Chapter 249 Using Beast Essence Against Professor Lilliana Valtor

The moon cast long, eerie shadows across the Steele training field as Alaric faced Lilliana Valtor and her five colossal elemental thrones. The sheer power radiating from her constructs was immense, easily capable of leveling a small town. An ordinary Grandmaster would have been paralyzed by fear, or already ashes.

Alaric, however, felt a thrill coursing through him. His ruby eyes burned with an almost feral light. The Azure Spirit Lion Beast Essence, which he had kept partially suppressed, now flared to its full glory. A magnificent, ethereal lion wreathed in azure flames and crackling wind seemed to superimpose itself over his form. His mana reserves surged, his senses sharpened to an almost painful degree, and a potent spiritual pressure, tinged with the wild majesty of the beast soul, emanated from him.

“A Beast Essence?” Lilliana breathed, her eyes widening in genuine shock. She, an Archmage with vast knowledge, recognized the phenomenon. It was rare, incredibly so, for mages. Usually associated with martialists who formed bonds with powerful beasts, or ancient, near-mythical bloodlines. “Alaric… how did you…?”

“The world is full of surprises, Professor,” Alaric replied, his voice now carrying a faint, resonant growl from the Lion Essence. “And I’ve picked up a few more tricks than just artifact crafting.”

He didn’t give her time to process. The five thrones were already moving.

The Earth Throne, a lumbering behemoth of stone, slammed its massive fists towards him. “Crushing Descent!”

The Storm Throne, a howling vortex of wind and ice, unleashed a barrage of razor-sharp Glacial Shards and Tempest Bolts.

The Fire Throne, the radiant phoenix, opened its beak and a torrent of Solar Incineration – fire hotter and more concentrated than anything Alaric had used – spewed forth.

The Ocean Throne surged forward, a towering wave of pressurized water aiming to engulf and crush him – Abyssal Deluge.

And subtly, the unseen Gravity Throne intensified its pull, making the ground beneath Alaric feel like thick tar, trying to root him in place for the combined assault.

‘Overwhelming force. Classic Archmage tactic,’ Alaric thought, his mind working at lightning speed. He couldn’t meet this head-on. He needed to divide and conquer, exploit weaknesses, use his agility.

“Let’s dance!” he roared, the lion’s spirit surging through him.

He didn’t try to evade all at once. He focused on the most immediate threat – the Crushing Descent of the Earth Throne.

“Azure Gale Vortex!” Alaric thrust his hands forward. A concentrated, spinning vortex of wind, infused with his spiritual energy, met the stone fists. It didn’t stop them, but it deflected their trajectory just enough. The fists slammed into the ground beside him, shaking the entire training field, the barrier around it shimmering violently.

Simultaneously, he addressed the Storm Throne’s attack. “Shifting Mirage Winds!” He didn’t try to block the shards and bolts, but instead created multiple, rapidly moving wind illusions of himself, while his true form, cloaked in a Zephyr Step, darted through the gaps in the barrage. Several illusions were shredded, but he remained untouched.

The Solar Incineration from the Fire Throne was next. He couldn’t dodge that entirely. “Cryo-Nova Shell!” A sphere of intense, crackling cold, far more potent than his earlier ice spells due to the Lion Essence, erupted around him. The solar fire hit the shell. An explosion of steam and conflicting energies erupted. The Cryo-Nova Shell shattered, but it had absorbed the worst of the heat, leaving Alaric singed and his clothes smoking slightly, but largely unharmed.

A stray ember from the Solar Incineration caught the edge of Lilliana’s elegant training robe, near her shoulder. It smoldered for a moment before she casually waved a hand, extinguishing it with a minor water spell. ‘He’s surprisingly resilient. That ice shield was potent.’

The Abyssal Deluge from the Ocean Throne was almost upon him. He couldn’t outrun it while under the Gravity Throne’s influence.

“Parting Current Charge!” Alaric roared. Instead of fleeing, he charged into the wave. His Azure Spirit Lion aura flared, wind and lightning crackling around him. He became a spear of azure energy, physically parting the massive wave of water, surfing through the brief opening he created before it could crash down and crush him. He emerged on the other side, soaked but defiant, closer to the elemental thrones now.

