...
Shin is sitting on a boulder to take some rest. He is already farming on this 'Open Dungeon', The Corrupted Ruins for almost six Natural Days already.
Aside from doing his daily routine on the Real World, most of his time was invested on the game.
He heard from his Master that Arthur is currently undergoing a special training with Nathan. Old Plum also said that he will also have his own special training, and Old Plum is currently discussing it with Grandmaster Benn.
He also checked his Advance Watch a few times, to see some if there is something that he missed. He saw a few missed calls from Leonard but he don't know why, so he called back a few times to see are what is it, but the other side is not answering the call. He brushed it off when his call can't connect. After all, this is not the first time that something like this happened. He only thought that maybe Leonard is currently busy with his sideline jobs.
Hou~
"Tsk, I didn't think that this place is quite large. I've been here for quite some time already but I still haven't explored half of it." said Shin to himself as he wait for his clones to recover their HPs and MPs.
During his time in here, Shin finally felt the difficulty of leveling up. The 'Experience Pool' of a player in every 25-levels will be doubled than the normal. It just that Shin didn't felt it earlier because of his bonus 'EXP Boost', and also because he had accepted a lot of quest previously.
During his 6 Natural Days here, he only gained a single level. Meanwhile, he manage to increase his pets' levels to 25, which gave them an upgrade on their strengths. But unfortunately, they still can't help Shin for now, since the monsters here are still quite strong for them.
Shin is also not satisfied with his loots here. Despite having a 'X2 Drop Rate', all he got are a bunch of crafting materials.
What Shin didn't know is that these materials are rare and not yet available in the market, and because of that these materials can be sold on a very good price.
And of course, there still some good news for him. And that is because of repeated usage of his 'Class Fighting Style', Shin become more familiar on it. And due to that, just now, he manage to create two new skills.
-------------------------
Self-Created Skill (Combined)
Skill Name: Solar Flare
Rank: Special (Class Fighting Style)
Details: Channel the power of Sun on your sheathed Sword before drawing it quickly and releasing a horizontal freiry fire sword wave that extends up to 5 meters away from you.
Damage: (2% P.Damage) • 1/4 AGI
Extra Effect: (2% of your Total P.Damage) Burning damage last for 5 seconds.
Consumes 200 Stamina
Cooldown: 15 seconds
Note: This skill can only be use when the sword is sheath.
-------------------------
Self Created Skill (Combined)
Skill Name: Lunar Flash
Rank: Special (Class Fighting Style)
Details: Channel the power of Moon on your sheathed Sword before drawing it quickly and releasing a horizontal chilling frost sword wave that extends up to 5 meters away from you.
Damage: (2% M.Damage) • 1/4 AGI
Extra Effect: -30% Movement Speed
Consumes 200 Stamina
Cooldown: 15 seconds
Note: This skill can only be use when the sword is sheath.
-------------------------
When Shin saw that his clones are ready to fight once again, he immediately stand up to start a new battle. "OK, this time, my target this time is to reach the inner part of this dungeon."
Shin and his clones rush towards the nearest monster pack fearlessly. And when those monsters notice them, they immediately change towards the trio.
At the same time, The Sun Clone and Moon Clone sprinted forward, leaving Shin behind.
And the moment those clones reached the 5-meter mark away from the monsters, the sheathed swords of the clones glow with two different lights. Then, they immediately draw their swords and slash it forward, sending two crescent shaped sword Qi's. One is a blazing fire with a yellow-orange light, while the other is a chilling frost releasing a bluish-white glow.
'Self-Created Skill: Solar Flare'
-483 920
-9 678(Burned Damage)
-1 224(Burning Damage)
.....
.....
.....
.....
'Self-Created Skill: Lunar Flash'
-428 025(Slowed)
.....
.....
.....
.....
A bunch damages pop-up on the monsters' head when the were hit by Shin's newly created skills.
BOOM!!!
-100 294
.....
.....
.....
Then, an explosion was created when the two opposing energy simultaneously landed on the incoming monster pack. But that was not all of it, because what come next is Shin making his actions.
