Even until now, [Ego] had shown itself to be quite the formidable power. Any status inflicted on him disappears for as long as he doesn’t use that [Ego]. His passive [Ego] healing has come to the point that even near-fatal injuries could be healed for as long as he didn’t use it long enough.
More difficult things like [Status: Blessing Exhaustion] took longer than normal inflictions. Sammuel calculated that he would be unable to use [Ego: Six-Handed Monkey] for an entire month. Who knew just how overdrafted someone would be if they went through such an empowerment? He used the durability and vitality of a beast yet he had overdrafted it.
Sammuel guessed that it would roughly take an entire year for a normal creature to bear the burden of such an overwhelming power-up. This made sense, using power well beyond your means should have a corresponding price. The only thing was that Sammuel was able to circumvent such a restriction.
After talking to Xeril about their future plans, Ian nonchalantly walked up to them.
“You were both pretty worn out earlier. Good thing I managed to bring you here.”
Xeril reached his hand and placed it on Ian’s shoulder. “I appreciate it, Ian.”
Xeril’s memories of the incident had been completely removed but it seemed as if he was still the same person. Ian really did only remove the memories relating to the Hatchling. As a person who knew if someone was lying, Sammuel could filter out such tells coming off genuine.
“I’ll see you both in the institute, I have to go. I still have a contract I have to uphold.” Sammuel bid both of them farewell. He then went to the exchange center where he could use his Contribution Points.
As it turned out, most of the items here were the things he didn’t need at all. Healing was completely irrelevant for him and strength-boosting materials only gave him a smidgen of a power-up for such an extravagantly high price.
There were only two things he really cared about here, one was the Mirage Apples to help Lawrence’s research, and information. As expected, [Skills] were the center of the combat. Without a strong [Skill], humans would have no hope of fighting back against those stronger creatures.
Sammuel browsed over the [Skills] that were available for him to learn but they were still all subpar. They weren’t worth practicing due to how little Combat Power they gave him. Even [Hardened Fist] was a higher tier than those that he could use.
After reading a few more catalogs, he finally saw something that piqued his interest. It had said, [Flowing Swordsmanship: First Form].
Sammuel recalled Weston saying that [Flowing Swordsmanship] was a top-tier technique but Sammuel didn’t feel it. It was genuinely strong when he was weaker but now it was but a drop in the bucket.
“I guess watching someone and mimicking their moves won’t give me anything substantial. If anything, my current version of [Flowing Swordsmanship] should only be the motions, nothing else.”
Reading the contents, Sammuel looked at his [Flowing Swordsmanship] and finally understood.
[Skill:
Flowing Swordsmanship (Mimic) - Move the blade according to the flow of the battle.
Card Quality: Colorless
Mastery: Experienced | EXP: 0.0461/100%
Affinity Level: 25.42%
Combat Power: +30 ~ +80 | +50 ~ +200]
It was a hopeless mimicry of the genuine article. Other people could understand that Sammuel had [Flowing Swordsmanship] but in reality, Sammuel hadn’t been able to capture the essence of it at all. The understanding of the difference was exactly what separated the skilled from the unskilled.
Reading [Flowing Swordsmanship: First Form], he read the description.
“The first form focused on building the foundation of those who wish to learn [Flowing Swordsmanship]. A public copy has been passed down to let those who have the talent in such a technique be adopted into the Censer Family.”
Instead of mere movements, it was unrestrained, only given with an illusive context of the flow. There were only three movements that it had said to follow. The movement of the wind, the movement of the land, and the movement of life. Sammuel was already burdened with barely being able to understand the true power behind it.
Converting his understanding into the first form, Sammuel looked at it once again.
[Skill:
Flowing Swordsmanship: First Form - Move the blade according to the flow of the battle.
Card Quality: Bronze
Mastery: Novice | EXP: 21.13/100%
Affinity Level: 15.32%
Combat Power: +100 ~ +200 | +300 ~ +???]
The increase was substantial. His Mastery had gone down one entire level but his power had increased. Such was the difference between the mimic and the true technique. The convoluted concept of this technique made Sammuel’s head spin.
If he hadn’t first gone through mimicking this technique then Sammuel wouldn’t have even understood what he should’ve done first. Asking more about it to the information broker, Sammuel then learned more about it. As it turned out, this was one of the more difficult techniques to master due to the absurdity of understanding such a vague concept.
Sammuel had already laid down his foundation and understood that the concept was difficult without first understanding what must be done. The term flow was far too mysterious without any help.
For the upper limit of this ability to be +???, Sammuel was starting to grasp the unknown. It was another step in his progress to learning more about this world. Sammuel took his boxed Mirage Apples and went over to Lawrence’s place. It was time for him to start preparing his plan.
