Overwhelming Firepower

It was already afternoon when Lucen returned to his room in the inn where he was staying in Valerious Village.

Once he was inside the room, Lucen took out the book given by the Heavenly Demon. The second he opened the book, he sighed, as it was written in Hànzì.

’I already expected it, but come on.’

Lucen recently got a trait called One who can speak to all, but that only works when he is speaking to someone. These were written words, which isn’t the same thing.

Lucen flipped through the book and got to the part with pictures in it. It was a detailed description of how to perform the technique.

’At least it has this part. I hope this is enough.’

Lucen leaned back against the chair as he studied the diagrams more carefully.

Each movement was simple at first glance, but the more he looked, the more he realized how precise everything needed to be.

The angle of the foot, the rotation of the hips, and the timing between each step. It took him a bit more time than he expected, but he did it.

He had memorized the sequence, but he did not understand the deep layers hidden in the technique; he hoped that the system would help the same way when he learned the RELEASE technique.

As he continued reading, he noticed that there were some areas that seemed to indicate where he needed to use Qi, but in this world, that would translate to mana or aura.

Once he was done memorizing the movements, Lucen headed out again. He went to an open area a few kilometers away from the Village.

The place was infested with low-level monsters, which was good enough for the protagonist who had just left the village, but to the current Lucen, they were just an annoyance.

With Lucen’s skill suppressive presence, weak monsters like this wouldn’t dare get near the area he’s in.

When he was sure he was alone, Lucen started doing the forms he saw in the book. Similar to when he learned Release, his body was moving on its own; it would seem that the system was helping him do the proper movements.

Lucen’s body moved smoothly, one step flowing into the next. He simply allowed his body to follow the flow.

Forward, then shift, then twist, and finally Step.

Each motion was executed with precision, cleaner than anything he could have done on his own.

”Yeah, the system really is convenient. Still, I hope it would have been more convenient, just read and learn. Well, I guess having to learn the technique before it unlocks itself is okay as well.” Lucen complained to himself.

Lucen continued to do each form properly. Once he was satisfied with his movement, this time he needed to add his aura and mana to the movement. Lucen took a slow breath as he steadied his stance.

”Alright. Let’s do the hard part.”

He circulated his mana first. The familiar flow spread through his body smoothly, followed by a thin layer of aura wrapping around him.

The same as when he was doing it without mana or aura, his body was moving on its own. Despite his clumsy way of using the two different powers for the technique, the system was helping him do it at least with the bare minimum properly.

Lucen took a step forward. At first, everything felt the same.

His body moved as the system guided it. His mana flowed along the indicated paths. His aura wrapped around his limbs just enough to reinforce the motion.

Once he was finished with the motion, Lucen knew that there was something more he needed to do.

Usually, the system would have acknowledged he had learned a new skill if he had either done it enough times or had done it properly. Seeing that there was no response meant that there was something missing in the movement.

”Yeah, a skill coming from the Heavenly Demon would need to be this hard to learn. Based on my gamer instincts as well as the system’s inference, I think I need to have an opponent I used this on, something that could endanger my life.”

Lucen, who had fought numerous monsters, knights, and mages at this point, was no longer the scared boy he was when he set out on his first adventure.

In fact, because of his battle-crazed trait and his own temperament as a gamer, he was actually excited by the challenge.

”Fine, I already sensed a rather powerful monster when I was on the train before. It should be quite close to this location.”

Lucen turned his gaze toward the deeper part of the forest. When he had been on the train earlier, there was a brief moment when his senses had picked up something a little bit more powerful than the smaller monsters in the area.

”Alright… let’s see if you’re still there.”

Lucen stepped forward. Then the next step came faster, then the next came faster than the last.

The forest blurred slightly as he moved, not because he was using the technique, but because his physique, coupled with his aura, was already at that level.

It took Lucen a few minutes to find the monster he was looking for.

A large figure slowly emerged from behind the trees, its massive frame pushing aside branches as if they were nothing. The ground seemed to tremble slightly with each step it took.

It stood at least three meters tall, its body covered in dark, coarse fur. Its arms were long enough to drag slightly against the ground, and its eyes glowed faintly with a dull, predatory light.

’A Forest Ravager! A hidden boss in chapter three, I didn’t think it would be this close to the starting village. I guess the difficulty of this route is above all the other routes.’

Instead of feeling fear, Lucen felt excited. The Forest Ravager, in his memory, was a level higher than Lucen’s current level. You would need a decent-sized party to defeat it without any casualties.

Lucen rolled his shoulders slightly as he looked at the towering creature before him.

”Alright, you’ll do.”

The Forest Ravager noticed Lucen and knew he was a threat. Seeing the threat before him, the Forest Raveger let out a low growl, its massive body lowering slightly as its muscles tensed. Then, without warning, it lunged.

The ground cracked beneath its feet. It was so much faster than you would expect someone of his size to be.

Lucen was about to dodge the normal way, but stopped himself. He forced himself to remain still for a split second longer.

’I need to follow the form.’

The Forest Ravager’s claw came crashing down toward him. Lucen breathed out as he made a move.

He took a Step. At first, it looked like a normal sidestep, but the moment his foot touched the ground, his body slipped past the attack completely.

The claw slammed into the earth where he had been standing. Lucen did not celebrate just yet and took another step, doing what he learned.