He advanced forwarding and brushed pass his clones while turning himself into a bluish-white light, before piercing through that explosion fearlessly.
Swoosh!
'Self-Created Skill: Moonlight Splitter'
Shing!
-638 560
....
....
....
....
All the Elite and Special Elite Monsters died after that. Then, Shin killed the Chieftain Rank Monster by throwing a 'Hell Execution' on it.
Hou~
"Heh, that felt so good. With this skill combo, I can finally raze this place to the ground." muttered Shin as he looked at his surroundings.
"But I guess, I still need to be careful regarding this. After all, It is not good if I become too dependent on my skills. And it is going to be too troublesome if this kind of things become a habit of mine." said Shin as he picked up the loots.
Because of his battle against Sorrowful Leaf's party and see that 'that Human Magician' can use a skill that exceeds his tier, Shin become curious about it and also become a little more interested PvP battles. So during his idle time or when he was resting, Shin was looking for some uploaded videos of experts' battles online, it is for him to learn from them.
And sure enough, he gain a lot from those battles, especially the battles between Godlike Players.
On those videos, Shin discovered that there are some Combat Techniques that are quite common on the ranks of expert players. He also learned that the battles between experts are pretty much lean towards Combat Techniques and their unrivaled Movement Controls, while their skills become their supporting tools.
Shin also tried to study those common Combat Techniques and manage to learned some.
After collecting the loots, Shin look for his next victims..... Eh!? I mean targets. But this time he become bold and try a new approach, he control the Moon Clone to lure some more monsters groups.
When the Moon Clone returns, a large number of monsters are chasing after it, and that sight is enough to for it be called a real monster horde. But Shin didn't waver, he change through that 'monster horde' by using another {Moonlight Splitter}.
Shing!
Roar!!!
The aggro of all the monsters that Shin had passed through were switched to him after that skill. Shin positioned himself on the middle of those monsters before creating a purple spherical barrier with the power of eclipse.
'Slayer Skill: Eclipse Pulse'
Bang!
Bang!
Bang!
.....
.....
.....
A bunch of attacks simultaneously lands on the barrier almost immediately after its creation. Then, Shin throw AOE skill after AOE skill in the middle of the pack.
'Extra Skill: Flame Burst'
'Slayer Skill: Half-Moon Slash'
'Slayer Skill: Crescent Cleave'
'Self-Created Skill: Eclipse Cross'
A lot of monsters died on that barrage of attacks. But Shin is not done yet, he immediately jump high in the air and swiftly do some consecutive kicks up there to position himself even more deeper in that 'monster horde'.
'Legacy Skill: Mondi's Jump'
And when he felt that he was deep enough, he swung his sword downwards to hasten his decent. He looks like a meteor coming from the sky.
'Equipment Skill: Barbaric Descend'
Swoosh!
Bang!
All the monsters 3-meters away from Shin were knocked down on the ground when they were hit by that skill, but Shin didn't care about that, because the duration of the {Eclipse Pulse} was about to end. So the moment his feet touches the ground, he immediately spins his body around while swinging his sword in a full circle horizontal motion.
Bang!
The Eclipse pulse was detonated and a powerful horizontal circular sword wave was sent outwards.
Swoosh!
'Slayer Skill: Eclipse Counter'
BOOM!
The monsters inside the 5-meters mark away from Shin were killed when they were hit by that sword wave.
After that, a huge boar spirit suddenly appeared protecting Shin inside its body. Then, Shin charge towards the place where he came from.
'Equipment Skill: Boar's Assault'
Du ru ru rug
....
....
....
The Monsters that were blocking Shin's path were either knocked back or have been dragged during Shin's charge. Then, he immediately turn around and channel the power of eclipse to his sword before swinging it forward, sending a powerful sword wave slash that devours all the monsters on its path.
'Slayer Skill: Eclipse Slash'
In the meantime, the Sun and Moon Clones are not idle either. They are also killing a bunch of monsters with their combined force. Few moments later, the chaotic battle ends.
From what you have heard, Shin killed a lot of monsters already, but the EXP that he gained were not that optimistic. He only manage to increase his EXP by 1.3%, which indicates how hard the leveling speed on his current level.
