Bam-!
Without waiting for Russell to finish his thoughts, a Fire Blast that came from Skill: Elemental Blast (A+) was fired at him from behind, which he managed to dodge due to his alertness.
He judged that the speed of the Mana Blast from ETD 1 was steps ahead faster compared to the Elemental Blast of the Chaos Slime.
As he calmly dodged the Elemental Blast that was fired, he recalled that it was one of the highly sought skills of a player that has a Mage-related profession.
Just as the name of the Elemental Blast implied itself; it means that the player that possessed such a skill could switch off the element that was necessary to fire.
If the player with Elemental Blast was fighting a Water-type monster, it was necessary to use Earth Blast via Elemental Blast; in the same way, if the player was fighting a Fire-type monster, it's always better to kill it using Water Blast.
Elemental Blast (A+) could switch off to the Basic Elements such as Water, Earth, Fire, and Wind, but if its level was high enough, a player could use the skill to fire it with its set Elemental Attribute like Darkness, Light, Lightning, Ice, and so on.
'...Just what the hell did the Goddess do...?'
As he inwardly thought about it, various thoughts followed, but he didn't have time to think about anything as the Chaos Slime started a different kind of attack pattern.
The Chaos Slime lunged at him with its mouth opened wide, causing Russell to feel nauseous at the sight.
Whoosh-! Chomp-!
It used the Skill: Slime Bite (E+), aimed at one of his legs, but Russell dodged it again by sidestepping as the air seemed to vibrate with the strength of the bite it did. Then, holding the wooden training sword in his hand, he started to go offensive.
He decided to use the wooden sword, although it's Mythical, it wasn't sharp. Because he thought that if he used the Growth-type sword or scythe that he has, he might have accidentally killed the Chaos Slime.
He jumped to cleave down the wooden sword towards the Chaos Slime.
"Hup-!"
Whoosh-!
It disappeared as it used its Skill: Short Blink (A-), dodging Russell's strike.
A chuckle escaped from his mouth due to it being more agile than he thought. The problem with Blink-related skills was that they didn't have a "cooldown".
It's one of the things that Russell designed in his unpublished novel. In actuality, it's not just the Blink skill, but rather most of the general ones.
The balance he made when writing about it was that it could deplete one's Mana faster. That's why, even though most normal skills didn't have a cooldown, a smart or experienced player wouldn't waste their Mana by spamming them.
...
A few minutes had passed since the battle of subjugation started. During that time, Russell felt like whenever he encountered something he didn't expect, he was reminded of how trash his unpublished novel was. He was thrown into many elements in reality that he didn't have any idea about; however, considering that he read some web novels in his previous life aside from writing his own when he was waiting for stock results, he was able to quickly composed himself with the unknowns except when he encountered the Goddess of Night.
"Hup-!"
Whoosh-!
It happened again. When Russell's going offensive, the Chaos Slime just always blinked out of his reach.
'Should I make an opening for it?'
He thought, planning to catch it off-guard. Then, just a moment later, he pretended to slip up or be out of balance as he slide his feet on the ground while he firmly held the wooden sword in his right hand.
'Where...?'
He was predicting the next move of the Chaos Slime, whether it would blink on either side of his or it would blink mid-air.
Whoosh-!
Then, just a second or two, it blinked mid-air.
As Russell slipped up, it opened its mouth wide, attempting to dive into Russell's neck with Skill: Slime Bite.
But, at the moment, Russell swung his wooden sword upward, fully utilizing his arm strength.
Bam-!
He successfully landed a clean strike on its body as it flew in the air before it was slammed into the ground.
As though the Chaos Slime felt dizzy as it started to shake its body, Russell didn't give it time to recover as he began to run after it.
"Hup-!"
Bam-! Bam-!
"Kyuu... Kyuu..."
'That's a cute noise compared to your appearance.'
He lampooned inwardly as the Chaos Slime became lethargic, unable to move.
...
Ding-!
[You have successfully subjugated the Chaos Slime.]
[The Chaos Slime's HP is about 10% remaining.]
[The Chaos Slime acknowledges your strength.]
[Give the Chaos Slime a "Name".]
...
"A name...? Hmm..."
He looked at the weakened Chaos Slime that seemed to sulk with its eyes. After pondering for some time, he came up with a name that he thought was suitable.
