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You have extracted from a person of extreme virtue.
A large portion of your humanity is restored.
--------------
The glass vial shatters immediately after my last gulp.
Unknown prowess fills my body, stimulating my mana circulation rapidly. My heightened senses escape the confines of humanity. Every movement of my body defies logic and space, destroying the very surroundings into pieces.
The unleashed strength ejects a fierce shockwave that cracks the chamber.
Nevertheless, Darilyus' blade shoots through.
*BAM!*
One thrust turns into three strikes, I barely avoid each with lightning-fast back-and-forth manoeuvre. My arm whips at a frightening speed, my blade zaps several curvatures, and Darilyus blocks all attacks with his aura.
Darilyus throws several slashes aiming at my shoulder, my body weaves its way through before attempting a cut. Darilyus steps back, barely dodging my attack, and leaps forward with his sword at his hips. My senses scream in agony as if death is breathing down my neck.
My body leans back, almost stumbling.
*BOOM!*
One sweep of his blade erupts a drilling gust of wind rushing above my nose. It cuts a mark into the confines of this chamber. It was a serious attack done without aura, had he infused aura, this entire chamber might have collapsed.
...In the end, Darilyus is still attempting to subdue me without fatally injuring my body.
"I don't know what you took but the gap between a master and grandmaster cannot be closed with a mere potion," Darilyus says. "Surrender."
...
His absolute control of mana in the environment forces a large reliance on physique. Although because I extracted his mana control talent, I should be able to at least draw out my aura. I should find the right time and pretend I'm still affected.
"Do you still need time to think? Or are you not convinced?"
Tch...
I can't use my attributes or domain. The moment he fights me seriously, I will lose in an instant. What can I do-
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"Your eyes tell a story of determination. You've not given up yet," Darilyus says. "I admit I underestimated you, you are the strongest peak master I have met. In a few years, it might even be possible to achieve the grandmaster realm as the youngest ranked swordsman in history."
He lowers his gaze. "Leave and become stronger. At your current strength, you can't fight against the mastermind behind this."
...
"Then what's the point?" I ask. "If the strength that I cultivate cannot protect the ones I love, why even fight? I don't enjoy doing this. I don't want to spend every second of my life killing someone's loved ones...You, of all people, should understand me."
Darilyus furrows his brow. "Say what you want, you can't deny your weakness."
I grit my teeth and charge towards Darilyus.
!
*CHING!*
Our blades clash, spilling fluctuations of mana running amok. The atmosphere trembles from our might.
"Then I will struggle until the end."
Our eyes lock contact as sparks of fiery dance.
Is it the effect of his "Unbreakable Fortitude" skill or simply my intense desire to save my family? I don't feel like giving up no matter what happens.
Darilyus sighs.
A pressuring terror runs down my spine. He kicks me away and points his blade down, violent wildfires of mana start pouring out without stoppage, razing the ground with excessive tremors. Rocks start to float from the sheer density of his aura.
"You will lose a limb or two," Darilyus warns.
His body fades into a blur.
The next thing I know is a barrage of cuts descending onto my body, forcing me to unleash my aura for defence.
"What?" He stops behind me and says. "You can use-"
*WHOOSH!*
He ducks from my sudden slash and immediately counters with risky thrusts. Despite his bad posture, the sheer power of his aura is enough to propel me away when I block his counter.
As I slide across the field, a fading flash of blue rains down from above. I cut upwards and it splits into two.
?!
I slash through both and it multiplies again.
Fuck!
The blue flashes chase me down when I jump away, constantly multiplying by its own.
This is Darilyus' sword technique! Waves of Water!
I deflect the tsunami of flashes, each force as detrimental as a disaster. I get to a wall and inject aura into it, exploding it into smithereens. The tsunami attacks crash into the blasted cloud of rocks and dust. Darilyus emerges amidst the dust. His fingers twitch. He abruptly spins and cleaves my afterimage behind him.
!
After ten minutes of exchange, my sword finally pierces Darilyus through his right shoulder.
He forces his body off the blade and jumps away. The dust clears up and reveals me and my bloody sword.
"You...were hiding in the dust? But...behind..." Darilyus mumbles as he grasps the bleeding wound. His right arm holding the sword starts to shake.
"Battle Foresight" and "Sage Insight". The combination of these two skills is extremely powerful! If I acquire enough information on an opponent, I can partially determine the direction of the battle three seconds later and brainstorm strategies under heavy pressure.
Having lived with those innate skills for his entire life, Darilyus will trust his instinct more than his senses. Thus, I distract him with a heavy presence using my modified Star Trigram Sword Art and ambush after the line of instinct or senses blurs.
Nonetheless, his speed still injured me. A fresh cut of blood spreads across my chest.
As both of us bleed, I had a naive thought that we might be on equal footing now. That thought is destroyed when mild suffocation surfaces. The air feels viscous, my movements are hindered by an unknown force.
It's as if...I'm underwater.
I can't talk. I can't hear.
Darilyus' weapon becomes one with the air, disintegrating to join the abundant mana in the atmosphere. Every mana rises in harmony, ushering in a new era of destruction.
What...the...
Something is pushing down on my legs...I can't move!
They gather condescendingly above in a ball. Anything they touch melts and joins the sea of mana.
Uck...damn this.
Status!
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Loi Krist
Fate: 530722
Role: Background Character
Karma: 300299
First Stage of Formation Realm
First Stage of Body Metamorphosis (Flesh[OXX])
First level of Sword Intent
Talent:
-Sword Tier 10(250000)
-Magic Tier 6 (70000)
-Cultivation Tier 3 (500000)
-Speed Tier 7 (150000)
-Stealth Tier 7(95000)
-Mana Control Tier 2 (500000)
-Cooking Tier 2 (10000)
-Alchemist Tier 2 (10000)
Attributes:
-Holy Tier 2(30000)
-Darkness Tier 1(20000)
-Water Tier 1(20000)
-Strength Tier 1(100000)
Skills:
-Quick Casting
-Death Sixth Sense
-Calm Mind
-Linguistic Mastery
-Unbreakable Fortitude
-Sage Insight
-Lighting Reaction
-Battle Foresight
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I wanted to save it for cultivation talent but I will die if I do.
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Talent upgraded!
-Mana Control Tier 2->3
Fate: 530722 -> 30722
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The ball of mana dives towards me and explodes into a large waterfall about to engulf me. To Darilyus' surprise, I break my shackles and hijack his control, parting the mana. The fierce current rushes past my mortal self
to carve an arc of hell upon the chamber of sinners, leaving a trail of intense azure.
!!!
His jaws wide open, Darilyus begins to question what the fuck just happened.