The only good news on that, is there are still a lot of monsters in the vicinity that he can monopolize.
After gathering all the loots and recovering for a few minutes and waiting for his skill to be cooldowned, Shin immediately started another hunt.
*******
Real World
One of the nameless island of Soaring Continent
Roar!
A 15-year-old boy is dealing with a 5 meter tall black bear. The bear keep chasing the boy but it failed to touch even a strand of hair of its target.
The boy is circling around the bear while throwing some heavy kicks and punches in the process.
Bang!
The bear was hit by a powerful strike on the head, causing for it to pause its movements because of dizziness. And that slight pause sealed off its fate.
The boy jumped in the air and enfold himself with a golden internal Qi. Then, he adjust his center of gravity before descending with a great speed. And during that descend, the boy is also throwing his fist downwards and towards the head of the black bear.
'Advance Dragon Arts: Descending Dragon'
Bang!
Boom!!!
The head of the black bear exploded on that explosion of power. Then, its body fell on the ground lifelessly.
The boy sits on top of the black bear's corpse before muttering to himself. "Tsk, why the hell did Uncle Nathan left me in this place? The Monsters here are only as strong as a Martial-Artist on 'Qi Refinement Stage'. Even though the their bodies are tougher than humans, I can still kill them without being in trouble. This is too boring~♪."
It turns out the boy was Arthur. Nathan left him here for his special training, but what he didn't know is his real training is just about to start.
"Nah! Never mind about that! I should go back to the cottage, so that I can report to that weird mister that I'm done dealing with the targets that he gave me." Arthur jumps from the bear's corpse and walks towards the top of the mountain.
Few moments later, he arrived at the his destination. On top of the mountain, there is a humble cottage peacefully standing there. In front of that cottage sitting a handsome middle-aged man with a long black hair. He has a good body build that can't be called bulky nor slim. The presence that this man is giving is too ordinary, ordinary to the point that he is just an ordinary human being.
If not for Nathan's warning, Arthur might ignore this guy's presence and think that this man is just some ordinary pedestrian on the streets.
Arthur walks towards the middle age man and said. "Mister, I've done dealing with all the monsters that you have said. What should I do next?"
The middle age man give Arthur a sideeye glance before ignoring him.
The corner of Arthur's mouth twitch when he saw that. Then, he yelled at the middle-aged man. "Hey, Mister! My Uncle said that you are going to train me here, but all you do is just sit there and order me around to kill some weak monsters. Are you not scared about being beaten up by my uncle when he learn about this?"
The middle-aged man picked his right ear with his right hand pinkie finger when he heard that. Then he sneered at Arthur after. "Heh, being beaten up by your Uncle? Hahaha.... That was the biggest joke that I've heard. Don't think that just because of your Uncle being called a 'Dragon King', he can beat me just like that. Even if he teamed up with the 'Warrior Sage' of the Stuart Family, I can still beat them with ease. So don't you dare threaten me with those useless crap."
Arthur stared at the middle-aged blankly before muttering in his heart. "Beating up the Dragon King and the Warrior Sage together? This weird mister really know how to boast."
"It's fine if you don't believe me. You can just call your Uncle and tell him what I have said. Let us see if he have the guts to fight me." said the middle-aged man as if he can hear what Arthur have said.
The middle-aged man ignored Arthur's next reaction and added. "That's enough, let's forget about that. I've made a deal with your Uncle so I'm going to train you seriously. Don't you want to know why I've let you kill those monsters? That is for me to see what you can do currently. And good enough, You have a very solid Martial-Art foundation, as expected from a Martial-Art and Military Family."
Arthur feel proud of himself when he heard that compliment, but the words that comes next made his face to become twisted.
"But your 'Martial-Art Awareness' is just a crap. You are such a disgrace to all 'Martial-Art Prodigies' that lived on this world." The middle-aged man pause for a moment to strengthen his back, before continuing. "What you did was to just learn a bunch of Martial-Art Skills and use it in battle. It's like you are writing some random words on a blank paper, making it meaningless."
