Rushing deeper into the Biting Wind Canyon, the temperature dropped further. The wind carried a more prominent chill to it. Moreover, the walls of the canyon were covered in thick sheets of ice. The snow hardened to ice.
Inspecting his surroundings, due to the accentuation of his physique—the cold didn't bother Kaiden one bit. However, the change in the environment did serve as a subtle boost to the monsters. On the other hand, the wolf type monsters disappeared as new monsters appeared.
Deep blue snakes with indigo spots—littered the canyon's rocky floor. Moreover, they were quite large. Over 3 meters in length. Additionally, their skills seemed sturdy and thick. With the weakest being a Special Elite. Kaiden prepared himself for battle.
Lv.64 [Aquafrost Python] (Special Elite)
Health: 3,734,000/3,734,000 (100%)
Attack: 5,430
Defense: 5,965
Skills: [Freezing Venom], [Ice Shards], [Cold Sheen], [Ice Armor]
As Kaiden gripped his swords, he coated them in Psionic Sword Force—a low oscillating hum emanating from the swords. However, unlike Angurvadal...Nightfall rattled.
Frowning, Kaiden threw the blade into his inventory. The sword was becoming insufficient. Drawing another sword from his inventory, Kaiden inspected it. The shape was slightly arcing, completely different from the straightness of Angurvadal.
[Garkin Blade] (Violet Gold)
Lv.45 One-handed Sword
Attack Power 366
Attack Speed 4
Strength + 48, Agility + 41, Dexterity +40
Equipment Passive Skill (Sharp Cut): Attack with this blade causes a bleeding effect. Each stack causes damage equal to 0.5% of Attack Power per .5 seconds. (Max Stack: 20)
Durability: 145/145, Requirement: Swordsman, 200 Strength.
Brandishing the sword, it was sharp and relatively light. Deeming it to be momentarily suitable, Kaiden approached the gathering of snakes.
Chopping his swords, the air vibrated in response to the Psionic Sword Force. Aquafrost Pythons attacked by the Garkin Blade had tiny slits open on their scales. It was the visual effect of the Bleed Status.
Twisting his body, Kaiden extended his arms as he used Revolving Phantom. Following up with the Twin Tornado Drills, Kaiden began pooling some Sword Force into Angurvadal whilst stabbing forth with the Garkin Blade.
Instantly, numerous damage values littered the air as the psionic Sword Force and Sharp Cut damage ticked. Thrusting his sword forward, Kaiden executed Echoing Sword Blast.
However, right after he spun around performing a cross guard with his swords. There was an Aquafrost Python that slithered up. Notably, before reaching Kaiden, it opened its maw as blue grotesque liquid was spat. This was its skill—Freezing Venom.
Dodging a tingling sensation crawled down Kaiden's back. Turning another Python was bombarding him with the same skill. No, as if agreed up one by one the surrounding Aquafrost Pythons used Freezing Venom.
Unable to dodge, Kaiden attempted to hack at the liquid. However, it proved to be overwhelming to bisect every attack.
(-850), (-765), (-804), (-738)...
[System: Movement Speed and Attack Speed has been reduced by 5% for 60 seconds.]
[System: Movement Speed and Attack Speed has been reduced by 10% for 75 seconds.]
[System: Movement Speed and Attack Speed has been reduced by 17% for 90 seconds.]
[System: Movement….]
The venom had a status effect! Moreover, although he only lost about 15% of his health, Kaiden's speed visibly slowed. For over 2 minutes his speed, in general, was reduced by over 25%.
'Crap…'
Gripping his swords, Kaiden switched from an offensive approach to a defensive one. In response, he activated his Sphere of Influence. He was trying to familiarize himself with it as much as possible. If he wanted to step into the realm of the "real" experts in the future, he needed to first gain an elementary mastery over his Sphere of Influence.
Currently, Kaiden couldn't be called a normal expert as he had yet to step into the Hyper Intuition Realm. The Hyper Intuition Realm was the summation of your expertise with the Sphere of Influence— it denoted the speed in which your brain was able to perceive the signals from your Sphere of Influence. As well as the entirety of the information. This relied on the state of refinery your Sphere existed in. And Kaiden's refinement and control of his Sphere of Influence was negligible at best.
His piddling use of the Sphere of Influence was hard to even call auxiliary. He required too much Concentration to receive fragmented bits of information. Meanwhile, even the most inept Hyper Intuition Realm expert was able to passively receive coherent information once their Sphere's were employed. These people were known as General Experts.
