Lightning Is the Only Way

"Claude, let me give you a fair warning," Gravis said. "This is a battle of mindsets. You need to look at your enemy like he is the most powerful one you have ever faced. If you don't, you will die."

Claude was a little surprised and furrowed his brows. He had killed several enemies in the Seed Stage, so how could someone like this be dangerous? He had heard that this was a copy of the priest Gravis had fought, but wasn't Gravis underestimating him too much?

BANG!

The puppet charged forward with its colossal shield. Since it didn't have its Jade Tokens, it readied its spear in the other hand. Claude saw this and saw his chance. As soon as the puppet would strike with its spear, he would be able to counterattack.

Claude also charged at the puppet. Since he didn't have Gravis' ridiculous method of acceleration, he used his Lightning Movement in tandem with his physical body. With the help of his lightning, he was a bit faster than the puppet.

When they met, Claude immediately stopped and started circling the puppet. Yet, the puppet always pointed its shield at him. Claude waited for the spear attack, but even after several minutes, it didn't come. Claude grew a little worried. Using his Lightning Movement cost some Energy, and the puppet wasn't using its Energy. If that continued, he would run out of Energy first.

Claude retreated, but the puppet kept close to him. 'This is annoying!' Claude thought in frustration. He didn't feel any danger from the puppet, but it was still troublesome. He started circling the puppet again, but it still wasn't using any attack. Slowly, Claude became nervous. He was wasting his Energy while the puppet wasn't.

A plan formed in Claude's mind.

BANG!

Claude kicked the shield and jumped to the side. This should disturb the puppet's balance or bait it into an attack. Yet, contrary to expectations, the puppet only blocked the attack, but the shield remained stationary for a bit.

Claude's eyes shone. He barely managed to push his spear at the puppet from the side. He also saw the spear of the puppet moving at him. He had expected such an action and had been prepared for the spear strike.

Whoop! BANG!

The shield and spear vanished suddenly, surprising everyone but Gravis. The shield immediately reappeared in the puppet's other hand, and therefore, in the way of Claude's spear. Claude gritted his teeth and went through with the attack, but he didn't unload his weapon since the shield was in the way. He would get a better opportunity to unload it later.

shield pushed against the spear and remained stalwart. Meanwhile, the spear bent to a ridiculous degree. Claude was ready for the puppet's counterattack with the spear. It

BANG!

went to the shield, and with all its power, it shoved the shield forward. Claude couldn't keep pushing with his spear since it would break if it went through even more stress. Like this, the shield hit

saw the puppet charging at him with its shield. Claude's

only pointed its shield at

BANG!

managed to protect himself with his arms. His arms received some injuries, but they were still mostly fine. The fight was just at the beginning, and

closed in again with its shield, and Claude circled it again.

Whoop!

He immediately used most of his lightning to move in the other direction. Yet, the shield immediately halted. It had been a feint. Claude's eyes widened as

transformed into

BANG!

Spirit shattered as the bang of its breaking Spirit

no," Manuel shouted in panic

went into the shield, increasing its weight to a ridiculous degree. With

BOOOOM!

an arc behind him. It was like a high-grade Spirit Beast had slapped him

meat landing on the

he should look at his opponent like it will be his hardest fight," Gravis said coldly. "When he dodged the shield at the beginning, he should have unloaded his weapon. The impact would have thrown the shield

bit of rage and sadness. "One of our friends has

with an even gaze. "It was a fair fight. Claude had the power to win, but because he took his opponent lightly, he died. I have warned him. I have also told you all in detail how the priest has fought me. They were at the same Stage, except

said was true, but she was emotionally riled up because one of her closest friends had died. They had been

Heaven's Trial. We get tempering and training. Death is

your previous fights. Nearly every enemy has taken you lightly because you were a Stage lower than them, and you took advantage of that fact. Yet, this weakness, which we look down on so much, can also happen to us. If we get too lost in our own power, we will be the ones

had realized that Gravis was right. He had remained mostly quiet, but he had learned a lot during the trials. He had also been very close to Claude, even though their temperaments had been nearly opposites of