"As for you ocular talent, that 'Foresight' talent, you've just become too dependent on it. You just using it to predict others' next move and counter it without knowing its purpose. If your enemy is fast enough, they can use that talent of yours against you. There are some that can even beat you straightforwardly, all they need to do is throw a barrage of swift attacks until your talent can't keep up on them anymore."
"In short, you are just wasting all of your talents. You are not worthy of being a 'Fearless Chosen One'."
Arthur can't take those criticism anymore and rebutted. "You're talking as if you know everything about my talents, Mister."
The middle-aged man sneered at Arthur when he heard that. "Heh, what did you know kid? Let me tell you that there is no one in this world that is more familiar with your talents more than am I."
Arthur stared at the middle-aged speechlessly when he heard that. 'B*llsh*t! This man really like to boast about everything.'
"That is fine if you don't want to believe me. The question here is if you still want to learn from me, 'cause if you don't want to, then you can go back to where you come from." said the middle-aged man nonchalantly before laying back again.
'Just who the hell this guy?' thought Arthur as he look at the middle-aged man suspiciously. Few moments later, Arthur opens his mouth. "Fine, let me see what you can teach me that even my Grandpa and Uncle Nathan can't."
...
Heroes come and go, but Legends last forever, because Legends Never Die.
RIP Kobe.
Mamba out.
....
"Let's see what can you teach me, that my Grandfather and Uncle Nathan can't do." said Arthur with determined face.
"Heh, made up your mind already? Let me remind you, my training course is a little different from your family style of teaching." said the middle-aged man as he looked at Arthur provokingly.
"Yeah, I want to see, if what you can teach me can be really helpful for me to catch up with my brother." said Arthur resolutely.
"Hm?? Brother? Don't you only have an older sister? How can you have a brother?" asked the middle-aged man with a confused expression.
Arthur hesitate for a few moments before saying. "Ahm... He is adopted by our family 6-years ago. Even though we are not related by blood, he is still my brother. As for his previous background, I'm sorry Mister, I can't tell you about that."
"Nah, actually I'm not that interested with your family matters. I still have a problem of my own. I've just become a little bit curious, that's all. After all, if you say that you want to catch up on him, then that kid should also have the same talent as yours, or maybe greater." said the middle-aged man nonchalantly.
"Hmm... Yeah, he has the same talent as mine, but at the same time, he also ahead of me on some aspects. For example, he is a 'Battle Genius' with 'Immediate Response' talent, and couple with that, he has a pretty much strong 'Willpower' which give him a monstrous talent in 'Mentalism'. Actually, he just became a Dual-Practioner just recently." said Arthur as he boast about his brother's talents.
The middle-aged man raise his brows when he heard that. Then, add a little more. "Huh? That was a pretty talented young man. Looks like you really have a tough road a head of you."
The middle-aged man pause for a moment to stand up, pats Arthur's shoulder and said. "But don't worry, your talent is on par on him at least. So let's formally start your special training."
"First, let's begin with your fighting class talent. You haven't explored the real essene of being a 'Martial-Art Prodigy' yet. Being a Martial-Art Prodigy is the same as having a very high comprehensive ability. And having that kind of comprehensive ability, also means that you can learn a lot of things in a more easy way. But.... That was not all, that also means that you can understand things more clearly."
"To say it in a more simple way, You can understand all the skills that you have learned, and that includes the skills that you are going to learn."
Arthur listened on the middle-aged man attentively and get the main point, but he already know those, so he asked confusedly. "But I already knew about that, so what is the purpose of telling me about these?"
The middle-aged man shook his head and sneered at Arthur, while raising his right hand with only three fingers open. "No, you don't understand what I am saying. Three! There are three ways you can use that high comprehensive ability of yours."
"You can learn skills in a more easy way and can understand it more clearly."
"That phrase stands for three things. First, you can use your comprehensive ability to learn skills even if you just saw them once."
"Second, you can use that comprehensive ability to understand those skills more clearly and unleash their full potential. You can even transform those skill into something new if you use that ability properly."
