Sam was getting close to leveling up at this point, but it would take a foe on a different caliber to do it for him. Manarox had been his ticket to power before but now he had to find a different target.
Behind him, someone groaned, and he turned to see the swordsman that he had kicked into the mud getting up, his neck twisted unnaturally. The man hefted his blade, and charged Sam bravely, roaring out a battle cry as he did so. Sam sidestepped the blow a moment later and clotheslined the man with his hammer, flipping him head over heels into the dirt. A moment later, he slammed his hammer into the alien’s head, killing him instantly. Essence entered him, and he withdrew his dripping hammer, shaking the blood off of it.
Already, another group of high level aliens was coming his way, and he took a moment to watch how Manarox was doing. Crescents of red energy shot across the ground every few seconds, and sometimes a large cloud of dust erupted up as the man cratered the earth with his strength. It looked like Sam’s tentative ally was doing just fine.
However, he had his own battles to fight. These aliens were around the same level as the earlier ones, but the weapons that they wielded were more powerful, and the guns were larger than the previous ones had been. A large bolt of power shot towards Sam, and he instinctively dodged it. These ones would do more than bruise.
He weaved through the strikes, reading the movements of the gunners rather than dodging with pure speed, and he reached them a few moments later, only to be met with a duo of swordsmen, who both wielded twinned blades. They attacked him a moment later, their weapons weaving a net of light around him. Sam parried the strikes as best he could, but a few got through, and they burned his skin, even through his armor. The swords of light were not as hefty as normal blades, but they possessed a great heat to them that tried to cut through his armor. His suit was more than strong enough to rebuff it, but it was still made of metal, and it heated up as it contacted the blades.
Sam upped his pace, using some of his enhancements, and his hammer began to bat away the blades effortlessly. The expressions of focus on the faces of his foes turned to horror, and then to dread as Sam hammered them backwards, his weapon starting to make contact. Each swipe broke bones, and as he pressed them backwards, using his power to its fullest, one of them eventually slipped up and breathed his last.
Sam’s hammer swept across the air, taking the man's head off his shoulders, and then continued, breaking another man’s arm. The alien was tossed off his feet, and as the bolts of energy fired from the guns, Sam leaped towards him, and pulverized the man with his weapon. However, one of the energy bolts hit him during this maneuver, and he groaned in pain as his right arm fractured around his elbow. He growled in anger, and a fiery energy began to course around his body, as his enhancement skill came online. With the anger and pain that he was feeling, it was more effective than usual.
The power of Fiery Justice filled his form, and he streaked like a fiery comet towards the aliens, tearing into them as they desperately tried to fend him off with their guns. At such a short range, the guns were useless, and they pulled out small daggers, trying to defend themselves. However they were basically helpless in front of him, and Sam tore through them with ease, now that the swordsmen were gone. The guns fell to the ground, and he picked one up, discharging it into the hordes around him. Each shot burst through one of the aliens, and he quickly emptied the clip with his superhuman speed. Shrugging, he dropped it and continued fighting.
Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.
Hours later, Sam was still fighting. He had lost track of how many aliens he had killed by now. It had to have been in the thousands at least though. He had gained another two levels in that time, bumping up his strength even more. Sam had held back from using his teleportation ability, so as to conserve energy, but he still had it on standby in case of an ambush, or an unreasonably powerful attack.
Manarox was still going at it, his stamina seemingly bottomless, roaring out his pleasure in the thrill of the battle. Sam was coated in blood by now, but still he fought, his superhuman endurance keeping him going while an endless army came his way. He had no idea how long he would have to keep this up for, but at least it was productive. He had already gotten a huge boost out of his training excursion with his new Fragment as well as his new skill. Levels were just the icing on the cake.
Sam needed a qualitative increase in power, rather than quantitative, as there was no way that he would be able to reach E Rank before the time ran out. Instead, he would have to give himself the tools to match that level of power, at least for a moment. Mastering his abilities would help to do such a thing, but it was only a part of the whole equation. His levels were still important, he was not denying that, but they served a lesser purpose in this moment to his other powers. As time went on, his levels would be the most important things in the end, as they were what allowed him to reach other Tiers, but for now they were a secondary concern.
It was because of this that he began to work on his weaker skills, mainly with his elemental shield ability, trying to force an upgrade to the skill. He had plenty of saved up insight for it, and he knew that he would be able to upgrade it before long. It was already at Epic rarity, and he was sure that he could make it go to Legendary if he tried hard enough.
Sam started to use the shield to block strikes coming in his way, rather than dodging them or simply taking the hits. The shield was weak at first, crumbling after a single hit, but eventually he got the hang of empowering it further with his element, which was an often neglected part of his poweset. Training his Meridian was something that he rarely got the chance to do, as it was the only one of his skills that needed to be passively increased, rather than something that he could increase in battle. He had to contemplate his element instead of simply killing an enemy to generate essence or insights, and it was tough going most of the time. However, he could feel that he was not getting as much out of his mastery as he could, and his shield gradually increased in power over time, turning from a circular smudge in the air into what looked to be an actual shield, made out of golden yellow energy.
The shield started to turn into the shape of a shield as well, creating a kite shield of energy that he held with his left arm. It started to gain more heft, more presence in reality, and soon he was able to use it as an extension of himself, rather than something for absorbing hits. Eventually, he upgraded the skill fully, and a notification appeared.
You have upgraded a skill!
Lesser Earth Elemental Bulwark: Epic->Earth Elemental Bulwark: Legendary
You have created your first true elemental manifestation, allowing you to summon a near physical shield to the world around you. It possesses more power than the previous incarnation of the skill, and a greater capability for growth as well.