrock could say a complaint Umin blinked and a puzzled expression covered his face, "Did I pass out again?"
"Yeah you did, we gotta get you trained up."
Igneel embarrassedly rubbed his head, "Sorry. . ."
"You've just been fighting things out of your league. You'll learn eventually."
Wrock changed his focus towards the Minokawa, "Now, I think it's proven we can handle this. So why don't you tell us what you know?"
The Minokawa made a clicking sound with their beak, "To think even the Sages would join you. Very well, it's but a small story however."
"We'll take what we can."