At this point, Arthur interrupted the middle-aged man and asked curiously. "Transformed into something new? What did you mean about that?"
"Ha! I almost forgot about that. OK, let me show you something interesting." said the middle-aged man before taking a fighting stance.
He took a half-step backwards with his right leg before raising both of his arms with clench fists, it is just the typical military boxing stance. Then, he guide some of his internal Qi towards his right fist, before taking one step forward and throwing a straight punch on the air.
Swoosh!
'Advance Military Arts: Meteor Shotgun'
Bang!
Once the punch punch was thrown, the middle-aged man's fist release a bunch of internal Qi in front of it, resulting for a small explosion and creating a gusting wind. If that punch directly hit someone, then they are going to have a huge hole in their body.
"What do you think?" asked the middle-aged man.
"That was a typical 'Meteor Shotgun', nothing special." said Arthur uninterestedly.
"Then, how about this." The middle-aged man do another. The same stance, the same movements, but different results. Because this time, a powerful explosion was created in front of the middle-aged man fist after he throw the punch. And together with it is a chaotic gusting winds that are send in all directions, it looks like it created a mini-storm.
BOOM!!!
If the previous version can make a hole in someone else's body, then this punch can blast someone into pieces.
"What!?" Arthur stared blankly at the scene not knowing what to say.
"See that? That is the same 'Meteor Shotgun', yet also different. The purpose of that punch is to throw a powerful attack to your opponent, just like an unstoppable meteor with the explosiveness of a bullet from a shotgun. If you get what I'm saying, then you'll understand the second usage of you high comprehensive ability." said the middle-aged man.
Then he didn't wait for Arthur's next words and continue discussing the topic. "OK, that was enough. Let's go back to the topic. The third usage of your high comprehensive ability is to use it against your opponent."
"If you can learn a skill even if you just saw it once, and can improve them into something new by fixing its flaws. Then, you can also do it in a reverse manner, like pinpointing the flaws of someone else Martial-Art skills."
"Oh..." Arthur become amazed by the middle-aged man's words. Then, he suddenly remembered something. "Pinpointing out someone else flaws? Is it the same as the ability of a 'Gifted Adept'.?"
The middle-aged man replied calmly. "Hah! You wish. Of course it is different. A Gifted Adept can not only see the fault on someone else skill, even if they only saw it once. They can also immediately counter it, as long as they have experience it once. And the most scary thing on it is they can repeatedly counter your skills even if you manage to fix the flaws in it multiple times."
"On the other hand, you can only study others' flaws by looking at their skills carefully, while countering it is a different issue."
'But it is a different story for you, coupled it with you 'Foresight' talent though.' thought the middle-aged man in his mind, before sitting once again and said. "OK, that is enough for now. First, take some rest and digest all the things that I have said. After that, I want you to restart learning all of your Martial-Art skills and study them more deeply. You should start with your Family Martial-Arts."
"Then, I'm going to teach you how to utilize your ocular talent more properly once you done with it." said the middle-aged man before closing his eyes to take some nap. But before he manage to do so, he remembered something.
He took out a map form out of nowhere before throwing it to Arthur. "Before I forgot, that is the map of the whole island. The red marks are the territory of '3-star Monsters', they are on par with the Martial-Artists on 'Core Formation Stage'. Kill each one of them while you are relearning all your skills, they are your target practice. BUT! You are forbidden to use your 'Foresight', or else this special training will be all useless."
"And one more thing, do not approach those territory with black marks if you still want to live longer. As for those with purple ones, you can try, as long as you are confident that you can hold yourself against a '4-star Monsters'. And to warn you, I'm going to test you every 3-days to see your progress. So if I were you, then I'm going to take this training more seriously." said the middle-aged man with a mysterious grin on his lips. Then, he ignored Arthur and close his eyes.
Arthur on the other hand, went under a tree and sit on a lotus position, for him to do some meditation. As for the so called 'TEST', he didn't dare to think about, because from the expression that the middle-aged man is wearing earlier, he can tell that it is going to become an unforgettable and painful memory.
