Rank 2 Mage
A few moments later, the mammoth fell to the ground raising a huge dust of cloud. Alex retracted the sword intent after the battle was finally over. After getting to rank 2 in the warrior path, using Sword intent wasn't that much taxing as compared to before. Now, he could efficiently utilize it as his strength and hardness of his flesh and bones had drastically improved.
"Hey! Was that sword intent that you just utilized?" A voice echoed in the tower just after Alex was done with the mammoth.
"Hm? Oh, yeah, it was. What's wrong with it?" Alex was first surprised before giving out his reply.
Hearing Alex's casual reply, the owner of the voice in the tower seemed to have gotten angry as his voice was more aggressive as he replied, "What is wrong your head! Do you know what sword intent means? Do you know what it takes for one to unlock an intent for his selected weapon?"
Hearing the raging voice, Alex was once again dumbfounded. 'What's wrong with me unlocking sword intent?' He couldn't help but wonder. Before his thoughts could go any further, the voice echoed again.
"For one to unlock intent, he or she has to have dedicated most of his training time to practicing the way of the weapon. To fully understand what it means to be a particular weapon, to understand all its highs and lows. Do you know how long it takes for a sword genius to unlock it? At least a decade of training and it's not guaranteed that the intent would be unlocked."
Hearing this words, Alex was surprised. If it was so, then how come he unlocked it? If the sword genius in the mind of the other party had to take ten years, what could be said about him who was only fifteen?
"How long have you trained in the way of the sword?" the voice once again echoed.
"About three years?" Alex replied.
"You mean that it only took you three years to grasp sword intent?" The owner of the voice couldn't believe what he was hearing. This was inconceivable as this had never happened since his existence.
Since Alex hadn't seen others fight that much, he didn't know that in the whole Kravon town, there wasn't even one person that had unlocked an intent. Not that he was ignorant, rather he wasn't too much social hence he hadn't observed others fight seriously. As for how he unlocked intent, the techniques that others easily learned through skill books, he had to pass through harsh training in order to grasp it.
He was even wondering why elder Simon didn't just get him a skill book and be done with it. But he didn't regret it as that was the reason as to why he had sword intent now and it was also his life saviour. Had he not gone through all those harsh conditions, perhaps he might have never been able to unlock it at such an early age.
Seeing that it seemed that the other party wasn't going to talk soon, he decided to do ten more hunts for rank 2 monster cores before reverting to rank 1 peak stage cores for his breakthrough in the mage path. This was part of the mission that was given to him by the system thus the reward that was to be granted was something he was looking forward to.
Selecting another defensive type monster, he utilized a grassland this time and decided to go all out in this. These monsters were a good way for him to consolidate his realm fully. Had he been rash and directly challenged a mid stage rank 2 monster just after having a breakthrough, he would have gotten himself in trouble as he wasn't used to the strength that he currently had.
It took him about an hour to finally defeat his tenth rank 2 monster. This time while battling, he decided against using Sword intent and decided to continue sharpening his use of the sword. The swirling wind technique was utilized to the maximum and the qi replaced intent. Since the first fight, Alex had an understanding of his strength and thus by the time he was done with the tenth, he was finally in full control of his strength.
Taking a ten minutes break, Alex once again dived into core grinding. He only needed ten peak stage rank 1 monster cores for his breakthrough and that was just what he wanted. No excesses as it would only waste his current four day limit thus leading to minimal profits for his forty gold coins investment.
Selecting the battle mode, he chose ten peak stage rank 1 monsters at a go. This would save him the time of selecting the battlefield and types of monsters every now and then. The monsters didn't even last five minutes before they were all put out of commission.
Now, he had enough core to breakthrough to the mid stages in both paths. Sitting in a lotus pose, he inhaled deeply before he began absorbing the essence present in the cores for his breakthrough. He was really looking forward to see what a soul weapon was and see what its abilities were. He couldn't help it at all.
[You have reached the cap of peak stage rank 1....To breakthrough, you need to absorb external mana....]
Activating the golden body cultivation technique, he began absorbing mana as fast as he could and fifteen minutes later, he felt a massive wall get shattered as warmth covered his whole body. Breakthrough was a success.
[Congratulations on the breakthrough master....] The system's voice echoed right after his breakthrough. Alex didn't linger that much and immediately called forth his status so that he could observe the changes that had occured.
[Name; Alex Faxel
Age; 15
Job; Adventurer
HP; 450
Power level; Warrior Rank 2 (initial stage)
Mage Rank 2 (initial stage)
Next level; Warrior; 0/100%
Mage; 0/100%
Affinity; Lightning
Strength;70
Stamina;70
Agility; 70
Vitality;90
Mental strength;80
Mana; 800/800
Coins; 00
Ability points;45
Cultivation techniques : Golden Pillar body
Golden Magic Creation
Skills; Light steps rank 0 (initial grade)
Swirling winds rank 1 (high grade)
Steel hands rank 1 (mid grade)
Lightning steps rank 1 (initial grade)
Shield bearer rank 1 (initial grade)
Blaster rank 1 ( mid grade)
Ability; Inner world
Looking at the figures shown, he couldn't help but be impressed as his strength still surged forth even though he was a mage. This meant that he was stronger than warriors of the same rank as him and thus was unbeatable in that rank. Ten points increase in his body attributes, this was good.
Before he could enjoy the euphoria from the breakthrough, new system notifications resounded.
[Mission complete, reached rank 2 in the mage path. Evaluation; N/A....Reward: Unlocking the potential of the soul weapon....]
[Achievement....Reach rank 2 in both warrior and mage paths....Reward: New system ability....]
[The inner world has expanded by fifty square meters....]
Seeing the prompts before him, he couldn't help but let out a big smile. He had finally achieved something good. The promised reward of unlocking the potential of the soul weapon and finally, there were two more surprises. A new system ability which meant that he would get to experience something good. Just like the missions, he was sure it was something that was useful.
As for the increase in the size of the inner world, it was a surprise but not unexpected as he knew that the inner world would expand with his increase in power. He couldn't help but howl out loud in happiness.
"Hey, what happened just now? Did you just have a breakthrough in the mage path? This is surprising as since the founding of this tower, I have never seen someone that is cultivating in both paths. It seems that you are an anomaly." The voice in the tower echoed after a long time of silence.
"I am special you know? This is something only I can do," Alex who was basking in happiness couldn't help but brag a little.
"Special? What's so special about it. I know many people that cultivate in both paths. In this backwater place, you might be special. When you go to advanced places, you'll understand what I mean."
Alex's bubble was popped the moment he heard that. So, there were others out there. He couldn't help but think of it and think that it made sense to be so. He had to improve as fast as possible so that he could transverse the world and see what lies beyond what he has been seeing his whole life.
This time, he was going to put in all he could so that he could get to the top. Being at the bottom of the food chain was something he didn't want as that meant that he couldn't even control his own life and that wasn't something that one could be proud of. So he could now just start with what he had now.
[Mission complete, reached rank 2 in the mage path. Evaluation; N/A....Reward: Unlocking the potential of the soul weapon....]
Author's Note
Hello guys, new chapter, new scenes. Please, don't forget to give your reviews on the book and your support.