The sandstalker dissipated as Rain dismissed his stat sheet. He was just five points away from a level-up, and the next fight would mark his first true level-up. Excitement bubbled within him at the thought of gaining new skills.

Rain got into a stance, ready for the next opponent. He waited patiently as the ground began to rumble. The terrain shifted, becoming rocky with gaps in the floor and tall metal spikes protruding from random areas around the arena. It seemed the arena was adapting to his combat style.

As Rain took note of the new arena, his enemy began to materialize. It was a large serpent, its body black with stripes of gold running along its back. The monster's eyes locked onto Rain, releasing an intimidating hiss. Lightning crackled around the creature's fangs.

and it blitzed forward grabbing rain in its maw Rain was Surprised by its blinding speed it was like a bolt of lightning itself. Rain Bit down on the serpent with all his strength and he was dropped from the maw of the serpent,

He rolled to the floor and clutched his injuries, hoping the serpent's bite wasn't venomous. The wounds weren't bleeding, which gave him some relief, but the pain was intense. Rain tried to stand but fell back to the ground, realizing he had been hit harder than he thought. His ribs were likely injured. Rain slapped himself in the face, forcing himself to his feet ignoring the roaring pain in his chest.

He readied his staff, letting water flow around the weapon. He launched forward and struck the serpent's head, knocking it backward. Rushing at it again, Rain kicked the monster in the head, causing it to recoil slightly. The serpent swung its tail at Rain, but he blocked the tail swipe and flipped to the ground, sliding across the rocky terrain while holding his aching chest.

The serpent showed clear aggravation with Rain and let out a hiss. It opened its mouth, and a bolt of lightning shot toward a metal pole. The lightning bounced from pole to pole, and Rain realized how close he was to the last pole in its path. He jumped forward in an attempt to avoid the attack, but the bolt of lightning was too fast and struck him in the back. Rain rolled wildly across the ground, howling in pain. He had never been shot, but this is how he imagined it would feel.

Rain groaned in pain as he stood up. He stepped back into a stance and rushed forward, launching himself into the air with a powerful jump. He focused as much water around his weapon as he could, the blue lines on the staff glowing brighter until the entire staff became water. Rain didn't notice this, continuing to force more water energy into the staff.

He brought the staff down onto the monster's head, a resounding boom echoing around the arena as the serpent's head slammed to the ground. Rain quickly followed up with another powerful upward strike, sending its head back into the air. He then leaped up and unleashed a powerful barrage of kicks.

Just as the serpent began to retaliate, Rain pushed off its head and flipped to the ground. A gentle blue aura surrounded Rain's body, and his eyes glowed a piercing blue. He took another stance, and his wounds slowly began to heal.

Lightning filled the mouth of the serpent as it lunged toward Rain. Filled with newfound energy, Rain sidestepped the attack and swung at the serpent's head. Blood shot out of the serpent's mouth as it recoiled from the blow. Rain quickly closed the distance, leaving behind a trail of blue.

Rain followed up with another solid downward strike, completely stunning the serpent. Raising his hand, multiple spinning discs of water appeared above him. With a swift motion, he lowered his hand, and the discs attacked the serpent, dismembering its body in an instant.

A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

Rain's eyes stopped glowing, and the aura dissipated. He stumbled backward, struggling to stay awake. What had just happened felt entirely out of his control. He felt like he was trapped in his own mind, unable to command his body.

He glanced down at his staff, now completely enveloped in water, and then at the dismembered serpent. The power he had wielded was frightening. After everything with his aunt, he never wanted to feel so out of control again. But here, in this strange place, it had happened once more. It wasn't just a feeling of helplessness; it was as if his body had been taken over by someone else. The thought that it could happen again at any time terrified him.

Rain let the memories of his aunt leave his mind and focused on his victory, he let the Notifications Flow into his mind and the magic line began forming a notice.

"Cloud Serpent slain. Greater Rune of agility awarded. Intermediate Rune of Strength awarded."

"A greater rune interesting never got one of those before." Rain accidentally spoke aloud, he realized this brought him to twenty-five stats invested and the words began to rearrange.

"Current stat limit reached, Congratulations on reaching level two. Please select three skills."

Swift Strike: Rain learns to execute a quick and precise strike with his staff, enhancing agility and dexterity in combat.

Evasive Maneuvers: improves ability to evade attacks, increasing agility and making the user harder to hit.

Enhanced Healing: channel water energy to accelerate natural healing processes, allowing users to recover from wounds more quickly outside of combat.

Adaptive Defense: adapts to incoming attacks, gaining temporary resistance to the last type of damage he received.

Focused Meditation: focus your mind and body, reducing the impact of distractions and improving concentration during combat.

Hydrokinetic Shield - Basic: create a small shield of water to block incoming attacks, providing temporary defense against physical and magical assaults.

Tactical Awareness: gain heightened awareness of your surroundings, improving the users' ability to detect traps, hidden enemies, or other dangers.

Rain carefully considered his skill selection. Swift Strike, already mastered, was deemed unnecessary. Evasive Maneuvers was useful, but not a priority for his first new skill. Enhanced Healing was crucial for quick recovery, and Adaptive Defense was a logical choice given his low constitution. For his final skill, Rain debated between Tactical Awareness and Focused Meditation, but opted for Hydrokinetic Shield to bolster his defense. It seemed the most practical choice given the challenges ahead in the Colosseum trials.

Rain stood up from the ground and after choosing the glowing lights began flowing in.

"17 stat points awarded please allocate"

Rain summoned hs stats and began allocating, He put five points into agility and constitution, another five went into dexterity, and his last two into strength. Rain looked at his stat sheet satisfied with everything but his charisma.

Name: Rain Forrest

Race: Anurasapien

Current level: 2

Current stat limit: 15/35

Strength: 16

Agility: 25

Dexterity: 23

Constitution: 9

Intelligence: 15

Willpower: 14

Charisma: 2

Skills: Enhanced Healing, Adaptive Defense, Hydrokinetic shield

Talents: Sewing 4, Cleaning 5, Cooking 4, Tenacity 7, Pain Tolerance 6, Blunt weapon proficiency 2, hydrokinesis 2, acrobatics 4, stealth 2,

Blessing: Intermediate Blessing of Kyma

Rain reviewed his stats once more, noticing the improvement in his blessing. The unsettling feeling of losing control of his body had likely been triggered by this advancement. Moving closer to becoming an avatar was both a step forward and a bitter reminder of past memories he'd rather forget. Despite these emotions, Rain straightened his posture. His personal feelings had to take a backseat; the challenge ahead in the Colosseum trials demanded his full attention and determination.