Liam let out a sigh of relief as he felt his control over his body start to come back. The trance he was in was finally ending. As the tranquil mindset he had started to ripple again, he tried to think about what he had witnessed. He was able to move all of his Hand Type Spells with ease, however the reason for that was the lines of mana that connected him to them.

They were really thin at the beginning, but once they grew then he was able to move them without any resistance. He wasn’t entirely sure why that was, but he had a theory that it had to do with either the level in manipulation and control. It was either that or something he was still missing. He would need to ask Uncle Naro more about it when he had the chance to.

Besides that he felt he had received a bonus insight into something he hadn’t considered. That was his Soul Flame. He had believed it was something that he was only able to use during his Soul Crafting. However, after that last part of the fight he was now convinced he could use it in fights. An even bigger surprise was the fact that the flames had gone through the shell of the creature.

He looked at the Wave Rider Crab and stared at its body. The Soul Flame had disappeared shortly after the creature had died allowing him to be able to inspect the shell better and what he saw surprised him. There were no scorch marks anywhere to be see. In fact, the creature didn’t even look like it had taken any fire damage at all.

Normally whenever a creature or object was caught on fire there were signs of fire damage. However, there were none to be seen on the Wave Rider Crab. Liam narrowed his eyes as he inspected the creature more. He still couldn’t find any traces. However, the more he stared at the dead body the more a weird feeling started to creep up his spine. He wasn’t sure what it was, but the more he tried to figure it out the more the feeling filled him.

He looked at the dead Wave Sword Crabs he had killed earlier and then back at the dead Wave Rider Crab. He didn’t get the same feeling from the smaller crab monsters like he did from the final wave boss. He wasn’t sure why that was. He then tried to think about what was different between them. Besides the fact that the smaller ones were mobs, and the bigger one was the final boss of the dungeon there really wasn’t much different. He had fought both types while under the trance and even killed them…

Liam’s mouth opened slightly. He had killed the wave boss with his Soul Flame. Could that have any impact? I was so enamored with how the trance showed me how I could use it that I didn’t think about if there were any adverse effects. Liam thought as he activated his Phantom Sight. As soon as he activated the eye ability and looked at the dead Wave Rider Crab a slew of curse words escaped his lips.

“What the hell? What’s wrong?” Artem suddenly asked as he and the others appeared behind Liam.

With a disgruntled expression Liam said, “I fucking burnt the Soul Orb.”

Looks of confusion spread across everyone’s faces as they stared at the irritated Liam. They weren’t sure what he meant since they hadn’t seen him use any fire type abilities. That last bit of the fight was obscured to them because the crab monsters positioned themselves in a way that it blocked most of what he did. They hadn’t even seen him kill the wave boss and didn’t know the creature had died until they had received the notification.

“What do you mean by you burnt the Soul Orb?” Roman asked, breaking the silence.

“Exactly how it sounds. I burnt the Soul Orb,” Liam replied as he stared menacingly at the dead boss. The Soul Orb of the Wave Rider Crab was growing smaller and smaller by the second as a flame engulfed it until it finally winked out of existence.

“We know what you mean, we are asking how did you burn the Soul Orb,” Ariyana reiterated.

“Hm?” Liam muttered as he looked back at them. “Didn’t you guys see what happened?”

Mercer, Blair, and Avery shook their heads as Artem explained, “No. These creatures blocked our view during that last bit of the fight. We didn’t see anything.”

“Can you explain what happened during that last part?” Mercer asked, interested in hearing exactly what they had missed out on.”

“Oh,” Liam said, feeling a bit embarrassed. “Sorry about that.” He then explained about how he fell into some trance and how he was able to move his Hand Type Spells easier. He explained what he saw and felt and how he killed the Wave Rider Crab. After he got to the point of figuring out he had burned the Soul Orb he noticed the looks on everyone’s faces.

“You entered a trance? Damn congrats man,” Artem said with a grin.

“First Roman, now you. Did you get anything good from it?” Avery asked, looking both happy for him and slightly annoyed.

“It doesn’t sound like the type of trance I was in though,” Roman stated.

“That’s because yours was a Mystical Trance,” Mercer started to explain. “The one he had was probably a Battle Trance.”

“A Battle Trance?” Ariyana and Blair repeated.

