64 Totemic Power (1/2)

The Gutu were born with three advantages that made the other races look at them with envy. The first one being that their bodies were superior. The second being the natural abilities they possessed. The third one being totems.

Taku had always fallen short in front of Kufa regarding all three aspects, which is why he was in his current predicament. Kufa was particularly blessed regarding totems, while Taku had no talent in that field at all.

Taku never gave much thought regarding totems, but during this fight with Nhamo, he was awakened regarding the value they possessed.

With a spring in his step, Taku launched himself at Nhamo, who responded with a stab from the sword. Taku snorted and ducked, following with a uppercut to Nhamo's belly.

”Aaaaaah!”

A scream unlike anything Taky had ever heard escaped from Nhamo during the moment of contact. A soft, sizzling sound was also caugh by Taku.

”Product X is corrosive?”

Taku didn't have time to ponder over this new development as he continued with a barrage of uppercuts to Nhamo's stomach, lifting up the former. Nhamos lost the sword he was holding during the barrage of strikes. Whenever Nhamo's feet were about to touch the ground Taku would follow with a punch that lifted Nhamo once more. At some point Nhamo spat a mouthful of blood which made Taku jump back.

Taku saw his opponent rolling on the ground in agony. Nhamo's belly had been covered in armor, but there were now fist sized gaps in the armour all over the mid section. Taku's fist had melted the armour away!

Taku looked at his own fist in apprehension. Product X was still in liquid form, so even though it was in a shape, it was more like molten candle wax that was in a state of hardening but never hardened.

Taku looked on the ground and saw that his foot steps didn't corrode the ground. Which confused him.

”That's it!”

Nhamo's shout caught Taku's attention. The former punched the ground and stood up groggily. Zesa started gushing in until steam started forming from his body.

”This is Nether Infusion!”

Taku was surprised. Nether Infusion was a martial skill were by one infused their flesh with the Nether Flame to boost strength and speed. Taku was very familiar with the skill as he had also learned it during his childhood years.

It was a skill that was part of a set, so unless one possessed the other skills in the set, it was advised not to use the skill as it caused irreparable damage by itself.

Martial skills and spells were applications of zesa that one would learn to improve their battle prowess. It was possible to learn martial skills/spells that had nothing to do with your ability or elemental affinity, but it was much more strenuous.

Take Maka for example. She had the earth element affinity and her ability was gravity manipulation. Thus most of her martial skills revolved around manipulation of force and strength augmentation. If she tried to learn spells regarding soul magic she would instead suffer from lack of progress.

Taku knew the full set of skills to use with Nether Infusion, but he was rusty and needed lots of practise as it required a lot of concentration. Not to mention he learned the skills when he was six years old. How much could he remember?