Advanced Observation Haki
Within the shattered valley, the roar of the waterfall was deafening. Hughes stood on one side, while Laxus and the others stood on the other. The two sides faced each other in a stalemate, the atmosphere tense and stagnant.
Hughes forcibly suppressed the instinct to activate his Elementalization and the Tekkai Body, and nodded to Laxus: "Come on, I'm ready!"
Laxus gazed at Hughes, who had closed his eyes and emptied his body, his expression gradually becoming serious, and a surge of powerful magic coursed through his body.
Hughes had just briefly discussed Kami-e with them. It is a martial art that relies entirely on bodily instinct to sense changes in the opponent's attack airflow, thereby allowing one to evade the opponent's attack at close range.
Such extraordinary physical skills naturally piqued Laxus's curiosity, and he wanted to witness them firsthand.
"They're here!" Laxus announced in a low voice.
"Boom!"
Thunder rumbled through the valley, and golden lightning filled the sky, startling countless pebbles within the valley into shaking and floating.
Golden lightning suddenly appeared on Laxus's drooping right arm, and he raised his right fist high and smashed it down into the void.
"Boom!"
Guided by his right fist, golden lightning bolts zigzaggled across the sky, striking down on Hughes in succession, each striking a different target.
Some were aimed at the head, some at the bare chest, and some at the unspeakable parts.
The sound of thunder and Laxus's warning reached his ears. Hughes let out a long sigh, his mind highly focused, sensing the impending lightning.
With eyes tightly closed, the world plunged into darkness, and everything seemed to slow down. Despite the thunder roaring outside, my mind was completely silent, with no sound except for the pounding of my own heart.
Suddenly, a golden bolt of lightning appeared in the pitch-black world. Although lightning is the epitome of speed, in Hughes's perception, it was as slow as a golden ray slowed down a hundred times, and it was slowly and steadily heading towards his head along an invisible trajectory.
Hughes watched it with utter calm, and just as it was about to fall on his head, he twisted his neck to the side and easily dodged it.
Inside the valley, Laxus frowned. He could see clearly that when his lightning bolt was only a millimeter away from Hughes's head, Hughes just happened to twist his neck. In that instant, his lightning bolt grazed Hughes's scalp and missed.
Laxus's lips twitched almost imperceptibly. He could dodge the Lightning Strike even with his eyes closed, which made him seem no different from a low-level mage.
With a hint of anger, Laxus spread his five fingers, which were wreathed in golden lightning, and pressed down sharply. In an instant, lightning filled the void and poured down on Hughes, falling at twice the speed of before.
Hughes kept his eyes closed. He realized that since dodging the initial lightning strike, the silent world was no longer dark. The thunderous roar of the tsunami filled his ears, and the world became bright and clear, with color, as if he were now with his eyes and ears open.
He "saw" countless golden lightning bolts attacking him, their speed still as slow as if they had been slowed down a hundredfold.
Hughes twisted his body, dodging four bolts of lightning that hurtled towards his lower body; he slightly tucked in his stomach, and a flash of lightning grazed his abdomen; he raised his arm halfway, and three bolts of lightning passed under his armpits...
Inside the valley, everyone, including Laxus, froze, staring in disbelief as Hughes, with his eyes closed, moved freely through the dense, rapid lightning, without a single leaf touching him.
Natsu blinked incredulously. "Gray, can you do that?"
Gray:ಠ╭╮ಠ
It's so pitiful. Natsu not only has a problem with his brain, but also with his eyes. I wonder if Granny Porlyusica still has any prosthetic eyes. If not, that would be even better. It would be best to gouge out Natsu's eyes, since they're useless anyway.
Listen to this! Is this something a human being should say? What do you mean he can actually do it?
If he could do that, he wouldn't need to tremble under Erza's fists.
Ugh, that slanted-eyed bastard is definitely mocking him. The more Gray thought about it, the angrier he got. He gathered cold energy in his palm, and in the blink of an eye, a solid ice hammer took shape in his hand.
"Natsu, there's something delicious waiting for you!"
"Ah, where is it? Where is it?"
Taking advantage of Natsu's dazed turn of his head, Gray raised his ice hammer and smashed it hard on his head!
Thump!
Thump!
Natsu lay sprawled on the ground, his head swollen and his eyes seeing stars, unable to get up. Gray clapped his hands in satisfaction; that was much better.
"Hey, Natsu, don't die! You still haven't told us where you hid the dried fish."
Erza:... Alright, alright, another fight, and right under my nose. When we get back to the guild, none of them will escape.
"Strange, it's a bit cold!" Gray rubbed his arms, frowned, and glanced around before finally fixing his gaze on Natsu lay unconscious on the ground...
On the other side, Hughes slowly opened his eyes. In his perception, he had already dodged all the golden lightning.
A quick scan revealed no further flashes of lightning; the area around him was charred black and littered with countless rubble.
Hughes glanced at himself a few times; he was indeed unharmed.
"Very good, I am indeed very powerful!"
[Host's self-taught ultimate skill, Kami-e, has been detected. Current proficiency is at the Perfect level. It has been added to the skill list.]
Hughes paused slightly, his expression unchanged, but his heart was in turmoil.
Perfect level? How can one reach the perfect level upon first comprehension of Kami-e?
He has Rankyaku the level of Shave and Geppo, but his proficiency in it is only at the beginner level. How could Kami-e be so special?
Thinking there was a system Hughes, Hughes was about to open the panel to take a closer look when the system notification sounded again.
[Host has independently mastered Haki - Observation Haki, current proficiency is advanced, and it has been added to the skill list.]
Hughes: (ﾟДﾟ≡ﾟДﾟ)
The system has a grand prize of 100 million yuan; are they distributing rewards?
Wasn't he just practicing Kami-e? When did he start practicing Observation Haki?
Could it be, as he previously suspected, that Kami-e is the prototype of Observation Haki...?
That doesn't make sense either. According to this reasoning, Tekkai is still in the rudimentary stage of Armament Haki, so why didn't it give him any hints about developing Armament Haki on his own?
Is this "advanced proficiency" level even correct?
Damn, this happiness has come all at once in such a short time!
Seeing Hughes standing there, stunned and incredulous, Mira thought Hughes hadn't learned Kami-e. She quickly ran over, grabbed Hughes's arm, and comforted him, "It's okay, it doesn't matter if you haven't learned Kami-e. I'll go ask the president; he definitely has better physical techniques."
Hughes gathered his thoughts, a bright smile spreading across his face, and ruffled Mira's hair. "How could I not have learned Kami-e? It's just that I think I've grasped an even more powerful technique."
Laxus paused his two-step forward movement, and the concern on his face vanished.
... Does Hughes mean that he has become stronger again?
Damn it, when will he ever surpass Hughes?
It seems we'll have to go to that place the old man mentioned.
Hughes gave Laxus and Mira a strange look. His newly acquired Observation Haki told him that Laxus had just experienced a great emotional fluctuation, but among everyone present, Mira, who was beside him, had the greatest emotional fluctuation.
Hughes:... Mira seems to be acting more and more strange ever since she joined Fairy Tail.
Mira lowered her head, her red lips pressed tightly together, her cheeks flushed, and her eyes kept stealing glances at the hand resting on Hughes's arm.
"What should I do? Will Lisanna and the others laugh at me?!"