The sinister whistle of wind getting sliced apart echoed sharply in the grand chamber.
A slick silvery blade cut through the air like a guillotine, leaving a ghostly trail of phantom afterimages. Victor's senses, too, blared alarms furiously at the impeding danger and his survival instincts kicked in.
He pivoted on his heel, twisted his torso and raised the bone spear in his hand. The silver blade of the Silver Sentinel met with the sturdy creamish white bone spear and a sharp sound pierced the air.
The impact from collision forced a tremor through Victor's hands and he stumble from the force. The Bone spear chipped a small but noticeable crack on its makeshift shaft, but the bony structure made out of the materials of the notorious monster still persistently held.
Victor regained his balance just in time to evade a follow up blow from the Boss monster. The sword whipped and the blade cleaved apart the air once more.
It's silver surface rushed passed Victor's face, shaving off a few loose strands of his messy bangs. Victor, at that moment, stared at his pale reflection and felt his back go cold. The blade only raced past his face, but the mere movement released a cold sharpenness that almost made his mind go numb.
He stumbled on his heels and relied on the bone spear to regain balance as he twirled a little.
The Silver knight drew an ascending diagonal crescent at the stumbling boy and steel flashed once more. Danger Sense reacted in time, and rather than fight against it, Victor leaned in and relied on his previous inertia to fall backwards.
The tip of the blade didn't meet his skin, but yet he felt a sting on his face as it swept passed him.
Before he could give into cursing, the brown haired boy was already quickly on his heels once more.
It had only been a couple of seconds since he returned back to the boss Lair yet the hours felt like an eternity against the Monster. The Silver Sentinel — or yet — the Evolved Monster was oppressive and greatly overpowered.
It dominated and outclassed the young boy in literally every aspect. It's strength was unmatchable, and its speed was mind boggling. But what was a truly unfair amongst all of the monstrosity's abilities, was it's ability to remain impervious to almost all the attacks Victor threw at it.
This was the difference between Ranks.
As a mere Mortal, who was only beginning the journey of Ascension, Victor Bright stood no chance.
Yet here he was, narrowly escaping with his life at each attack over and over again!
'I can't tell if I'm lucky not! '
Despite his self-deprecatory thoughts it wasn't all left to a matter of luck or plot armor, but the ingrained experience carved into his 'mind'.
Victor Bright, or rather, Zachary Harper was a man forged through various battles that were hard won back on Earth. Though after his reincarnation and transmigration into a new and completely different body, Victor has been unable to show the same level of skills, experience and physical talent as his time on earth in his original body.
But the initial years he's spent since transmigrating raising his level and attuning his mental fortitude and mind to his new body had constituted to a significant portion of his growth, without him knowing.
Even though his body could barely keep up, the mind never forgets.
Victor took another blow with his spear, and the makeshift structure shattered into splinter.
Fuck...he cursed bitterly as in the next second, a devastating blow connected with his unprotected chest.
-BOOM!
Victor skidded across the floor but managed not to be thrown off his feet like before. Instead he made sure to plant his feet against the ground, and only stood while cradling his chest.
He felt like there was a small whole punched through it, but thanks to the things he had been through the last four weeks, Victor's body had been tempered continuously from the Aether in the air.
His skin was thicker and his bones were harder.
Unfortunately, in the end they weren't hard enough to shrug a devastating punch from a monster two massive ranks ahead of him.
Victor coughed out a thick puddle of blood. A portion of his ribs had shatter and his sternum had caved in from that blow.
Yet the brown haired boy raised his head and still smiled. The traces of red blood at the edge of his lips and the glint in his eyes made the visage all unsettling.
But it wasn't like the Silver Sentinel would be fazed. It was only a killing machine designed to destroy anyone who dared approached the throne.
The punch had sent Victor in the opposite direction of his goal this time around. Now the diabolical knight in fearsome silver armor stood as a diabolical gate keeper. It's silver surface shinning and reflecting an unsettling hue.
It just stood there, silently observing him. Eerily.
Like this he confirmed it really was the goal of the monster to protect the throne.
Victor reached into what remained of his pocket and pulled out a few azure leaves. He chewed on them and pulled out a small cylindrical container made out of the hard outer shell of a Boulder Crab. Inside of it was a crudely made lotion made from grinded Aurora leaves drowned in sparkling water and left to marinate underneath the Aurora tree for days.
It was a crude paste he made in his free time, taking into account the effects the Aurora leaves and the sparkling water had on him. He wasn't sure if it would work particularly spectacularly but it would at the very least heal his wounds.
He smeared almost a handful in his mouth and the few cuts and bruises on his body.
Then he gripped the Bone spear in his hand harder.
His twisted smile became more crooked.
"Ah, I really didn't want to do this. Now you've really made me , even though I really really am against it. Ah, what a dilemma. What to do... What to do ... " He stuttered erratically as he stumbled upright.
He raised his head and stared at the silver knight. In his free left hand were a couple of crystal like monster Cores.
