Chapter 45 - The Power Of A Novice

"With this level of essence, there's no telling what I can do." Rai said staring into his palms. He felt a surge of energy pulsating through every vein in his body, not just him. The rest of the Raging Phoenix mages that were conscious felt it too.

"What is this?" Abigail stuttered; she felt her power growing even more than it already was.

"I gave you all a portion of my essence, we Primordial Essenbeast have the ability to share our essence with humans. That is why your kind sees us as power boosters, neglecting the fact that we possess emotions as well." Gaianox explained.

The Primordial Essenbeast were considered by the humans who came in contact with them as power boosters, in a sense they were.

Malphas rose to his feet, a slight bruise left on his back due to the earth essence infused Raisen he took head on. He chuckled slightly, surprised at the revelation that a human could so much as bruise him. "Alright, I'll humor you creatures." He said.

The demon general strectched his right hand forward, a large red portal stretching out to twenty meters in length materialized out of thin air and from it several red demons emerged.

"Paradoxes.." Rai said remembering the faces of the demons he faced the first time he got transmigrated.

"Attack!" Malphas ordered, the red demons all roared out in sync as they rushed forward at the five mages.

"You guys handle the paradoxes, I'll handle the general." Abigail ordered as she had her gaze fixated on Malphas, she felt that she was the one to take on the responsibility of defeating Malphas as she blamed everything on herself.

Malphas on the other hand fixed his sights on Rai, he felt uneasy anytime he laid eyes upon this particular human. "There's something off about that human, I can feel it... considering he was able to bruise me even if it's a little." A faint smile appeared on his face as he spoke within his thoughts. "How intriguing! Your mine!" He exclaimed, his eyes began glowing and his bloodlust flowing out.

[Hostility detected.]

[Eliminate threat: 0/1 Demon General defeated.]

"What?"

For the first time in a long while, the system revealed a notification in a blue HUD window in Rai's range of sight.

"Defeat? The Demon General?" He uttered within his mind. The system perceived the oozing bloodlust of the demon general as a threat, in response it demanded for it's immediate termination.

"Oh good grief, and here I was thinking I'd leave the general to her." He said as he tightened his right fist and glared at Malphas.

"It's been a while since I last levelled up, i guess I have to focus on that now don't I." He added.

"Huh? What are you talking about?" Abigail asked.

"The general's mine." He responded plainly as he dashed forward at the demon general leaving behind a trail of dust.

"Wait!"Abigail yelled in an attempt to stop him.

"Tsk that bastard.." She added as she ran behind him.

"Are they always like that?" Li asked as both him and Michael watched as the paradoxes approached them.

"Beats me, how do you feel about pulling a double combo on these mfs?" Michael replied with a smirk etched on his face.

"Sounds like a plan." Li feeling the heat of the battle responded, steam escaped the body of Micheal who transfigured to assume the form of a gorilla. He didn't take on the physical features such as hairy arms and feet, rather he took on the physical strength of the gorilla.

"Let's get to it!" Michael exclaimed as he aimed and slammed his right fist into the ground, thanks to the additional essence he received from Gaianox. His gorilla transfiguration became more realistic and powerful, the strength behind his arms released a shockwave into the ground which propelled all the paradoxes that approached them slightly into the air. "Now!"

Li ran swiftly to the middle of the paradoxes who were about to descend back to the ground, utilizing the essence boost he also received he executed an underleg sweep several times with a swift motion that even Micheal had a hard time following his movements.

Using his superior strength, he created a considerable amount of wind pressure which covered the range of the whole paradoxes. He kicked his right foot up in the air and directed the flow of the wind pressure upwards which sent all the paradoxes further up into the air.

With his hands, he threw himself upwards and above the paradoxes that were caught in the wind pressure. He executed a Russian frontflip several times building momentum and power in his legs. "Rising Phoenix!" He kicked his right leg downwards creating another wind pressure which drove the paradoxes into the ground, their impact through the solid ground created a slight ripple through the earth and as well a cloud of dust which engulfed the environment.

"Oh yeah! We'll call this combo move Raging Phoenix Art: Rising Beast Storm! Hahaha!" Michael exclaimed as he marveled at the beauty of their combination attack.

Gaianox from his intial position observed the two mages. "That kid.." He spoke softly referring to Tsuyoi Li. "Before I lended some of my energy to him, I could already sense that he possessed a low level of essence. Is it possible for a human to have so little?" He questioned.

"Even so, he adapted to his inability to use essence and honed his strength and fighting techniques to cope with his lack of essence. How?" He contemplated the current situation within his thoughts.

Rai stood face to face with a joyous Malphas, it had been so long since he last met a human who could deal damage to him so his current excitement was understandable.

"Rai!" Abigail called out to him as she finally caught up to him.

"I'm not going to stop you from interfering, just try not to get in my way." With a slightly cold tone, Rai requested.

"My exact thoughts as well, EssenField!" Abigail proclaimed understanding that her alone could not take on Malphas. An orange aura engulfed her whole body as she spoke, honing her five senses to the maximum.

"Bring it on you filthy vermins!" Malphas exclaimed as both him and the two mages dashed forward at each other.