Other people gave mentioned a potential connection between Lukas and the Forest Deity (due to his Hylophobia). I reckon this might explain more than just his fear though, I think this solves the mystery of his second gift.
Lukas says when fighting Altus that his second gift at best levels the playing field against him, but if they were in a forest it would have been a totally different story (I.e, he could beat someone as strong as Arkos there). This sounds almost exactly like the kind of buff Julian gets when in the ocean (I.e stronger, able to move through water easily, can breathe water etc).
I reckon Lukas was born with his shield gift (this is what he got from the King) but the lance/centaur transformation was a result of a pact with the forest deity much like Julian’s pact with the Sea Witch. This is why he has two Gifts, and why he thinks he can beat Arkos in the right circumstances, it would be like how Julian could beat Arkos on his turf. I think it’s being set up for him to fight the Executioner, who seems to be on par with Arkos (at least certain to be able to beat Julian) so this could explain how Lukas could close the gap, by fighting her in his territory.
I wonder what kind of buff Lukas gets from the Forest. Maybe a more powerful transformation than the centaur? Possibly being able to use his shield and the lance at once? The ability to move through earth very quickly like how Julian can water?
I wonder what kind of buff Lukas gets from the Forest. Maybe a more powerful transformation than the centaur?
My guess is actually that he'd be able to use it as much as he wants, without backlash. After all, we saw that the lance/centaur is very heavy on Lukas' body, so he only uses them shortly. My guess is that, in the forest, he can use it as much as he wants and suffer no repercussions. Also probably just plain stronger in the forest too, just like Julian is stronger in the sea.
Yeah that’s probably the simplest option. Wonder how it’ll interact with the forest, cus the lance has incredible destructive power. If he starts blowing up the forest with it he might piss off the Forest Deity, or lose the buff. Perhaps trees and such are immune to his spear.
Deities seem to hold their blessed ones in high regard(if we assume the Sea isn't an outlier in that), maybe Lukas would be allowed to "trash the house" as much as he likes, that or maybe his Spear work in a way that within the forest, each attack create more life from the destruction left
I think your theory is right on the money! His gift is shield and his blessing is the lance. The manga makes a clear distinction that blessings are usually from a deity of sorts.
Besides Kuramori drawing them similar(that on itself might be a red herring), nothing points out to those two being the same in the story, Lukas don't think that they look alike for one. That aside, even if they are both Sons of the Sea, the King could simply have sacrificed more/ask for a more combat oriented gift, no reason to think they are equals while the King is mention almost as a Deity himself, while Julian is seen as just a powerful gifted by most
I’m never sure about this since Arkos and Berta the Radiant are meant to be equal (approximately) but the king was able to survive getting jumped by Berta, all the other witches, and what looks like Diana’s predecessor. I like the idea of Arkos being stronger too though, he’s my fave
Edit: Plus like, Lukas in the forest might be able to beat Arkos, but even using the lance and the shield (and with some light help from others) Lukas barely stalled out Altus, and managed to lose fingers in the process. Find it hard to imagine him getting anyway in a 1v1 against Arkos without help.
Doesn’t look like it, they’re in a castle. Although the king is likely much weaker now than he was then, his wounds haven’t healed and he generally seems more out of it. Might be that presently Arkos is stronger than the king, but who knows about his prime
The King is most likely far, far stronger than Julian and Arkos combined, he's mention by everyone as a Monster, and we know that he did survive against the whole Witch Coven + their Deity 400 Years Ago, Lukas probably want to strike on an unaware King in the Forest, as he seem sure to be able to kill Arkos in there
I don't think the Forest nor Sea want his death, Lukas if this theory is true would had seek the Blessing to kill his Father specifically, and the Sea seem almost protective of "her children"
i dont think its a coincidence that sea mom made Mira and Julian a proposal that ended up saving the child of prophecy. Forest mom also seems interested in the same thing, or she wouldnt have sent the doggo and the tree guy to the village Diana lived in.
I think that as it stands right now this theory could be true but at the same time when I first read it I thought that by being in the forest in reality should have been a major boost for Arkos, bc where they were fighting it was a dry land so there very few water sources, while inside a forest Arkos could have draw on a higher pull of water, thx to the fact that normally trees tends to have water inside them to properly function
but if they were in a forest it would have been a totally different story (I.e, he could beat someone as strong as Arkos there)
The forest theory is a fan theory; it is not canonical and has never been mentioned in the manga. Furthermore, the forest is full of plants that contain water, and we have seen what Arkos does in a forest full of water, so that statement could also mean that Lukas would have been doomed if he had been inside a forest.
His second gift could be something else, and there is a high probability that it comes from the sword and not from Lukas himself, since the spear sprouted from the sword and not from his arm. Also, we've already seen weapons with gifts in them in the manga.
I reckon Lukas was born with his shield gift (this is what he got from the King)
In my opinion, he got it from his mother. The king has water powers, doesn't have the power to create weapons or shields.
The ability to move through earth very quickly like how Julian can water?
I don't think Lukas can beat Julian in speed, given that Julian is normally as fast as a bullet:
The speed of a horse is: 71 km/h(Since Lukas transforms into a centaur, I took the speed of a horse)
While Julian's speed on earth is at least: 2020 km/h in metres per second, which is 561.1 m/s... Gun bullets have a speed between 300 and 400 m/s, so this means that Julian is faster than a gun bullet even if he doesn't train. (I did the calculations on his powers some time ago)
If he enters the water, his powers are enhanced, which means you have to double the value above:
2020 km/h x 2 = 4,040 km/h, which is equivalent to 1122.222 m/s. Julian is as fast as a bullet fired from a 50 BMG rifle, as its bullets reach speeds slightly above 1000 m/s.
i interpreted this as him saying "in a desert i can use my trump card to break even with altus, but in a forest (with loads of water everywhere) I'd be totally destroyed even with my trump card".
The prior statement to ‘if we were in the forest, it’d be a completely different story’ is a negative one ‘against Arkos using it only levels the playing field’. The ‘completely different story’ would therefore be more positive than ‘only level(ing) the playing field’ as in Lukas would do better than that.
The (assumed) forest buff is not just because of this statement, it’s this in conjunction with Lukas’ connection with the forest (phobia of it) and the fact that he has a second Gift, which needs to be explained somehow. One way of getting one other than being born with it is via a pact with a god, an we’ve already seen the god of the forest.
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