"Ceru."
Ding-!
[Do you want to name the Chaos Slime, "Ceru"?]
[Yes or No?]
"Yes."
[The Chaos Slime's name has been set to "Ceru"]
[Ceru likes the name it has been given by its Master!]
...
After a few minutes, when Ceru became his first "Alien Creature" summon, it started to be affected by the Chaos Training Grounds' benefits as it quickly recovered. For some unknown reason, although the Chaos Training Grounds didn't have a Health Regeneration benefit, due to Ceru's identity as a creature from Chaos, it instantly recovered when it acknowledged Russell as its master.
Then, after some resting, Russell continued training as he ordered Ceru, his new summon to attack the Elderwood Training Dummy 1 or ETD 1, but with the use of Elemental Blast because he thought that if Ceru bites the training dummy, its teeth might break.
"What's the problem with this...?"
He couldn't think of anything as the ETD 1 wasn't reacting even with Ceru's attack with Mana.
With his patience that seemed to reach rock bottom, he imbued Mana to the wooden training sword that was increasing its weight because of one of its Enchantments: Weight Adjustment, and threw it to the training dummy.
Hnnggg-! Hnnggg-!
As soon as he heard the sounds from where ETD 1 was placed, Russell felt like he just had Post-Traumatic Stressed Disorder (PTSD) as he quickly jumped outside the arena with Ceru and picked up another wooden training sword.
Ding-!
[The harmony between the Elderwood equipment has been broken.]
Russell glanced at the System's message as he and Ceru dodged the incoming Mana Blast.
Although he didn't understand the meaning of the System's message, he felt like a sudden idea from his mind, but he didn't have time to think it over as he and Ceru started their first teamwork to chip down the Elderwood Training Dummy.
...
Hours passed as the two started running, dodging, and attacking. And as though the System pitied him, it sent him the message necessary to stop the Mana Blast barrage.
[Put the Elderwood Training Swords to their initial location.]
Russell did what the System said as he picked up what he previously threw and put it in its original location. It's the same with the second wooden training sword that he picked up after he threw the first one.
[The harmony between the Elderwood equipment has been restored.]
Based on what Russell observed, he guessed that for some reason, the Elderwood material was somewhat following what the Goddess of Night had arranged for it, which means that if he used an Elderwood Training Sword imbued with Mana to attack the ETD 1, it would be detected that it was out of position.
It's like the Elderwood was one in body, and any out-of-place or position set by the Goddess of Night would trigger a defense mechanism through the Enchantment: Counterattack that would endlessly fire Mana Blast until the Elderwood was in the designated position again.
It was also considered one of the highest in Mana Conductivity, which also pertained to its sensitiveness when it was hit by a training sword made from the same material.
'That's freaking weird. It's like it doesn't care it if was hit by anything but Elderwood material.'
He thought as he recalled Ceru.
...
[You have been training for 5 Earth hours.]
[You have been training for 15 Chaos Training Grounds hours.]
[Your Skill: Alien Call (EX) has leveled up!]
[Ceru has increased understanding of its Master.]
Russell — who was exhausted — slumped on the ground after he recalled Ceru to rest.
He sorted out his thoughts one by one to assess everything that happened this time.
His first thought was that he wondered if he didn't need to personally encounter a Chaos monster due to Ceru's case. He thought that the Skill: Alien Call (EX) had its counterpart summon acting like a mirror, meaning that the blue slime he subjugated a few years back and brought under his control made the Chaos Slime appear on his summon's list.
'I wonder if I subjugate a Goblin, I'll be able to summon a Chaos Goblin...?'
"System... If I subjugate an ordinary Goblin, will I be able to summon a Chaos Goblin...? Then defeat it just like with Ceru?"
[No.]
A succinct answer caused his mind to temporarily turned blank.
"Eh...? Okay."
He answered in a stupor before recovering from his stupefaction shortly.
Apart from his previous thoughts, he realized that he should never underestimate the Chaos Dungeons that had ranks higher than him at this moment.
'Maybe I'll get Elderwood material through those dungeons I have no idea about.'
He thought before he commanded the System.
"...Anyway, System, show me my 'Detailed Status Window.'
The "Detailed Status Window" shows everything about the player's information.
...
'Reading this is f*cking harder than fighting Ceru earlier.'
