I rested for a couple of hours before testing my ability. I preferred to go in fully rested so I could observe its effects at maximum power. At one point, I almost started biting my nails out of anxiety, and Brendu hit me on the head to calm me down.
"By the way... what is this about special conditions?" I ask Brendu near the end of our break. "I haven't researched rank V abilities because I've been a bit busy." My voice comes out timidly.
"Rank V and VI abilities are special. It's the same as the Diamond and Obsidian ranks; they're worlds completely different from what we're used to. To evolve an ability to rank V, certain special requirements given by the omnipresent voice must be fulfilled." She places a finger on her lips.
"It depends heavily on how you've developed your ability during the first four stages, the point in life you're currently at, the specific location, the essence of the ability itself, and your desires. There are some variations, but they're not very common." The princess looks like a true teacher while explaining.
"Usually, if you haven't completed the special conditions, the omnipresent voice itself tells you what you need to do. Sometimes the requirements are a bit vague in their explanations, but they almost always tell you the essence of what you need to achieve to reach the next rank." She continues her explanation.
"When you've already completed the special conditions, the ability simply progresses. I've heard of a few similar cases before. The only disadvantage is that you never know what special conditions you've fulfilled, and the advantage is not having to complete any requirements to rank up the ability." She looks directly into my eyes.
"Sometimes they can ask you to kill a certain number of monsters, create specific types of constructs, use your mana or Imra in a certain way, obtain a new Law, fuse Laws, and so on. There are many different kinds of special missions. Honestly, I'm not surprised that you fulfilled your special conditions along the way. You always live a very hectic life." Brendu smiles warmly.
"I understand. I can almost entirely consider it an advantage. The only problem is that I'll never know what special conditions I fulfilled." I shrug. "It doesn't matter. As long as my ability progressed, everything is fine. I'm not going to waste time thinking about something I'll never know."
"Ready to test that new baby? I'm excited to see how big the difference is too." Brendu jumps up from the ground and offers me her hand, and I stand up with her help.
"How are you feeling? Ready for another round?" I ask Glia, who is stretching beside us.
"I'm always ready. I was born prepared." I can feel the excitement through our connection. "You made me suffer by forcing me to sleep dirty from exhaustion because of your crazy ideas. That ability better be worth it." I can feel her anticipation.
We move a few kilometers away from the safe zone, near the base of a large hill. We've killed many monsters over the past few days, hundreds of them, and the population in the surrounding area has decreased significantly.
"That's a large group." Brendu comments. All of us are watching as a group of more than twenty grade 4 monsters rushes toward us.
"I call dibs on twenty of them." Before waiting for a response, I'm already moving. Through my senses, I can see Brendu and Glia rolling their eyes. They were already expecting that answer.
Only a few of the monsters show any interest in me as I approach. Are these idiots underestimating me? Or do they want to deal with the weaker ones first? It doesn't matter what the answer is. I won't let them leave.
I activate my new ability. My entire body, mind, mana, and Imra flow smoothly. The area around me fills with powerful gravity, extremely potent electric serpents appear, and I can feel the temperature drop several degrees in an instant.
"What a huge difference!" Even I'm surprised by the enormous difference that comes from having an ability capable of doing everything simultaneously.
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My brain no longer has to divide itself among countless small tasks like before. Everything works in perfect harmony. It feels as though I've been using this ability my entire life. The serpents have become much more powerful; I only need to put a little more effort into the mana weaving to strengthen them.
Gravity falls like a massive boulder upon the bodies of the Escamus. I no longer have to put much pressure on my brain to calculate how much gravity to apply. I can adjust it instinctively according to my needs.
The ice mana has also undergone an enormous change. Before, I had to make a tremendous mental effort to force the temperature around me to drop. Now it has become much easier. I still need to put effort into forcing the environment around me to be covered in frost, but the mental burden is minimal compared to before.
What stands out the most is the mana consumption. It's tiny compared to before I obtained this ability. Previously, I had to spend mana on three abilities, and I had to spend even more mana weaving my constructs and strengthening them with my other abilities. Now the consumption has decreased dramatically.
The Escamus are very intelligent. They realize that their companions won't last much longer without help, so almost all of the remaining monsters decide to focus on me. I use the ability itself to select only the twenty closest ones and forcibly push the others away.
"I'm not sure that was a good idea..." I've always been able to fight fifteen at the same time without problems, but now enduring twenty monster Dominions trying to break my constructs is giving me a headache. They're all trying to suppress me.
This is the problem with not being able to move through trees like a monkey. I have to constantly fight against their Dominions. Whenever I can create distance, I only have to face a certain number of monsters at once. Right now, it's different.
I dodge their long, scale-covered claws and affinities at the last possible moments. Some of them manage to graze me, but the wounds are healed immediately.
My new ability, Crushing Tempest, is shining like the midday sun. I'm amazed by all its functions and possibilities.
My defenses have strengthened noticeably, my attacks have become more powerful, and everything around me is under my control. I feel like the king of this place. No one can defeat me within my own ability. I feel slightly intoxicated by power.
A second later, I spit out some blood. One bastard decided to sacrifice almost his entire body to stab me not only with his claws, but with his entire arm straight through my back. I can feel my mobility decreasing. Part of my spine has been destroyed, and I do everything possible not to collapse.
I destroy the body of the suicidal bastard. My death mana annihilates the remnants of his body and energies inside my own. I have to use my teleportation ability to escape, and I almost fail because their Dominions came very close to interrupting it.
None of the monsters intend to give me a moment of rest. The instant they find me, they charge at me at terrifying speed. My body has already restored my spine. My flesh and skin are still exposed, but at least I've recovered my mobility.
My twin swords emit an unusual amount of death mana. I can feel the mana itself trying to devour everything around it. The moment my swords clash against the monsters' claws, I infuse them with death mana. The Escamus immediately tries to pull back after feeling how the death mana threatens to destroy both its defenses and its own life.
I manage to retreat and buy enough time to recover slowly. I'm dodging constructs and claws from every direction. Their movements within the chaos are still coordinated.
This entire time, they haven't gotten in each other's way. Their coordination is worthy of study. Their high intelligence helps them coordinate and maintain order. Throughout the battle, they've been speaking in their own language, and I haven't understood a single word they've said.
Once I recover, killing them becomes only a matter of time. I'm much more focused now after receiving a reality check by having my spine pierced.
The three of us begin killing group after group of monsters. Little by little, I become more accustomed to the ability. I hadn't realized it at first because I was intoxicated by power, but my control isn't as good as I thought. There are still many minor flaws in the construction and movement of the serpents, the ice frost, and the precise placement of gravity.
It will take some time before I become fully accustomed to using Crushing Tempest. I'll use this time to continue with the second item on my agenda. I'll try to kill two birds with one stone again.
I force the death mana to concentrate into whirlwinds around my swords. This is the beginning of improving my ability: Death Sharpness.
The concentrated mana is stronger than I expected. It slowly begins to become unstable. I use my Imra and willpower to keep it under control. I continue pushing more and more mana into it, trying to transform those whirlwinds into small sword blades surrounding my twin swords.
My control isn't sufficient. I can feel the death mana becoming increasingly chaotic until it explodes. I grit my teeth and give everything I have to keep it stable. My efforts go to hell because the small blades of death mana explode into fragments, piercing several monsters, and many of them end up embedded in my own body.
"Oops." The monsters scream in pain. I'm not in a much better position myself. It hurts like hell.