Soul of Blades - Chapter 76: Skill Testing (Patreon)

They ventured deeper into the forest, and at Alex's request, stopped a short distance from a stream. He knew a stream would attract animals they could hunt for meat and also provide them with water. "It's the perfect spot," he said, surveying the surroundings.

“Finding a stream was a pretty good idea, but... are we just gonna sleep on rocks tonight?” Mei asked, her hands on her hips, her voice soft yet carrying a touch of genuine concern.

"Relax," he assured Mei. "I'll build us a tent." Alex paused, considering "Actually, don't you have magic for that? Your some kind of supporter class right?"

Mei scoffed in outrage "Please, my class isn't that lame. And why would I 'build a tent'?" She air-quoted the words and attempted to imitate Alex's much deeper voice. "Doesn't Earth have housing-discs?"

Alex simply shook his head in response.

"Fine, OK. I don't know how to make one, but if you need help with it, just tell me what you need and I'll try"

Housing-discs? What was that? Something advanced from her home planet, no doubt. Alex sighed. He would have to visit her world at some point if he could. It sounded pretty cool.

"It's fine," he said, turning to face the surrounding trees. "I've got this."

He pulled the giant guard's golden sword from his inventory. The weapon of the guard he'd defeated. Before he left the ancient dragon's palace, he had made sure to store the oversized blade, along with his spares, all in his Inventory skill. At the time, he wasn't sure it would fit in the pocket space at first, and he remembered the sigh of relief he released as the skill accepted the large weapon. He then thought Sovereign Clone as he held the weapon, triggering his skill to turn the giant sword into a large golden replica of himself. This clone was much different from Eclipse; it stood regal and statuesque as if it were an automaton sculpted by a dedicated artist. It reminded him of the Roman statues from Earth.

Alex wanted to order it to find the thickest and longest leaves it could before collecting them without damaging any, but he was unsure of the complexity of orders he could give it without having to constantly monitor it.

"Search the area and collect twenty of the largest branches and leaves you can," Alex commanded the clone. "Bring them all to me without harming any of them."

The clone, not quite understanding the nuance of the order, promptly lumbered over to the nearest tree. With surprising strength, it uprooted the entire thing, dragging it over to Alex, who facepalmed as Mei giggled.

So, Alex realized, complex commands need my direct influence and control, or it interprets and attempts to achieve them in the simplest or most efficient way... maybe. I'll have to test this more to find out its limits.Refining his approach, he said, "Bring me the thickest leaves and branches you can find. Keep them separate."

As the golden clone lumbered off at his command, Alex realized he hadn't given it a time limit, although he wasn’t sure what difference that would make.

He hoped it wouldn't take too long.

While they waited, Mei, her voice soft but serious, finally asked the questions that had been lingering in her mind. "You know, I never asked, but how did you survive fighting Jun Li? What happened to him? Did he let you go? And how do you have Qi and Mana at the same time?“ she leaned closer to Alex, uncomfortably closer, to the point where her nose was almost touching his stomach. Alex stepped back reflective as she raised his shirt to peer at his bare skin.

“You know what?… I think I can see it,” she said, still centimetres away from Alex’s navel. “Your Qi. You really have it. Oh my god.” Alex backed away as she stared at his stomach. “That's... that's not supposed to be possible... How?"

Even after all they had been through, Alex still wasn't sure how far he could trust Mei. She was kind and had saved him countless times, but she was also a high servant of the imperials. She was someone who had done enough service to the Empire, enough service to be granted 'retirement rights', he vuvidly recalled her words as she had protested to Yan Hau. He strongly believed that was a good person. Their conversations had led him to be sure that she was on the side of system users, but he just couldn't be completely certain. Would she die to keep his secret? He didn't even want to put her or himself in that position. He decided to go for a lie. A half-truth, of sorts. He sighed and hesitated briefly. “I'm not sure…” he said, “ I know I said I was from off-world, but... I left some things out. I’m still from Earth, though, but it’s complicated.” He said before pausing dramatically, as if struggle with an internal dilemma. “I think… I think it was Jun Li, he said that whoever had crippled me had done so incorrectly and that he would… fix it.” Well, it was Jun Li’s fault, Alex thought, sighing both internally and externally, releasing an exhaustion that was more real than contrived. “To be honest there’s no way to know. And as for why these energies aren't tearing me apart, I'm clueless.”

