Chapter 291 – Cassius’s Created Techniques
Cassius watched Copycat and Drunken Widow slaughtering the spiders like useless flies.
There was no real struggle in their actions, and it was pretty obvious the only reason they were going this hard was simply because of the bet.
He focused on the left side, watching Copycat bine sound-based skills with the purple poisonous flame of the spider monster.
The attack wasn’t directed at him, but he could still feel the danger radiating from it.
’He can copy weapons, skills, and...hm, let me guess, saved skills?’ Cassius assessed him, hands still in his pockets, using a field of shimmering heat to block any dust drifting his way, ’Because this sound ability isn’t something anyone here possesses. Which means he picked it up elsewhere and saved it.’
That raised one question,
’Does Copycat copy what he sees, or what he understands? If he can save skills, how many? And once he copies one...how long before it disappears?’
All these thoughts flashed through his mind, but Cassius didn’t rush to answer them.
He’d gotten a good enough glimpse of what the second-year Palatine could do. That was enough for now.
He shifted his attention to Cassandra’s side, and there he smiled, finally noticing the chattering spirits circling him.
"Evil! She is evil, Human Chosen by Dragons! Kill her! Kill her! She’s the reincarnation of HER! The Bane of Spirits!"
Three fire spirits, made of white and crimson flame, swirled around him. All female, beautiful, oddly cute. Identical, as though they were triplets.
Their flapping, erratic wings left trails of fire particles behind them.
They spoke with both hatred and fear as they eyed Cassandra.
Strangely, all Cassius could think about was how Stella, his sister back on Earth, would have adored these pixie-like creatures.
"You want me to kill her? Why?"
"Why? Why, of course, because she can control us and eat us! Only HER could do that, Human Chosen by Dragons!"
"Oh, so her Aspect involves controlling and devouring spirits for power? Well, Klaus would hate her too, if what you say it’s true." Cassius smiled, "Interesting. But no, sorry sweethearts, I can’t kill her. And hey, are you calling me Human Chosen by Dragons?" He asked, now watching the seven Tier 5 spiders preparing to attack.
Copycat and Cassandra were almost finished on their end.
"Yes, of course, who else? Who else?" They all spoke at once, faces souring at his refusal.
"Why?"
Instantly, all three hovered directly in front of his left eye, peering deep into it, "We can feel it." They said, expressions deeply serious, "So many dragons inside your eye. So many. And old, too. Very old. And powerful, very powerful. Many Dragon Saints...even one of them...a Chosen Dragon? Who are—! Oh!!!"
Their eyes widened suddenly, as though seeing him for the first time,
"You’re a Desdemona!" They cried out.
Then one turned to her sisters, "Sisters, he...he’s Worldburner’s descendant!"
"Oh, you know the 333rd?" Cassius smiled, "Fantastic. However, I’m in the middle of a bet, and I intend to win. Step aside, sweethearts. Daddy’s about to get serious."
Instantly, Cassius’s left eye transformed pletely, narrowing into a draconic slit.
His aura shifted, and the temperature around him began climbing naturally.
The three spirits looked at him and fell silent, drifting aside to watch the Human Chosen by Dragons.
’How much?’ He asked inwardly.
[85% of your power should be enough.] Ananke replied, leisurely reading her Book of Faith, [No need for more.]
’Aye. 85%, then.’
There was something Cassius had noticed over the past few days, something revealing another layer of his Innate.
He hadn’t used his left eye much since acquiring it, but it had always felt slightly foreign, as though he were merely holding it for someone else.
But that feeling had vanished entirely over the past few days.
It was like wearing a small bag on one’s back constantly.
At first you’d feel its weight and presence, aware of the foreign object resting on you. But after wearing it every day for long enough, you’d barely notice it at all. Your body would adapt to both its weight and its presence.
Now, the left eye had fully adapted to Cassius’s body. In that moment, it was no longer an eye given by the 333rd.
It was his own eye, and his control over it had grown by leaps and bounds.
Cassius called this kind of adaptability Passive Adaptability.
He lifted his head, watching both Copycat and Cassandra as they finished up and turned toward the seven Tier 5 monsters.
Monsters foolish enough to stay put, trying to avoid close bat by relying on ranged skills from where they stood.
If Copycat and Widow killed them, they’d almost certainly win the bet.
"Hey, seniors." Cassius suddenly called out, snapping both Palatines’ heads toward him.