“Yes, it’s a bit different than the Mystical Trance,” Mercer started to explain. “A Battle Trance is one that helps to show the user the potential of their battle prowess to a certain extent. It takes over the person’s body and both guides their movements and increases their abilities. This lasts for a certain amount of time since it strains the body, mind, and even magical capabilities. Theres more to it, but that’s all I was able to find. Speaking of which…” Mercer looked at Liam. “Are you feeling any strain anywhere?”

“Any strai…,” Liam started to say until a migraine suddenly thumped against Liam’s skull. The sudden pain caused him to swiftly bring a hand to his head before falling to a knee.

Artem and Blair quickly reached out to him and caught Liam before he completely fell to the ground. They both had worried looks on their faces as they gently brought him down. They could feel his arms flexing and relaxing every other second. After setting him down they looked at Mercer.

“Ah, there it is,” Mercer nodded.

“Kind of a delayed response wasn’t that?” Roman asked.

“The strain and pain usually comes after the body starts to relax,” Mercer stated as he looked down at Liam. “It happens so the person can try and get out of a bad situation before succumbing to the pain.” Mercer bent down and studied Liam as he gripped the sides of his head. He could see the muscles in his legs and arms tense and relax as well. “Hm…yeah he must have overworked himself more than he thought.”

“Ya think?” Ariyana said with a concerned look.

“This isn’t something new for him though,” Avery commented. “No matter how many times we tell him not to he always finds a way to do it.”

“Except this isn’t something he can’t control…at least not yet,” Mercer said as he stood back up.

“What do you mean?” Blair asked.

“Well, a Battle Trance is something you can put yourself into after you understand it and master it,” Mercer started back up. “I have heard you can get it as an ability or skill, but I don’t know the terms of getting it than having to experience it a certain number of times. Besides that it comes and goes as it pleases. Usually when a person is too stubborn to understand what they can do or overthinks everything.”

Everyone fell silent before looking down at Liam. In silent agreement, they all agreed that it sounded right in Liam’s case before bursting out in laughter. Liam, although in pain, knew what they were laughing about. He gritted his teeth and said, “Ha, ha very funny. Ouch.” The pain of his migraine pounded once more as he said this causing him to regret saying anything. The others laughed even more.

Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

“Alright, alright. I think we’ve teased him enough,” Mercer commented. “I’ll go loot the boss. Liam when the pain has subsided go ahead and harvest the boss and then we’ll head out. for now look at your gains.”

Liam grumbled under his breath but did as he was suggested. To his surprise he had a few notifications waiting for him.

[Congratulations! Sub-Stat Resilience has reached level 22! Progression to level 23: 15%!]

[Congratulations! Sub-Stat Vitality has reached level 21! Progression to level 22: 0%!]

[Congratulations! Sub-Stat Magic Practicality has reached level 21! Progression to level 22: 5%!]

[Congratulations! Sub-Stat Lucky Break has reached level 27! Progression to level 28: 0%!]

[Congratulations! Sub-Stat Zen has reached level 25! Progression to level 26: 1%!]

[Congratulations! You have unlocked Battle Zen!]

[Battle Zen has reached level 1! Progression to level 2: 25%!]

[Congratulations! Weapon Skill – Cleaver has reached level 8! Progression to level 9: 34%!]

[Congratulations! Weapon Skill – Hammer has reached level 10! Progression to level 11: 4%!]

[Congratulations! Weapon Skill – Axe has reached level 6! Progression to level 7: 100%!]

[Congratulations! Weapon Skill – Axe has reached level 7! Progression to level 8: 0%!]

[Congratulations! Field of the Lunar has reached level 12! Progression to level 13: 100%!]

[Congratulations! Field of the Lunar has reached level 13! Progression to level 14: 10%!]

[Congratulations! Focus Point - Utility (Lunar) has reached level 12! Progression to level 13: 100%!]

[Congratulations! Focus Point - Utility (Lunar) has reached level 13! Progression to level 14: 10%!]

[Congratulations! Lunar Hand has reached level 12! Progression to level 13: 100%!]

[Congratulations! Lunar Hand has reached level 13! Progression to level 14: 10%!]

[Congratulations! Focus Point - Earth has reached level 2! Progression to level 3: 100%!]

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

[Congratulations! Focus Point - Earth has reached level 5! Progression to level 6: 10%!]

[Congratulations! Earth Hand has reached level 2! Progression to level 3: 100%!]

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

[Congratulations! Earth Hand has reached level 5! Progression to level 6: 10%!]

