Going by what he was seeing, Glakassa likely had over twenty percent mastery in her element. The gaps between elemental mastery points progressed at an exponential rate, and that meant that she was many times more potent than he was in that field. However, that hardly mattered. He was strong enough in all the other areas to make up for that.
She swung with her sword, but to his sight, it was pitifully slow. She was more of a mage than a warrior, and it was showing. The sword was more like an elaborate elemental focus, most likely related to the name of her sect. Perhaps even the mages in that faction were master swordsmen.
Sam could tell that her mastery was quite high, at least at the peak of the Brotherhood level, or perhaps even higher. However, given her lower stats, that hardly mattered. Sam’s most formative experience with weapon mastery had been the fight with Gordanus, whose mastery was sufficient to fight against Sam, who had been an F Ranker at that time, while utilizing a base human level of potency. Sam had no idea where that man was in terms of mastery, but it was most certainly beyond Glakassa’s.
With the gulf between their physical stats, Sam hardly had to worry about fighting her on the martial field of battle. He parried the incoming blow with ease, his hammer almost tearing the weapon out of her hand. However, it seemed to fade into the ether, turning into water vapor. In response, Sam pulsed a wave of molten Dao energy through the vapor, utterly annihilating it. A puff of steam was all that was left. Glakassa cursed, and withdrew, elemental energy already gathering around her hands.
Had this not been such a serious situation, and had she not been a potent demigod of battle, Sam would have been tempted to crack a joke about her being a furry. God knew he had made enough about Jeffrey during conversations. Instead, he narrowed his eyes and analyzed her with his Dao sight, watching the streams of potency crisscrossing her forms.
The clones seemed to be connected to nodes of power in her tails, which were constructed out of energy rather than E Rank flesh. Each wave of them acted like a conductor’s rod, directing the semi corporeal energy forms to attack him. Sam clenched his fist and sent out a blast of concentrated Dao energy, seeking to unbind the skill being used. With his ascension to E Rank, he had found it increasingly easier to control the emanations of his Dao with his body, as they were all linked now. Doing so increased his control dramatically.
He leaned upon the lessons he had learned during the first section of the Tower in the field of unbinding energy constructs, and bore down with his will upon the world around him. The clones stood out as rocks of power in the flow of universal energy, and as Sam regarded them, he struck.
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Lances of metaphysical energy erupted from his body, spearing into the illusions. Glakassa seemed to realize that something was happening, and with a bestial snarl, she warped the figures to avoid the incoming attacks. Unfortunately for her, Sam’s strikes were leveled at the conceptual meaning of the illusions. Physical space meant nothing before that.
Dozens of the clones burst apart into shards of energy, falling to the ground. However, more continued to form, and that little stunt had cost him almost a third of his available Dao energy. Sighing, he strode forwards. At least this would be a somewhat interesting fight.
The clones beset him from all sides, blades of ice swiping towards his flesh. Unlike Glakassa, they were quite fast, about the speed of a mid elite of their level. Sam simply waded through them, each swing of his hammer blasting their incorporeal forms apart. The few strikes that did manage to hit him achieved about the same as a paper cut, as his potent Dao girded his form against damage. Using his Dao related skills as an E Ranker was different, and he could sense that his various skills called ‘Dao Skills’ were now something else, given that his Dao now infused every skill he used. Their proximity to the core of his power granted them strength. As an E Ranker, all skills were created equal, but some were more equal than others.
Using a skill like Girdings of the Arbiter now created a field of Dao energy within his body, swirling around like a tiny nebula of power. When the ice blades struck his flesh, there was a contest between the Daos contained within them and within himself. Naturally, he came out the victor.
Coming to terms with the nature of his new body was a matter of time, and he found it hard to ignore the consummate ease that his peers showed in their movements. With years, or more likely decades, with which to hone the all encompassing connection between the trifecta of mind, body and soul, their every movement was perfect, not wasting any effort. Sam on the other hand relied on the expertise of a mortal fighter, acting like he was still a normal human. That had to change, but right now, he was strong enough. Had he not been such an outlier in terms of strength, many fighters from the greater Multiverse at his level would have utterly dominated any battle, with their much higher level of skill. As it was now though, it was like he was a grown man fighting masters of martial arts trapped within the bodies of toddlers.
Each time a clone was destroyed, Glakassa trembled, her elemental energy and Dao energy slowly leaking in lieu of her lifeblood. More and more formed, but the tails that danced behind her grew ever more languid, faltering as Sam shredded her best efforts. He could understand why she had blasted through the rest of the competition though. She was easily the strongest E Ranker he had encountered so far within the Tower, save for the Overlord. A sort of grudging respect was beginning to form within him for the woman, mixed with a stranger, more obscure feeling. He ignored that for now.
Eventually, the mage realized that she was simply wasting her energy, and she withdrew it. Sam’s myriad wounds closed over in an instant, leaving him speckled with blood, but completely unhurt.