He used [Analysis] on the spider to see what its skills were, but nothing appeared. While odd, he more or less knew what skills it had from inspecting its tethers when they fought, so there was no issue and he used [Siphon] on its law techniques.
But then he encountered another problem.
‘I can’t scan through the ice?’
Sol wasn’t able to even begin the first part of [Siphon], which was to scan the target's body and mind, as he couldn’t get past the ice that encased it.
‘I'll just have to break through it.’
He conjured a stone spike and launched it at the spider. He wasn’t worried about damaging the body, as when it was alive, such attacks did little besides push it back.
The stone spear collided with the ice encasing the spider and bounced off harmlessly. Thinking that his attack might have been too weak, he made another denser spike with his much higher control over mana, thanks to his increased attributes. But as it collided against the ice, it bounced off with a light clang, harmlessly.
“What is this damn ice made of?! I refuse to believe I can’t break through it!”
If anyone else had been on the receiving end of that stone spike, it would have pierced a hole straight through them. He doubted even a plate of solid durium could withstand the attack.
Deciding to stop holding back, he put all of his power into condensing the ground around him into a singular, meter long spike. To increase its penetrative power, he shaped it into a drill and placed it against the ice before spinning it rapidly.
Sparks flew everywhere, not from the ice but from the stone drill itself. The dense stone drill was breaking against the thin layer of ice.
‘There’s no way I’m giving up on these skills, come on!’
The Bliss Spider's law techniques could not only make others fall into powerful hallucinations, but its bliss slashes could even transform things hit by them into blissful variants that were tangible. Even if he couldn’t obtain the law techniques, he would be fine with the normal skills, which were also very powerful.
Since there was no more danger, Sol went even further and used [Overpower], skyrocketing his already high attributes even higher. With the skill at level 7, his strength, agility, and intelligence went up by 240%, and all three broke past 1000, with intelligence even surpassing 1500.
Able to command and control massive amounts of earth like never before, he fortified the drill further and compressed it to a level he hadn’t thought possible. The stone began to change visibly, gaining a red luster that shimmered from the sparks it produced as it drilled even harder into the ice.
[[Terra Manipulation] leveled up! (9 -> EX)]
His extreme usage of the skill gave it the final push it needed to reach its final level and become EX, allowing for even finer control over the earth. Though pleased with the nice bonus, he focused on maintaining the earth drill while continuously adding more stone into it until he could no longer do so. By this point, the drill was shining red hot as it heated up.
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As he pushed the stone drill further, he took out his Lipon, changed the pattern slotted inside, and activated it to create a larger hammer of fire. Gripping it tightly, he slammed it into the back of the drill like hitting a nail.
Crack.
The fire hammer broke upon impact, thanks to his extreme strength, but hearing a crack, he thought he was getting through. So, he reactivated the Lipon and swung again.
Crack!
“Just a little more!”
The elemental weapon broke again in a fiery burst, so he reactivated it and cranked the dial to the maximum, using all its remaining energy in one go.
With a final swing using [Weapon Empowerment (Variant)] to increase the hammer’s power and durability to the limit, he slammed it into the back of the drill.
CRACK!
BOOM!
An explosion of dust and sharp fragments of stone enveloped him, blasting him away from the frozen spider. Though it sent him flying, it was ultimately harmless, aside from a few sharp rocks that lightly cut him. He brushed himself off and looked expectantly at where the frozen spider was as the dust settled.
“Oh, come on!”
As the dust cleared, the ice encasing the spider was revealed to be perfectly unharmed. Even the small area he had been drilling looked the exact same as it had before. The cracks he heard weren’t from the ice but from his own stone drill, which had been unable to handle the ice it was drilling into. Unable to penetrate the ice, the force had to go somewhere, and it went back into the drill, causing it to break.
Sol sat back in shock, watching in awe at the unbreakable ice.
“It’s not even an inch thick. How is it so strong…?”
He considered other attacks, but nothing could have matched what he had just done. Maybe [Polychromatism] with all the chromas combined could reach such a level of concentrated power. But there was also the possibility that he simply wasn’t using his newfound strength to its full potential.
As he was reflecting on his defeat, he got a call on his PAL from Duncan.
‘Ah, I forgot they’re waiting for me.’ He had spent more time than intended trying to break through the ice. Needless to say, he was sad he couldn't obtain the Bliss Spider’s skills, but there was little he could do.
He responded back to Duncan through the PAL. “I’ll be there soon.”
Sol then ran to the castle, arriving in a few seconds. Upon arriving, he saw the puppet standing idly by the entrance and followed it as it led him through the grand halls until they arrived at one of its many elegantly decorated doors.
The puppet gave a simple bow and slid into one of the servant passages scattered throughout the castle to await its next order.
With the puppet gone, Sol opened the door and saw a large round table with Torben and his knight squad sitting around it.
Upon seeing him, they welcomed him in.
“It’s good to see you safe, Cap!” Aron was the first to speak as Sol moved to take a seat.
“Agreed. We were all worried for your safety.” Duncan said.
Lazuli smiled and added, “Thank you for holding it back. I’m glad you came out unhurt.”
Sol nodded. “I did what I had to. But I won’t lie, I thought I was done for when I fell into its trap.”
“Yeah, I watched it happen.” Torben added. “You’re lucky I managed to get Orna’s attention in time, or that thing would have interfered with your ascension.”
“Orna was the one who killed it?”
“In an instant. After all, it was only a creation of the God of Bliss. While it was stronger than the average law technique user, it could never contest against an actual god who could wield the full power of their law.”
‘So that's why I couldn’t break the ice…’ Sol easily believed them, as when he thought about it, only someone at Orna’s level could encase the Bliss Spider in an indestructible layer of ice. Now he felt extremely foolish for attempting to break through it.
‘Well, at least it served to humble me… Wouldn’t want to think I’m invincible now. Though I don’t intend to pick a fight with any gods, I now know how powerful they can be. And even without considering the gods, other A-Rankers could still pose a threat.’
Thinking back on his conversation with Orna, he recalled how the dragon referred to the Goddess of Trade, Naira. From his mention of her, it was clear that not all gods were the same, and Orna was likely higher on the totem pole, even though he was self proclaimed as heavily wounded.