Rapidly shifting his eyes, Kaiden absorbed the movements of the Aquafrost Pythons as he lifted his swords. His stance slightly widened and then stayed motionless in one position.
'Is this how he did it?'
What Kaiden was attempting was to imitate the defensive swordplay Kroxus used on him in their training session in the past. Even though he completely parried and also damaged Kaiden, his feet never left his position nor was Kaiden able to advance toward him.
Kroxus implemented a special offensive sword technique that doubled as an impenetrable defensive. He had reached a realm of impenetrable defense through the epitome of a refined offense. Which was one of the peaks of a swordsman—who traveled the road of an unyielding offense.
Shifting one sword in front of him and one behind him—Kaiden exhaled slowly, regulating his mind. Achieving a state of serene thoughts perfect for swordsmanship. The tips of his sword pointed forward. The weird part was the absolute range of his sword was the edge of his Sphere of Influence governance.
….
At the same time, with Crescent Wake Town. A presence dripping with imposing oppression stepped through the gates of the town. His presence engulfed the entire town. His eyes looked like he was an existence tempered whilst undergoing many calamitous battles.
His body was robust yet loosely armored. On his chest was a long diagonal scar that seemed to have improperly healed. On his shoulder rested a long lance as his intense eyes scrutinized the town. What's more, as he stood there the population of the town subconsciously split. As if wanting to avoid the ruling of the beast, they inherently submitted.
This was Victor Byrd who had been in the game for 4 hours, or rather "Odin" was the in-game name he went by. It was ironic actually, you would think such a battle thirsty fool would become a Berserker yet, no. Victor believed the spear was the weapon of the gods and generals; this is what he deemed himself—a godly general; as such he became a Lancer.
Moreover, to add injury to insult...his guild was called the Doomsday Dominion yet he named himself after a god. A divine antithesis! Additionally, you would think this name would be taken...however, there existed an unspoken rule to never take a Titan's name. For who shall bear the consequences of the epitome?
"Hm, this town is paltry at best. I will leave here immediately. This isn't where I should take place. There is nothing of significance here." scoffed Odin as he turned his eyes looked into the distance.
Squinting, he picked up on the aura of a familiar person. "Oh? So he's here? That slippery worm has shown himself."
Taking a step, Odin disappeared similarly when compared to the actions Toxic Goddess performed. Or rather, their movement technique was special and caused disruptions.
Appearing and disappearing with inhuman speed, Odin already defied the limitations of his piddling Lv.10 body. Miraculously, he traveled 10 meters with each fleeting disappearance. It was unknown what technique he was using to perform this feat but it was substantial.
....
Within minutes, Odin appeared before a Rogue who was currently battling against Lv.70 monsters. Interrupting the battle, Odin yelled a name.
"Ethan!"
Freezing, the assailant knew that voice. In fact, it was a voice he hated to the core of his being. Snapping his neck around the fellow "Ethan" glared venomously.
"It seems you don't want to meet your daughter or wife again the way you don't follow orders. Why is it that Unsheathed was able to perform all these feats...when you a Titled Titan, exist within this town?" spat Odin.
Clenching his jaw as well as his twin swords, Ethan glared at Odin.
"I will follow your orders...what are they?"
"Hmph, it seems familial love is indeed your crutch. Such a pity. It would be a shame if something were to happen to them, now wouldn't it?" spitefully chuckled Odin.
"I said I will follow your orders didn't I?! You take every moment possible to torture with my family as a crutch!" roared Ethan.
In response to his flaring emotions, the surrounding atmosphere within a 100-meter radius boiled as a black expanse with silver tendrils existing inside opened around Ethan. A power that didn't exist within the game; it originated from Ethan himself.
"Oh? Has the Silver Void Demon once again awakened? Moreover, I suggest you calm those emotions…
As he spoke, a gargantuan sea of whitish silver "matter" encapsulated an area of over 5 km.
"You should know we Divine Prospects have already escaped the realm of you Titled Titans. Therefore, yield!"
The pressure bearing on Ethan magnified as he struggled to stand. Canceling his Sphere of Influence which reached the Godly Influence Realm, Ethan bowed his head.
"Now, your orders are to assist the Warhead Syndicate and the small fellow BlatantSage."
Nodding, a seething rage rested inside Ethan otherwise known as TerrorAssualt. This was the same one who lackadaisically killed those monsters. It was now made clear why he was able to perform this feat—he was a monster too!