Within the rest area of the 29th floor, Sol was checking the progress of his skills, not through his status page, but through the strings and lines that emanated from himself.
He thought to himself, '[Perfect Balance], [Superior Mana Control] should both be level 5, while [Invincible Body] is at 9.'
To confirm, he checked his status page and smiled at his incredible accuracy.
Name: Sol
Race: Human
Talents: [Siphoner], [Transformer]
Level: 106
Exp: 421,186,330/2,217,580,947
HP: 2150
MP: 2250
Str: 105 (+110)
Vit: 105 (+110)
Agi: 110 (+110)
Int: 105 (+110)
Wis: 105 (+120)
Talent Skills:
[Siphon] Lv 6, [Analysis] Lv 8, [Aggregate] Lv EX, [Reinterpret] Lv EX
Siphoned Talents:
[Create Magic Hands] Lv MAX, [Impact Bubble] Lv 4, [Spectral Claw] Lv MAX, [Gigantify] Lv MAX
Passive Skills:
[Muffled Movements] Lv EX, [Reflect] Lv 4, [Basic Psychic Mastery] Lv 8, [Advanced Weapon Mastery] Lv 1, [Wild Hunt] Lv 2, [Invincible Body] Lv 9, [Perfect Balance] Lv 5, [Death Absorption] Lv MAX, [True Sight (Variant)] Lv 6, [Superior Mana Control] Lv 5, [Fortified Soul] Lv 2, [Novice Craftsman] Lv 6, [Battle Dance] Lv 8, [Nether Body] Lv MAX
Active Skills:
[Ground Shrink] Lv 9, [Invisibility] Lv 9, [Terra Manipulation] Lv 8, [Burrow] Lv MAX, [Telepathy] Lv 3, [Unpassable Bulwark] Lv 8, [Advanced Elemental Magic (Variant)] Lv 1, [Overpower] Lv 6, [Weapon Empowerment (Variant)] Lv EX, [Piercing Lunge] Lv 8, [Mana Slash] Lv 6, [Polychromatism] Lv EX, [Mana Burst] Lv EX, [Repair] Lv 5, [Shadow Body] Lv 6, [Close Combat] Lv 1, [Vorpal Blade Rush] Lv 2, [Guided Bombardment] Lv 3, [Phoenix Dive] Lv 4, [Unarming Blow] Lv 2, [Phantasmal Rip and Tear] Lv MAX, [Death Sentence] Lv 5
[Perfect Balance] Lv 5: All attributes grow in perfectly balanced harmony. All stats +110. Increases lifespan by 250 years.
[Superior Mana Control] Lv 5: You have taken a large step in mastering the manipulation of mana. Able to bypass the need to chant spells in their totality at 25% decreased efficiency. Increased mana regeneration by 750%, can also manually recover mana faster. All mana costs decrease by 75%. Able to multicast three spells at once at 25% higher cost. Complete mitigation of mana loss when transmitting spells farther away. Can utilize the remnant mana pathway formed when casting a spell to cast the same spell once more without delay.
[[Invincible Body] Lv 9: Increase defense by 280. Nullify all damage by 45%. High chance to ignore mental status effects. Increased health regeneration by 600%. Able to slowly regrow medium sized body parts.]
As to how Sol was able to judge exactly where his skills stood, it was because he had improved not only his control over the skill strings but also his ability to perceive even the smallest details. From one level to another, there was an infinitesimally small difference in size, but nonetheless, it was there. He also noticed that skills that evolved showed a slightly larger jump in size, though to the normal person, it would be imperceptible.
Sol's ability to perceive these lines better allowed him to understand those of others, enabling him to quickly identify an opponent's strongest skills with a single glance.
'On the 21st floor, it took me a full 8 seconds to identify their incomplete law technique and 7 more seconds to disable it. Now I need less than a second to identify it and only 3 seconds to disable it.' His progress made him extremely satisfied.
This didn't mean it took him only three seconds to disable any skill. Some were harder than others. The stronger and more developed a skill was, the more effort it took. But he could confidently say that as long as he wasn't up against a law technique, he could disable a skill in under 5 seconds—less if it wasn't a MAX or EX skill. This didn't include law techniques, which he still struggled with, especially after his last failed attempt with Ryogan.
