As I walked back to my room, I pondered on my fight with the assassin.
'I almost died. A more competent enemy with the same skill set would have definitely killed me. I may be stronger than the average ascender, but it's not enough. If I want to protect my future peaceful life of reading, I need far more power. My first order of business is to find out more about essence, there may be something I'm missing. Well besides a proper absorption technique'
My new goal in mind, I changed my direction and headed towards the library. Once inside I scoured the bookshelves before picking up a rank A book titled [Essence and You] and sitting down. I soon found that what I had been doing had been far from optimal.
"While essence strengthens the body and mind, it also increases their potential. Training and exercise provides results many times above those of normal workouts. An important thing to note is that essence spreads any gains throughout the body, removing the need for an in-depth workout regimen... The use of essence is just like a muscle, the more you use it the better your control gets"
'I wish I had looked into this earlier, I've been wasting time. It makes sense why my [Agility] is always above my other stats, I did a bunch of walking to get here. Another thing I missed is that I've been treating my active skills like ones from a game. But they're not, they're just methods of manipulating essence that have been ingrained into my mind. They don't have a set power or cool down, it all depends on my skill and practice in using them. If I could cast [Wind Bolt] in quicker succession, Clint wouldn't have had the time to activate his stealth, he would have died right there. I need to increase my efficiency in training'
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The next afternoon, after training had ended for the day, I grabbed a book from the library before heading over to some of the lesser-used practice fields. Once there I activated all my active buffs, including [Camouflage], and started to run around the field in circles. As I did I began to read the book I had brought with me. I had spent years mastering the art of reading while moving, and a bit of extra speed wouldn't discourage me. The plan was to alternate between reading and training active skills every day. I would do both while running slightly slower than a sprint and activating all my buff skills. I decided to focus on my [Agility] stat as speed was the most important aspect of my current fighting style. I wanted to be able to hit my enemies with [Assassinate] before they even had the chance to attack me. While this plan would slow down my reading, I believed the other benefits were worth it
My plan worked. My stats were already rising quickly with my ceaseless intake of essence, but my new training regime almost doubled the speed at which my [Agility] stat rose. Repeated use of my active skills also caused a rise in my [Intelligence]. I could already easily beat my rank 3 unit leader with my rank S dagger mastery skill, but after a week of my new training, I didn't even need to put any effort in. My speed was so much faster than his that my blade was at his neck before he could even react. Everyone in my unit was astonished at my fast improvement, but I knew it wasn't enough.
After the second week, I was confident that the current me could beat the crimson assassin in seconds. My speed just kept going up, but aside from that, my proficiency in manipulating essence had skyrocketed. I could now fire ten wind bolts in five seconds, each of them with increased power. That alone would have destroyed Clint. But I didn't plan on letting up anytime soon. Diminishing returns weren't anywhere in sight and I knew that soon I wouldn't have the kind of free time to constantly train. I was also getting close to being rank 3.
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[Magnus Witherthorn]
Rank 2 - Mortal
Essence - 928
Essence type - Myriad Elemental
[Strength] - 499
[Agility] - 629(+20)
[Dexterity] - 511
[Intelligence] - 547
[Spirit] - 113
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Active skills:
[S] - [Sky Steps]
[A] - [Identify], [Wind Dash], [Assassinate], [Wind Bolt], *[Earth Manipulation]
[B] - [Essence Boost], [Camouflage], [Heat Sense], [Higher Speed Enhancement], *[Conjure Ice Armament]
[C] - [Conjure Shadow Dagger], [Reinforcement], *[Flame lash]
[D] - [Fire Starter]
Passive skills:
[SS] - [The Blessing of Myriad elements]
[S] - [Pinnacle Dagger Mastery]
[A] - [Greater Arithmetic Mastery], [Greater Calligraphy Mastery], [Danger Sense], [Greater Acrobatics Mastery], [Accelerated Regeneration], *[Diamond Skin], *[Essence Perception]
[B] - [Keen Senses], [Swift Steps], [Conceal Presence], [Higher Close Quarters Combat Mastery]
[C] - [Balance], [Movement Style: Silent Wisp], [Burn resistance], [Median Cooking Mastery]
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I didn't notice until afterward, but my [Spirit] stat had gone up during my fight with the crimson assassin, though I still wasn't sure what it did. That aside, I was happy about my new skills, especially [Essence Perception]. I finally figured out how Clint was able to block my attack from behind. [Essence Perception] let me do exactly what the title suggests, perceive the essence in my surroundings. It let me "see" without opening my eyes, as almost everything contains essence, and even if it doesn't, you would notice the absence of air essence where that object resided. It was disorienting at first, but I soon got the hang of it. Out of my other new skills, [Earth Manipulation] was my favorite. Being able to affect the ground on which I was fighting gave me a huge advantage, and it was also useful for crowd control.
With my increase in strength, I wanted to gauge how far I had gotten, so I headed towards Sophia's office. Once I arrived I knocked on the door.
"Come in"
I walked inside and got straight to the point of my visit.
