Last Ruler Of The Empty Throne-Chapter 59: Alexa’s skill

Jon’s gaze locked on the person standing before him—the very reason he’d felt compelled to create a safe space for those closest to him. For weeks now, he had wanted to know more about her skill, but something had always come up, leaving him with little time to check in on her. And now, as he stood there, he finally had the chance to see it firsthand.

Who else could it be but Alexa?

His eyes widened in disbelief—not because of her presence, but because of her skill. The last time Jon had been this shocked was when he had discovered his own skill, Vectors. But this... this was something else.

What sent chills down his spine now was how closely related their abilities were. Both of their powers stemmed from the same concept: space.

Physics had always fascinated Jon. It was, in part, what made him love the subject so deeply. Vectors were a key area of study, but another concept in the same field, and the one Alexa now wielded, was gravity.

Gravity. The very idea was exhilarating, a force that defied logic and bent the natural order. The law of gravity states that anything that goes up must come down.

And to Alexa, it gave her the ability to control gravity, to bend space itself to her will. To her, anything that went up didn’t necessarily have to come down without her say.

Though she wasn’t quite at the level he fantasized about, she was still fairly powerful with it.

Her skill allowed her to manipulate gravity that was already there, not create it. It might seem like a disadvantage to some, but Jon knew better.

Would anyone prefer the strain of creating something from nothing when they could have perfect control over what was already there instead? Take Jenny, for example. She could create, but her control was weak, forcing her to expend vast amounts of mana just to keep it in check and manipulate it. Cynthia, on the other hand, could manipulate air as effortlessly as breathing without having to create more air.

The recent events had shaken Alexa to the point of affecting her fighting style; she didn’t want the monsters anywhere near her. When they charged, they slowed to a crawl under the weight of her manipulation before even reaching her, giving her the opening to strike.

"Gravity x2." She layered the technique on her spear and drove it into the nearest monster. Its head exploded without suspense, and without even glancing at the remains, she moved toward her next target.

Jon suddenly couldn’t help but feel a bit irritated. Despite Alexa’s exaggerated skill and impressive use of it, she was still constrained by her realm. Her potential was undeniable, and she wouldn’t even realize how shackled she had been until she broke through the barriers of her current level—and neither would the others.

It’s no use pushing her, Jon thought, shaking his head. Despite his frustration, he was pleased with the skill she’d awakened. Every now and then, flames would burst from her palm, a clear sign of another of her skills.

So you can protect yourself now, huh? He let a smile slip, for what seemed like a rare occasion. Remembering the times at the beginning of the fall, he’d been worried about how to shield her from harm. His answer then was just a gamble, and it turned out to be the best. He honestly hadn’t imagined she’d be capable of this.

After a moment of reminiscing, his gaze shifted to Robin, who moved through the shadows of the monsters with deadly precision. She was the first assassin-type in the group, and there would be more in the future.

Her movements were always a blur, despite still being visible, and her daggers found their mark in the monsters’ blind spots. Sometimes, she even seemed to vanish and reappear behind them.

Did she get Shadow Steps too? Jon had once considered the possibility of two people sharing the same skill but had quickly dismissed the thought. Yet here was evidence of it.

Her movements were a blur of darkness, reminiscent of the shadow cats they had encountered before. She will also get stronger in the future, he thought, nodding his head as he looked at another person.

Then there was the so-called "Speed Lord," who he later learned was named Tomen.His fighting style was straightforward yet effective, creating clones, two or three at a time, all attacking in unison. The monsters then became confused about which was the original, and then he struck.

Jon watched as lightning flickered in his wake. He seems to be combining two skills, Jon observed.

And then there was John. He had always loathed his mind skill, so with quite a bit of luck, he had stumbled upon another that brought him satisfaction: Puppeteer.

Using strings, he attached them to the dead monsters and controlled their bodies, sending them into battle. And only if he knew how closely puppeteering was tied to the mind skills he so despised—maybe his strength would double with that realization.

Another figure that caught Jon’s eye was a young man wearing gloves whose skill was linked to the earth. Jon had heard him shout "Earth Armor!" at one point, and it covered his whole body like armor with earth properties. But his ability was also limited, confined to his own body.

Unfortunately, he couldn’t control earth offensively yet. Perhaps it’s evolving into a defensive skill, Jon mused.

He scanned the rest of the battlefield, and his attention was drawn to a pair of archers—a male and a female—fighting together in an odd synchronicity. The woman was the better of the pair, as her precision and aim were remarkable, while the man’s strength amplified their attacks. 𝘧𝓇ℯℯ𝑤ℯ𝘣𝓃ℴ𝓋𝑒𝑙.𝑐𝘰𝑚

Though strangers to each other, they fought as if in perfect harmony. The male of the pair was even one of the students Jon had saved when he went back to his dorm, while the woman had been part of the camp since the beginning.

Jon immediately noticed the man’s strategy: he shot an arrow into the ground between the monsters to throw them off balance, while the woman went for the kill. They had even exchanged a smile—some sort of unspoken understanding passing between them.

Then, further away, a woman wielded a whip, and what made her stand out was the way she used it: infusing it with water. Not a creator or manipulator, but a support skill.

As the whip lashed out, water enhanced its force, tearing chunks out of the monsters.

First time I’ve seen a water user, Jon thought in surprise.

And as the battle raged on, fireballs, air bullets, and metal spears flew from a distance as the long-range fighters started attacking and leveling up in their own way.

Like that, about two hours passed.

And the evolvers were slowing down, their attacks became less precise, their defenses began lagging, and attacks began accumulating on their bodies. They were running out of stamina and mana.

WHOOOM

"Urghh... thanks," one of the fighters gasped as she was saved by Cynthia’s wind just in time. She was exhausted.

The reason was quite obvious: there was a limit to absorbing remains from monsters, after all. And that limit came when they couldn’t level up with the same monsters again. They’d need to kill six times the number they were currently facing, making them lag behind.

"Everybody, retreat!" Jon’s command rang out.

And without hesitation, the group began pulling back toward the rest of the evolvers waiting in the rear.

Due to the lack of training personnel and time, he couldn’t train them like soldiers. However, what he could do was drill obedience into them, and the fastest way he did that was by giving punishment to those who disobeyed. In this case, disobedience in battle meant death.

Cynthia’s wind covered their retreat, allowing them to stagger back to safety as they huffed and panted for air. Despite their exhaustion, smiles lit their faces.

It was obvious why. The feeling of growing stronger with each kill was both intoxicating and satisfying. But it wasn’t only that—there was also gratitude in their eyes as they looked at Jon.

"Well done," was all Jon said, without even turning his back to look at them.Now, even the weakest of the low-level evolvers and the people who came with me from the university are at level 16. Though it didn’t show on his face, it was remarkable progress they had made, considering how much harder it became to level up as one grew stronger.

But the fight wasn’t over.

Though the monsters had thinned in number and the strongest of them had been killed, they weren’t finished.

Jon then turned to the rest of the evolvers—the newly turned evolvers who had just gotten their skills, and some with a treasure.

"You saw what they did. Now it’s your turn," he said, feeling their anticipation.

They had watched their comrades grow stronger, and now it was their time.