Chapter 463: Stronger
That evening, the academy had already fallen quiet.
The training grounds were nearly empty, illuminated only by rows of prana lamps that cast long shadows across the stone pathways.
Lux walked through them alone.
His expression was as calm as ever.
The defeat from earlier hadn’t discouraged him.
It had taught him.
Every exchange.
Every spell.
Every mistake.
He had replayed them countless times in his mind.
The monster’s overwhelming strength...
Its terrifying defense...
Its explosive bursts of speed...
He remembered everything.
That was enough.
Soon, he arrived before the dimensional gate leading to the rented pocket world.
The instructor on duty recognized him immediately.
"Back already?"
Lux nodded.
"I wasn’t finished."
The instructor raised an eyebrow before smiling faintly.
"Still have enough credits?"
"I do."
After confirming his identity, Lux paid the required fee.
The portal shimmered.
Without hesitation, he stepped inside.
---
The familiar forest greeted him once again.
Nothing had changed.
The abandoned town still slumbered beneath layers of vines.
The ancient temple remained in ruins.
The distant mountains pierced the clouds.
Lux landed atop the temple’s broken roof.
He didn’t rush deeper this time.
Instead...
He sat down.
Cross-legged.
His breathing gradually slowed.
The Leclair Breathing Technique circulated naturally.
The surrounding prana flowed toward him like countless rivers converging into the sea.
Deep within his body...
The lake inside his core slowly expanded.
Not by much.
Just enough.
Quality.
Not quantity.
That had always been his goal.
Hours passed.
The silver radiance surrounding his body gradually became clearer.
Denser.
More refined.
Lux slowly opened his eyes.
"...Again."
He raised one hand.
A small sphere of light appeared.
Previously, maintaining it required continuous concentration.
Now...
It floated naturally.
He created another.
Then another.
Ten.
Twenty.
Fifty.
A hundred miniature stars surrounded him.
Each contained perfectly compressed mana.
Not a single fluctuation escaped.
A faint smile appeared.
His control had improved.
He stood.
"Acceleration."
A silver magic circle unfolded beneath his feet.
Unlike before, it formed almost instantly.
Light wrapped around his body.
The spell stabilized immediately.
"Fortification."
A second circle appeared.
His muscles strengthened.
His bones became sturdier.
His senses sharpened.
"Divine Armor."
Brilliant armor enveloped him.
The amount of mana consumed...
Was noticeably lower.
Lux examined his glowing gauntlet.
"...More efficient."
One after another...
He cast every strengthening spell he knew.
None wavered.
None showed instability.
Their synchronization had become almost perfect.
His wings unfolded.
The feathers glowed brighter than before.
One flap.
Boom!
A sonic boom echoed through the forest.
Lux vanished.
The scenery blurred.
His flight had become smoother.
Faster.
More precise.
Within minutes...
He reached the familiar valley.
The colossal guardian remained where he had been before.
Motionless.
Like a mountain.
Its crimson eyes slowly opened.
The pressure descended once again.
Lux calmly met its gaze.
"This time..."
"...Let’s see how much I’ve improved."
The giant roared.
The valley shook.
Lux answered by raising one hand.
Hundreds of stars appeared behind him.
No hesitation.
No wasted motion.
"Go."
The stars surged forward.
Unlike before...
They didn’t scatter randomly.
They moved together.
Changing formation mid-flight.
Some attacked from above.
Others curved around the monster’s blind spots.
Several waited patiently before striking at precisely the right moment.
Twack!
Twack!
Twack!
Explosions echoed across the valley.
The guardian swung one massive arm.
Shockwaves erupted.
Half the arrows disappeared.
The remaining ones immediately adjusted.
Their trajectories changed naturally.
Each sought the cracks Lux had opened during their previous battle.
Boom!
Another section of obsidian armor shattered.
The guardian charged.
Lux disappeared.
Flash.
He appeared beside its shoulder.
His glowing staff descended.
Boom!
The impact forced the giant one step sideways.
Only...
One step.
Lux wasn’t disappointed.
That single step proved something.
His attacks carried more force than before.
The guardian retaliated.
A claw swept across the valley.
Lux folded one wing.
Instead of retreating...
He accelerated toward it.
His staff rotated.
Shing!
The claw slid harmlessly past as he redirected its trajectory with perfect timing.
Using the monster’s own momentum...
He climbed along its arm.
One leap.
Another.
Then—
He reached its shoulder.
"Judgment."
A massive pillar of light descended from the heavens.
Boom!
The guardian staggered.
Lux immediately retreated.
He had learned.
Never remain close.
Never overcommit.
The monster’s tail whipped around.
The mountain-sized appendage crushed everything in its path.
Lux slipped beneath it.
His wings carried him effortlessly through the narrow gap.
The giant slammed both fists into the ground.
Stone pillars erupted everywhere.
Lux smiled faintly.
"I’ve seen this."
His Domain expanded.
White radiance silently spread across the valley.
Unlike before...
Its boundary remained perfectly stable.
Not a single ripple appeared.
Every strand of light moved exactly where Lux intended.
Inside the Domain...
The giant’s movements slowed.
Its wounds refused to regenerate.
Meanwhile...
Lux felt his own mana circulating more smoothly.
His control over the Domain had deepened.
He gently raised his hand.
The countless particles of light filling the Domain answered.
Not violently.
Naturally.
Thousands of luminous threads gathered around the guardian.
They wrapped around its limbs.
Its torso.
Its tail.
The giant roared and struggled.
The bindings trembled.
Cracks spread across them.
Yet they held...
Long enough.
Lux flashed forward.
His staff became a radiant spear.
He thrust.
Boom!
The spear pierced deeper than before.
Light erupted within the giant’s chest.
The guardian answered with a roar that shook the mountains.
Its aura exploded outward.
The bindings shattered.
The Domain trembled violently.
Lux retreated immediately.
He knew better now.
Even with his improved control...
Victory was still out of reach.
The giant was adapting.
Its attacks became heavier.
Its aura denser.
Every collision pushed Lux farther than the last.
Yet unlike their previous battle...
He no longer fought merely to survive.
He fought with purpose.
Each exchange refined his movements.
Each clash improved his control.
Every spell flowed more naturally into the next.
Acceleration.
Fortification.
Judgment.
Radiant Spear.
Light Arrows.
Domain.
Each technique linked seamlessly, without interruption.
The battle became a relentless dance across the valley.
Explosions echoed endlessly.
Mountains collapsed.
Ancient forests disappeared beneath waves of light and stone.
Neither combatant yielded an inch.
At last, Lux landed atop a broken cliff.
His breathing had grown heavier.
The giant still advanced.
Its armor was fractured in dozens of places.
Deep wounds covered its enormous frame.
For the first time...
It bore unmistakable signs of exhaustion.
Lux rested his staff against his shoulder.
A faint smile crossed his face.
"...Better."
He hadn’t defeated it.
Not yet.
But unlike before...
He had forced the guardian to fight seriously from beginning to end.
He had grown stronger.
His spells were more refined.
His Domain answered his will with greater precision.
His control over the Law of Light had reached a new level.
The wall before him still stood.
But now...
Cracks had begun to appear.
And Lux intended to widen them until the day the wall finally fell.