Sammuel brought the batch like usual but this time he started to tell Lawrence what he had in mind for the future. Lawrence was a little taken aback by what Sammuel wanted him to do but still decided to make time for it. He was on the cusp of his breakthrough, in a short while, he would finally finish it.
“Give me a day. I’m almost done.” Lawrence’s progress had completely skyrocketed.
Heading back to Fian’s clothing store, Sammuel knocked on the door. A slightly anxious Fian opened it,
“Quick, quick, come in. Things have been starting to look pretty grim nowadays.”
Despite the two victories, the mood of the entire city was still skeptical of what would happen in the future. Creatures from the Hallowed Gap were only progressively getting stronger and the people in the frontlines were only getting weaker.
Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.
Of course, those who were considered powerhouses still haven’t made their moves. They were keeping their strength at their peak to ensure that those that the common army could not defeat would be dealt with appropriately. One of these people was Jynnette.
Fighting all out at the start was an idiotic move. That may save many more lives initially but once those truly terrifying monsters above the Awakened realm joined in, the true powerhouses would already be exhausted from fighting the small fries.
To match their weakest with humanity’s weakest and to match their strongest with humanity’s strongest. This was the best way to prolong the situation.
“I haven’t heard much about the outside world for a while. Any rumors spreading around?” Sammuel removed his clothes and wore another set that was even higher quality than before. Fian’s skills were improving by the day.
“I think the only thing that matters is how long until the reinforcements from the Vis Empire and Salvo Empire will take. You’re not going to like it.” Fian sighed, even the news of it weighed on her heavily.
“Tell me. I should at least know how long they will take.”
“Three months. That’s twelve more waves. You’ve been on the frontlines, how long until you can hold out?”
Sammuel made some rough mental calculations. He completely ignored the weak creatures in his calculations and only solely focused on the strong creatures that have [Blessing of Moonlight].
The first wave had roughly 500 Combat Power with [Blessing of Moonlight], and the next wave had around 600 Combat Power for those that had achieved [Blessing of Moonlight]. This didn’t include the Black Winged Albatross that had a [Greater Blessing of Moonlight], spiking its full power up to around 1000 Combat Power.
Luckily Sammuel had blinded both of its eyes and severely poisoned it before it reached such a terrifying state. This had led him to easily dispose of the Black Winged Albatross and gain its [Ego].
Seeing its base Combat Power and growth, [Ego: Black Winged Albatross] focused on supreme speed. Which greatly aided Sammuel in his training. It might be just as strong as [Ego: Runic Bear] but there was one defining factor as to why [Ego: Black Winged Albatross] was superior. He could fully utilize [Flowing Swordsmanship: First Form] to its full power.
It was essentially what [Hardened Fist] was to [Ego: Six-Handed Monkey] but stronger due to [Flowing Swordsmanship: First Form] being a higher-tier technique. Amidst the war, Sammuel was explosively growing and expanding his arsenal.
If Sammuel then used [Greater Blessing of Moonlight] on top of it then it was safe to say that he was nearly unstoppable within the Awakened Stage.
Going back to the conversation, Sammuel answered. “Two months, that’s eight waves. If we’re lucky we can go for one more week but they also keep getting stronger.”
Fian bit her lip. Her eyes desperately wanted to tell Sammuel something. “Actually, I can contact my old organization and they might… help.”
Sammuel feigned a curious expression. “They can help even at a time like this? You must be pretty important that they’ll go against a Great Dragon.”
“Not exactly…” Fian looked over to Marie. “Marie come over here.”
The small girl from the distance overlooking the chaos outside came right up to Fian. She hugged her mother tightly. “Don’t be so afraid Marie. We’re here to protect you.”
“Do you want to leave Aganth?” Fian held Marie’s head and looked her in the eyes. The melancholic expression Fian had almost made Sammuel break character. He knew what would happen if this continued on.
“We can leave?” Marie’s eyes sparkled in joy. She had been so terrified of the outside that she had already broken any contact with the children she had met. Keeping herself within her house, she just played with the one doll Sammuel gave her. Its quality was so much worse than what she could get at this current stage but she didn’t want another.
“Sammuel can lead you out. You can live your life peacefully. You don’t need to be so afraid in the future anymore.”
“You aren’t… coming?” Her voice trembled. It was reduced to a nearly perceptible sound yet the impact it had on Sammuel was heavy.
“I will, it's just that Sammuel’s going to bring you away first and I’ll go right after.”
Fian was facing Sammuel while holding Marie in her hands. Her expression spoke volumes of what the outcome would be. Sammuel couldn’t hold it in anymore, he needed to tell Marie something.
“Marie, what do you want to do in your life?” Sammuel slowly pried Marie off Fian’s arms and faced her. This was a defining moment of what Sammuel would do.
“I… I don’t know.” Marie looked away. She was still too young to even have a grasp of what she even was. Her true origin, Sammuel had already seen through it. “To live with my mom.”