******
Real World, Soaring Continent, Main Region
Red Lightning District, Michigan City
There is an underground secret lab on the outskirts of the city. In this lab, a lot of scientists are currently busy doing different kinds of research.
One of the Old Scientist is looking on a data file that his subordinate have given him, while walking on the lab corridor. After few moments, he look at his assistant and said. "Nigel, How are the things about our new subject?"
"Professor Digen, Subject D-42 is a tough one. No matter what kind of torture we do, he is still manage to endure it until now, and hold on with his consciousness. We can't proceed to the next step." said by a scientist beside the Old Scientist.
The Old scientist called Prof. Digen frowned his brows and said. "Have you done all the methods?"
Nigel replied almost immediately. "Yes, professor. In fact, we also did the Method no.12, Sir."
"Bloodline?" asked Prof. Digen confusedly.
Nigel shook his head and said. "No sir. From the looks of it, it is only due to his will to survive alone." He pause for a moment to hand over some printed datas to the professor. Then, he continue reporting after. "Even though we detected some special bloodline on his blood cells, the density of those are too thin and almost negligible. It doesn't even give him anything."
Prof. Digen scan the datas and ask. "Have you identified what kind of Bloodline is it? It doesn't written on the report."
Nigel shook his head and replied. "No, Not yet, Sir. The amount is too small and scattered everywhere, so we don't have enough amount to identify the Bloodline, Sir."
"Hmm? Can we extract it?" said Prof. Digen.
"We can't sir. If we do that, we need to extract a lot of blood samples from the subject. And that amount of samples is enough for Subject D-42 to die. It is not worth it sir, we still need him for some experiments. And he is the only one that can endure those." replied Nigel.
"How about growing it then, before extracting it after?" suggest the Old Scientist.
Nigel thought for a moment before replying. "I guess that is possible, Sir. But we still need to nurture his body first, Sir. Because if we don't, his entire body structure might collapse or worse explode, due to the lack compatibility of his body with sudden increase of the density of his Bloodline."
Prof. Digen nodded his head and said. "Good. Continue what you are doing for now. I will take over with nurturing the body of Subject D-42 for now. We need to hasten the process, the higher-ups are pressuring me for quite some time already."
After that, Prof. Digen give the documents that are holding to Nigel, and enter an experiment room.
Inside the room is a 15-year-old young man with red colored curly hair and crimson eyes. He is locked on an inclined T-shape lab table. He have a loot of wounds on different parts of his body, enough to make someone to turn their heads and not look too him because of the sight.
But even though that is the change, the luster in his eyes are still in there. And when he heard that the door opened, he directed his eyes at the two scientists that have entered and glared at them.
"What a strong and courageous young man. Unfortunately, I am the one that is in-charge on you this time. Let's see how long that light on your eyes can last, once I started." said Prof. Digen the moment he entered the room and saw the look on the young man's eyes.
*******
....(Going Back to Shin)....
Shin just finished dealing with another batch of monsters. Then, he looked at his digital clock and saw that he have already grinding for another 2-Natural Days already, so it is time form him to wake-up.
He logout of the game to do another daily routine, he don't want to left behind by Arthur.
After getting up from his bed, he immediately go to bathroom to take some quick shower. Then, he directly went out his room after putting up some martial-art clothes.
The moment he arrived on the garden, he immediately start some light exercise. First he begin with the 'Yin-Yang Stance' that Old Plum have taught. He stand with in a horse stance position, before moving his body in a slow left to right motion, while also feeling the movements of his muscles.
He repeatedly do it for an hour before doing his proper Martial-Art régime. After that, he do some spiritual meditation to train his spiritual avatar. Then, he do another round of training, but this time, it is for his Mentalism Techniques.
Shin's entire training last for whole 4-hours, which is a little over than his usual daily routine. He started at 4:45 a.m. and finished at 8:45 a.m., so it is natural for him get a little hungry.
He went back inside to take another bath before having his breakfast. He is about to get back in the game when the head butler called him, and said that he have some guests.
Shin knitted his brows and become confused, because he is not expecting to have a guests. He shrugged his shoulders and went outside to see who they are.
....