Path to Transcendence

Chapter 267: Knowing When to Give Up

Lyn POV

She was having so much fun. Way more fun than she expected to have when she was assigned this mission. Who would have known that she would encounter such an interesting boy?

When she had seen Crane in such a pathetic state, she blamed it more on the man’s skill than anything. But now she was quickly reevaluating her opinion.

The boy was something else.

He hit as hard as a Tier 4 and had the skill to match. Her Authority which normally took care of most of her opponents, was barely able to faze him. Displaying a uniquely powerful aura skill along with a sturdy willpower unlike she had ever seen from a Tier 3.

The most impressive was the boy’s healing skill. She had managed to sneak in a few slashes that should have weakened him, but she practically swallowed her tongue in excitement as the boy regenerated like he had a dedicated healer on standby. Not only that, but he was smiling like a maniac right alongside her as they exchanged blows.

She swung two rapid slashes at the boy, already expecting him to parry them with the constructs in his arms. Then she smashed a heavy overhead strike at him, causing him to stagger as he took in straight on.

The moment he was off balance, she used [Instantaneous Step] to get behind him and swung at his chest. Unsurprisingly, the boy had already noticed her attack and created a barrier of mana that resisted her attack just enough for him to turn and blast a powerful explosion of mana at her chest.

She took it without dodging and pushed through, eventually breaking the barrier of mana. Her sword was heading straight for his chest and he was already in a position to parry it, but she had a surprise in store for him.

Most people wouldn’t expect it, but her affinity was one of water. Many assumed that water affinities were mainly for people who flowed around attacks and were graceful fighters. However, they were surprised to learn that wasn’t the only way to use water.

In Lyn’s case, she used the heavy properties of water. The properties of pressure and relentless force. She crushed her opponents just like the deep depths of the ocean did to a metal canteen and she loved it.

But that didn’t mean she didn’t have any softer skills of the sword. Not at all. She merely saved them to use against difficult opponents like this boy.

So with a smirk, she activated [Ceaseless Blademist] to create three more blades, all attacking the boy at different angles. [Ceaseless Blademist] was originally a skill that was supposed to deal with a large number of weaker opponents. Each particle of mist would pierce her enemy, despite its useful benefits against weaker opponents, it wasn’t that effective against stronger foes.

However, she found but if she concentrated and adapted the skill slightly, she was able to create small number, but very dangerous attacks with just compressed mist.

So as the mist formed around the boy and stabbed toward him, she couldn’t help but grin to herself as for the first time in the entire fight, she managed to catch the boy off guard.

He wasn’t fast enough to react in time.

But she was further impressed when he was able to make a cold-hearted decision in an instant. Realizing he wouldn’t be able to deal with all of the attacks, he took the ones he was willing to.

He let loose a blast of kinetic energy and shifted to the side. The blast of energy, shifted the blades just a little bit, but her attacks were too strong to simply be stopped by it. They continued forth and slashed through the boy’s enhancement skill, carving out large hunks of flesh.

One of them even removed the boyʼs forearm.

With that said, she wasn’t happy with the results. That last attack should have killed him, but he somehow managed to sneak through them in return for getting hurt badly.

Good news, is that he will be handicapped now, she thought with a nod to herself. Not even he should be able to regenerate his arm, at least I will-

She choked on her words as she felt an intense surge of mana rush from the boy. Fire and life mana bloomed and she watched in exasperation as her words were proven wrong right before her eyes.

She lept back. “What the fuck? Are you half troll or something?” She exclaimed, her earlier excitement from the battle now replaced with disbelief and a feeling of unfairness.

She saw him flinch, seemingly take offense to that question, and pressed his lips together in a pout. “Why does everyone ask that?”

She waved the tip of her sword at him in disbelief. “Maybe because normal humans can’t regenerate their arm in a matter of seconds. It takes a highly advanced healer to accomplish that!” She stated the obvious as if it wasn’t basic knowledge.

The boy tilted his head at her. “Can’t healers be fighters too?”

She wanted to palm her own face as the boy began to spout nonsense and looked over to the Tier 4 she was supposed to fight. The man was plopped down and sitting on her colleague with a dangerous gleam in his eyes, looking ready to pounce at a moment’s notice.

The scarred fellow only gave her a death stare in return, exuding a lot of killing intent. “Don’t look at me. The only reason why I am sitting back to let him fight you is because he wants to. If it was up to me, I would gladly join in and beat the shit out of you.”

This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.

Okay, not so friendly, she grumbled to herself. She knew exactly what kind of position she was in. After seeing the boy’s healing skill in action, not even she had full confidence of winning the fight. Sure, she could perhaps whittle him down over time, but she had zero clues about how much mana his healing skill took.

Mana sensing wasn’t exactly her forte.

The more likely scenario was that she would be the one who was whittled down. Then there was the fact that she would have to fight the man with the big sword afterward. A man who was likely as strong or stronger than she was if their recon was correct.