Despite knowing that she was the child of a Supreme Dragon, Sammuel just couldn't replace the person he had in mind when looking at Marie.
“What if you were given the opportunity to make the world a happier place?” Sammuel’s enigmatic words made Fian slightly suspicious. Even if the Genesis Foundation had already reached out to Sammuel, he should’ve had his memories wiped clean. Thinking about this, Fian immediately extinguished that foolish thought.
“Sammuel, why are you asking me this?” This wasn’t how Sammuel usually acted. His actions made her uneasy. Such a tense situation was overwhelming.
Sammuel bit his lips. He might not have an ability like Ian that could completely pry away any watching eyes but he had his own personal ability.
[Switch Ego: Enmouthed Relin]
A creature that could communicate by touch. It was a weaker creature that primarily relied on being in a group. If Sammuel couldn’t stop them from peeking then he should just make his handwriting indistinguishable.
Marie, I need you to listen very carefully. Do you know the Hatchling that’s been hiding in Aganth?
Marie looked around, terrified. “Sammuel, why aren’t you moving your mouth?”
That’s beside the point, this is serious Marie. Just nod or shake your head.
Marie nodded.
You’re the Hatchling, Marie.
“What…?” Marie was taken aback by Sammuel’s sudden accusation.
You feel people’s anger and malice, don’t you? You’re terrified of their emotions. Humans don’t have that sense. You’re the Hatchling, the daughter of a Supreme Dragon.
“This isn’t funny, Sammuel. You’re scaring me…” Marie wanted to ignore Sammuel’s words but they hit her deepest question about herself. Turning behind her, Fian was overlooking their interaction. “Mom…”
Fian gave out an exasperated laugh. “Sammuel, you’re an enigma. But from the looks of it… you already know.” As expected from someone from the Genesis Foundation, not a single person there was normal. "Even the Genesis Foundation's methods don't work on you. Even the other outsiders are susceptible to it, not all... but the majority of them succumb to it."
She didn’t have any overwhelming power but what she had was an acute ability to sense other’s thoughts based on their expressions. After all, the Hatchling wouldn’t be so afraid of someone whose emotions were so well controlled. Fian's reaction towards this sudden revelation said a lot about her as a person. As for what her position was in the Genesis Foundation, Sammuel had no clear grasp.
“Whatever Sammuel just told you, it’s true.” Fian closed one of her eyes as the symbol of the Genesis Foundation appeared. Similar to Ian’s move, Fian had suppressed space itself but there was an oddity, it was clean, far cleaner than anything Ian was able to do. It seemed as if the world was stationary for everything but them.
[???]
“You can speak normally now. If I’ve made my move then those old men in the Genesis Foundation finally have a justifiable reason to make their move.” Fian sighed. In the end, it came to this.
“Mom?” Marie was confused. Everything was happening too fast. “What’s happening?”
“You’re the Hatchling that’s everyone’s been looking for. An eleven-year plan in the making but in the end, it was all for naught. That should sum it up.” Fian had removed any feeling of attachment from herself. With [???], she could tap into a power that was beyond her.
Marie escaped Sammuel’s arms and rushed over to Fian but… she could no longer feel her mother’s love for her. She tried to hug Fian but it was fleeting. Fian’s heart was no longer as warm as it used to be.
Crack.
Something within Fian shattered. Sammuel didn't hear an audible sound or see anything break apart but he knew, he understood that something within Fian broke. It was as if something precious had been smashed into bits by a hammer into a million pieces.
“Marie, sweetie.” Fian reached her hand out, touching Marie’s face and kissing her forehead. “I still love you like my own daughter. But… the part of me that’s your mother is no longer with me.”
Marie teared up for she knew this was true. As the daughter of the Supreme Dragon of Attachment, Fian’s feelings for her were no longer a passionate flame. It was rendered into a cold block of ice, unfeeling and numb to her. She could feel the tiny specks of love but they were quickly drifting away, evaporating like smoke.
Fian walked over to the blanket that Sammuel gave her, it was the elusive piece of revolutionary technology that even made her amazed. “I can’t fight people but I can make the Genesis Foundation keep their eyes off her. The only thing left is to ask, Marie, what do you want to do now?”
“You have three options: I can bring you away but we’ll be on the run for the rest of our lives, you can give yourself up to Alyur and seek shelter in the Dragon Clan, or you can take matters into your hands and… do it.” Fian’s words were cold and emotionless but Sammuel could tell that there was a hint of desperation behind her words. And as for the last option, Sammuel understood it as some kind of power relating to Marie being a Hatchling.
Marie did not hesitate to make an answer. Despite knowing how her mother felt towards her, Marie answered immediately.
Even as Fian’s heart was stone cold against her, Marie still reached her hands out and tightly gripped her waist. “Let’s run away, Mom.”