Qi surged through Caine's body, his muscles swelling as his speed reached an otherworldly level. His blade tore through the reaper's skeletal chest with ease, like a hot knife slicing through butter. Chaotic qi trailed from his weapon, seeping into the reaper's bones and corrupting them from within, reducing its structure to dust.
"Enough!" the reaper shrieked, its voice like the grinding of stone. It swung its scythe violently, summoning a surge of athyst flas that crackled and hissed through the air, heating the battlefield.
Caine glided back with effortless grace, his feet barely touching the ground as though he skated across ice. He spun, then launched forward again, dodging a downward strike from the reaper's scythe. Imdiately, he countered with a precise upward slice, his blade moving like a silver streak.
CLANK!
Scythe t spear in a resounding clash, but Caine didn't hesitate. Using the built-up montum from the clash, he spun once more, executing a lateral slash. This strike was infused with imploding qi, fueling the blade with deadly energy.
The reaper, still disoriented by the speed of the attack, barely managed to raise its scythe pole in ti to block. The force of Caine's blow reverberated through the reaper's entire skeletal fra, sending shockwaves that rattled its bones. For a brief mont, the reaper's stance faltered, its gait shattered.
This opening was all Caine needed. With a swift step, a spell circle flickered into existence behind him, and in a flash, he teleported to the reaper's left side. His blade descended, ti rippling around its path, splitting into three illusory trajectories.
From these three paths, more blades erged, multiplying until the reaper's vision was filled with shimring, silver qi-covered blades descending upon it. Confused and unable to discern which was real, the reaper assud they were all distractions. It swung its scythe directly at Caine's neck, aiming to cut him down—only to discover, too late…
BANG!
…they were all real.
The reaper's arm shattered under the weight of the strikes. Bones splintered and cracked as the force drove the reaper down to one knee. Its fiery eyes dimd, the flas within them flickering weakly.
As the reaper knelt there, its body ravaged, ti itself seed to slow. A seed of burning rage blood within its chest, anger swelling as it realized the absurdity of the situation.
Had it, the overseer of gods and immortals, truly been brought low by a re Defier? And not just any Defier, but an Irregular one at that? The reaper's pride recoiled in fury.
It couldn't accept this.
'Two can play at this ga…'
Suddenly, Caine froze mid-attack. His instincts scread at him, an overwhelming sense of danger prickling his skin. His heart raced, and his eyes widened as he realized the reaper had vanished from sight.
Before Caine could fully assess the situation, his instincts scread once more. His body twisted reflexively, his spear swinging in a wide arc toward whatever might be behind him.
CLANK!
The reaper's hand collided with Caine's spear, its voice rasping mockingly, "Such sharp instincts… nearing the realm of spiritual senses…"
Before Caine could react further, his vision blurred for a fleeting mont. When his surroundings snapped back into focus, a sharp pain flared in his chest. Blood poured from the wound, soaking his clothes.
Shocked, Caine stumbled backward, struggling to comprehend what had just happened.
Had the reaper…manipulated ti? And space? How was this possible—
Before he could finish his thought, his vision blurred once again. A second searing gash tore across his chest, causing him to grunt in pain.
'I didn't think my weaknesses would catch up to so soon…'
Caine had been born crippled, denied the natural ability to cultivate. He lacked what others around him had been granted by birthright. Three things: affinity, innate gifts, and talents.
Affinity allowed one to attune to the elents of existence, enabling them to manipulate those elents with ease. It was this ability that made it possible for others to perform feats of spellcasting that Caine had to painstakingly study.
In fact, if they had Caine's depth of arcane knowledge combined with their natural affinity, they would be unstoppable. But Caine had no such luxury.
The second, innate gifts, bestowed individuals with mysterious powers that ranged from sothing as grand as immortality to sothing as simple as heightened physical attributes. These gifts were ranked according to a detailed ladder, but one needed a minimal affinity with qi and energy to awaken them. Caine, being born utterly crippled, had never awakened his own innate gift or affinity. It was a crippling handicap, for these gifts and affinities were often the pillars upon which personal strength was built.
Then there were talents, the most complex of the three. Talents could be broken down into five pillars: the Soul Pillar, the Bodily Pillar, the Racial Pillar, the Lineage Pillar, and the Qi or Essence Pillar. Together, these pillars, combined with other factors, ford a person's Innate Circle, the source of their personal power. Talents ranged from the Mortal to the Imasurable grade, each representing a different level of natural ability.
A child born with a Bodily Pillar like "Fire God's Body," for instance, could possess an imnse innate strength. Even at the peak of Mortal grade, such a child would be innately stronger than anyone without a similar talent, capable of contending with full-fledged cultivators without needing to cultivate themselves. The Fire God's Body would grant them abilities related to fire, a natural affinity for it, and even immunity to its destructive properties.
So children born with Peak Imasurable Innate Circles were said to have the power to slaughter gods with their cries at birth. They were monsters among monsters.
And yet, Caine had been stripped of all these advantages. Now, facing the reaper, all his weaknesses were laid bare. The reaper exploited his lack of natural gifts and talents, twisting ti and space with its affinity to trap him in an unwinnable battle. The reaper's strikes were precise and unrelenting, pushing Caine deeper into a corner with every blow.
Caine grimaced in pain as his vision blurred once again. The reaper's manipulation of ti was overwhelming, and the abyss it had plunged him into seed impossible to escape. Yet, despite the agony, despite his glaring weaknesses, Caine wasn't ready to give up.
He had known his shortcomings all his life. He had spent years studying the intricate workings of the Innate Circle, analysing how the elents of affinity, gifts, and talents worked in unison. He had dissected every part of it, searching for a way to overco the disadvantages he had been born with.
Back in the Three Realms, he had forged his own path, and now, even in the face of an impossible battle, he would not give in.
He had found a solution, a way to bridge the gap between himself and those who had been born with power.
BANG!
Caine drove his spear into the ground, releasing a shockwave of energy that rippled across the battlefield. His breath steadied, his mind sharpened. Though his body was battered and bleeding, his will was unshaken.
This battle was far from over.
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