Chapter 306: VANDer's Struggles And Growth
There was still more than a month left of the school year, but Monolith was still unmovable. Zach and his friends had trained until their ears bled, but they still couldn't make Monolith move from his spot. It was like trying to move a mountain–a mountain that fought back.
All of them had grown stronger, it just wasn't noticeable when they fought Monolith. Of course, they hadn't grown that much stronger in a matter of weeks or a month or two.
Violina was the only one who had figured out energy, thanks to her background in martial arts, even if she didn't acquire martial energy. She managed to develop something she dubbed ice energy since she hadn't heard of it before, thanks to her three icy familiars.
Through her connection with her familiars, Violina had suddenly become aware of something she ordinarily couldn't see with her human eyes but that all three of her familiars could apparently see to various degrees. What was more surprising was that her only A-rank familiar, the Ice Spirit, saw it best.
Natural energies in the air like streaks of color in the wind. Thanks to her familiars, Violina could somewhat sense a lot of it.
But what she was interested in and cared about was the natural energy with a light blue color. It was the energy of ice. There wasn't much of it in the Academy in the center of the Empire, where there was summer and less summer as the only two seasons. Your journey continues on empire
However, certain natural treasures were rich with ice energy, treasures she had no trouble getting, thanks to her family. It seemed her family's previous stance of letting her grow on her own and develop independence had shifted with Sio's discovery of his great-grandchild.
Violina and her familiars were getting spoiled.
Thanks to that, she didn't suffer from ice energy's drawback of her being able to increase it on her own. Unlike martial energy, it didn't grow through training or based on her physique. She couldn't take it in through practicing magic, either, even if she could see and sense it in the air around her and her treasures.
The only way she could get it was through consuming natural treasures, potions made from those treasures, or having her familiars eat either of those and give her some of what they got.
There had to be a way for her to learn how to accumulate ice energy without relying on treasures. Both Violina and Zach were convinced of that. But knowing there was a method didn't mean they knew the method. Consulting the library helped them confirm there was such a method.
But the library was customized for an Academy for Summoners. Techniques to accumulate natural energies didn't belong.
There was one book that helped Violina, but that was Yanael's Book of Sword Techniques. But that book only detailed how to use various energies in combat. It didn't mention how to accumulate them, much less niche ones like ice energy.
Still, through the teachings of Yanael's book whenever she was at the Academy, Violina grew leaps and bounds. By learning how to use her ice energy, Violina learned how to strengthen her contract skills with it.
Violina grew stronger, especially with her first and third skills, Cold Bestowal and Lingering Chill. She could create a lot more ice with a lot less effort, and her debuffs debuffed more and lasted longer.
Violina's ice energy was like the wings on a tiger. She soared.
Unfortunately, it wasn't enough to deal with Monolith. His skin was impenetrable even by the sharpest ice Violina could conjure, and his strength let him break free from any monument of ice she encased him in. His underworld energy, which was like a volcano on the brink of eruption, melted any debuffs from Lingering Chill in moments.
Even with her full power, she could only stop him for less than a quarter of a minute. That was not enough time to sneak into the Underworld, much less defeat him.
Nessa, Dukiel, and Anerias also grew stronger in their own ways, but not nearly as much as Violina. They…they were hindered by a lack of talent and money. They couldn't waste money on priceless treasures to awaken energy. They were also too prideful to accept the help.
However, they differed from Zach and Violina, who focused on their personal development. Anerias still dedicated some time out of the day to practice and train himself. But the other two didn't waste more time than necessary to keep themselves fit enough to keep up with their familiars.
Instead, the focused on strengthening their familiars. They went on expeditions and trips to dangerous forests, mountains, and places in the center of the Empire to look for monsters and valuable natural treasures that they couldn't afford to buy on the market.
They worked together and cooperated to gather the materials everyone's familiars needed.
Nessa's familiars wanted either just good food or mystic items with properties related to the night and dreams or daylight like moonstones and sunstones. Dukiel's familiars wanted minerals and gems or other slimes. Anerias' familiars wanted things with attributes of fire, darkness, or a relation to Hell. Pieces of Heaven also worked, but they were a lot rarer and harder to get than things related to Hell.
Just like Zach's familiars, they went on expeditions to gather what they needed and level up.
Strengthening their familiars and summoning more of them were the best ways for a summoner to grow stronger. Nessa's Serpentine Millipede was already on the verge of evolution again, after all.
The others weren't quite there yet, but Anerias kept telling the others that his Blackfire Hound wasn't far off. It would have been more believable if it didn't look as docile and friendly as when he first summoned it.
Anerias didn't let the others' skepticism get to him, and he focused on his Blackfire Hound.
Like that, time passed for the students, and the end of the school year drew nearer without slowing down.
It was time to bring down Monolith once and for all.