They took in the sight of his left eye and narrowed their own at the suppression they felt radiating from it.
Copycat’s blind eye trembled, a trickle of blood soon sliding down. He began to smile, "Oh. Another Skill I can’t immediately copy?" His smile widened further.
Cassandra, meanwhile, felt the intense hatred radiating from the spirits behind Cassius. She ignored them. She was used to it.
"I’m sorry, but for now, the only one I’ll allow to potentially be stronger than me is that little bastard blessed by heavens." Cassius cracked his neck, and instantly the entire surrounding area — ground and sky alike — erupted into crimson portals.
The portals opened, releasing dozens of crimson chains that burst forth, lashing toward the Tier 5 spiders and both Palatines alike.
Copycat dodged the chains, only for another portal to open beneath him, then another behind.
"How annoying." He said, switching weapons, summoning the hammer back.
Cassandra was fast, but the duration of her First Skill, Spirit Eater, was running out. She was slowing.
The crimson chains moved like snakes, chasing them, zigzagging through air and ground alike, forming a strange, sprawling display.
The two Palatines destroyed chain after chain, but new portals kept opening, again and again.
The entire space became a web of chains, Cassius standing at its center, hands still in his pockets.
His essence drained far more slowly than usual, thanks entirely to the level of control his training had earned him.
At this point, he suspected that with a Second Adaptation of his Body Control, he’d reach a level where Ultimate Skills would cost him practically nothing.
That same level of control had also given him the ability to develop a technique entirely his own.
Something he’d been pondering over for a while, but only after his recent training did he feel ready to attempt it.
Back during the Entrance Test, Cassius had expanded his perception using the concept of "Heat" in the Black Dunes.
So he’d asked himself, that day he had witnessed Keisha during her ice creation...
What if he applied that same concept of Heat, not as a medium to expand his perception this time, but to drain the very concept of "Heat" from his surroundings and pull it into his own body?
’Shall we?’ He thought, as Copycat destroyed five of his portals with one swing and closed in on him.
Cassandra was wearing down his chains with her wine, but her face had gone pale. Her essence control wasn’t nearly as refined. She was losing too much of it.
Cassius paid none of that any mind. He expanded his perception across the entire battle zone, enpassing it fully.
Then, with his heightened abilities from his left eye, Cassius began draining the "heat" from the area at an alarming pace.
At first, no one noticed, but after 10 seconds, Copycat and Cassandra both felt a faint chill creep along their backs.
The crimson portals kept them both occupied.
After 30 seconds, they both stopped abruptly, looking around, spotting clusters of ice forming in the air and across the ground.
"What...?"
The longer it went on, the more frost spread across the entire battlefield.
Before long, Cassius had absorbed enough "Heat" to bury the whole battlefield beneath a blanket of frost.
Even the body heat of Copycat and Cassandra was siphoned slightly, their body temperatures dropping, frost creeping into their limbs, stiffening their movements.
After a moment, only Cassius could still move freely, his body burning hot enough that the surrounding frost melted the instant it neared him.
Steam coiled around him, hissing like a hundred snakes.
He lifted his foot, and before it touched the ground again, his entire body became wreathed in volatile golden lightning, crimson and white flame.
The moment his foot landed, his body shot forward with unbelievable speed, cutting a straight line toward the seven Tier 5 monsters, whose legs and portions of their bodies were now frozen solid.
He appeared above them before they even registered his presence.
Cassius raised his right arm overhead, toward the sun, and using all the heat he’d absorbed, using his second personalized technique.
A sphere of literal "Heat," five times the size of a basketball, radiating so much warmth that the frost around it began melting instantly.
The sphere kept growing, until Cassius looked like a miniature sun himself.
And indeed...
Copycat and Cassandra watched, eyes widening slightly, as Cassius’s right hand fell,
"Miniature Sun."
His voice echoed just as the sun began falling toward the seven Tier 5 spiders.
The spiders let out a loud screech of fear and despair, scrambling to activate their Unique Skills, but Cassius was faster, fire and lightning wrapped around his body.
He reached the ground before the sun did, touching each of the seven spiders in turn, activating his Third Skill and sealing away their Unique Skills.
Then he settled onto the back of one of the spiders, amid its screeching, thrashing brothers or sisters, his crimson eyes fixed on the Palatines.
"I won, didn’t I?"
The sun finally reached the ground, and the seven spiders melted away, unable to withstand the enhanced heat.
—End of Chapter 291—
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