The System's voice filled my mind but it might as well have been a whisper. The monstrosity completely consumed my attention. How the hell was I supposed to fight something like this? A scream of danger that made every hair on my body stand at attention told me I had no more time. I dived to the ground just as a torrent of flames shot from the first mouth. The heat passed so close to me that the hair in my nose was scorched. On instinct, I leaped to my feet and turned into a spin. I sprinted for the wall as a torrent of water destroyed the ground where I stood. I pushed spiritual energy into the sigil and a ball of mental energy lit up the arena. I unleashed Psionic Rain the hand-sized blades looked like toothpicks as they fell on the hydra. I knew that the attack was mental, that the size of the blades didn't matter but that did nothing for the growing dread in my heart.

Another scream of danger forced me to activate Psychic Aegis in its wall form. The barrier appeared just before twin breaths of liquid metal and earth slammed into it. My mind blanked out as I was inundated with two Tao strands. Psychic Aegis began to crack as I fought desperately to hold on. The wooden head prepared to unleash a breath attack that would end this battle before it had begun. I desperately reached for my tao and pushed it into the rapidly crumbling barrier. Psychic Aegis quivered as the shard of adamance entered it but how could one strand defend against two? The third breath attack slammed into my barrier, and a concentrated beam of acid tore through the aegis as if it were made out of paper. I rolled and narrowly avoided two of the three breaths. The liquid metal caught my arm before the shield in my robes sprang up.

I screamed as my skin was cut and burned. The pain was enough to make me want to cut off the limb and I had to resist blasting myself with my spells. I turned my pain into rage and hatred aimed solely at the hydra. I snarled in defiance as the metal began to cool around my right arm. I pushed spiritual energy into Psychic Blast and Psionic Rain their sigils quivered as the strands of adamance and lucidity flooded them. It felt like my mind was being split as I tried to control them. I let out a roar of defiance as both spells activated. My attacks slammed into the hydra with a force that was almost physical.

The hydra staggered for a second before unleashing a roar that shook me to my bones. A primordial fear flooded my body. The hydra turned into a demonic beast the size of a mountain. My heart pounded in my chest as every instinct in my body told me to run. That I had no chance, that I would be food if I dared stay here. I squeezed my eyes shut and flooded my mind with the strand of adamance. The tao was like a calming rain as the mental attack was forced back. I could still feel the fear, it was like a tsunami threatening to overwhelm the island of my mind. A scream of danger shot through me and I was moving before I had the chance to process what had happened. When my mind caught up cold dread shot down my spine. The hydra had combined the fire and earth breath weapons into molten lava. A twenty-foot-wide circle had been burned and melted in an instant.

I conjured Psychic Aegis in a bubble around me though I wasn't sure if it would be strong enough to defend against another attack like that. I unleashed another pair of attacks while running as far away as I could. The entire arena was turning into a sauna and there was nothing I could do about it. My mind raced for a solution for the battle but there was nothing more I could do. There was no way I could physically break its scales which meant mental attacks were all I had. Another scream of danger forced me into a dive and a roll. This time the acidic breath carved a light through the back wall. I gritted my teeth as fury warred with my fear. I wasn't prey. I turned to face the hydra amplifying the flames of my anger. I needed anything but the fear. I burned the image of the lava in my mind and pushed energy into the sigil for Psionic Rain. This time I reached for both strands and tried to force them together. The sigil began to tremble as if it was on the brink of collapse. I took another breath and closed my eyes. I envisioned the two strands as literal strands of string. I turned my mental energy into thin needles that attached themselves to their front.

I threaded the two strands of tao into a braid and then guided the braid into the sigil. There was a brief period of resistance before my new braid collapsed together. For a moment I thought I failed, that I had somehow fucked up then my mental energy drained like a sieve. My eyes flew open as Psionic Rain fully formed above me. The blub of mental energy had transformed into a sphere that thrummed with energy. It emitted pressure that made it feel both real and fake as if it was constantly oscillating between the two states. I only hesitated a moment before giving the order. The sphere exploded into a shower of amorphous shards.

