The bubble fell, and Alistair teleported to the side into the canopy above. He did not have to wait long before a white blur streaked across the jungle floor below. Whatever Iatok was, Alistair could tell it focused its stats almost entirely on power. Its energy reserves were almost fleeting compared to Alistair, who activated his [Temporal Combat Reflex] boost. There had to be some boosting skills at work as well. Alistair sensed Iatok's high-speed attack coming and partially dodged as he received a shallow cut across his neck through his armor. Bypassing most of his defensive skill, his absurdly high [HP] pool shielded him from most of the damage as his body resisted the attack and was already in the process of healing the damage. With the help of his boosting skill, he was fast enough to see his attacker. It was a white Rabbitkin with red eyes, enchanted leather armor, and two blades about the length of a dagger, though it would be sword length for the rabbit.
"Iatok is a glass cannon, and the terrain is in his favor. A holy hand grenade would sure be handy right about now," Alistair mused with a smirk as he teleported above the canopy as high as the energy dome above the arena allowed.
The terrain was heavily in the rabbit's favor, and he would even the odds in his favor a little. Alistair proceeded to rain down both explosive and fire blasts into the jungle below, setting it ablaze and destroying much of the cover it provided. He managed a glance at the rabbit, who dashed out of the way of his attacks, summoning small magical platforms to propel himself with a dashing skill rather than flying or teleporting. Alistair admired Iatoks ingenuity; the rabbit made full use of his [Power] specialization and low-energy pools, which meant he was dealing with a clever opponent, but there were multiple glaring weaknesses.
Alistair unleashed the full brunt of his bloodcurdling aura, and Iatok stopped at the edge of the forest, looking at him trembling fearfully as he flattened against his body with his hair on end. The Rabbitkin had focused far too much on pure offense, and Alistair had the resilience and the variety of abilities to survive the Rabbitkins lethal strikes and quite literally dominate him with mind attacks. His fear-based mental attack proved to be incredibly effective, and it would force the Rabbit to attack as hiding would only delay the inevitable as Alistair could just radiate his aura passively, which would eventually weaken Iatok to the point Alistair could finish him off without a fight. Alistair decided to use more mental attacks manually as he tried to imitate the vicious mockery skill he had not picked up yet.
"What's wrong, Stabbit? I heard you guys are bloodthirsty beasts, but all I see is a scared little shit," Alistair taunted, levying his superior mental stat to crash down on the rabbit. Alistair could not properly read Iatok's body language or expression. Still, his Intuition told him the rabbit kin was most likely in internal turmoil, being both put off by fear and urged to spurn into action under Alistair's provocation and threat. Alistair scoffed at Iatok as he sent another wave of mental attacks his way, finally spurring the Rabbitkin into action as he charged at Alistair like a white and red blur even through his time-dilated vision.
Alistair unleashed an incredibly bright flash of light, which he had learned from Riseth's light manipulation. Blinding the Rabbitkin charging at him with reckless abandon, causing Iatok to miss his attack and unleashing it on the dome of the arena, which rippled violently but held firm no worse for wear. Alistair instead grabbed the disoriented rabbit by his ears with his [Right Hand Time Out] active. Beheading the frail rabbit with one smooth motion using one of the Navih blades combined with his [Razor Slash], ending the match then and there.
He reappeared in the beast arena section, followed by a set of chimes. Energy flowed through his body as the level-ups and title benefits bolstered his stats. He pulled the Notifications to check. He frowned at some of the phrasings the notifications provided. He modified it to specify the nature of the skill upgrade, realizing that knowing his kinetic grappler had evolved into another kinetic grappler was redundant. He applied a similar logic to his titles, with the exception of changing title names. As a final touch, he added Roman numerals to his gladiator title, deeming it more fitting.
Alistair also decided to finally pick up the [Kinetic Grappler] skill. He had been utilizing the technique manually for quite some time, and the realization that he hadn't officially acquired the skill felt like a neglectful oversight. Alistair felt that turning it into a proper skill was long overdue, as it would improve his efficiency, and he was likely to obtain additional benefits and stat bonuses when turning the technique into a proper skill. He was proven right as the skill underwent an immediate linear upgrade as he picked it up.
Notifications:
The Skill [Right Hand Time Out] has been upgraded to [Chrono Seizing Hand].
[Level 44 reached. Stat points allocated, free stat points available.] [Level 45 reached. Stat points allocated, free stat points available. Skill selection available.] [Level 46 reached. Stat points allocated, free stat points available.] The Gladiator title has been upgraded to [Gladiator VI]
The Trial Tournament Champion title has been upgraded to [Veteran Trial Tournament Champion]. The Skill [Kinetic Grappler] has been obtained. The Skill [Kinetic Grappler] has undergone a linear upgrade.
After fixing his notifications a little, Alistair gave an appreciative whistle while spreading out his saved-up stat points. The much more challenging opponents had provided him with a healthy amount of records based on the number of level-ups. They had not been real threats yet, but there was a noticeable increase in strength compared to the previous trial tournaments. The expert tournament should be much more challenging, especially if he managed to increase his level significantly in the meantime. He had found a sweet spot by lagging behind most of the truly strong individuals who had already reached much higher arena tournaments. At the same time, he had focused on an incredible foundation and skills for his level. Though he doubted he was the only one and counted himself lucky for not being matched up with them. Satisfied with his gains, he turned his attention to his skills.
