MM - Chapter 118 - ONE STEP DOWN THE PATH

Talerra's eyes were having a hell of a time convincing her brain that what she was seeing was real. Somehow, Alaric controlled his inhuman speed, moving so quickly around the Unliving Flame that he might as well have been teleporting. He appeared on its far side, and his arm vanished, creating a gust of wind that tore the creature's body clean in two.

He was gone again in a blink, materializing to its right, except this time he was upside down mid-air like some character from a child's fantasy vodcast. Another swipe of his shield further dissipated the elemental's wispy body. Alaric disappeared again. Talerra gasped when he reappeared in two places at once. Six visible lines of force sliced through the flames, each larger than his shield's range; Alaric was swinging so hard and fast that the air pressure alone held the force to cut.

Her hair flew wildly as the released forces gusted over her. Her eyes bulged, mouth dry, unable to speak the curse on the tip of her tongue. Talerra had never seen anyone move so fast, even her grandfather, and he was a class seven martial grandmaster on the cusp of becoming the world's eighth Old Monster! Granted, she had never seen Tannis Tafell go all out, so it was unfair to compare them.

[The bodily control required for what he's doing is unimaginable. His speed wasn't nearly that fast before; it's as new to him as my levels are to me. A few new attributes, and I can barely walk straight. How is he doing ‘that’ while I can't even sprint properly? I-I'm not some random normy, damn it! I've had the best mentors money can buy, millions worth of the highest quality nutrition, and the martial legacy of the most powerful clan on the continent. So… how? Why is the difference so vast?

Hold on. Is it because he’s actually weaker in ZionLine than he is in reality, so he's not breaking new ground with his increased attributes but instead getting closer to his true strength? Alaric... what kind of monster are you? He’s not even thirty yet, he makes no sense.]

Beside her, Fizgore was just as stunned. He was also from a martial family with a deep history. After a few days, he was intimately familiar with the difficulty of utilizing attributes. It was in every way more challenging than reality, making Alaric’s current display something beyond his imagination. [Brother is genuinely remarkable. I was right to follow him.]

Raine didn't notice or care about the looks he was getting. His focus was entirely dedicated to hitting the annoyingly evasive elemental. Grace of Nirvana was down to seconds left, and his brain was already quivering from the incredible strain of continuously utilizing bloodlust and Connection simultaneously.

At first, he only planned to spar with the Unliving Flame for a few moments to gauge if the party could handle fighting them alone. He realized what kind of creature it was after the first exchange and could have killed it in moments, but he also knew that challenges were what propelled him down his martial path. The desire to test himself against its speed was overwhelming, so he did.

With two seconds left, Raine pushed himself, eeking out every ounce of speed his body could handle. He rebounded from Connection-solidified air, not bothering to interact with the ground. Bloodlust was at full power, stressing his multitasking to the extreme. He couldn’t see anything clearly except the information in his HUD.

Muscle memory saved him from flying off into a building. In the past, he had been faster. He knew exactly how far each movement should take him with his current attributes, but it wasn’t enough. The creature’s ability to read the flow of air was perfection itself. It rode those same currents, using Raine’s every movement against him. The more he thinned the air to speed himself up, the faster the elemental became.

He understood on a fundamental level that even if his speed were a hundred times faster, he wouldn't be able to hit it without cheating. Raine braced against hardened air with both feet, ready to dive straight through its body in a last-ditch effort to overcome that reality.

Lunge boosted his already ludicrous speed by twenty-five percent. Knowing they were useless, Raine closed his eyes tight. He thinned the air before him, gliding through it with nary a hint of resistance. Sensing even that minuscule change in pressure, the elemental began to move. He was going to fail. Grace was about to end. Then, he would have no choice but to kill his perfect training partner.

