Lucian grew severe as he grabbed onto his Glaive. He aimed it awkwardly at Giffard as he fought to stay balanced. The weapon was much heavier than his katana, which made it slightly slower. However, he could feel the crazy power it boasted already.
With this in hand, a single, solid strike should be enough to defeat one of those iguanas he struggled with before.
Immediately, Lucian dashed towards Giffard as he prepared his swing. Seeing this, Giffard responded in kind with a single hand.
Soon the two clashed, as a loud clang echoed. Giffard seemed to be taking it easy, pushing Lucian back with a slight nudge.
Giffard nodded. "Good. You are gifted with a powerful body. You should make a strong Glaive user. However, you must learn control," He said as he swung his Glaive at his side.
Lucian immediately retreated further as another swing came his way. Soon he could barely launch an attack as Giffard had taken the momentum.
"Balance," Giffard said as he swung the back of the Glaive at his legs. Lucian was immediately swept into the air as he crashed heavily onto the ground. He laid flat on the floor, completely defenseless.
"And finally, technique," Giffard said as he issued a large arcing swing downward at insane speeds. Lucian knew he wouldn't be able to dodge.
Just as it reached his face, it stopped centimeters away. The Glaive moved back towards Giffard as Lucian slowly got up.
He smiled. "I have no techniques for the Glaive. However, these fundamentals will help you with your basics until the time comes for you to learn one."
"Now, come!" Giffard roared as he readied his stance once more. Lucian attacked once more as another battle ensued.
Hours went by as Lucian slowly grew more competent in the polearm. Although a bit different compared to the katana, he enjoyed its large arching strike and flowing motion. Once he fully mastered it, he believed he would be able to do much more.
After the 25th sparring session, Giffard finally called it quits. He put his Glaive back into his space ring as he addressed Lucian.
"We will continue your training tomorrow. For now, get some rest." he turned and began walking away.
Lucian stared at his back as he watched the man walk away. Like before, he was utterly dominated. However, he wasn't ashamed of it. He knew just how much more experienced Giffard was in combat. He only wished to get better.
With that in mind, he looked at his new status.
Basic Stats
Name: Lucian Villin
Class: ---
Profession: ---
Race: Human
Strength - [0.3][0.73]
Constitution - [0.3][0.62]
Endurance - [0.3][0.73]
Perception - [0.3][0.73]
Agility - [0.3][0.62]
Dexterity - [0.3][0.73]
Willpower- [0.3][0.8]
Intelligence - [0.3][0.8]
Soul - [0.4][0.82]
Health [35]
This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.
Stamina [23]
Physical Attack [35]
Magical Attack [38]
Mana [10] (NULL)
Critical Chance [0.17%]
Critical Dmg [1.5]
Health Regen [1.8/Min][0.029/sec]
Stamina Regen [12/min][0.19/sec]
Mana Regen [0.21/min][0.003/sec] (NULL)
Soul Essence [10]
Soul Essence Regen [5.2/min][0.09/sec]
Innate Ability - Creative Momentum
Skills:
Universal Language LVL X
Phantom Body (Unique)(Unranked) LVL 9
Soul Cutting Edge (Unique)(Unranked) LVL 7
Blood Burst (Unique)(Unranked) LVL 2
Beginner Blade Mastery (Passive)(Rank G) LVL 27*
Quick Draw Stance (Stance)(Rank G) LVL 16*
* Quick-Step Draw (Unique)(Passive)(Rank G)
Severing Moon Burst(Rank G) LVL 13*
Quick Draw Stance- Overhead Strike (Rank G) LVL 14*
Quick Draw Stance- Horizontal Strike (Rank G) LVL 16*
Quick Draw Stance- Upward Strike (Rank G) LVL 17*
Quick Draw Stance- Defense Break (Rank G) LVL 14*
Quick Draw Stance- Parry (Passive)(Conditional)(Rank F) LVL 15*
Quick Draw Stance- Riposte (Passive)(Conditional)(Rank F) LVL 13*
Beginner Polearm Mastery (Passive)(Rank G) LVL 13
His leveling speed seemed to increase dramatically once he created Quick-Step Draw. Lucian obviously believed his innate ability had something to do with that. He had a lot to unpack and sort out. With the consistent training of his skills, his body had been quickly advancing though he would need to find a cultivation manual soon. He could only rely on his body's talent for a short time to progress. The same went for his mana and soul cultivation. Ideally, he wanted to acquire 1 of each before he levels up. He would need to go to the shopping area to see what he can find later today.
Entering his hotel, he greeted Halia as it waved its tail at him before falling back asleep in a corner. Since they returned from the last hunt, it seemed to sleep much more often. However, Lucian didn't mind it. It probably needed the rest from exerting itself so much.
Turning his focus back to his status screen, he considered the different skills that could be combined and thought of the perfect way to strengthen them all. He activated [Phantom Body] in the meantime to level it up further.
"First, let's get the basic ones out of the way," he thought. He believed his [Quick Draw Stance] skills were separated due to the changes he made to the original stance by including [Aerial Steps]. He suspected that a simple skill synthesis should solve that problem. That did warn him of the dangers of skill synthesis without preparations, though. If it turned out worse, he could've been stuck, unable to synthesize his skills together.