Lilliana watched, her initial confidence giving way to stunned disbelief, then a dawning, intense professional focus. ‘He’s not just surviving; he’s countering! His wind control is phenomenal, his reactions instantaneous! That Beast Essence… it’s amplifying his abilities to an absurd degree for a Grandmaster!’

“You always were full of surprises, Alaric!” Lilliana called out, a thrill in her voice now. This was no longer a simple lesson; this was a true contest of skill and power. She gestured, and her thrones responded.

The Earth Throne ripped a massive jagged spire of rock from the ground and hurled it like a javelin – Earthen Impaler.

The Storm Throne condensed its winds into multiple, small, incredibly fast-moving tornadoes – Gale Dervishes – that converged on Alaric.

The Fire Throne shed flaming feathers, each one an explosive projectile – Phoenix Plume Burst.

The Ocean Throne sent out tentacles of high-pressure water, trying to ensnare him – Hydro-Lash Constriction.

And the Gravity Throne pulsed, creating pockets of intensified and nullified gravity around Alaric, trying to throw off his balance and movements unpredictably.

Alaric was a blur of azure light. He used Zephyr Steps enhanced by the Lion’s agility to weave through the Gale Dervishes. He shattered the Earthen Impaler with a focused Sonic Shatter-Pulse – a wind spell resonating at a destructive frequency. He countered the Phoenix Plume Burst with a Cryo-Vortex Shield, a swirling barrier of freezing wind that detonated the plumes prematurely.

The Hydro-Lash Constrictors were trickier. Several caught his limbs. Instead of struggling, Alaric channeled lightning through his captured limbs – “Voltaic Discharge Purge!” The water tentacles convulsed, then dissipated as the electricity conducted through them. One of the discharges, arcing slightly wider than intended, “accidentally” tore a neat rip along the seam of Lilliana’s sleeve, from her wrist to her elbow, revealing the smooth, pale skin of her forearm.

“My apologies, Professor!” Alaric called out with a wolfish grin. “Slippery foes!”

Lilliana frowned, pulling her sleeve slightly, more annoyed at the spell’s apparent imprecision than the tear itself. ‘His lightning is potent. And uncontrolled in its arcing.’ She made a mental note to reinforce her personal wards.

“You’re fighting like a cornered wildcat, Alaric!” she retorted, but there was respect in her tone. She directed the Earth Throne to stomp, trying to create fissures to trap him, while the Fire Throne unleashed another, wider Inferno Wave.

Alaric leaped over the fissures, using bursts of wind from his feet. He met the Inferno Wave with a bold counter. “Azure Lion’s Breath!”

He inhaled deeply, the ethereal lion head behind him roaring silently, then exhaled a massive cone of pure azure energy – a fusion of wind, ice, and raw spiritual power. It wasn’t fire against fire; it was controlled, chilling force against raw heat. The two energies clashed mid-field, a spectacular explosion of steam, ice shards, and dying embers. The shockwave buffeted both of them.

The training field barrier hummed audibly, absorbing the violent energy.

‘He negated my Inferno Wave almost entirely!’ Lilliana realized, her eyes wide. ‘That… that wasn’t just Grandmaster-level power. The spiritual component… the sheer density of that azure energy… it felt like an Archmage’s signature spell!’

She saw an opening. While Alaric recovered from his own massive spell, the Ocean Throne was closest to him. “Tidal Prison!” Lilliana commanded.

The water construct shifted, reforming into a swirling sphere of water around Alaric, trapping him within, the pressure rapidly increasing.

“Got you!” Lilliana declared, a triumphant glint in her eyes.

Inside the churning water prison, Alaric felt the pressure mounting, trying to crush him. He could try to blast his way out, but it would take too much energy. He needed something smarter.

‘Pressure… water…’ He focused. He still had some control over water, albeit not Lilliana’s mastery. And his Lion Essence enhanced his connection to all elements, to a degree.

He didn’t fight the pressure. He used it. “Internal Resonance Current!”

He subtly manipulated the water currents within the sphere, creating conflicting resonance frequencies. The Tidal Prison began to shudder, to destabilize from the inside. Then, with a focused pulse of wind magic from his core, he created a cavitation point.

The Tidal Prison imploded with a dull thud, collapsing inwards then outwards, releasing Alaric in a spray of water. He was drenched again, but free.