The rain sliced through the hydra with enough power that all five of its heads let out a roar of agony. Then the fire and water heads collapsed. The light had gone from their eyes. Before I could relish the victory a head-splitting pain blossomed in the center of my head. I fell to one knee as a scream tore itself from my lips. I didn't have the time to process what had just happened as another scream of danger forced me to dive to the side. A blast of molten metal destroyed the space I had just been in. I reached for my tao prepared to unleash another attack when the head-splitting pain returned and I had to stop. It felt like someone had taken a pick axe to my head.

I forced my panic down and tried to rotate my spiritual energy. When my dantian responded I let out a sigh of relief. I hadn't damaged myself so why couldn't I use my tao? I quickly scanned my body for any signs of a problem but couldn't find anything. It wasn't until I found Psychic Mastery that I realized my mistake. I hadn't been managing my psychic energy. I swore and turned my attention back to the hydra. I summoned a spirit stone from my bag and welcomed the torrent of energy. It felt like I held a live power line as the full energy of the stone flooded my channels. Pain mixed with anger and became the fuel that sparked a storm. Instead of guiding it into my dantian, I pushed it toward my sigils. Psionic Rain and Psychic Blast reached their limits in less than a second. I refused to let them go as my danger sense screamed at me. I didn't think I would survive if they both backlashed. A torrent of Acid and Dirt shot for me just as the sigils felt like they would collapse.

I exhaled and unleashed both of my spells. A beam of pure mental energy rushed to meet the twin attack as if it alone would be enough to rend the hydra to pieces. Less than a second later Psionic Rain shattered and blades fell from the sky like the judgment from an angry god. Psychic Blast passed through the liquid earth as if it wasn't there before blasting into the metallic head. Right on its heels the dozens of blades fell. I could almost see the hydra's soul being eviscerated. My focus was pulled away from my enemy as the acid slammed into my barrier it held just long enough to exhaust the attack. Once it shattered I brought both arms forward to shield as much of my body as I could. Liquid earth slammed into me with the force of a freight train in the next second. I was thrown back and into the wall like a rag doll. I closed my mouth and fought to keep my head up as my bones began to break.

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I forced down a scream and fought against the urge to blackout until the torrent finally ended. I sent a thread of spiritual energy into Psychic Aegis. The sudden appearance of the shield sent a wave of fresh agony through me as the dirt shifted. I couldn't tell how many of my bones were broken but I could still move. I waited a second for the kill energy but when it didn't come I swore to and at every god I could think of. What more did this world want from me? I let out a grunt of pain and worked up my courage. I yelled and ripped my arms free of the wall behind me. A few moments later I had pulled myself free of the wall. When I caught sight of the hydra I couldn't help but laugh. All the heads were down except for the metal one. I could tell that it was on its last legs. I summoned another of my spirit stones and began absorbing the energy. My channels ached as if they were furious with me.

I bit back a cry of pain and forced the energy into Psionic Rain. The second it took for the spell to activate felt like an eternity. The rain fell on the hydra a second later and a torrent of kill energy exploded through me. It felt like I had tried to absorb every one of my spirit stones at the same time. I didn't have a chance to resist before the darkness claimed me.

When I came to I was back in my room and fully healed. The System had even repaired my channels on top of that the energy from the kill was enough to push me to level 21. None of that was the important part though, my undivided attention was on the rewards for completing the quest.

Choice of Reward: Offensive Spell, Support Spell, or Movement Spell. NOTE: All skills will have 80% compatibility or higher

I was confident in not taking the Offensive spell for now. Between Psychic Blast and Psionic Rain, I felt pretty good on that end. There was also what I could make happen with Psychic Mastery. If there had been a defensive option that would have been my go to but alas the System didn't provide it. The System promised that the compatibility would be high so it wouldn't be a problem no matter what I picked. If I assumed that compatibility also equated to how useful it would be then the situation was even better. It would guarantee that it would be an amazing spell. Even if the two weren't related the fact that it came as a reward vouched for effectiveness. The only question was what did I want?