He continued, " meeting Mei’s gaze for a brief moment. “I can barely sense the Qi with my skills. As for Jun Li, I don't know what happened. After he defeated me, I passed out. When I woke, he was gone."

Well, technically, that's true too he thought, resigned.

"Well, that’s convenient," Mei replied, the skepticism clear in her tone. She lowered her voice, "If anyone finds out, especially from the Empire... it won't end well for you. You'd become a prize that every sect would kill for."

"But-" Alex began before Mei interrupted him.

"No, you don't understand," she insisted. "It’s never been achieved in the history of the Empire. If someone finds out... well, you'll be locked deep within a sect and experimented on. They won’t let you die until they figure it out. Any and every sect across the Empire would see you as a priceless treasure worth starting another war over. The accolades a cultivator could receive from solving the issue of Mana and Qi's incompatibility would be etched into history."

A cold wave of dread washed over Alex. Mei's words weren’t threats; they were a reality he hadn’t fully considered.

Her face took on an uncharacteristically dark and somber expression as she paused. "You shouldn't have told me," She said, her voice softening.

"But I understand, I’ve already seen it. You're lucky I’m not stupid enough to rat you out, they would definitley kill me to keep it hidden from other sects. And Yan Hau has seen your Qi. Whatever you did to hide your Mana after the battle with the first drake, you'll need to constantly do that when we return. Or you'll be a lab rat until someone figures out your secret. Death would be a mercy."

Upon hearing this, Alex's stomach tightened with dread. He felt a weight, a profound heaviness, settling on his shoulders. His future, so uncertain and filled with obstacles and death traps, loomed before. Deep inside, worry mingled with frustration. He never asked for these conflicting energies within him. He didn't ask to be the 'solution' to a problem he had never even known existed. His throat constricted, and he swallowed hard, trying to push down the rising unease.

In an attempt to calm his mind and center himself, Alex focused on the task at hand: the glitched skill. He needed to replicate the conditions that caused it to trigger the first time. He thought 'Mana Burn', triggering the skill to drain his pool and empower his stats, before waiting for the effects to wear off. Thirty seconds passed quickly. Now, his body would be devoid of mana for two hours.

Next, he placed Eclipse in his inventory and drew a spare sword from his inventory, a durable throwaway blade snatched from the demon army back on Pyra.

Then, he began to trigger all of his skills, even the passives.

Once again, his efforts were met with the frustrating silence of a cooldown.

[2 hour mana cooldown in effect. Skill unavailable]

Boundless dodge.

Phoenix Leap.

Mana Blade.

Sovereign Clone.

Sovereign Exocutioner

InfiniteBody

Duel Of Corruption

Assimilate Nexus

Mana Burn.

Divine fist.

Inner Focus, Outer Focus, True Sight,

[2 hour mana cooldown in effect. Skill unavailable]

Then, he attempted to trigger the glitched skill.

Nothing happened.

Frustrated, he sat down as Mei chased a squirrel-like creature with curiosity. Alex closed his eyes and attempted to focus inward. However, without mana and any of his skills, he felt nothing. It was like it was before he joined the system. He felt his heartbeat, his breathing, his clothes rustling against his skin, and the shifting of his organs as he breathed. He focused on his breathing and its effects on his sensations and delved even deeper into what he could feel, the sensations of blood and energies within him. Then he felt it: a vibrating soft warmth within him, in his navel. It felt like he was holding a candle in his palm, and the slightest movement would send it crashing away.

Before he lost the sensation, he attempted to activate his glitched skill.

The mana in his navel flared and without conscious thought, with his eyes still closed, he found himself muttering an indecipherable word unbidden.

