Reincarnated as a step-dad in a fantasy world

Chapter 324 : Lunar punch

Alex sucked a cold breath in dread as realization dawned on him.

Unlike most races, humans were inherently weak. If not for factors such as mana, abilities, bloodlines, or even the chance to level up, they would probably rank at the very bottom alongside other similarly feeble races.

Thanks to mana, humans had the opportunity to elevate themselves to greater heights. However, they were far from being the only ones capable of harnessing mana.

The ranking Alex was studying compared the strength of various individuals who had lived in the Fiore Empire throughout its history. These were individuals considered to embody the peak of human potential—at least within the borders of Fiore.

But if one were to compare them to races born with a natural strength that far exceeded human limits, would they even stand a chance?

Take ogres, for instance. These monstrous beings, once fully grown, stood at a towering five meters or more. They were a race born with an exceptional degree of physical power. Even the weakest among them, who had never leveled up, could easily crush a human at level 3—or perhaps even higher. Such monsters, at level 4 or beyond, would possess such immense strength that mere humans in this ranking couldn't even fathom it.

Likewise, many other races were born with natural physical advantages that far exceeded those of humans from the outset. As these races leveled up, that initial advantage only grew more pronounced, creating an even wider gap.

Thankfully, there was a balance to everything in this world. While humans were physically weak, they also possessed advantages that set them apart from other races. Returning to the example of ogres, despite their overwhelming strength, they were generally dumb. This was why, despite their strength advantage, they were just mere monsters that could be hunted down even by humans, , who, though physically weaker, could use their wits and cunning to outmaneuver and hunt even the mightiest of ogres.

Abilities further leveled the playing field, granting humans a chance to overcome their inherent physical disadvantages against other races.

Alex forced himself to calm down, shutting the book he had been reading. He grabbed another book, then another, devouring each one in rapid succession. He read through most of the books without a change in his expression until he stumbled upon yet another book featuring a new ranking.

This ranking wasn't based on physical might or even mental capabilities for that matter. Instead, the people on this list were evaluated through one simple criterion: their ability to cause destruction.

It was a ranking based entirely on destructiveness.

'How do they determine someone's ability to cause destruction is higher than another?' Alex wondered, frowning. 'There are far too many factors at play to make an accurate judgment.'

Indeed, Alex felt that the destruction one could cause depended on too many variables to be appropriately measured. A person's level, physical might, mana reserves, abilities, the type and grade of said abilities, bloodlines, personally crafted techniques—each of these elements played a crucial role in determining the scale of destruction they could unleash. Quantifying all these aspects into a single ranking seemed almost impossible.

For instance, with the help of his green explosive smoke, Alex had once destroyed an entire mountain, effectively annihilating Night's base. If given enough time to propagate his smoke across a large area, and assuming his mana reserves could sustain such an expansion, the resulting explosion could reach unimaginable levels of destruction. The very thought made Alex smirk momentarily, though he quickly shook it off.

Even though Alex doubted the objectivity of this ranking, it didn't stop him from consulting it out of curiosity.

As expected, the names on this list were entirely different from those on the strength ranking. After all, being strong didn't necessarily mean being more destructive. For instance, Amelia was undoubtedly weaker than Alex, let alone those on the strength ranking. Yet, with her Residual Blast ability, she could potentially unleash destruction on a scale far beyond anything most of them could even dream of.

However, as his gaze swept over this new ranking, Alex's eyes landed on a name he had already seen on the previous list. No, not just one—he stumbled upon two names.

1. Reimus

2. Theodore Eswald

Reimus' name being there, in the first place no less, wasn’t particularly surprising to Alex. However, seeing his father’s name, especially ranked second, left him momentarily stunned.

Yet, as he thought about it for a moment, he realized it actually wasn’t all that surprising. In fact, it made perfect sense!

Lunar Punch.

This was the personal mana technique created by Alex’s father, Theodore. It involved projecting one's mana outward from the body in the shape of a fist.

At first glance, the technique might seem straightforward, and perhaps even simple, but its execution was anything but. If it had been so easy to develop, countless people before Theodore would have already created it.

Although the mana expelled during this attack was pure mana, its destructive force was far from ordinary. The fact that Theodore had once demolished an entire fortress with a single punch was proof of its devastating potential and one of the primary reasons he was revered and feared across all of Imperion.

It was also the technique that earned him the infamous nickname "The Crusher."

Many had begged, offered fortunes, and even attempted to blackmail Theodore into accepting them as his disciples in hopes of learning his personal technique. Yet, in the end, he had chosen only one: Alex’s cousin, Jonathan, to whom he entrusted his legacy.

This very technique was the one Jonathan had used against Alex during their battle for the headship of the branch family.

Although Jonathan was the only person currently capable of performing Lunar Punch, but there was another individual who understood every detail about the technique—Alex himself.

Lunar Punch was notoriously mana-intensive, making it impossible for anyone at levels 1 or 2 to master. This limitation was why Theodore had never been able to teach his prized move to Alex, who had been cursed with the inability to never break through to level 2.

However, the fact that Alex couldn’t practice Lunar Punch didn’t mean he couldn’t learn its intricacies.

Theodore had spent years drilling the theoretical knowledge of the technique into his son, driven by the faint hope that Alex might one day shatter the barrier holding him back and soar to greater heights.

Because of this, Alex knew as much about Lunar Punch as Jonathan—perhaps even more. Before his death, Theodore had been working tirelessly to refine his technique. He often told Alex that he was convinced Lunar Punch was merely the foundation, the first layer, of something far greater. As a result, Alex not only understood the mechanics of the original technique but was also well-versed in the theories his father had developed to refine and enhance it.

 'I should probably try to master lunar punch,' Alex mused to himself, 'it would be a waste to have learned all those theories and yet never test them out.'Nôv(el)B\\jnn

The list of things he had to do and accomplish seemed to be growing longer by the day, but Alex didn't waver in the face of the challenge.

One after another, he read through the books messily placed before him, absorbing their knowledge and making it his own. He didn't encounter any more rankings after those last two, but those two were enough to fuel his drive to become stronger.

Alex was reading through a book, his eyes darting across the pages with intense focus, flipping them with an uncanny speed, when suddenly two smooth, slender arms coiled around his neck from behind.

The following moment, he felt two soft, pillowy protuberances press against his back in a warm embrace, followed by an alluring and sultry voice that made his heart skip a beat, "Good morning, my love~"

The moment he heard that voice, all his previous determination and thoughts were forgotten. In fact, everything faded into the background as a beautiful, content smile parted his lips.

"Good morning, wife."