Lilliana stared. “You… you turned my own spell against itself?” That was a level of elemental understanding and control that was truly astounding.

“Water can be… temperamental, Professor,” Alaric said, shaking water from his hair. He noticed his own simple training tunic was now clinging to his chest, revealing the defined muscles beneath. He glanced at Lilliana. The spray from the imploded prison had also drenched her. Her own practical training robe now clung to her impressive figure, outlining the generous curve of her breasts, the narrow dip of her waist, the flare of her hips. The fabric around her chest was particularly revealing, the darker, wet patches hinting at the shape of her nipples beneath.

Alaric licked his lips almost imperceptibly. ‘Excellent. Accidental drenching is always a good look.’

Lilliana, however, was too focused on the battle to notice his appreciative gaze or her own revealing state. She was genuinely impressed, and slightly flustered, by his ingenuity.

“You are proving to be a remarkably… difficult student to keep in line, Alaric Steele,” she said, a newfound intensity in her voice. She couldn’t afford to underestimate him any longer. She needed to end this.

She raised both hands. The four remaining Elemental Thrones (the Ocean Throne was still reforming after its implosion) began to glow with even greater power. The Gravity Throne’s influence intensified dramatically.

“Let’s see how you handle coordinated power, Alaric!” she declared. She began to chant again, shorter this time, a command sequence.

“Earth, bind his feet, let stone embrace!

Fire, seek his form, leave not a trace!

Storm, your fury, now unleash!

Gravity, his spirit, crush and appease!”

The Earth Throne sent tendrils of living rock shooting from the ground, trying to ensnare Alaric’s legs. The Fire Throne condensed its flames into multiple, homing Solar Orbs that zipped towards him. The Storm Throne unleashed a focused Lightning Lance, far more powerful than S’ylith’s earlier attack. And the Gravity Throne pulsed, attempting to pin him completely.

This was it. A combined, overwhelming assault.

Alaric knew he couldn’t dodge or counter all of it simultaneously with conventional spells. He needed something… drastic. Something that showcased the true potential of his Lion Essence combined with his magical martial arts.

He didn’t try to cast grand spells. He focused inward, drawing on the Lion’s primal energy. His azure aura exploded outwards, not just as a visual effect, but as a tangible pressure.

“Azure King’s Dominion!” he roared, the sound imbued with the Lion’s spiritual might.

It wasn’t a spell, but an assertion of will, a temporary localized field where his elemental affinity and spiritual pressure became dominant, disrupting external elemental control.

The grasping stone tendrils faltered, their connection to the Earth Throne weakening. The homing Solar Orbs sputtered, their tracking becoming erratic. The Lightning Lance lost some of its focus, its power diffusing slightly. The oppressive gravity around him lessened, as if his own aura pushed back against it.

It wouldn’t last long against an Archmage’s sustained control, but it bought him precious seconds.

And he used those seconds.

He didn’t try to destroy the Thrones. He went for the caster.

With a burst of speed that even Lilliana couldn’t fully track, propelled by focused wind and the Lion’s agility, he shot towards her. He moved through the gaps in the faltering elemental assault, his form a blur of azure light.

Lilliana, shocked by the sudden disruption of her control and Alaric’s impossible speed, tried to erect an immediate Prismatic Wall.

Too late.

Alaric was inside her guard before the wall fully materialized. He didn’t strike with a fist or a blade. His hand, wreathed in azure energy, shot out and gently, almost anti-climactically, tapped the center of her chest, right over her heart.

“Lion’s Gentle Paw,” he whispered, the name a stark contrast to the power behind the touch.

It wasn’t an attack. It was a focused pulse of his spiritual energy, his Beast Essence, directly into her core. Not harmful, but deeply disruptive to her own mana flow, designed to momentarily ‘short-circuit’ her ability to cast. It was an incredibly risky move, requiring pinpoint precision and a deep understanding of energy resonance.

Lilliana gasped, her eyes widening in shock. She felt a strange, tingling numbness spread through her chest, her connection to her Elemental Thrones flickering, becoming unstable. The colossal constructs wavered, their forms becoming indistinct.

She stumbled back a step, her own mana recoiling from the alien, potent spiritual energy that had just pulsed through her. Her breath hitched.