He began to fuse his new quick draw skills into [Quick Draw Stance]. However, just as the process started to complete, an unimaginable thing happened.
[Phantom Body], which previously had no reaction, began to vibrate intensely. Suddenly it shot towards the fusion process, right into the center of the skill.
Immediately, Excruciating pain assaulted him all over as the skills began growing more violent. It felt like a million pins were being stabbed into his body at different intervals everywhere. It was almost unbreakable!
"AAAAHHH!!" Lucian roared out as the pain grew worse. Blood dripped from his nose as he knelt on the floor, landing on the ground with a loud 'BOOM.'
At this rate, Lucian could barely think. However, he held on. He had to survive this somehow.
Eventually, the pain began to subside as he laid shaken on the ground. He stood still for minutes as he rested like his life depended on it. Confusing clouded his eyes as he winced from the previous pain he felt.
"Argh...What was that? Why did my [Phantom Body] jump into my [Quick Draw Stance]? That shouldn't be normal. What is going on?" Lucian asked himself as he laid on the floor.
Giffard made no mention of skills acting by themselves like this. It was almost like they had thoughts and feelings and even acted on them without his permission. Was this related to his Innate Ability?
Lucian looked at his Innate Ability's description once more but saw nothing of the sort.
Lucian frowned as worry showed on his face. He needed to get to the bottom of this as quickly as possible lest he hurt himself beyond what he could recover from.
After nearly an hour, he finally gained the courage to look at his new skills:
Skills:
Soul Cutting Edge (Unique) LVL 1
Blood Burst (Unique) LVL 1
Quick Spirit Draw Stance (Unique)(Stance)(Rank E) LVL 1
* Severing Soul Burst (Unique)(Rank E)
* Overhead Soul Strike (Unique)(Rank E) LVL 14
* Horizontal Soul Strike (Unique)(Rank E) LVL 16
* Upward Soul Strike (Unique)(Rank E) LVL 17
* Spirit Break (Unique)(Rank E) LVL 14
* Spirit Parry (Unique)(Rank E) LVL 15
* Spirit Riposte (Unique)(Rank E) LVL 13
Lucian stood in silence as he felt the changes the skills had. The skill ranks increased by two whole grades! He could nearly feel the amount of power his skill had which was easily double the strength it was before!
First off, as he swung his blade, he noticed that the sword in his hand moved much faster than before. He felt like he could attack from any position and still deliver fatal damage. Next, getting into [Quick Spirit Draw Stance], the first change he felt was the skill was now using stamina as well as soul energy just from being in the stance. The world slowed to a crawl as he got into stance. His strength and speed saw a massive increase. Relishing in the feeling, Lucian felt far stronger than before. In fact, he believed he could easily defeat his previous self with a single slash! Looking at the [Quick Spirit Draw] skills, he immediately saw the change.
Quick Spirit Draw Stance - Stand in a fighting stance with a sheathed blade, slowly draining soul energy and stamina. Increase movement, attack speed, and attack power by 100 + Skill Level X2%.
Severing Soul Burst - Combined with Quick-Step Draw and Phantom Body, this skill has surpassed its previous speed, significantly increasing movement speed, maneuverability, and attack speed. Increases movement and attack speed by 2 + skill level * 0.03 at the cost of stamina and soul energy usage.
Quick Spirit Draw Stance- Overhead Soul Strike - Usable only in Quick Spirit Draw Stance. Unsheath your sword as you attack downward with increased velocity. Damage 150% + Skill Level x 1.5 at the cost of Stamina and Soul energy.
Quick Spirit Draw Stance- Horizontal Soul Strike - Usable Only in Quick Spirit Draw Stance. Unsheathed your sword horizontally, cutting everything in your path. Damage 100% + Skill Level x 1.5 at the cost of stamina and soul energy.
Quick Spirit Draw Stance- Upward Soul Strike - Usable Only in Quick Spirit Draw Stance. Unsheathed your sword in an upward fashion. Damage 110% + Skill Level x1.5 at the cost of stamina and soul energy.
Quick Spirit Draw Stance- Spirit Break - Usable Only in Quick Spirit Draw Stance. Unsheathed your sword as you sidestep, cutting through any opponent's defense. Damage 75% + Skill Level x1.5 at the cost of stamina and soul energy.
Quick Spirit Draw Stance- Spirit Parry - Usable Only in Quick Spirit Draw Stance. Unsheathed your sword as you parry an attack, increasing your attack's damage multiplicatively. Increase damage by 10%+ Skill Level x0.4% at the cost of increased stamina and soul energy.
Quick Spirit Draw Stance- Spirit Riposte - Usable Only in Quick Spirit Draw Stance. Unsheathed your sword as you dodge an attack, increasing your attack's damage multiplicatively. Increase damage by 10%+ Skill Level x0.4% at the cost of increased stamina and soul energy.
The skills now began to scale! Meaning they will become stronger as they increase in skill level. Previously, the bonuses he gained from then were mediocre at best. However, with this new upgrade, the skills are finally having a substantial effect on his ability! And he will only gain even more strength as they level up!