[Skill A̷̶̵̴̲̳̱l̸̢͉̗̣̑͐͛à̸̶̵̴̶̷̶̺̥̮̯͇̲̳̱̼̲͒̈́̈͛͋͐͋͂ͅͅ ̷̷̶̴̵̶̷̸̴̶̷̵̢̳̮̲̳̱͉̗̣̲̳̱̏̄̑͐͛͝͠Ω̴̵̶̷̲̳̱ ̶̶̯͇̼̲̈́̈͛͋͐͋͂ͅ ̷̷̶̴̵̶̷̴̶̷̵̳̮̲̳̱̲̳̱̏̄͝͠g̵̶̷̴̲̳̱e̸̪̟͇͕͂e̶̷̵̴̲̳̱E̵̴̶̷̶̵̴̶̷̷̸̸̢̲̳̱̼̲̲̳̱̟̮̙͚͉̗̣̺̥̮͋͐͋͂̔̑͐͛̀͒ͅͅ ̶̷̶̴̵̶̷̯͇̲̳̱̈́̈͛ ̷̸̴̶̷̵̳̮̪̟͇͕̲̳̱̏̄͂͝͠M̷̶̵̴̲̳̱m̸̵̴̶̷̸̷̸̴̶̷̵̢͉̗̣̲̳̱̪̟͇͕̟̮̙͚̺̥̮̲̳̱̑͐͛͂̔̀͒ͅ ̶̯͇̈́̈͛ ̷̸̶̢̳̮͉̗̣̼̲̏̄̑͐͛͋͐͋͂͝͠ͅO̷̟̮̙͚̔o̶̼̲͋͐͋͂ͅᾯ̴̵̶̷̵̴̶̷̷̸̸̸̢̲̳̱̲̳̱̟̮̙͚̪̟͇͕͉̗̣̺̥̮̑͐͛̀͒ ̶̯͇̈́̈͛ ̷̶͎̠̠̖̼̲̿́͋͐͋͂ͅ ̷̳̮̏̄͝͠ ̷̶̴̵̶̷̵̴̶̷̴̶̷̵̲̳̱̲̳̱̲̳̱ Activated]

His sword slipped from his grasp in surprise as he collapsed to the ground. A familiar sensation erupted from his navel and raced through his being, causing massive damage. But this time, there was no sword, no external point for the energy of the skill to escape to. Alex seized on the ground as Mei raced over and cast a light of some kind over him, but Alex was too caught up in the pain to notice.

As a spurt of blood poured from his mouth, and a red glitched and buzzing panel appeared before him, the unreadable words racing across it slowly becoming legible as the violent energies of his skill ravaged his insides.

The panel read:

¿̷̛̤̞͇̻̯.̵̰̬̱̈́͋̂͜͜͠ ̵̨͉͕̳̭̾̿̊̃ş̵̛̗̥̼̳͆̎̋u̸͈̜͈͍̳̔̔̕͠s̵̞̻̬̟̠̍̎͝͝ę̷̛͚̮̮̏̌̑ͅé̵͈̱̠͚͉͛̑́ș̶̻͇̥̽͛̚ t̷̛̤̞͇̻̯i̸̱̜̖̬̣͋̇̃͊ ̶̶̯͇̼̲̈́̈͛͋͐͋͂ͅ ̷̷̶̴̵̶̷̴̶̷̵̷̨̛̳̮̲̳̱̲̳̱͚̮̮̏̄̏̌̑͝͠ͅ | ̵̴̶̷̸̷̸̸̢̲̳̱̪̟͇͕̟̮̙͚͉̗̣̺̥̮͂̔̑͐͛̀͒ͅ ̶̶̯͇̼̲̈́̈͛͋͐͋͂ͅ ̷̷̶̴̵̶̷̴̶̷̵̳̮̲̳̱̲̳¿̷̛̤̞͇̻̯.̵̰̬̱̈́͋̂͜͜͠i̷̛̤̞͇̻̯t̶͈̱̠͚͉́͛̑́ ș̶̻͇̥̽͛̚e̵̞̻̬̟̠̍̎͝͝ę̷̛͚̮̮̏̌̑ͅş̵̛̗̥̼̳͆̎̋ u̸͈̜͈͍̳̔̔̕͠s̵̨͉͕̳̭̾̿̊̃..̵̶̰̬̱̦̻͇̥̈́͋̂̽͛̚͜͜͠

̵̰̬̱̈́͋̂͜͜͠

He felt a presence, several all encompassing presences bearing down on him. It felt as if the unfathomable attention of whole galaxies was pressing down on him, and he hacked more blood as Mei desperately attempted to heal him. Words and flashes of meaning tore through him, as attention that felt like the weight of a mountain and the sensation of countless eyes focusing on him engulfed his senses. Meaning assaulted him once more:

Pawn. Tool. Weapon. Pleasure. Dissatisfaction. intention. Premature.

Anticipation.

Confusion and disbelief marred Alex's features as he twisted in pain. Was something, connecting to him through the system glitch?