It wasn’t over yet. Raine refused to quit until the last microsecond. The whole point of the challenge was to trick the creature’s senses with bloodlust, allowing an ultra-fast attack to actually land. Raine grasped his killing intent with two mental fists, squeezing it like an already-dry dishrag. One more tiny drip of effort was all he needed, and he would have it, even if it meant rupturing his skull.

For the last time, Raine directed his bloodlust, trying to target only the elemental’s head in an attempt to convince it he was about to strike from above and not the side where he actually was. With every ounce of willpower dedicated to his mental ability, there was nothing left in Raine to deny the inherent inaccuracy of what he was trying to do. It turned out that was the step he was missing all along.

The elemental didn't fall for his ruse the previous times because Raine didn't believe them either.

Fooled by the conviction Raine packed into his spike of bloodlust, the monster’s instincts focused on the ‘threat’ from above. At that exact moment, Raine’s shield tore through its middle. [-1,130]

By the time he heard its frustrated howl, Raine was already crashing into a nearby wall. He had no excess brainpower to shape the air with Connection and soften his acceleration. With a horrific crunch, an explosion of dust and shattered stones filled the air. [-422] Grace of Nirvana left him in a rush, replaced by sticky wetness that leaked from his nose. His head was throbbing, he tasted blood, and his shoulder ached something fierce; the sensations failed to wipe away his massive grin.

I did it…

The Unliving Flame tore through the hole in the wall, filling the room with boiling heat. Raine’s several new pieces of armor granted him a total of thirty-five Flame Resistance, completely mitigating the heat. If not, he would have taken over a hundred damage per second just from being close to the creature.

Specific elemental resistances from equipment worked similarly to Defense in that they mitigated a flat quantity of that damage type. The exact amount deducted was a portion of the general Resistance stat multiplied by the elemental resistance. In Raine’s case, a burning attack would need to deal in excess of two hundred and sixty damage before he felt a thing.

Raine was completely out of mental juice by this point. His fight against the Gaze of Malefaction had stressed his brain well beyond its tolerance, and this latest stunt was the system’s last straw. His HUD flashed an angry yellow.

[Caution!]

[Dangerous mental fluctuations detected. Forced logout will be enacted if host fails to cease combat until brainwave stabilization is achieved]

Okay, okay. Message received. Ow.

Thinking hurt, so Raine shut off his mind along with bloodlust. Sensing his weakness, the gaping maw within the flames darted forward, sinking sharp fangs into his shoulder and injecting liquid napalm directly into his veins. [-717] 

Raine’s hand flashed out, and he winced when forcing his Connection to solidify the air inside the elemental. There was no helping it; he couldn't hurt the creature if he didn’t rely on the attribute. Instead of easily evading, its ephemeral form was held fast inside the locked airspace. Life Drain released a green shimmer of light that swept over its form before consolidating and rushing into Raine. [-1,157] [+1,157]

[Life Drain: (Beginner) Lay arms or hands upon a target to absorb health equal to 250% CP (Cost: 15 CP) (Cooldown: 6 seconds)]

With the air still hardened, Rupture crashed into it in dual waves. [Critical hit! -21,538] The creature’s form wobbled as a quarter of its health vanished. 

[Rupture: (Expert) Strike the air to reduce enemy defense by 45% for 12 seconds. Additionally releases a shock wave dealing 750% damage in a 5.5-meter expanding cone (Cost: 10 Discipline) (Cooldown: 15 seconds)]

Sensing its semblance of life was in danger, the elemental surrounded Raine, bathing him in blistering fire while biting again. [-710] The cyclone of heat failed to immolate Raine, infuriating the monster. The brightly glowing shield he bashed into the center of its form failed to cool its indignation. Debilitating Crush further reduced its defenses while blasting a hole straight through the monster and the wall behind it. [-8,686]

[Debilitating Crush: (Novice > Beginner) With any melee blunt weapon, create a powerful blinding light. The next hit lowers armor by 50% > 55% for 10 > 12 seconds and deals 500% > 600% physical damage (Cost: 20 > 18 Discipline) (Cooldown: 20 > 18 seconds)]

