I Died and Became a Noble's Heir-Chapter 326: Fire Elementals
Jack’s grin widened as red lightning crackled between his fingers.
The Fire Elemental raised its arm again, flames coalescing into another sphere.
Thunder Mantle activated across Jack’s body without conscious thought, red electricity exploding over his skin. His muscles coiled, and he launched forward.
The elemental didn’t have time to react.
One moment, Jack stood thirty feet away. Next, he was directly in front of the creature, his hand clamping around its face with crushing force.
The elemental’s flames burned against his palm, but Thunder Mantle’s protection kept his skin from charring. Jack’s fingers dug into where a skull should be, finding resistance despite the creature being made of fire.
The elemental’s head hit volcanic rock with devastating force, cracks spiderwebbing outward from the impact point. Jack held it there, his hand blazing with red lightning that poured into the creature’s form. 𝚏𝕣𝐞𝗲𝐰𝕖𝐛𝐧𝕠𝕧𝚎𝚕.𝐜𝚘𝗺
Arc Blast activated without him thinking about it.
[-5,305 HP]
The damage appeared in his vision, but something felt different. A fraction of a second later, another number flashed.
[-5,305 HP]
Twice. The skill had procced twice in a single second instead of once per second like it should have.
’A hidden effect,’ Jack realized, exhilaration flooding through him. ’Prince of Thunder increases proc rate. That’s why it’s a Mythical tier. I wonder what other benefits it has.’
The Fire Elemental thrashed beneath his grip, flames intensifying as it tried to break free. Its arms swung wildly, striking Jack’s sides with enough heat to melt steel.
He barely noticed.
Jack lifted his boot and brought it down on the creature’s throat with Thunder Stomp.
[-6,366 HP]
The combination of Arc Blast’s double proc and Thunder Stomp’s massive damage crushed through the elemental’s remaining health. Its form flickered, flames guttering like a candle in the wind, before collapsing entirely into ash that scattered across black stone.
[Fire Elemental defeated]
[+1,838 EXP]
Jack straightened, red lightning still crackling across his body, and stared at the ash pile.
’That was almost too easy. I haven’t even created any magic yet. The bonus damage from red lightning is crazy.’
Movement in the corner of his eye drew his attention. The magma crater bubbled more violently, and two more Fire Elementals pulled themselves up onto solid ground. Their blank faces turned toward him, hostility radiating despite having no features.
Jack’s grin returned. ’Perfect. More test subjects.’
The first elemental threw a fireball. Jack didn’t bother dodging; he just punched through it again, red lightning disintegrating the flames before they could connect. His momentum carried him forward, closing the distance in a heartbeat.
This time, he experimented.
Instead of grabbing, Jack concentrated his lightning into his fist and drove it straight through the elemental’s chest. His hand pierced fire-made-flesh like a spear, Arc Blast proccing twice in rapid succession as red electricity flooded the creature’s core.
The elemental collapsed backward, its form destabilizing. Jack yanked his hand free and spun toward the second creature.
It had prepared three fireballs simultaneously, launching them in quick succession. Jack weaved between the first two, his enhanced agility making the projectiles look slow, and caught the third with his left hand.
Red lightning wrapped around the fireball, containing it and compressing it. Jack squeezed, and the competing energies tore each other apart in a burst of sparks.
’Lightning can contain fire,’ Jack noted, filing that information away. ’That’s very useful.’
He closed on the second elemental, but this time he extended his hand differently. Red lightning coalesced, stretching outward from his palm like a whip made of pure lightning.
Jack snapped his wrist. The lightning whip cracked through the air, wrapping around the Fire Elemental’s torso. The creature tried to pull away, but Jack yanked hard, dragging it off balance.
Arc Blast procced twice as the lightning made contact. Then Jack pulled harder, tightening the whip until the electrical current cut through the elemental’s midsection like wire through clay.
The creature split in half, both pieces dissolving into ash.
[Fire Elemental defeated]
[+1,838 EXP]
[Fire Elemental defeated]
[+1,838 EXP]
Jack stood there, the lightning whip dissipating as he released his concentration. His chest heaved slightly, but it was all from the excitement of playing around.
’I created that,’ he thought, staring at his hand. ’Just... imagined lightning as a whip and shaped it accordingly. As long as I understand something, I can create it. But nothing came up for a Skill. So I need more information on what makes it happen.’
The magma crater continued bubbling. Three more Fire Elementals emerged, pulling themselves onto solid ground.
He didn’t mind. This was exactly what he needed: live targets to test the Prince of Thunder’s capabilities and experiment with lightning manipulation without worrying about anything else.
Jack moved toward the next group, red lightning crackling more intensely as Jack ran his fingers through his hair.
The first elemental threw a fireball. Jack formed his hand into a blade shape, fingers pressed together, and thrust forward. Red lightning extended from his fingertips like a spear, piercing the fireball and continuing through to impale the elemental’s chest.
Arc Blast procced twice. The creature collapsed.
The second elemental tried to flank him. Jack spun, his leg sweeping in a wide arc, red lightning trailing from his boot in a crescent pattern that caught the creature across its torso. Thunder Stomp’s damage, combined with the momentum of his kick, and the elemental flew backward, slamming into volcanic rock hard enough to shatter its form.
The third elemental raised both arms, preparing what looked like a larger fireball. Jack didn’t give it time to complete the attack.
He launched himself forward, both fists blazing with concentrated lightning. His right hand struck the creature’s chest. His left hit its face. Arc Blast procced four times, and the elemental’s form simply disintegrated under the assault.
[Fire Elemental defeated]
[+1,838 EXP]
[Fire Elemental defeated]
[+1,838 EXP]
[Fire Elemental defeated]
[+1,838 EXP]
More emerged. Two this time, moving with slightly more coordination as if whatever instinct controlled them had learned from watching their predecessors die.
Jack welcomed the challenge.
He formed the lightning whip again, but this time he made it longer, giving himself more range. The first elemental threw a fireball. Jack caught it with the whip, wrapping electrical current around the projectile and flinging it back at the second elemental.
The returned fireball struck the creature dead-center, staggering it. Jack used that opening to close the distance, his fist driving into its chest with Arc Blast’s double proc obliterating what remained of its health.
The first elemental tried to capitalize on Jack’s, launching three fireballs in rapid succession at his exposed back.
Jack spun, his lightning whip lashing out in a wide arc that intercepted all three projectiles simultaneously. The competing energies exploded in a shower of sparks.
Then Jack yanked the whip, pulling the elemental off its feet and dragging it across volcanic rock toward him. As it slid closer, he raised his boot and brought it down on the creature’s head.
[Fire Elemental defeated]
[+1,838 EXP]
[Fire Elemental defeated]
[+1,838 EXP]
[Fire Elemental defeated]
[+1,838 EXP]
Jack straightened, dismissing the lightning whip and surveying the crater. Ash piles dotted the area around him.
The crater’s bubbling had subsided to normal levels.
’Nine elementals,’ Jack thought, collecting the ashes into his inventory.
He glanced upward, toward the volcano’s true peak. This crater was a staging area. The summit still waited above where Emberion waited.
Jack bent his knees and then launched himself upward towards the sky.
The ground broke beneath his feet. Volcanic rock shattered from the force. Red lightning trailed behind him like a comet ascending toward the sky.
He crested the final rise and landed on the volcano’s true peak, red lightning crackling around him as Thunder Mantle continued blazing across his skin.
And there, sleeping in a bed of cooled lava, lay Emberion.
