On Earth, Sam cultivated his element within the safety of his own room. It was quite slow going, even for just the first percentage point, but as he pondered the meaning of Earth, his vision, which had been adopted as his image of the element, started to sharpen by a minute amount. It was barely noticeable, but there was a profound feeling of deeper meaning within the whorls on the flesh of the rocky deity that stood tall within the vision.
With a snap of released power, Sam progressed to the next percentage point of mastery. It had taken him hours to just go up by one point, and he was afraid of how long it would take later on. With that out of the way, it was time to form a new skill.
Walking up to his neglected training robot, he decided that it was time to challenge the setting that he had been having so much trouble with. Pressing the button, he planted himself firmly as the robot came flying in. It was still a blur of motion, but Sam was no longer utterly outclassed by it.
He feinted to the left and then dodged to the right as the ghostly version of his mace crashed down onto the floor. Sam did not know what the wood was made of, but it was incredibly sturdy. It had taken an attack that would have pulped any normal tree without a single dent.
The robot wheeled around and sent its left fist flying towards Sam, with its fingers coated in an ethereal flame. Now that he was proving to be a match for the robot, he was being treated to its full repertoire of skills. Bracing himself, trusting that he had the right idea, Sam started to enhance himself with his mana and his Earth elemental energy. The effects of his Mana Bulwark skill started to meld with the power of implacable Earth, creating a physical shield of a crystalline substance.
The robot slammed its hand into the shield, and was sent flying backwards as a detonation of released energy was sent back at it. Sam had imagined the perfect shield as he had released his energy, something that would both block and attack. Sam had tried to imbue the skill with his Dao as well, but he had come up against a brick wall, as if the skill was already too saturated with power for any more to be added. He did not need his Dao anyway, this was enough. The robot flew into the shield that surrounded the fighting enclosure and collapsed forwards, catching itself on both hands. It stood up and paused, looking at Sam.
“A worthy opponent. You are far more than you were when we last fought. I welcome this challenge. But you must fall. Overdrive!”
Sam was caught off guard by the robot suddenly manifesting a voice, and he was unable to dodge as golden flame started to lick across the surface of the robot, and it sped towards him, easily twice as fast as before. Sam had next to no time to prepare for the attacks of the robot, as it was so fast now.
The golden flames that wreathed its form were hot to the touch and Sam’s arm was burnt just from trying to deflect the blow of the bot. Not that it mattered anyway, as it was far too strong for him to resist. His estimate of about a doubling in strength seemed to be accurate, as it far outclassed him now. It laughed at him, a disconcerting noise coming from a metallic body, and it sounded like the noise of breaking glass.
Sam shuddered and tried to get away, but he was held fast by its robotic claw. A devastating blow from its mace took him in the bottom of the chin. and only his quick use of his new ability stopped him from being knocked out or perhaps even killed. The layer of stony mana was almost completely shattered by the attack, and some of the force still got through anyway. It was almost unbelievable how quickly the battle had turned. His shield would not withstand another blow, but he had some other aces up his sleeve. Not having used his Dao in a long time, he had forgotten about how to do so, and now that he was in a dire situation, it was time to try it again.
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Channeling both his physical anger and his conceptual anger into himself, he felt a marked difference in the way that the skill manifested itself now. Previously, Fiery Rage had created a berserker-like state that prevented him from thinking clearly, but now it was a lot calmer. It was like his rage was simmering in the back of his mind, rather than boiling on the front burner. He was empowered just as much by the skill, but it was a lot calmer. He could feel the half of his Dao that was aligned towards Justice, mitigating the effects of the other half trying to control him with anger. This allowed him to fight much more effectively, and he began to use one of his weapon techniques.
Gritting his teeth as he did so, Sam lifted his body off the ground, hanging off of the robot’s hand with that being the only thing supporting him. Normally his weight would have been trivial, but Sam yanked down hard as he did so, and the robot went flying over his head and into the ground. There was a crashing noise and he looked around to see that it had landed on its feet. He was not free of its grasping hands, but it was still very much in the fight.
It popped a joint back into place and then resumed its attack. Sam wasn’t sure if the thing was starting to grow dimmer, but the flames seemed to be giving out and its movements were a little bit slower. It was still a lot faster than Sam, but not to the point of invincibility. He waited until the last minute and then juked to the side to avoid the outstretched mace of the robot. The blue weapon slammed through the place where he had stood and hit the floor, creating an explosion of kinetic force. The last bit of that explosion picked up Sam like a rag doll and tossed him face first into the shield. It was hard and unyielding, and he was dazed from the collision.
The robot appeared behind him and thrust down, narrowly missing Sam and hitting the shield instead. It flickered slightly, but held firm. Sam groaned. Of course the shield was the most ineffective and weak model that the arena providers could find. The System would provide luxury, but only at the level of its intended partakers. Once one became stronger than the average level of the room’s amenities, it would start to break down.
By now the robot was starting to make whirring noises, as it was malfunctioning. Sam started dancing around the room, waiting until it had run out of power. Finally, the flames flickered out and the robot stumbled. As it suffered from the aftereffects of its skill use, Sam rushed in and brought his mana imbued mace down on the robot’s head. It raised one metallic hand and caught the weapon, stumbling a little under its force. Its raw power was still too high to beat in a contest of strength alone. Instead, Sam smiled. He now had an excuse to use his Dao imbuement for the first time in days.
His mace started to shake as he filled it with the raw energy of his Dao Fragment, seeming to take far less energy to fill. Before he would have tapped out much of his reserve by doing this, but now it was only taking about a quarter or even less to fill.
When it was finally filled, it started to glow with the color of his new Dao and it was so potent that he could see the raw and unfettered energies swirling in the mix. With a cry, he brought it down. All went still for a moment, the scene strangely whiting out and then the attack landed. The robot’s head was blasted apart in what looked like slow motion as the mace came down and a shockwave of red energy rippled through its body and out of the bottom of its feet. With the sound of tearing metal, the robot fell apart, completely eviscerated.