Furthermore, if the man was sitting here, that meant that the other were either dead or injured enough to have to retreat. Effectively leaving her to fight both of them alone and tired out. Something she didn’t think was a good idea.

While she might have loved a good fight more than anyone else, she also knew that if she died, she wouldn’t be able to have any more fights. That was an even more depressing thought. One that cleared her head quickly.

She could only shake her head as she placed her hands high into the air. All the while, hoping that Godfrey would realize the situation and come to save them.

***

Julius POV

He was having so much more fun fighting this woman than he did with the assassin. This woman was a true fighter, she didn’t rely on sneaky tactics to win. She used pure skill and strength to fight.

The assassin, while strong in his own right and had powerful skills, was a bit… disappointing if he was being honest.

It made the achievement of finally beating a Tier 4 a little bit sour. It didn’t feel like a legitimate win in his mind.

Some would punch him in the face if they heard him talking like that, but it was true. He didn’t feel like beating that Tier 4 was a proper display of what he had gained.

This woman, on the other hand, forced him to rely on all of his recent improvements. Using his new body and aura skill in concert with one another, something he learned was a great combination.

[Pyrokinetic Embodiment of Ruin] and [Inexorable Aura of Ruin] worked very well with one another. It was not surprising considering their related names, but the actual effects were stunning.

His new aura enhanced both his physical abilities and aura to great lengths. And his new body skill let him use more of his ruinous aura effect against his opponents. Making his strikes all the more harmful as they damaged his opponents, even through their physical defenses.

He blasted backward and allowed his arm to regenerate. That last move had really surprised him, if he hadnʼt been fast enough, he could have lost his head.

But more importantly than that, he started to feel his excitement grow.

Give me more, he laughed to himself as he prepared to launch a volley of constructs at his opponent.

So when the woman put her hands up in the air and surrendered so spontaneously, he couldn’t help but freeze in shock.

What? We only just got started though. Why is she giving up? She just had the upper hand?

Julius couldnʼt understand what was happening and that feeling of excitement was quickly being replaced by a feeling of depression.

He was hoping that he could test more of his skills against her, she really was a wonderful opponent.

He actually already gained some amazing level gains just from their short bout.

[Armaments of the Arcane lvl 10 -> lvl 11]

[Sage of Savagery lvl 9 -> lvl 10]

[Phoenix Renewal lvl 6 -> lvl 7]

[Pyrokinetic Embodiment of Ruin lvl 3 -> lvl 5]

[Inexorable Aura of Ruin lvl 1 -> lvl 3]

[Flash Step lvl 13 -> 14]

All of his epic skills gained at least a single level while his newer ones gained two whole whopping levels.

With gains like these, why would he want it to end?

“Why are you giving up? I thought we were having fun?” He called out to the surrendering woman. Although, deep in his mind he wasn’t blaming her. He was well aware of the fact that Rolus was just standing to the side waiting for the fight between the two of them to end.

Even if Julius lost the fight, he had no doubt that the man would demolish the woman afterward when she was tired. So her giving up was the most logical decision. Logical but surprising considering the attitude she had displayed so far.

“We were, but seeing your crazy healing skill made me realize that I am playing a rigged game. If I win against you, I will still lose in the end. And if I lose, then I will be beaten by a Tier 3 like that loser over there,” she said pointing at the man Rolus was sitting on top of.

Julius couldn’t help but notice that the man’s aura was still in quite the disarray from his attack with his new aura skill.

“But we could still enjoy a fight,” he said, trying to convince her to continue their fight with a hopeful smile.

She sighed. “If there’s no path for me to win why would I play?”

“Because it’s fun?” He said with another hopeful grin.

“And let you gain more free levels?”

He must have reacted to her words because she nodded at him. “Don’t think I don’t know why you want to fight so badly. You’re not the only one who likes to fight stronger opponents for the skill gains. I was the same way your age. Which is also why I am not going to just let you use me as a grinding stone.”

He pouted. “That’s petty.”

She shrugged with a teasing smile. “And one could say that fighting me with someone to clean the mess if you lose is not fair either.”

Touché, he thought to himself, understanding the unfairness of it all.

“Enough with the banter. If youʼre finished then come over here and surrender yourself,” Rolus said menacingly from his spot.

“I just wanted to let you guys know that this wasn’t my idea,” she said deflecting the blame. “You think I am the type of person to attack someone with their back turned?”

Julius couldn’t help but nod alongside her words. She definitely didn’t seem like that type of person. She seemed more like the type of person who would knock on her opponentʼs door and invite them for a fight in their front yard.

“I don’t care. If you’re surrendering then deactivate all of your skills and place these on your hands,” Rolus said uncaringly as he tossed the woman a pair of shackles that glimmered brightly with dense mana inscriptions. The weight of the shackles created a small crater in the ground as they fell into the dirt.

Surprisingly enough, the woman didn’t bother to argue or waste time, she simply picked up the heavy mana shackles and put them on without another word.

It was only then that Rolus relaxed a bit more.

“I have some questions for you,” the man with the large sword said with a smile that warped the scars on his face in a scary way.