Erica panted for breath as the flames around her slowly faded.

She was so exhausted that she felt like dying.

Originally, she thought that she was invincible in the sky, but Thirteen brought her down a peg by making Sherry use a special strategy against the Sorceress.

When they were still in the Fractured Heaven, Erica and Sherry both gained Rank 4 Steel Falcon Avatars, while Diana gained Steel Falcon wings as an equipped item.

Thirteen had been teaching Sherry Aerial Warfare because she had never tried it in the past.

The teenage boy had prepared a saddle just for her, allowing her to mount the Steel Falcon's back safely.

There was even a special seatbelt that allowed her to freely use her hands and shoot arrows from the sky.

Fortunately, Sherry was one of those people who didn't have a fear of heights, which was enough to make her an ideal Aerial Knight.

A Rank 4 Steel Falcon was not only fast, but it was also a very deadly monster.

Its wings were as hard as steel and could slice off the enemies it attacked in the air like a sword.

Its razor-sharp claws and feathers, which it could use as range attacks, were just as deadly as its entire body, making it a true killer in the skies.

For this battle, Erica fought against Sherry, and the Sorceress' earlier confidence disappeared the moment the Steel Falcon performed maneuvers that made it almost impossible for her to hit.

Even if she used magic bullets, the Steel Falcon would simply raise its wings like a shield, nullifying one of Erica's Trump Cards.

Just like Thirteen's Monster Army, he had a way to make the Steel Falcon evolve into an Adamantine Falcon, a true terror in the sky.

Thirteen even fed the Falcon two scales of the Ancient Eight-Headed Serpent, increasing the strength of its steel-like body, and making it more resistant to magical and physical attacks.

The Impetus for its evolution was to gain enough combat experience while getting hit by spells or physical attacks.

Since Erica was like a Magical Turret that could unleash spells en masse, she was the perfect person to facilitate the Steel Falcon's evolution.

Of course, the Sorceress was unaware of Thirteen's plan. He simply asked her to spar with Sherry.

She was very confident in the beginning since she had fought against Steel Falcons before. But now, all of that confidence in her disappeared without a trace.

"I give up!" Erica shouted in exhaustion.

She no longer had the strength to continue because she already gave her everything in the battle.

Sherry, who didn't do anything aside from commanding her Steel Falcon Avatar whom she named Ace, was very happy with the outcome of the match.

Erica felt incredibly down because she lost to a Rookie and her Rank 4 Steel Falcon that had evolved into an Overlord after eating the two scales from the Majin King.

Originally, Steel Falcons were only resistant to physical attacks. But after eating the Majin King Scales, it also gained some Magic Resistance, making it a "cheat-like" monster.

Unfortunately, as strong as it was now, it would still need to fight many more battles and endure many more attacks before evolving into an Adamantine Falcon, which would not lose even if it fought against Dragons of the same Rank.

"Zion, what happened to Sherry's Steel Falcon?" Erica asked. "Why is it so strong? I also have a Rank 4 Steel Falcon, but it's trash compared to this one."

"That's because Sherry's Steel Falcon is special," Thirteen replied before walking close to the Sorceress in order to whisper something in her ears. "I also fed it two Serpent Scales from the Majin King. Now, it's not only strong against physical attacks, but it's also resistant to magical attacks."

Erica narrowed her gaze. "Then feed my Steel Falcon with Serpent Scales as well."

"No," Thirteen replied.

"Why?" Erica asked with a pout.

"Because you won't get strong if you rely on your Steel Falcon," Thirteen answered. "Sherry is still a Rookie, so she needs all the help she can get. But you're different.

"You are the Great Sorceress Erica. Why do you need a Steel Falcon to fight your battles for you? Also, I will be teaching you a special move that would make you incredibly strong as well."

Erica gave the teenage boy a doubtful look. "A special move? Is it a spell?"

"It's something similar but different at the same time," Thirteen smiled. "It's called Weaponization."

"Weaponization?" Erica frowned. "What's that?"

Thirteen pondered a bit so that he could think of a way on how he could explain

Weaponization to Erica.

He wanted to make it as simple as possible so that the young lady wouldn't complain

afterward.

"You summon Flame Spears, right?" Thirteen inquired.

"I do," Erica answered.

"Those spears only look like spears," Thirteen explained. "But in the end, they're just made completely out of fire. In short, the only thing they could do was deal fire damage to your

enemy.

"However, what if you are able to give it substance? Instead of a spear made up of flames, what if you can make it like a real spear, with flames coating its body? That's what you call,

Weaponization.

"It is a skill that will allow your elemental attacks to have physical forms. Mind you- this is not exclusive to flame spears. If you do it right, your Fireballs will transform into blazing meteors that will deal greater damage once they hit.

"If your enemy is resistant to magic but weak to physical attacks, they will be annihilated with your Meteor. The same can be said for your Flame Spears. If they truly transform into spears coated in flames, they will deal Piercing Damage, breaking through the target's defenses and dealing extra damage."

Erica wasn't stupid. She was able to visualize what Thirteen meant, which seemed to have opened a whole new world to her.

"If your Magic Bullets truly transform into bullets, they will be extremely dangerous because they have the ability to lock in on their targets like homing missiles," Thirteen stated. "However, mastering Weaponization is not an easy thing to do. You need to train hard to achieve the bare minimum to pass my training."

Thirteen then took out a hand towel from his storage ring and draped it over Erica's head before walking away to talk to Sherry and praise her for her Aerial Battle.

Erica felt bad earlier, but now, she seemed to have reached some kind of enlightenment, which would allow her to become three times more deadlier than ever before.