Chapter 327 - Owen’s Breakthrough
Owen closed his eyes, sitting cross-legged on the ground.
’Here we go.’
With that, he started stimulating his mana.
From a distance, Theo and the others carefully watched.
RUMBLE!
Dark mana erupted around Owen’s body in an instant.
Before anyone could react, enormous dark spikes burst out of the earth around Owen.
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
Wave after wave tore through the sand.
Hundreds became thousands in seconds.
Each spike was several yards long, ending in a razor-sharp point as they got closer and closer.
’’Holy shit!’’ Jim shouted, jumping up.
Without hesitation, he turned around and began sprinting back.
The rest followed his lead, instantly spinning around.
As they ran, Theo glanced behind curiously.
Within seconds, hundreds of yards of desert had been completely transformed into dark earth covered by spikes.
It literally looked like a gigantic field of blades!
Theo swallowed hard.
’Good thing we did the breakthrough outside... and that we kept our distance.’
Only after creating nearly a mile of distance did everyone finally come to a halt.
But before they had the chance to recover, an even louder noise echoed out behind them.
RUMBLE! CRACK! RUMBLE!
It came from the center of the spike field.
Theo’s head snapped towards it, the others soon following.
’What’s going on?’ he thought, narrowing his eyes.
A huge cloud of dust and sand had been swept into the air, completely masking where Owen had stood.
Just then, Feng’s voice rang through his mind.
’’Your friend’s racial ability is breaking through,’’ it said. ’’I’d highly advise you to remain cautious in case he loses his mind.’’
Theo’s brows furrowed instantly.
’Say what now?’ he asked internally. ’Loses his mind?!’
At that exact moment, he noticed a massive shadow moving through the cloud of dust.
’’Yes,’’ Feng replied calmly. ’’Since he’s infected with the Skeleton King’s undead bloodline, it’s very possible.’’
Theo’s eyes widened immensely.
’Why is this the first time I’m hearing about that?!’ he practically shouted internally.
’’It’s not as dangerous as it seems,’’ Feng added calmly. ’’If he goes berserk, you just need to wait until his regular bloodline evens out the undead one.’’
Hearing that, Theo could finally let out a relieved sigh.
It wasn’t actually as dangerous as he’d previously thought.
’I’ll have to hold his berserk state off at most,’ he thought, summoning his umbrella. ’I can do that.’
And that was only IF he went berserk.
By now, several seconds had already passed.
The cloud of dust and sand had begun clearing.
And as it did, everyone’s eyes widened while jaws dropped.
’’What the fuck...’’ Lyra muttered quietly.
Owen was there, having transformed into his rock figure.
Smooth, nearly black stone covered his enormous body, while countless cracks spread between the massive slabs of rock.
But something was wrong.
He looked almost the same size as before.
Theo swallowed hard, having seen the difference already.
’He’s kneeling.’
The realization had barely crossed his mind when another rumble shook the ground.
Owen had started moving, planting one foot beneath him.
RUMBLE!
He slowly stood up.
More sand was thrown into the air as his body rose higher and higher.
It quickly surpassed his previous three-story-tall size and showed no signs of slowing down.
Four stories, five stories, six stories...
By the time Owen finally stood completely upright, everyone had fallen deathly silent.
He had grown to well over twice his previous height!
Theo stared up at the six-story giant towering above the spike field.
Even from hundreds of yards away, Owen looked absolutely enormous.
’I wonder how strong he’ll be,’ he thought, clenching his umbrella. ’Just holding him off should be doable... right?’
’’What the fucking fuck?’’ Jim cursed beside him. ’’How’s this even fair?!’’
’’Of course,’’ Lyra muttered, rubbing her temples. ’’Should’ve known this would happen.’’
Iris nodded slowly beside her.
Meanwhile, Lucienne and Isabelle couldn’t believe what they were seeing.
The two exchanged glances, both wearing strange expressions.
’Is this normal for them?’ Lucienne thought. ’How does that make any sense?’
’Even my breakthroughs aren’t this flashy, while I have opposing elements!’
But Owen’s transformation clearly wasn’t finished.
His enormous right hand suddenly opened.
RUMBLE!
The ground beneath him cracked apart.
Black stone rapidly rose from between the spikes, twisting together above his palm.
Within seconds, an enormous weapon began taking shape.
Theo immediately recognized it.
’His sledgehammer.’
Only this one looked completely different.
The relatively crude one Owen had previously used was gone.
In its place was a gigantic, sleek sledgehammer.
A massive hammerhead sat at the front while the end narrowed into a long, razor-sharp spike.
Owen wrapped his fingers around the shaft.
BOOM!
The bottom of the hammer slammed into the ground, sending tremors everywhere.
Huge dark green flames immediately burst forth from between the cracks in his armor.
They surged outward several dozen yards, completely engulfing the enormous golem.
’That color...’
Theo recognized it immediately.
Owen’s flames, though still much darker, had started resembling those of his pet dragon.
WHOOSH!
The flames suddenly retreated.
Within seconds, every last trace disappeared into the cracks between his stone armor.
In their place, a strange dark green liquid began flowing through the cracks.
Within seconds, it spread throughout Owen’s entire body, almost resembling blood flowing beneath his stone armor.
Theo’s eyes widened.
’His flames became liquid?’
RUMBLE!
Owen suddenly moved, glancing in their direction.
Theo immediately raised his umbrella, focusing.
But before he could do anything, Owen raised his enormous sledgehammer into the air.
’’HAHAHAHA!’’
His incredibly loud laugh echoed across the desert.
’’LOOK AT THIS!’’ he continued, swinging his sledgehammer through the air. ’’I’M FUCKING HUGE!’’
Theo froze in place.
Everyone around him fell silent too.
’’I BROKE THROUGH TOO, BY THE WAY!’’ Owen added loudly. ’’NOW I CAN CRUSH JIM WITH JUST A FINGER!’’
Jim’s face instantly twisted.
’’This son of a...’’ he muttered.
Everyone else finally unfroze as well, smiles appearing on their faces one after another.
Though it was a really strange and even short breakthrough, Owen had done it.
He’d become the first person to reach Gold Core after Theo.
But there was someone who wasn’t at all entertained.
’’Strange,’’ Feng’s voice rang out inside Theo’s mind. ’’This shouldn’t have happened.’’
’’Your friend... no, something is wrong. Something is very, very wrong.’’