Even though everyone believed that EVR was just a ga, it was, in truth, a reality. However, even when humanity eventually learned this, they struggled to grasp its full implications.
Among other revelations, it ant that everything—magic, skills, and abilities—was as real as the world they lived in.
For the people of Earth, understanding this truth took years in the previous tiline. Their reliance on the ga's systems and chanics blinded them to the deeper possibilities.
The Keldars, however, had always known. To them, magic and skills were never just tools granted by a system—they were forces to be mastered through training and effort.
Skills, as bestowed by the system, ca with fixed paraters: specific mana costs, predetermined effects, and rigid outcos. For instance, if two individuals of the sa level used the sa skill, the results would be identical.
But those who acquired powers through rigorous training transcended these limitations. They could manipulate the skill's output, creating weaker versions to conserve mana or enhanced versions for greater power.
This understanding gave the Keldars an edge. Those without exceptional skills dedicated themselves to training, honing their abilities far beyond what the system dictated.
However, the rare few who discovered extraordinary skills—those of imnse power and potential—beca sothing more. They were elevated to the ranks of Demons, feared across Trion for their devastating capabilities.
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The talking Keldar stepped out from the swirling Blizzard. Its presence was commanding in a way no ordinary foe could match and its form was bulkier and encased in jagged, dark armor that seed to absorb the surrounding light.
Two piercing crimson eyes glared at Arlon from beneath its helm.
Arlon knew that the more intelligent Keldars could talk, but he didn't think he would see one here.
Even though he was sure that he wouldn't leave here easily after killing that many Keldars, he thought they wouldn't know about it yet and he would have one more day to do as he wished.
What he didn't know was that the wooden building he attacked belonged to this intelligent Keldar.
The tricky thing about them was that you could tell if a Keldar was strong by whether it could speak, but among the ones that could, there was no way to gauge their actual strength.
Unless... one had a skill.
Arlon activated Eyes of *****. The results were imdiate and unsettling.
Na: Zerax the Warden
Level: ???
HP: ???
Skills: ???
Arlon frowned. A "???" level indicator was sothing he hadn't seen before. But it could only an one thing— this guy wasn't under level 100, no, it was much stronger. The Keldar before him was far above his current capabilities.
Despite the danger, a small smile crept onto his face. This was the kind of challenge he hadn't faced in a long ti.
"You've made quite the ss, Magus," Zerax growled, his voice deep and resonant, echoing across the rocky terrain. "Did you think you could massacre my kin and leave unpunished?"
"I thought I'd at least make it to the next settlent before things got serious," Arlon replied. His tone was calm yet laced with mockery.
His black sword shimred faintly as he channeled mana into its blade. "But I'll take the fight where it cos."
Zerax didn't respond verbally. Instead, he raised a massive spiked hamr from his back, the weapon emanating a dark, crackling energy.
Without warning, Zerax lunged forward with surprising speed for his size.
Arlon barely dodged the first swing, the hamr smashing into the ground where he'd stood, shattering the rocky surface and sending a shockwave rippling outward.
Fast and strong, Arlon noted, his mind racing to formulate a strategy. He activated Dash, instantly going a bit back to avoid Zerax's follow-up strike.
As he landed, he unleashed Chain Lightning, aiming to disrupt his opponent's montum.
The lightning connected, crackling along Zerax's armor, but it barely slowed the Keldar down. Zerax twisted his body and hurled a dark, spiraling energy projectile at Arlon.
Recognizing the danger, Arlon imdiately activated Stone Hearth and felt as if sothing was wrapped around his body. The hit connected but didn't hurt him.
"Impressive," Zerax rumbled, his tone almost amused. "You're not like the others. I'll enjoy breaking you."
Arlon grinned despite himself. "You're welco to try."
The battle raged on, each combatant testing the other. Zerax's attacks were relentless and powerful, forcing Arlon to stay on the defensive.
Every swing of the warden's hamr seed to warp the air around it and the raw force behind each blow threatened to crush anything in its path.
Arlon, in contrast, relied on precision and agility. He danced around Zerax's strikes by activating Lightning Feet and countered with spells and swordplay whenever an opening presented itself.
But it beca clear that his standard approach wasn't enough. Zerax's reaction speed was too fast, and his resistance to magic was too strong.
I need to change tactics, Arlon thought, his mind racing. He quickly reviewed his arsenal of spells and abilities, searching for a combination that might work. Then, an idea struck him.
He had been learning spells all along, but A Magician's Secret wasn't just a spellbook. It included everything Agema had learned.
This included how to create spells.