He had confirmed there was no way to get to the throne without facing the Knight. The monster was just far too stronger, far faster, far powerful and far more deadlier.
He raised the cores in his hand up towards the Silver Knight. There was a redish-black ugly bruise in his chest. It was like a part of it had shattered and bent inward, but by this point, Victor had grown used to the pain.
The he grinned.
"Fuck it."
He crushed the crystal cores in his hand as wisps of essence flowed out of the shattered pieces. They twisted in the spear around, circling round his arm an body, before going through his nose, mouth and midsection.
Victor felt a slight rush of essence through his veins and was filled with dak euphoria the next second.
"Meta." He called out, almost like a growl. Then Victor exploded into a violent release of all his Aura.
—BOOM!
Vibrant purple aura burst forth from his body like a burning furnace, enshrouding his whole form with power. The quality of Victor's Aura had been drastically improved since eating the Fruit of Aurora. It was more robust and far more potent than an Awakened of a rank equal to him, and even of those at least two ranks above him.
Yes. Victor Bright had Aura with a quality on par with Hero ranked Awakened. He only lost to them in quantity, power, style and technique. And basically every other aspect.
But he didn't loose in control and talent.
As his Aura exploded forth, Victor felt an adrenaline like rush of energy. That was because he was simultaneously practicing the technique of boosting his bodily functions using Aura and Aether. That meant he was increasing the speed and rate of his recovery by tenfolds a second, while temporarily continuing to boost his overall stats.
He was doping!
Victor's muscles bulged slightly, and thick veins wriggled across his arms and body. Turbid air left his grinning lips like steam, as the bone spear threatened to shatter from the insane amount of pressure Armament was putting on it.
[You fool.] Meta simply said.
And the next second Victor dashed forward at the silver knight. The diabolical monster raised its silver fist and struck at him at the final moment.
But as Victor was currently forcefully multiplying all of his base stats temporarily, his 'innate' skill was also proactive.
[Danger Sense] warned and Victor raised his spear and thrust forward. The boney structure covered by the vibrant hue of Armament broke the air and pierced through the Knight's armor.
This time around, the Demon was unable to melt and deconstruct it's body to avoid the blow. The spear struck the shoulder joint of its raised arm, and the punch was momentarily suspended.
That was all Victor needed.
He reached the Knight, Armament enshrouded his fist in thick illusionary gauntlet, and he unleashed a barrage of blows in the span of two seconds against the armor.
-BANG! BANG! BANG!
The chamber exploded in a loud noise as Victor's fist connected. The silver knight moved on its feet, but that was all.
The next moment, the spear shattered into splinters, and the Knight flashed it's fist forward at him.
Victor expected this, back stepped and raised his left fist to the meet the punch. The two colided and a pressurized shockwave burst forth from impact.
Victor felt the muscles in his left arm tear, and his bones explode.
'Kuh-! A Hero Ranked Monster really is on a level of its own. ' he thought, filled with venomous ecstasy.
Under the influence of his current state, his bones and muscles were rapidly healing, so in a matter of seconds, Victor could move the left arm again.
As if taking his feelings head on, the Silver Knight refused to back down, nor call a weapon of its own. Like a chivalry to it's opponent, the Hero ranked Monster traded blows with only its fist.
The air exploded with a chain of bangs and the two colided a barrage of rapid blows all at once. The ground shattered, the air ruptured and was filled with the scent of blood.
With every blow, Victor felt his body scream out in pain as his muscle and bones exploded from even just the impact of shockwaves. His organs ruptured.
His vision turned red.
His lungs were filled with blood.
Yet, Victor relished the moment. He Welcomed the pain with a sinister smile.
For each blow he took, his body rapidly healed and [Danger Sense] worked faster than 0.2 seconds!
His mind entered a state of cold clarity. It was only just him and his opponent. The smell and taste of iron filled his mouth and nose.
As the rapid fire of exchanges took place, Victor felt something strange inside him. It was like some kind of breakthrough, it was indiscernible. But it wasn't a bad feeling.
His senses resonated, the world became black and white. There was nothing excessive to think about but to continue to throw his fist. His clarity reached such an absurd level, all of his actions that followed were instinctive.
Then all of a sudden, a barrage of system notification appeared in droves before him.
...
[ Active Skill {???}
[Your Attribute {Blessing of Aether} is blossoming strongly! All caps on your current talent have been temporarily released.]
[Passive Skill {Danger Sense}
[Passive Skill {Danger Sense} is leveling up +1!]
[You have broken through a 'Sequence'. First Sequence has been released.]
[Due to the absurd level of 'Immersion', Active Skill {???} Has decided to reveal it's modifier.]
[Active Skill {???} >> {Immersion}
[You're innate <'Stigma'> is slowly blossoming!]
[{Blessing of Aether} is close to evolving!]
[You are holding against an Evolved Hero Ranked Monster — you have gained a large amount of experience...]
[5/6 one more to go...help...]