"Will you spar with me?"
She looked up from her work.
"Come again?"
"Will you spar with me?"
"What, why?"
"My unit captain can't keep up with me anymore and I don't know anyone besides you that is stronger than him"
She seemed to ponder my question for a while before responding.
"Alright, sure, I could use a break from all this paperwork"
Sophia got up from her seat and led me to a nearby field.
"Training weapons and no essence, I don't want to accidentally kill you"
She smiled at her words before picking up a large two-handed broadsword from the rack. For some reason, it didn't surprise me at all.
I picked up two daggers and took a stance at one end of the field. Sophia seemed to be in the mood for a fight as she grinned even wider and taunted me.
"Since you're younger, I'll give you the first attack"
I didn't respond and instead dashed forward, I wanted to test my speed. I appeared in front of her in a moment and sent both of my daggers towards her neck in a feint. At the last second, I swerved one of my daggers towards her heart. But Sophia seemed unconcerned as she moved her sword to ward off my attack to her heart, at a speed that seemed too fast for a weapon so large, and sidestepped the attack to her neck. My momentum was still going forward so I leaned into it and spun my self around on my hands and flipped my self to my feet. I had to move to the right instantly though, as a heavy swing of Sophia's sword was heading right for me. She seemed satisfied with my movements as she spoke up.
"Good speed and technique, but that's not enough to beat me"
I knew for a fact she was right, I had underestimated her. She was far stronger than the crimson assassin. I didn't have any more time to think as another attack was coming at me from the side. I flipped over it with a back handspring and slashed at Sophia's torso as I rose to my feet. She took a small step back and just barely dodged it. She retaliated with a diagonal swing to my shoulder that I deflected, with difficulty, as I stepped to the side and struck at her wrists. She kicked me in the stomach with her right foot to ward me off. I was too close to dodge and the kick sent me flying back.
I controlled my fall and was back on my feet in a second. But Sophia's sword was already upon me, thrusting towards my chest. I flipped towards it, using my right hand to push off her sword and jump over her. I moved my daggers towards her neck as I fell to the ground behind her. But she spun around and swung her sword like she was in a hammer throw, using the momentum to increase the force of the attack as she took a step away from me and avoided my strike. I jumped back, as getting hit by that attack would have ended the fight. With Sophia's sword not making contact, she pushed it down to make it sink into the dirt and canceled the momentum. I didn't waste the opening and sprinted towards her to get an attack in. But unexpectedly, she used her half-buried sword as a pivot point and kicked at my face with both her feet. I had to fall back to the ground to not get pummeled and by the time I was back on my feet a second later, Sophia had already pulled her sword out of the ground. We both stood a few paces away from each other silently and prepared for the next exchange.
'Her speed matches mine and her weapon mastery is at least A rank. Her fighting style is also unpredictable. I need to create an opening, but how? You know what, let's try this'
Plan in mind, I sprinted forwards at max speed, a speed that didn't allow me to quickly change direction. Sophia responded with a diagonal swing that would be hard to dodge. But I didn't dodge. I turned my body perpendicular to Sophia and dropped my daggers, grabbing her wrists before she could react. I dug my heels into the ground and my body turned so my back was towards Sophia. I pulled on her wrists and used her momentum to throw her to the ground. I slid to a stop as Sophia crashed into the ground, her sword flying away.
I stood there silently for a moment before she groaned in pain and got up.
"That really hurt, couldn't you have been a little gentler on a pretty lady like me?"
"I had to make sure that you would lose your weapon, I couldn't hold back"
"Always the charmer, Magnus, always the charmer. But anyway, you're insane. I don't mean to brag, but even without using essence, I'm one of the strongest people in the kingdom. And your what, 16, 17-years old? Not that I'm complaining, we need all the strength we can get, with the war on and everything, but it's ludicrous"
"So we're moving to the forward base soon?"
"Yes, tomorrow actually. I'm announcing it tonight"
"Where even is this base?"
"It's in the Yosan Mountain Range on the northern border. But that's classified information, don't go spouting it in some tavern"
"I rarely drink, let alone get drunk, and what benefits would sharing state secrets even bring me?"
Sophia sighed for a reason I didn't entirely understand and responded.
"You can be really dull sometimes Magnus, you know that? But whatever, let's go get something to eat, all that fighting made me hungry"
As we walked to the canteen, I pondered the fight we had just had.
'It seems I really did get much stronger. If Sophia had attacked me when we first met, none of my skills would have mattered, I would have been dead in seconds. But I need to keep moving, Sophia said she's one of the strongest people in the kingdom, which means there are still many people in my immediate vicinity that can kill me. I need to keep up my pace and go even faster if I can. I should try and get some stronger passive skills, they seem to have a better longterm effect, and in general, permanent buffs are always a plus'
Sophia shook me out of my thoughts when we reached the canteen.
"What are you brooding about this time? Can't you at least lighten up for dinner?"
This statement reminded me of what a girl in Sapians Cognities had told me.
'Am I really that gloomy?'