He lampooned inwardly as he face-palmed as he couldn't process everything he just read, but due to his Title: Resident of Chaos, his Chaos-related "passive" and "active" skills were "enhanced" and "amplified" respectively.
Then, there was information that he paid more attention to.
...
[Scythemanship of the Reaper (Passive - Lvl. 0 - Enhanced)]
These contain the ways how the [Harbinger of Death] cut down the flesh and soul of the target.
Rank: EX
Effect:
- You can grasp the 13 movements of Reaper's Scythemanship.
- Increases in efficiency by 200%(+200%) while wielding or learning any scythe-related technique.
- Gain the Skill: Soul Execution
– [Soul Execution (Lvl. MAX - Cannot be Amplified)]
Using the prerequisite weapon and meeting certain conditions, the user can cut down the soul of the target and grant them 'True Death'.
Warning! Using this skill will put you in grave danger as many Constellations forbid any skill that grants 'True Death'.
Rank: Forbidden
Condition of Use:
1. Wield the Scythe '???'
2. The target is hostile to the user
3. The target is on the verge of losing or death.
4. The target is contracted to a Constellation
True Death.
- A state where the Constellation cannot contain or revive the person's soul unless the Constellation reins over death or it's the Primordial Goddess of Night.
[Swordsmanship of the Night (Passive - Lvl. 0 - Enhanced)]
The [Night of Primordial Chaos] was so bored that "She" practiced "Her" swordsmanship for countless eons. This has originally 342 movements in harmony but toned down to 33 movements to match the human physique up to rank SSS+.
Rank: Zenith
Effects:
- You can grasp the 33 movements of Constellation [Night of Primordial Chaos]'s swordsmanship.
- Increases in efficiency by 400%(+400%) while wielding or learning any sword-related technique.
Gain the Skill: Abyssal Cut
[Abyssal Cut (Lvl. MAX - Cannot be Amplified)]
A simple multidirectional slash with unimaginable destructive power. This skill can be used while performing even one of the 33 movements of [Night of Primordial Chaos]'s swordsmanship.
Rank: Zenith
Cost: 50% of the current Chaos Power.
...
'A True Death...'
He muttered in his mind as he recalled that it was one of the preludes to certain disasters in the future.
Then, he noticed the Abyssal Cut's cost to use. It referred to his Chaos Power stat and not Chaos Mana. Then, the Weapon Mastery (S+) was also enhanced... it lead Russell to believe that, for some reason, it's a Chaos-related skill.
"Hmm..."
After some time, he checked the Additional Player Stats or information. This information only appeared when one would check the "Detailed" Status Window.
...
[Additional Player's Stats]
Health Regeneration: 1 (+2) p/sec
Stamina Regeneration: 1 (+2) p/sec
Mana Regeneration: 1 (+2) p/sec
Chaos Mana Regeneration: 1 (+6) p/sec
Dark Attribute Resistance: 100 (MAX)
Light Attribute Resistance: 20
Player's Growth Rate: 1 (+4) times
Weapon Mastery (Enhanced): 200%(+200%)
Swordsmanship Proficiency (Enhanced): 400%(+400%)
Scythemanship Proficiency (Enhanced): 200(+200%)
Mana Sense Proficiency: 300%(+300%)
Mana Control Proficiency: 300%(+300%)
Mana Breathing or Absorption Proficiency: 300%(+300%)
...
The average Growth Rate of a player was only 1, then with the Symbol of Night and Seed of Chaos, and if Russell was on the Chaos Training Grounds, he'd have a Growth Rate of 7 times.
For unknown reasons, the benefits of the Chaos Training Grounds were not reflected on Additional Player Stats.
"...I am at the same level with the main character and other major characters when it comes to Growth Rate without this place's benefits."
Growth Rate could be increased with the consumption of something called Treasure Herb and Elixir. But, due to their rarity, they couldn't easily be found even by resourceful people, and the same Treasure Herb or Elixir couldn't be consumed twice.
"Well, this is only temporary... until the Tower of Growth appears in a few months."
He muttered as he was still lying on the arena grounds
"I guess I'm going back to high school days."
He added while chuckling as it's only less than three weeks since the Obelisk Academy classes starts.
After some time, he commanded the System to send him back to Earth.
[Exiting the Chaos Training Grounds.]