The Forest Ravager that retracted its claw looked around and saw that many Lucens had surrounded him.

The Forest Ravager froze for a fraction of a second.

Its dull, predatory eyes flickered from one Lucen to another, its head snapping left, then right, then behind. Each figure carried the same presence, the same stance, the same faint killing intent.

It growled, low and uncertain. Then it swung. Its massive arm swept through one of the figures and passed through empty air. The image shattered like mist.

It roared again, and this time it swung in a wide arc. Like reflections on water disturbed by a stone, several Lucens blurred and disappeared under the force of the attack, but one remained.

The Forest Ravager slashed at the remaining Lucen, who was a beat too late. He was still not that used to the form that he made a blunder in the flow.

Lucen had no time to dodge and blocked the attack with his hands. Upon getting hit, Lucen jumped backward at the exact moment, nullifying some of the force he received.

Lucen’s hands were bleeding a bit, but he did not falter, and instead, the battle-crazed trait made him even more excited.

”This is what I need! Come push me more, so that I can improve faster!” Lucen shouted, and the Forest Ravager reacted with a powerful roar as it once again lunged forward.

Lucen stepped in. He evaded the Forest Ravager’s attack, and then he took another step; his foot landed at an angle that shifted his body just outside the Forest Ravager’s reach.

Lucen had his aura mantle envelop his body and his mana flowing through his veins, enhancing his flow even better. His torso twisted slightly, and his fist drove forward.

Lucen’s already powerful body surged even further after the Martial God’s cleansing. Now, with all that, he struck the Forest Ravager.

A loud boom sounded when Lucen’s fist was planted into the Forest Ravager. The force traveled through its massive frame.

The Forest Ravager’s body bent unnaturally around the point of impact. A deep, guttural roar tore from its throat as it staggered backward, its feet digging trenches into the ground.

”Hah, so this is the flow!”

Lucen took another step, unlike before, where he created false images; this time, Lucen seemed to have teleported behind the Forest Ravager.

It wasn’t really teleportation; it was something else. His step erased the distance of a few meters itself.

Lucen was beginning to understand the flow of movement. The Unbound Demonic Stride, when he performed it properly, made his body feel lighter, his movements sharper, as if the space between steps had shortened by a few meters.

These few meters were Lucen’s domain; as long as the enemy was within this range, he could do a lot of things.

Lucen then performed a kick, making the Forest Ravager, whose weight was around a ton, fly upward.

Lucen took another step and disappeared and reappeared above the Forest Ravager. The Forest Ravager tried to make a desperate attack as it swiped its claws at the incoming Lucen, but Lucen kicked the claws to the side.

Lucen then performed a downward kick, hitting the Forest Ravager in the head. The Forest Ravager fell to the ground like a meteorite, creating a crater. The Forest Ravager had died from that attack.

Once Lucen landed on the ground, he received a system notification.

[You have learned a new skill.]

[New Skill Acquired: Unbound Demonic Stride (Active) (Novice)]

Seeing that he finally got the skill, Lucen checked his current Status Window.

[STATUS WINDOW]

Name: Lucen Thornehart

Age: 20

Class: Gun Mage

Level: 32

Health: 8770 / 10440

Mana: 580 / 830

AP: 620 / 800

Aura: Awakened (3rd Mantle)

Mana Core: Third Circle

SKILLS

+ Bullet Creation – Active (Advanced)

+ Gun Creation – Active (Advanced)

+ Gun Knowledge – Passive (Intermediate)

+ Marksmanship – Passive (Advanced)

+ Gun Kata – Passive (Advanced)

+ Alchemy – Passive (Advanced)

+ Battle Instinct – Passive (Advanced)

+ Regeneration – Passive (Novice)

+ Flame Resistance – Passive (Intermediate)

+ Poison Resistance – Passive (Advanced)

+ RELEASE – Active (Intermediate)

+ Ricochet – Active (Intermediate)

+ Blacksmithing – Passive (Advanced)

+ Ice Resistance – Passive (Advanced)

+ Elemental Bullet – Active (Advanced)

+ Killing Zone – Passive (Intermediate)

+ Woodworking – Passive (Advanced)

+ Fear Resistance – Passive (Intermediate)

+ Unarmed Combat – Passive (Intermediate)

+ Bullet Parry – Active (Intermediate)

+ Suppressive Presence – Passive (Intermediate)

+ Explosive Bullet – Active (Intermediate)

+ Mental Resistance – Passive (Intermediate)

+ Swordsmanship – Passive (Novice)

+ Archery – Passive (Intermediate)

+ Pressure – Active (Intermediate)

+ Unbound Demonic Stride - Active (Novice)

TRAITS

Thornehart Lineage (Dormant) Foreign Soul (Unique)

+ Training Adept (Rare)

+ Grit (Normal)

+ Acting Adept (Rare)

+ Dragonkiller’s Resolve (Epic)

+ To the one who had been given to (Legendary)

+ Battle-Crazed (Rare)

+ The one who perseveres (Legendary)

+ One who can speak to all (Rare)

BLESSINGS

+ Unyielding

+ The Blessing of Greater Flames

Lucen was quite surprised to see that his HP, Mana, and AP had increased greatly. He couldn’t help but smile.

’Heh, it was truly a good thing that I met those two.’ Once he was done looking at his Status window, Lucen headed back to his inn. He happily used his newly learned skill, the Unbound Demonic Stride.