The Unliving Flame howled like air whistling through a rocky crevice. Without pity for its suffering, Raine raised his shield high, then brought the edge down in a devastating cut that sliced through space itself. An afterimage of his Guillotine Slash hung in the air, right in the center of the monster. Its fresh wail was an order of magnitude more panicked as its body was drawn into the tear in reality. Five times, a staggering amount of damage flashed above what was left of its fiery body. [-10,137]

[Guillotine Slash: (Novice > Beginner) With any melee slashing weapon, cut space for 3 seconds, pulling enemies within a 2-meter radius at 500% > 600% force. Slashes 5 times at 600% > 700% physical damage. Reduces user's Defense and Resistance by 50% > 45% for 10 seconds (Cost: 20 > 18 Discipline) (Cooldown: 20 > 18 seconds)]

Raine angled his shield so the elemental’s next bite skittered to the side. [-172] Its face immediately reformed on his other side to strike again. Instead, it smacked into a wall of hardened air, slowing it enough for Raine’s shield to come around in a backhand that smacked the arrogance out of it. [-1,378]

Down to fifteen thousand health, the Unliving Flame tried to flee. There was no escape from Raine’s over two hundred Connection. The range he could alter the reality of ZionLine was a little beyond two meters, more than enough to trap the elemental inside the building with him. Raine’s arm whipped out five times per second, rapidly relieving it of the last of its health. He finished the raid elite with another Life Drain that also restored his health to full.

A ghostly screech filled the air as some portion of the Unliving Flame was sucked away, vanishing deeper into the city. From its dissipating form, a blue ball containing a flickering blaze dropped. Raine’s free hand whipped out to grab it even as he read the kill notifications.

[Obtained 110,400 Raid Superiority (1050% bonus for defeating a raid elite 5 levels above you)]

[Obtained 46% Raid Attunement (1050% bonus for defeating a raid elite 5 levels above you)]

[Ember of Rhashkahal: (Lustrous Blue) Crafting material usable in numerous alchemical reactions and powders]

Raine pulled himself from the half-collapsed building and lugged his aching head back to the group. He didn’t have the wherewithal to decipher their expressions. Approaching Celeste, he dropped a hand on her shoulder. She jerked back, but his iron grip held her fast, “I need a break. You’re the only one who can hurt them. Take the lead. Solidifying the air inside their bodies is the best way to damage them. Don’t pull two at once. Stick together, and for the love of God, watch out for traps this time.”

The stunned girl didn’t have time for a response before Raine jumped straight up, landing in Rocky’s outstretched palm. He collapsed against its thumb, rubbing his temples.

I really did it. Pinpoint targeting with mental abilities is one of the four fundamental cornerstones everyone talked about in the past. The other step I know of is that I should be able to detect, or feel, or something, other mental abilities through mine. I felt it when the first boss's bloodlust was pressing on mine. I don’t think that’s what they were talking about.

Hard to think, let alone remember. Since I didn’t have a mental ability back then, it was painful to listen. I ran away when all I was missing were a few more doses of ReGen a little earlier in life. Stupid. Weak. But it all worked out for the better. That resentment, envy, and desire is now my fuel. Learning for myself and paving my own way, that's the essence of my martial path.

Raine clenched his fists with renewed vigor. Scooting forward, he watched his team's progress while digging into why bloodlust’s range increased by an entire meter after the fight against the Gaze of Malefaction. He was positive a vital secret was tucked inside that rapid evolution in mental strength.

In his mind’s eye, Raine gazed up at an imposing cliff so steep and high it blotted out the sky. It represented the wall between his current self and whatever was needed to become a true peak class five martial master and, eventually, a grandmaster. There was the tiniest crack in that wall, not even sizeable enough to stick his fingers in to pry it wider. But there was a crack, and his gut was screaming that getting to the bottom of bloodlust’s rapid growth would split it wide open.