Chapter 338 - 338: Enhancement Master

However, a surprise occurred.

From the man who was thought to have met a certain defeat, Ebadon, Morizion suddenly felt a change that was difficult to explain in words.

Or if one stubbornly wanted to describe his feeling with a visual example, then Morizion was like seeing a small sapling from afar, but as he drew closer, the sapling grew larger, finally turning out to be not a small tree at all, but a great tree that covered the heavens.

The tip of his blade stopped before Ebadon's firm chest.

It struck off-center.

Simultaneously, Morizion's body seemed to falter slightly.

Others might not have reacted to the sudden shift in the battle, but Kain was different. And it must be said, he was truly astonished; a speculation arose in his mind.

The opening developments of the fight didn't have much to say. As someone who had fought people from the Sword Clan—specifically Cecilia—for someone like Kain, the tactic of using overwhelming numbers against them was quite... useless. The scene of Ebadon using thousands of golems to surround and kill Morizion to no avail was not much different from when Kain used his electromagnetic network to surround Cecilia.

But, the moment Morizion's sword touched Ebadon, and the events that followed, Kain had a theory as to why.

The most obvious thing was Morizion's faltering posture. He didn't believe a battle-hardened swordsman like Morizion would make such a more-than-basic mistake, especially since this swordsman was a grand-class Magus.

Therefore, this could only be due to the influence of Ebadon's magic.

But what kind of magic could cause such an impact on a grand-class Magus like Morizion?

The first thing everyone would probably think of was [Spirit Magic], because Morizion's behavior could be explained by a mental attack.

But for Kain, this assessment wasn't quite right.

The level of [Spirit Magic] required to affect Morizion would obviously have to be grand-class, but hadn't Ebadon already displayed [Earth Magic] at the grand-class level?

Although Kain still didn't fully understand the grand-class, he didn't think Ebadon had two magic systems pushed to the grand-class level.

Kain had a more reasonable answer.

Ebadon's grand-class magic system was not [Earth Magic], nor was it [Spirit Magic], but... [Enhancement Magic].

That explained everything.

The reason those [Earth Golems] belonging to [Earth Magic] were so strong was because of grand-class [Enhancement Magic].

Morizion's sword failed to pierce Ebadon's chest also because of [Enhancement Magic].

And the most original issue, why Morizion's posture became unbalanced, was also because of [Enhancement Magic].

It might sound unrelated, but in reality, this was an extremely novel way to utilize [Enhancement Magic].

This type of magic could not only be used on the Magus themselves; after all, from the beginning, there was a magic skill that could enhance objects outside the self called [Enhancement Tool], so it was completely feasible for [Enhancement Magic] to be used on others.

It might still sound more like support than a tool for dealing with enemies, but what if it were put another way?

The body has balance and must maintain balance; it sounds ordinary and unremarkable, but clever tricks are often a combination of utilizing these unremarkable things.

The body maintains balance mainly through the smooth coordination between the vestibular system located inside the ear, vision from the eyes, and the somatosensory system such as muscles, bones, and joints. All of this is to stabilize the center of gravity, helping one stand firm, move, avoid falls, and distribute force evenly across the skeletal frame. The brain and mind process signals from these three systems to immediately adjust posture.

This doesn't just happen in humans; it's the same for any living creature.

Although grand-class Magus have escaped the realm of ordinary living creatures, certain aspects still cling to these things.

Even though they don't truly need eyes to see, noses to smell, or even a physical body to exist, as long as they still use these elements as part of their life, the resulting influence is unavoidable.

Returning to the fact that body balance adjustment is the primary coordination of three different systems—what if there were factors within these three systems, or factors within these systems encountered a problem? What would follow, naturally, is an imbalance.

For example, if the eyes are caught in an illusion that stretches vision, the body won't adjust in time and will misstep according to the false perspective. Or if the vestibular system in the inner ear is disrupted while spinning, leading to a situation where, even though there's nothing wrong with the eyes, the gait becomes skewed and wobbly...

And it was the same here.

If it were with Kain's "crude" level of magic, using [Enhancement Magic] on an opponent would indeed not be a very wise move. But for a grand-class Magus like Ebadon, it was not a problem.

With just a small adjustment—for example, using [Enhancement Magic] to enhance nerve transmission speed, or enhancing the strength of a single joint, or enhancing the eye's light receptors... any of these, or all of them at once, could cause a perfectly adjusted body to fall into chaos.

In this case, [Enhancement Magic] was not a supporting tool, but an extremely formidable weapon.

And this was exactly what caused Morizion to lose his balance; furthermore, only by using [Enhancement Magic] could one enhance their body to the point of not fearing a sword strike.

Everything Kain guessed was correct.

Not just him, but Morizion, as the one hit by the magic, had also figured out the reason; unfortunately, his opportunity had been missed.

No wonder I kept feeling that this person's [Earth Magic] was a bit strange; although it had indeed surpassed high-class Magus, comparing it to the grand-class felt a bit superficial.

It turns out that this fellow's grand-class [Enhancement Magic] had enhanced his [Earth Magic] to that level.

Unfortunately, thinking clearly was temporarily useless, for this was the moment of Ebadon's counter-attack.

Although [Enhancement Magic] was not good for offensive strikes, it had plenty of flexibility in its application. Ebadon swung his fist toward Morizion's chest—a punch with power enhanced to the limit, moving at a speed also enhanced to the limit.

Thud!

With a dull sound of impact, Morizion's body flew backward, seemingly having just endured a far-from-light blow.