I considered it for a few more minutes but ultimately this wasn't a complex choice. I knew nothing besides the basic description so I went with what sounded like the most fun. As soon as I made my choice a blinding pain shot through my spine. It felt like someone had just branded me with a hot iron from the center of the earth. The pain hit me so suddenly that I couldn't do anything but take it. When it subsided sweat poured down my face and my vision swam. I tenderly pressed against the base of my spine expecting for there to be a wound or burn mark but there was nothing. "Is there a reason it has to hurt?" I called out to the System and to anyone who just happened to be listening. I laid back on the bed and took a deep breath. I passed my senses over the area and found my new spell sigil. As soon as I did the spell's prompt appeared and it was 100% worth it.

[1]Apportation – Proficiency: Novice: Move with the swiftness of thought.". Upgradeable

I read the message twice just in case it was some cosmic joke but when the words stayed the same I couldn't stop myself. I laughed. I laughed until my stomach hurt as I mentally replayed the battle. "If I had known that winning would give me a spell like this I 100% would do it all over again." When I finally stopped laughing I got to my feet and activated the spell. Or tried to because the spell was gluttonous it consumed more than three times the energy of Psionic Rain. When it finally drank its fill space in front of me rippled and distorted as if it were the surface of a pond. It then began to glow a deep indigo and azure color as it was slowly pulled apart. The distortion turned into a ten-foot-long horizontal line that slowly pulled itself apart. The edge pulsing in rhythm first indigo and then azure. It took me a second to realize that the portal was pulsing in rhythm with my heartbeat. On the other side of the distortion was completely opaque like an indigo pond.

I wasn't sure how I knew when the spell was finished but as soon as it did I stepped forward. As soon as I stepped into the portal it felt like I had passed through warm water. I reached down half expecting to be covered in water but there was nothing. A strange serenity passed over me in the next moment. The stress from the battle and the end of the tutorial practically dissolved as the portal closed behind me. I stood there for what felt like an instant and an eternity before I realized the problem. I hadn't decided on where I wanted to go. I resisted the urge to hit myself in the head and focused on my cultivation chamber. A second later another portal opened. This one was fully azure blue and when I passed through, it was like surfacing from the depths of a vast ocean. I took a moment to look around and sure enough, I was in my chamber. I turned around just as the portal collapsed into a simple horizontal line. A second later the line disappeared.

"Greatest spell so far," I said with a massive grin. I opened the door slowly just in case I had somehow stepped into some alternate reality but nothing happened. I made my way back to the bed and sat down. I decided to do a full review of the spell including its sigil and learned two things. The spell perfectly fits my channels. It was the same as the ones from my class. The second thing was it was a "Supreme" spell which was the highest quality you could get. Altogether the spell alone made the battle worth it and that wasn't everything I got. The change to my title screen was just as good. I had gained something called "Title Permanence" that moved my limited tutorial title over to my permanent title list. Which freed up my limited slot. Unfortunately, the title itself didn't change except for the name.

I pulled up my status screen and quickly reviewed my options. My attributes were pretty set, especially with the points that automatically went into Wisdom and Intelligence. Which left me choosing between Constitution and Agility. I thought about it for a few moments before putting both into Agility. If it came down to it I would prefer to not be where an attack will land than to endure the attack. With that done I wasn't sure what I should do next. I had used up two more of my spirit stones so I couldn't push myself to level 25 immediately and using them as energy batteries were effective. Unfortunately, there wasn't much else to do. I could either cultivate, meditate, or sleep. My head still ached so meditating or practicing with the tao was out. I also couldn't practice with Psychic Mastery for the same reason. I considered trying to sleep again but I wasn't tired at all which left me one choice. I sighed and made my way into my cultivation chamber. It was time to start the road to level 22.