Even though Arlon wasn't good enough a magician to create a spell yet, he could change one.
His target was the Teleport skill. With his current mana and INT, he could probably teleport more than 50 ters. But, this would consu all of his mana and take at least 2 seconds to cast.
So, he decided to make this skill his own and change it a bit.
Zerax noticed the shift in Arlon's positioning and raised his hamr, slamming it into the ground. The resulting shockwave disrupted the terrain.
But, when the dust settled, Arlon wasn't where he was before.
"The skill Blink has been created" ca the notification sound.
"Skill? What do you an, skill? This should have been a spell and not recognized by the system."
Arlon was shocked. Normally, the spells or the powers gained through training wouldn't be displayed by the system for so reason.
The system only showed skills. Then, it hit Arlon, "Did I create a skill because I used a skill as the baseline instead of a spell I learned myself?"
Even though Arlon wanted to look more into it, this wasn't the ti. So, he noted to do that later and checked the skill instead:
Blink: Teleports the user a short distance.
*Created by Arlon*
The skill's effect was just what he wanted, but he didn't think his na would be included.
Arlon's dance beca sothing far stronger after the Blink skill. He realized that he could use Blink both as a skill and as a spell.
Even though it didn't matter which way he used, in urgent monts skills were better since they didn't need for him to focus.
So, he used Blink and Dash one after another, making it impossible to be caught.
His mana was enough to continue this until the Lightning Feet's duration was over.
During this ti, Arlon went around Zerax, hitting the sa spot on his back again and again.
Forrly, he couldn't do that since the warden was too fast and reacted to his speed but now, it was possible.
After 1 minute of hitting the sa spot, he saw the scar on the skin under its armor beco bigger.
Arlon realized that this was the ti. He went behind Zerax one last ti and imdiately cast all the spells he knew one after another.
His spells caused the ground to break and dust to fly.
As the dust cleared, Arlon dropped to one knee, chest heaving. His mana reserves were drained, and his vision blurred from exhaustion. He scanned the battlefield, searching for any sign of Zerax amidst the devastation.
A low, guttural chuckle echoed through the smoke.
"You're clever, Magus," Zerax rumbled, erging from the shadows. Blood seeped from the wound on his back, but his imposing form remained upright. His dark eyes burned with fury. "But you'll need more than that to kill ."
Arlon's heart sank. He's still standing! His relentless assault hadn't been enough.
Zerax raised his hamr, the dark energy surrounding it intensifying. "My turn."
The hamr descended, the air itself seeming to shatter as the battlefield was consud by darkness.
But, to Zerax's surprise, Arlon blinked once more.
"I guess I have to use those."
He opened his inventory and pulled out three vials from the potion kit he received as a gift from Edrich's shop.
One of the vials was the mana potion. His mana was almost fully depleted and he needed it for the other Keldars after killing Zerax.
The other two vials were enchantnts— one poison enchantnt and one fire enchantnt.
Poison enchantnt was sothing he had already used, but fire enchantnt would be the first in this tiline.
It was almost the sa as the poison enchantnt, burning the target with damage over ti.
Normally, the fire would also burn the poison. But these weren't actual poison and fire, they were mana taking the characteristics of fire and poison. So, he could use both at once.
Without hesitation, he downed the mana potion, feeling a rush of energy surge through him. He then applied the poison and fire enchantnts to his Wandsword.
The black blade shimred ominously, veined with green and orange hues as magical flas danced alongside venomous energy.
"Let's see what you are going to do now," he said and activated Blink to get behind Zerax again.
All of these happened so fast that Zerax didn't have ti to react and when he realized Arlon was behind him, it was already too late.
With precision honed from countless battles, he drove the Wandsword into Zerax's exposed wound, pushing it deep.
Lightning crackled along the blade as Arlon channeled Chain Lightning through his sword. The energy exploded within Zerax, amplifying the effects of the poison and fire enchantnts.
Zerax roared in agony, his massive fra convulsing as the combined elents tore through him. Flas erupted from the wound, while poison coursed through his veins, weakening him further.
Arlon didn't wait for Zerax's retaliation. He blinked away, leaving the Wandsword embedded in the Keldar's back.
The mighty warden staggered forward, his hamr falling from his grip. His body writhed under the relentless assault of magic and enchantnts.
With a final ear-splitting scream, Zerax collapsed to the ground. His dark armor cracked and shattered like glass.
Arlon stood several paces away, panting as he watched the lifeless body of the Keldar crumble. A notification chid in his mind:
"You have defeated Zerax the Warden (Level 153), bonus experience will be gifted once the player is out of combat."
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