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Skills: Tier: Name: Description: [Supreme]
Kinetic Grappler
The user robs opponents of their momentum at the cost of a minuscule amount of [Qi] or [MP] compared to the [KE] stolen. If possible, the stolen [KE] will automatically be used to harm opponents if connected either magically or physically to the user. The user may repurpose the stolen [KE] or store it in spheres provided by the [Kinetic Skinguard] skill. This skill has moderate resistance against outside interference by using the user's augmented skin and body. The skill provides a moderate bonus against opponents attempting to resist or disperse the effects of this skill.
[Epic] Chrono Seizing Hand
Your right hand can slow down time for anything it touches to an extreme degree at the cost of [MP] or [Qi]. The cost depends on the difference in grade and any other relevant resistances or weaknesses between the user and the object or individual affected. This effect can be extended through any weapon or object held within the right hand at a minimal loss of efficiency. Chrono magic requires the user to either be magically or physically connected to the target to take effect.
Your right hand has been refined, cleansed, remolded, and tempered using the large quantity of powerful chrono essence already infused into it, integrating it as an augmented body part. It now provides inherent resistance against outside manipulation.
Alistair had devoted significant effort to refining his right hand, meticulously purging inefficiencies and harmonizing conflicting layers of chrono magic. Despite this, he was somewhat surprised by the skill's tier, considering the chromatic magic within his hand surpassed that of any other augmented body part in magical density by a considerable margin. Alistair suspected it might be on the brink of reaching a higher tier, but its practicality was limited due to its constrained flexibility and specific applications despite its remarkable efficiency. Augmenting it with the customary layer of [Heavenly Purity] proved to be a seamless integration, synergizing unexpectedly well with the chrono magic. Additionally, he incorporated extending and stabilizing essences, enabling him to seamlessly extend the effects of his chrono magic through any weapon or object grasped in his right hand. This concept bore a striking resemblance to his utilization of the [Kinetic Grappler] technique. Alistair hoped that by combining two distinct layers of momentum-arresting abilities, he could render it significantly more difficult for opponents to resist or overpower his magic.
Skill Choices: Tier: Skill Name: Description: [Epic]
Mentor
When teaching and nurturing others, the user reduces the requirements and difficulty of skill acquisition for his students based on his understanding of the skill. There is a scaling bonus when teaching skills of [Rare] or higher tier.
Significant bonus when teaching Body Cultivation techniques.
Moderate bonus when teaching user-acquired skills.
[Rare] Arcane Energy Manipulation
Increases the efficiency at which the user converts and transfers energies such as Mana into Qi by a moderate amount using arcane means. Reduces overall energy loss from transferring and converting energies within the user's body by a large amount. The user's augmented physiology optimizes the conversion process within their body, albeit at a slightly reduced rate outside the body compared to internal conversion. [Uncommon]
Sphere of Privacy
The user generates a sphere of privacy, impeding others from perceiving or discerning activities within its confines through mundane or magical means. This shield prevents eavesdropping and thwarts any attempts at identifying or observing events occurring within the sphere. [Uncommon] Carve Enchantments Increases the [Control] & [Senses] when carving enchantments into objects. Increases [Power] of any enchanted object if possible. An overall increase in the resilience of crafted objects.
The acquisition of the mentor and arcane energy manipulation skills didn't catch Alistair off guard. His extensive experience in manipulating energies, combined with his teaching endeavors in the [Nurturing Ward], had naturally paved the way for such skills.
The [Arcane Energy Manipulation] skill, in particular, had a lot of potential. Alistair immediately made plans to combine the skill with one of his body cultivation projects. Alistair had planned to fashion his heart into a mana engine of sorts. A physiological feature associated with dragon hearts. Which incidentally were the initial inspiration for mana engines and reactors. They were usually fueled by ambient mana. Alistair, being a body cultivator, naturally breathed in and filtered for essences, which also meant he absorbed larger quantities of ambient mana. So, why not harness all that mana to his advantage?
Molding his nose and lungs had increased the quantity, quality, and range from which he could extract mana and essences from the air. It was still quite short-range, but he presumed that would drastically change as he climbed the grades. Alistair presumed his arcane affinity had to be quite high, as the process of manipulating and controlling mana had been relatively smooth for him.
The carve enchantment skill originated from Alistair trying to recreate the consumable rune sticks just to see if he could. He had done so during one of his cultivation sessions when he got tired of reading and wanted to occupy himself with something else. He had used an old fallen branch from his ginkgo tree, and his experience in arrays had greatly helped him in the process. He had successfully crafted a barrier rune stick, though it was of rather low quality compared to the ones he had obtained from the first dungeon.
Alistair had been training to see if he could cultivate while walking and doing other tasks but found that, aside from tempering and breathing, it wasn't feasible yet, even at reduced efficiency. Even when sitting still and carving the rune stick, he discovered the limits of his focus as soon as he attempted to imbue the stick with magic. Having crafting options was in Alistair's interest as he would get fewer skill options once he reached the next grade, so he hoped for them to appear for versatility's sake.
Overall, he was quite satisfied with his gains. He decided to call Riseth because he wanted to hunt in the Slayer world. Part of him wanted to go alone, but neither of them felt comfortable with the idea of the other facing the dangers there alone, so they came to a compromise to venture into that particular trial world together.