As adventurers, there were many times when someone needed to become stronger for a short moment. This meant pushing their power beyond its normal limits for a little while. This often happened during intense battles with extremely powerful boss monsters, where the stakes were life and death.
Of course, these sudden boosts in strength came with serious risks, and sometimes they even led to the adventurer's death.
This made sense because a person's strength is the most their body can handle. Forcing oneself to produce power beyond this limit often caused a backlash, which could be very severe. The consequences were dire, ranging from debilitating injuries to the complete collapse of the adventurer's body.
Even so, boosting one's strength wasn't uncommon. In fact, it was considered an essential skill or secret weapon that a top-ranked adventurer should have. No one knew when they might face a situation where they had to choose between life and death. Therefore, mastering this risky but necessary skill was seen as a rite of passage for serious adventurers.
There were many methods and techniques for this, each with different levels of intensity, effectiveness, and power. Some methods were well-known, passed down through guilds and adventurer circles, while others were ancient secrets or family heirlooms, guarded jealously and revealed only to a trusted few.
The most commonly used methods were magic potions and elixirs. Drinking specially brewed potions could temporarily increase physical strength, speed, or endurance.
These potions were rare, expensive, and required rare ingredients, making them very valuable. Adventurers would often go to great lengths to procure these ingredients, sometimes embarking on dangerous quests just to obtain a single vial.
Other common ways included using enchanted artifacts, runes, and spiritual possession. Enchanted artifacts might be a ring that granted superhuman strength, or a rune that could be activated to boost speed for a crucial few minutes.
Spiritual possession, known to be the most brutal of these trump cards, could only be performed by devoted worshippers of deities. It involved temporarily giving one's body as a vessel, becoming an incarnation for a particular deity or higher being.
This was very rare even among god worshippers because not everyone had a body that could host the spirit of a deity, even for a split second. The physical and mental toll was enormous, often leaving the user shattered. Also, the self-destruction caused by wielding the raw power of a deity was unimaginable.
Those who survived it were often revered and feared, seen as both blessed and cursed.
Vyn screamed in pain as his heart pounded wildly, feeling like it would explode at any moment. His muscles felt like they were tearing apart, and his bones creaked under the immense pressure. He could clearly feel his spiritual energy pool churning wildly as he pushed it to the limit. This caused a searing pain that coursed through his entire body, each heartbeat sending waves of agony through him.
At this point, his body was already charged to the extreme, like a ticking time bomb ready to explode. Sweat poured down his face, and his vision blurred, but he knew he had no choice but to endure it if he wanted to survive.
He was sure he didn't know what he was doing, but pure instinct overwhelmed him. Every wrong move could prove fatal, and he had to rely on his instincts to survive. Each decision felt like walking on a tightrope over a pit of spikes.
This was a crucial step for him if he wished to become stronger. There were many times when he felt powerless against powerful monsters. Somehow, he had always managed to scrape through until now. For instance, he had barely escaped from a dungeon a few days ago by sheer luck and quick thinking. The memory of that narrow escape still haunted him.
Despite being born under a cruel fate, Vyn considered himself lucky for surviving countless dire situations up to this point. He knew, however, that luck could only take him so far. There would come a day when his luck would run out if he remained powerless. That was his greatest fear – meeting an end because he wasn't strong enough.
That's why he had to seize every opportunity to become stronger. This determination always clouded his mind. That was why he hadn't hesitated earlier to perform this dangerous technique.
Just then, he channeled the energy bubbling in his heart through his arm and into his sword. Immediately, his sword vibrated in his hands and ignited with a brilliant light. It was as if the sword had come alive, resonating with the energy he poured into it.
A metallic scream emanated from the sword as it vibrated at a very high frequency, sounding like it was about to shatter at any moment. The vibration was more intense than anything Vyn had ever experienced. His efforts to tighten his grip on the sword and stop it were futile. Instead, he felt his arm go numb from the shock of the vibration.
The blinding light that emanated from the sword was so intense that Vyn couldn't help but be surprised. This light was more vibrant and ferocious than any of the previous times he had used the Boundless Light. It illuminated the whole room blindingly, seemingly devouring the light that once existed there. He wondered if this was truly the same power he had wielded before.
He could clearly feel that he was losing control over the deadly power coursing through him and into his sword. With quick movements, Vyn charged at the fortified barrier in front of him.
BOOM…
A loud explosion ensued. Vyn could feel the moment before his sword touched the barrier. The Boundless Light that coursed through his sword vibrated it to an unknown frequency. The very metal of the sword disintegrated into shards, leaving only a raw, undiluted force of light energy to hit the barrier.
At that moment, it seemed as if time had stopped itself. Everything seemed frozen in place, except for the light, which moved with incredible speed.
The energy of light took the form of the maw of a giant beast as it engulfed the barrier. The once pristine barrier that had endured Vyn's earlier attacks without any issue now appeared like a bubble in the midst of hot air, ready to burst.
---
The barrier disintegrated into nothingness as it came into contact with the light. Vyn glanced toward his arm where the energy of light flowed like a stream. To his horror, he saw his hand disintegrating along with the light that flowed out of it. It was obvious that the power of this attack had surpassed the limit of his physical body.
As the light devoured the entire barrier, it engulfed the test dummies, disintegrating them easily. The light shot through them, striking the walls where the protective runes were.
A loud vibration shook the room as the runes struggled to suppress the force of the attack, but it was no use. The protective runes were destroyed and disintegrated as soon as they came into contact with the powerful burst of light energy.
But in that split second, the runes managed to reduce the light energy by a portion. The rest of the attack struck the wall and burst into the next training room. Luckily, the room was empty.
As the powerful light energy escaped from the room, the luminosity inside dropped instantly. Maybe it was because they had been exposed to such a bright flash, but the entire room seemed to have been suddenly engulfed in thick darkness.
Vyn stared at the large hole in the wall with blurry vision. An incomplete smile seemed to be forming on his lips before total darkness engulfed his vision. He collapsed to the ground with a thud.
[Host has created a new skill. What would you like to name the skill?]
[Host is in a critical state and on the brink of death. System will begin auto-recovery.]
[Radiant Recovery Lv 1 has been cast. 0.5% of your spiritual energy will be used per second.]
The echo of the system's voice faded into Vyn's consciousness. His mind slipped into obscurity as his body lay limp on the floor.