[Congratulations! Gravity Hand has reached level 3! Progression to level 4: 100%!]

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

[Congratulations! Gravity Hand has reached level 5! Progression to level 6: 10%!]

[Congratulations! Lightning Hand has reached level 2! Progression to level 3: 100%!]

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

[Congratulations! Lightning Hand has reached level 5! Progression to level 6: 10%!]

[Congratulations! Your Control and Manipulation over Gravity Mana has reached level 14! Progression to level 15: 25%!]

[Congratulations! Your Control and Manipulation over Lightning Mana has reached level 15! Progression to level 16: 0%!]

[Congratulations! Your Control and Manipulation over Lunar Mana has reached level 11! Progression to level 12: 100%!]

[Congratulations! Your Control and Manipulation over Lunar Mana has reached level 12! Progression to level 13: 2%!]

[Congratulations! Your Control and Manipulation over Earth Mana has reached level 2! Progression to level 3: 100%!]

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

[Congratulations! Your Control and Manipulation over Earth Mana has reached level 5! Progression to level 6: 0%!]

[Congratulations! Main Class ability – Soul Flame has reached level 2! Progression to level 3: 40%!]

Even though Liam was happy to see so many notifications about his growth, he felt confused about a couple of them. His first item of confusion had to do with the Battle Zen he had received. He had listened to Mercer’s explanation of a Battle Trance, even through the pain of the migraine pounding against his skull. However what he had received was a Battle Zen not a trance. Was there a difference between the two? If not then why would they be named differently? This was something he would need to ask either Mercer or Uncle Naro about…after his migraine went away.

His other item of confusion was his Soul Flame. When he received the ability it had not mentioned anything about it being a Class ability. He had believed it to be tied to his Soul Crafting. If that wasn’t the case then when did he receive it as a Class ability?

Liam thought about it. He tried to think about it, but the migraine was pounding so hard it had taken all of his focus to try and endure the pain. Instead of trying to fight it and think through the pain, he decided he would just wait for it to end.

His migraine had taken around thirty minutes before the pain became manageable. He hadn’t realized that his legs and arms were also going through a similar thing since his head took all his focus. He could feel the ache and soreness in his bones as he tried to get up. After taking a few more minutes before finally moving around, he made his way over to the dead Wave Rider Crab.

He wasn’t sure if it was because he had gain knowledge from harvesting other crabs or if it was because he moved slowly due to his sore arms and legs, but he was able to harvest a lot from the Wave Rider Crab. Besides being able to harvest the shell, he had received cooking ingredients called Wave Crab Meat. He was able to retrieve a lot from the larger claw, which Liam was surprised about, but he was also able to receive a good amount from the legs and smaller claw.

To his surprise the main body didn’t have any cooking ingredients. Instead, like the eye stalk, the main body had nothing but Alchemy ingredients. Due to how low his knowledge was on harvesting crabs, the ingredients and materials didn’t turn out the best, but he was happy, nonetheless.

He had also taken his time to use Soul Harvest to collect the Soul Orbs from the three Wave Sword Crabs. He grumbled a bit about his mistake from earlier with the Wave Rider Crab Soul Orb, but to his surprise, the Soul Orbs of the Wave Sword Crabs that he had killed earlier and were swept into the sea, due to the wave attack, had floated up from the sea and were collected as well. He accepted that as a consolation prize and dropped the issue.

After that he made his way to the others who were waiting for him on the rocky lane on the right side of the watery arena. An exit portal had arrived there after he killed the Wave Boss. When he arrived they had informed him of the only item that had dropped. It was a necklace that increased Water Magic damage. It also had an effect called Bubble Pop. Like the Wave Rider Crab’s ability, the user could channeled some Water Mana into the necklace and create a three foot bubble that would float outwards in front of the user and pop within a foot of a target. When the bubble popped it would release a shockwave of air, knocking any creatures within a two foot radius backwards or sideways, depending on where they were standing within the radius. Unlike the Wave Rider Crab’s ability, it would not knock back the user.

The necklace was called Wave Crab Necklace. Not a remarkably interesting name, but that was alright. it didn’t need an overly complicated name. Everyone had come to an agreement that Artem should receive the necklace. They were just waiting for Liam to give his opinion on that since he was the one who had killed the monster. After he gave his approval on giving the item to Artem they made their way out of the dungeon, ready for the next hell that was awaiting them.