Chapter 17. Stars [Learned 'Mana Control'] It was not what I wanted. I was not going to complain though, the experiment did give out some results but not exactly what I was hoping for. My skill currently used stamina as far as I understood, but my new skill used stamina and that was probably harder to control than mana. Controlling mana had to be useful. It did make air pop after a swing, the only thing that worries me was how well would my handle be able to the impact that came after it. I could use mana when I was in a state of intense concentration, but using it while in a fight was going to be tough. I had to make using it something akin to instinct, like even when I pick up a glass of water that action should contain some minute amount of mana. And the same had to be done for stamina. I had to choose new skills and before selecting active skills, I decided to pick out some from the passive skills because they were easier to and the decision had already been made. [Demon's Sense] [A massive boost making your instincts sharper.] [Demon's Flexibility] [A massive boost making your body more fluid.] There were only four such skills. Those that started with the prefix 'Demon.' Every one of them was a helping skill if you could say that. Auxiliary skills that only provided support. Sprint increased speed a whole lot, it was a movement skill and bloodlust I had no idea. Maybe I could do it now, having learned to control mana but that was after I learned how to use it in a fight. The list from which I had to choose the skills was the same as last time, only the skills I had selected were greyed out. There was one skill that I wanted last time but my curiosity over bloodlust and the resourcefulness that sprint brought outshined the skill. Now knowing that skills would not just increase my power output but just a little but brought it up at an exponential rate, an attack skill and a defensive skill would also be necessary. The attack skill was the one that I wanted during the previous selection phase and but I still had to find a defensive one. [Cleave] [A powerful and destructive vertical slash made with an axe or a similar weapon.] The description was as nondescriptive as the other skills. Only [sprint] provided some real information and that too was with something details missing. Or this was known to everyone, it was just that I was new to this system thingy and was unfamiliar with how things worked properly. Well, a discussion for another time perhaps. Most of the skills available in the defensive category needed a shield to be used properly and only one skill present was somewhat satisfied and fell within my range of requirements. [Harden] [The muscles harden enough to defend against most things that can be considered harmful. (10 seconds)] This was interesting. 'Most things that can be considered as harmful,' it says and that was probably something that I was going to believe. But the term could be relative, as in a sword that can cut my arm is considered harmful could be blocked but a super powerful attack that can utterly destroy me, probably not. If that was true everyone would just choose this and become an impenetrable wall or something. But there was another skill that grabbed my attention, calling me to select it. Not exactly, I was just curious but this just sounded better. A skill that would give me no 'realistic' value now but it might be the one that saves me in a difficult spot in the future. [Carnage] [More the blood you lose and more the people you fight, the stronger you get.] And I took a chance, once again. ----------- [Status] Name: Ray Species: ??? Bloodline: Demon of ??? General Skills: Identify lvl 10, Mantra of ??? lvl 14, Demon's martial arts lvl 13, Axe Mastery lvl 12, Dual wielding lvl 12, Mana Control lvl 1 Strength: 38 Agility: 38 Endurance: 38 Vitality: 38 Dexterity: 30 Intelligence: 15 Wisdom: 15 Perception: 43 Bonus point remaining : 0 ----------- [Primary Class: Demon Fighter] Level: 35 Skills : Active - Bloodlust lvl 1, Sprint lvl 15, Cleave lvl 1, Carnage lvl 1 Passive - Demon's Perception lvl 10, Demon's Control lvl 8, Demon's Sense lvl 1, Demon's Flexibility lvl 1 ----------- I continued on with my daily routine after getting everything was sorted out. The first two demon skills were leveling up just fine even though I could not see a tangible difference, it was probably doing a lot of work behind scenes. I was not ready to believe that a skill would be useless no matter how much trashy it sounded. There is a saying, 'It is not the skill that is useless but the user that is.' Some wise words that I made up on spot but it sure does sound cool. First was the 'meditation' which I finished and got mana control. Now was mastery. Practice in the real world gave me more skill level-ups, providing actual experience by drilling those motions into my body and making them a part of my instincts. I was moving according to the masteries and the things they taught but without Bloodthirster. I was trying to incorporate the use of mana while I was in the middle of a fight. I remember how the ghosts used to move, they changed after every skill level up but doing them countless times had me learn their movements by heart. I could close my eyes and just think about them to imagine them actually running towards me. I recalled how they moved when I had just encountered them, faced them for the first time, and started to slowly apply mana to my legs and arms as I dodged or attacked. The first few moves honestly went pretty well, the punches and kicks hit harder, my feet moved faster but I started to lose control. The kicks started to miss and applying mana while blocking required perfect timing which was all slowly starting to crumble. Two minutes was how long I was able to constantly apply mana to my attacks but after that, I started to take hits, missing hits and bad blocking happened somewhere around the one-minute mark. I also tried to keep the mana flowing all the time but going past the one-minute mark gave me a headache and concentrating on where the mana went got even harder. It was also more exhausting to keep it active all the time than to use it at the right moment. Even so, I did not give up. I wanted to be stronger and fighting gave me a rush, something I had never felt and I loved it. What I wanted were not the stars but what lay beyond, something that no being had laid its eyes upon. Ever. [Time left before moving on to eleventh floor] [00:05:00] I had finished my routine and slept for a couple of hours. I used the five minutes to relax and condition my body, preparing it for the next round. The teleportation was on time, pulling me to where the trial would take place. The first things I heard were the insects, crickets, or something similar. The forest greeted my eyes as I stood before a small pond. It reminded me of the pond I found during my first trial and the notifications confirmed my doubts. [Back to the beginning] [You have grown a lot during your climb. Before you is the last trial. Complete it to move on to the final floor.] [Goblin chiefs are spread around the jungle, stronger than the ones you previously fought and one of them is on his way to ascend to C-grade. Defeat every last one of them as they try to protect their leader. Remember you are in a race against time.] Uhhhhh ......what?