As for completely erasing skills, it still took considerable effort. It was similar to twisting someone's arm: a twist might cause a bruise, but it took significantly more effort to tear it off. His last attempt on a poor Nether Wraith took him a full minute to erase its max-level talent skill, even with his improved control.
Sol looked at the strings pensively and thought to himself, 'I haven't really named this skill or these strings that embody skills and techniques… How about tethers?'
"Tethers" felt like the most appropriate name, as these strings were the connections formed between the user and some far-off thing or being. When the tether was cut off, they lost complete access to whatever the tether embodied.
With a new name in mind, Sol glanced at the tether of his forming law technique and noticed it was almost completely detached from [Aggregate]. He knew he was close.
Closing his sight from the tethers, he thought to himself, 'I wonder how others measure their law technique progress. I can visibly see it, and I should tell Amber hers is nearing completion as well.'
As if his thoughts summoned her, Amber appeared and asked, "Ready?"
Sol nodded, packed his things, and prepared to delve into the final floor before the boss.
…
Running through the last floor, Sol lamented not being able to find any more Zomest, and the two they encountered had slipped away in a never-before-seen manner. As they reached the halfway point, luck seemed to shine upon them once more. Another Zomest was wandering the hall, this time alone.
"Let's take care of it immediately before it also disappears," Sol whispered to Amber.
Sol checked its tethers and identified the incomplete law technique.
'[Combine Zombeast]? What are the odds of two out of three having the same incomplete law technique?'
It was important to note that monsters could have incomplete law techniques tied to any of their MAX or EX skills, not just talents. So the odds of encountering another Zomest with the same incomplete law technique were about 10%. Not believing lightning could strike twice, he used [Analysis] to find out more.
Race: Zomest
Talent Skills:
[Zombeast Maker], [Commander], [Ring Master]
Level: 114
'Level 114, not 126? This one's from the 26th floor!'
A monster from one floor appearing on another was unheard of, as far as Sol knew. He instantly deduced that it had something to do with whatever absorbed it into the ground previously, likely transporting it to this floor for a specific reason.
Sol immediately told Amber what he had discovered and used [Terra Manipulation] to harden the ground as much as he could.
"This time, it won't escape," he said, and Amber nodded. It didn't sit right with her either, allowing a target to escape.
Sol disabled its incomplete law technique—they didn't want to risk prolonging the fight—and charged forward. Both were invisible to approach undetected, but when they got within 100 meters, the Zomest had already sensed their presence. Sol managed to disable its skill just in time as it attempted to use its incomplete law technique but froze in confusion.
"Wry?" The Zomest shrieked under its skull mask but quickly recovered and threw vials of a black substance at them.
Sol calmly sent a few [Mana Slashes] at the vials, cutting them in half and spraying the contents around. A sizzling sound filled the air as the black liquid quickly corroded the ground.
Amber used [Phase Step], an evolution of [Ground Shrink], causing the space around her to bend as she instantly appeared next to the Zomest. She spun her right dagger and stabbed it square in the back.
"WRYY!" The Zomest shrieked again, louder this time, as multiple arms broke out of its robe, reaching for Amber. Not expecting the abnormal number of arms, Amber relied on her reflexes, turning herself to sand and phasing through the grasping limbs.
Meanwhile, Sol wasn't idle. He finished chanting a spell.
"[Light Spear]! [Light Spear]! [Light Spear]!"
Tens of spears made of light appeared and rained down on the Zomest, forcing it to stop attacking Amber and focus on dodging and blocking the spears.
The fight had only been going on for a few seconds, and multiple attacks had been exchanged between the three of them. During the battle, Sol felt his control over certain parts of the hallway lessen as something else began causing them to move.
He paused, as this time it didn't happen beneath the Zomest. "It's coming from the roof?"
Switching on [True Sight], he inspected what was going on and, in doing so, was shocked by what he discovered. Immediately, he turned to Amber and warned her, "We gotta run away! Now!"
She didn't question or hesitate, as she could see the urgency behind his eyes. She backed off the Zomest and began running down the passage. Sol used [Ground Shrink] to join her, and just as he did, multiple undead dropped from the roof surrounding where they previously stood. Five Nether Wraiths, seven Laughing Skulls, three Tomb Hulks, and three more Zomests appeared—a total of 19 pseudo A-Rank enemies.
"It's an ambush!"