The five Elemental Thrones dissolved into fading motes of light.

Silence descended on the training field, broken only by their ragged breathing.

Alaric stood before her, the azure aura of the Lion Essence slowly receding, though his eyes still held its intense glow. He was panting slightly, the sustained output of power having taken its toll even on him.

Lilliana stared at him, speechless for a moment. She touched her chest where he had tapped her. The tingling was fading, her mana flow slowly returning to normal, but the shock remained.

“You… what was that?” she finally managed, her voice slightly breathless. “That… disruption…”

“A friendly tap, Professor,” Alaric said, a tired but triumphant grin on his face. “Just reminding you that sometimes the most effective attack isn’t the biggest one.”

He looked around at the now-empty training field, the powerful barrier still humming, having contained their monumental spar. “I believe,” he said, his grin widening, “that makes me the winner of this little warm-up?”

Lilliana looked at him, then around at where her magnificent Elemental Thrones had stood. She, an Archmage, had been forced to dissipate her ultimate spell, not by overwhelming power, but by a single, precise, utterly unexpected touch from her Grandmaster student. A touch that had momentarily severed her control.

A slow smile spread across her own face, a smile of genuine surprise, immense pride, and perhaps a touch of rueful exasperation.

“Alaric Steele,” she said, shaking her head slowly. “You always were an impossible student.” She took a deep breath, her Archmage composure returning, though her eyes shone with a new light as she looked at him.

“That power you wield… that Beast Essence… combined with your unorthodox elemental fusion and those… martial magic skills…” She paused, then admitted, her voice clear and unequivocal, “The spells you unleashed, the power you projected… it far exceeds the typical capabilities of a Grandmaster. Alaric,” she met his gaze directly, “your raw spell power, your combat effectiveness… it has undoubtedly crossed the threshold of an Archmage. Even as a Grandmaster, in a true battle, you could fight an unprepared Archmage to a standstill, perhaps even… prevail, if you used tactics like that final one.”

She stepped closer, her expression serious. “You are no longer just a promising talent, Alaric. You are a force to be reckoned with. A power in your own right.”

Alaric’s grin softened into a look of genuine appreciation for her honest assessment. “High praise, Professor. Especially coming from you.”

He then let his gaze drift pointedly to the tear in her sleeve, then to the clinging, damp fabric of her robe around her chest, where the outline of her impressive bosom was still quite visible. He allowed a flicker of his earlier predatory amusement to return to his eyes.

“Though,” he added, his voice dropping to a low, suggestive murmur, “it seems our spar was a little… rougher on your attire than on mine, Professor. Perhaps next time, we should arrange for sturdier training robes?”

Lilliana finally seemed to notice her somewhat disheveled state, the torn sleeve, the way her wet robe clung. A faint blush rose on her cheeks. She instinctively tried to adjust her clothing, pulling the torn fabric, trying to smooth the revealing patches.

“It seems,” she said, her voice a little flustered, “your ‘friendly taps’ and ‘accidental’ discharges have a rather… aggressive trajectory, Alaric.” She didn’t accuse him of intent, still attributing it to the chaos of their high-level spar, but his pointed comment made her suddenly very aware of his gaze.

Alaric merely chuckled, his eyes lingering appreciatively for a moment longer before he adopted a more respectful expression. ‘She still has no idea. Perfect.’

“Perhaps, Professor,” he said smoothly. “Or perhaps it’s just a sign that our spars are becoming… intensely engaging. Shall we call it a draw for tonight, before we accidentally demolish my entire estate?”

Lilliana, still slightly flustered but also exhilarated by the spar, nodded. “A draw, Alaric. For tonight. But be warned,” a playful challenge entered her eyes, “I will not be caught off guard by your… ‘gentle taps’… next time.”

“I look forward to it, Professor,” Alaric replied, offering his arm once more. “Now, how about some refreshments? All this elemental exertion has made me rather thirsty.”

Lilliana took his arm, a complex array of emotions swirling within her – pride in her former student’s incredible growth, shock at his unexpected power, and a burgeoning, perhaps slightly dangerous, curiosity about the man Alaric Steele had truly become. The lines between teacher and student, between Archmage and Grandmaster, had irrevocably blurred.