Chapter 40: Enlightenment At The Brink Of Death!
Buzzzzzzt!
The flames were vomited with laser-like intensity, aiming to roast Roy into finely cooked coal. At the end of the day, the beast’s intelligence wasn’t that high, as it suddenly realized it was meant to eat the guy.
And the torrent quickly halted, leaving a magma puddle where the prey was meant to be. The heat radiated from the attack alone was blistering. The others, not so far away, were already filled with scorching red burns, but regardless, they remained still and vacant.
All heads of the monster became disappointed. Did the guy really melt away, leaving no remains? This was frustrating. Why did it have to use such a high-level attack against an ant? Tch! Its mood was spoiled.
Creak!
Suddenly, a subtle noise from behind caught its attention, and in a swift, unbelievable array of movements, the boss moved. Its heads quickly surrounded the source of the noise, its slits constricting as it saw only a cracked tile... that wasn’t there before, unless...
It realized too late, and before it reacted, a sharp pain ran through the back of one of its heads — precisely the one holding the ability of illusion. This was a targeted attack!
Bang!
The head swayed uncontrollably downward, while the other five whistled sharply toward the source of the attack, not giving as much as a glance of concern for the slowly stabilizing head. A cloudy haze of dust obscured the attacker. The monster didn’t mind, as suddenly two of its heads hissed with rage, their maws widening — one opening gates to familiar purgatory-like flames, the other belching out a sharp torrent of sizzling green corrosive liquid. Even air seemed to evaporate in its path.
Its principle was: kill first, ask questions later!
Splash! SHHHHH!
The two cataclysmic mixtures landed their marks, burning through the dust and even straight through the ground.
But the monster’s eyes still remained narrow. Its instinct could tell danger was still approaching, and this time its reaction was fast and accurate. A head lighting up with azure brilliance blitzed through with sparks, reaching its sneak attacker in a blink.
And it was shocked. Didn’t I kill him? it wondered. Sadly, the attacker didn’t pause to wonder the same question as he delivered a high-impact punch. Though the size disparity was there, the attack ripped through scales and meat, tearing out a good chunk of its head.
Meanwhile, its attacker — Roy — still had his face remaining expressionless, as his figure vanished once more, so quick that even with the boss monster’s absurd three-digit agility stats, it couldn’t trace him!
...
A few seconds before Roy’s assumed demise...
Roy had been at the very forefront of death. The searing heat from the looming torrent washed his face, startling him into unrest and at the same time pulling him into a daze...
Countless thoughts flashed in his mind as his whole life played before his eyes in a fast frame rate. Am I dying? Is my life really flashing before my eyes? So I guess it was true, huh...
Suddenly, the entire display halted as he found himself deep in a void with a few scant stars drifting in the distance. Am I dead? he wondered, feeling himself floating weightlessly in the vast void. It took him a while to realize.
Wait, why does this all feel so intimate? His eyes widened as he realized this was his soul space — a place the system told him about once. Apparently, he couldn’t access it without undergoing enlightenment. Wait, am I really...?
He seemed to understand what was happening. Finally, he was having an epiphany.This was his soul space, and all these stars were his attributes and skills. His eyes lit up as he swam into the nearest brightly burning star. The moment he plunged through the gaseous surface, he knew which star this stood for — this was his skill Bash (SSS).
Being immersed in its depths, a rapid influx of understanding surged through his mind. So it’s this way... The skill said all blunt weapon attacks could be enhanced by 100x... wasn’t his hands, feet, head, elbows — in fact, down to the fingers — weren’t almost all body parts of the human body blunt? And who said they weren’t weapons?
Like dams bursting through obstructions, bringing with them raging currents, his mind broke through limits and absurd strength crept into his veins. His stats rapidly shot up — 2x... 3x... 4x... 5x — and so it ran, only stabilizing at 9x. His body could stand recoil of 12x but could only contain 9x.
With such stats in strength, even with low agility, his speed boost was absurd. And though all of this took time to explain, from the boss monster’s view, its flames had barely made contact with its prey. Roy’s calves bulged, his foot catapulting him away like a spring, leaving two deep footprints which were immediately erased by the scorching flames.
In his soul space, he swam into another star, and apparently it was the skill All Tactical Knowledge (A). And the moment he sank through, understanding hit. Who said this was useless in battle? This skill held knowledge on the principles behind all tactical weapons. And he thought: I see... so if I throw a punch like this, it would have double its efficiency... ahh, if my legs could arc like a spring, my speed can skyrocket... and the sound can be silenced using the principle behind soundproofing — I’ll just use ether as replacement...
In a swift motion, it was implemented. The moment he landed — though his landing caused a crack noise — he was quick to relocate and use it as bait. And indeed, the monster went for it. His arms retracted, his ether flowed, coating his arm in a bit, forming a mech-like ethereal armor, and Bang! His punch delivered with chilling brutality.
The attack ignored the stat gap between him and the beast, ignored its absurd 179 constitution, and plowed sharply into the back of the head responsible for the illusion trap.
As quick as he delivered the attack, he was already on the move. Inside his soul space, he had already greedily soaked into another star. Knowledge flowed in torrents, his battle style and attacks evolving with scary efficiency.
And finally, he reached his first attribute star — the Ether Star — and he realized: This... Ether... I need something better. I need to make it denser, more firepower, lower latency in response... something that resonates with my soul...
[Congratulations! Host has comprehended Mutated Mature Ether Genesis!]