The Devouring Knight

Thessalia nodded, her green hair whipping in the wind. "That's a trick you'll learn when you can command more than one element," she said, her tone calm but proud.

"Pfft, you're praising her too much," Aurelya said, arms crossed as her own rapier hummed faintly with light. "I could combine my elements too if I wanted."

Thessalia gave her a look. "You mean that one time you blew up a cliff trying to 'mix wind and light'?"

Aurelya's cheeks flushed. "That was training!"

Lumberling didn't even hear them, his eyes stayed locked on the battle.

The Legate planted his feet, spear glowing fiercely, and with a bellow, thrust it forward to meet the incoming spiraling blood blade. The two forces collided in a blinding flash, blood and flame against pure might.

It was like a tug of war between titans.

Vaenyra's arms trembled from the strain, her magic burning brighter.

The Legate roared in fury, veins bulging, refusing to be overwhelmed.

And yet, inch by inch, the spiraling blood blade pushed forward, devouring his light, tearing through his defense, its power rising like a tidal wave that refused to stop.

Lumberling stood silently as the storm raged before him.

Vaenyra's power lit up the battlefield, blood, lightning, wind, and blue flame fusing into one terrifying force. Watching her, Lumberling felt something stir deep inside.

His eyes followed every motion of her blade, every surge of mana that tore the air apart.

'Would I be able to do that too?' he wondered. 'I'm a devourer… I'll possess many abilities in the future. If I can learn to combine them…'

He took a slow breath and closed his eyes.

The chaos around him faded. The sound of thunder, the roar of battle, even the distant screams, all disappeared. What remained was only silence… and his heartbeat.

Then something inside him shifted.

It was as if his body remembered everything he had ever absorbed, every power, every blessing, every fragment of essence he'd devoured.

Mana from his mage path.

Qi from his cultivation.

Knight's aura and divine energy from his oracle path.

Even the faint divine blessing from the Viking gods, each of them stirred within him, glowing faintly, like threads trying to weave into one.

A golden warmth spread from his heart.

Then another light, crimson.

Then blue.

Then a faint silver, divine and pure.

And when those lights met, they didn't clash, they merged.

It was as if Nie Fenghun's Divine Blessing, Qi Adaptation, had finally awakened in full, connecting every force within him. His body trembled as power began to flow freely between all his paths.

From deep inside, something began to form, a small, pulsing seed, glowing with every color of the energies he'd ever known. It settled within his heart, silent but alive, binding everything together in one harmonious rhythm.

From that seed, roots began to spread, each one carrying a different power:

The sturdy golden root of his Knight's path, strongest and most dominant.

The flowing red of his Cultivation path.

The bright blue of his Mage's path.

The silver thread of his Einherjar path.

And the faint but radiant light of his Oracle path.

All of them intertwined, forming a single living system within him.

From the outside, mana, aura, qi, and divine energy gathered toward Lumberling like a silent storm. The ground trembled slightly beneath his feet as his body absorbed it all, the energies harmonizing instead of clashing.

Aurelya, who had been watching Vaenyra's fight, suddenly turned her head. "Hey… what's happening to him?" she said, frowning.

Thessalia's eyes widened as she felt the pressure building around Lumberling. "His aura, it's… changing."

Aurelya took a cautious step closer. "Hey! What are you doing?!"

But Lumberling didn't answer. His eyes were closed, his mind lost deep in the rhythm of energies flowing through him. His expression was calm, almost serene, while faint streams of light circled his body, merging together like rivers meeting the sea.

The storm of Vaenyra's battle raged on in front of them, but beside it, another kind of storm was being born, silent, hidden, and far more mysterious.

Lumberling gripped his spear tightly as it began to hum in his hands. The sound was deep and resonant, like the growl of a beast waking from slumber. He directed every kind of energy within him into the weapon, Qi, mana, aura, divine energy, and the spear responded, trembling under the strain.

Then, the elements he had awakened and obtained started to gather as well. Flames flickered along the edge, sparks of lightning danced around it, and gravity itself seemed to twist the air. A faint red mist of chaos mixed with swirling brown dust of earth. Fire, Thunder, Earth, Chaos, and Gravity, all answering his call.

Aurelya and Thessalia's eyes widened as they felt the shift in the air.

"Wait… what is he doing!?" Aurelya muttered. Her eyes darted to the spear glowing in his grasp. "No way… those are five elements… five!?"

Thessalia's expression hardened, her usual calm replaced by alarm. "He's… combining them? Already?"

They both stared in disbelief. This kind of fusion wasn't something anyone could do on instinct. It took years of training, guidance, and perfect balance. Yet Lumberling was doing it right there, in the middle of the battlefield, like it was natural.

The ground beneath him began to crack. The air rippled around his form as the different energies clashed and intertwined, threatening to tear his body apart. But he didn't stop. His focus was absolute.

The spear in his hands glowed brighter and brighter until its blade shone like a miniature sun, mana and divine energy bursting from it, roaring in unison. The weapon creaked and trembled, on the verge of breaking apart under the pressure.

Then Lumberling opened his eyes. Golden light flickered in them.

"Vaenyra!" he shouted, his voice cutting through the battlefield like thunder.

Vaenyra's head snapped toward him mid-fight, eyes narrowing.

"Give me the kill this time," Lumberling said, his grin sharp. "I owe you one."

He didn't wait for her answer.

He stepped forward, every muscle in his body tightening as he poured everything into his throw. The air around him howled as the combined energies pulsed and swirled. Flames erupted, lightning cracked, the earth rumbled beneath his feet, and the very air twisted from the pressure.