After being finished with the first test of [Primordial Barrage], Sam wasted no ti moving on to the other three primordial skills he had yet to explore.
The thought alone carried a thrill through him.
He knew that each of these abilities had the potential to completely change the flow of a battle, and unlike before, this ti he had enough ti and space inside the [Dinsion of Ti] to truly push them.
He exhaled once, then reached into his spatial inventory and drew his primordial sword.
Its dark, glimring surface reflected the crimson aura surrounding his body.
He raised it high into the air.
Primordial Tendrils!
The mont the words echoed in his mind, the blade pulsed, and a surge of overwhelming power ran through his arm.
With a deep roar of energy, dozens upon dozens of black tendrils exploded outward from the sword, writhing in the air like living things.
They were the sa in shape as they had once been, but Sam could feel it down to his very bones, the density, the weight, the hunger behind them had grown.
These were not the fragile extensions of his power he had commanded at [Tier 1].
Sam closed his eyes, steadying his breath. Controlling them was harder now.
The sheer pressure of his aura made them twitch and thrash, and without focus they wanted to tear themselves loose and lash at everything in sight.
But Sam wasn’t a novice anymore.
He concentrated, locking his will around them, slowly forcing them to listen.
And then, as if obeying so silent signal, the tendrils stilled.
They shifted, hovering around him like shadows waiting to pounce.
Sam opened his eyes again, and crimson light flared across his irises.
He snapped his arm forward.
"Rush him."
The tendrils shot forward in a storm, slamming toward the [Primordial Clone] who was standing across from him.
The clone, of course, smiled.
It mirrored his grin almost mockingly, and in a single motion drew its own primordial sword.
"Defend yourself," Sam ordered coldly. "Don’t let them catch you."
The clone leapt into motion instantly.
It was his equal, born from his own power, so it didn’t hesitate.
The blade cut with brutal efficiency, severing tendril after tendril while the rest tried to coil around its limbs.
Its body twisted and turned, dodging strikes that should have been impossible to avoid.
It cut its way free every ti, no matter how many ca at once.
Sam’s brows furrowed.
He scratched his chin, muttering under his breath.
"Not enough focus. I need to tighten control... make them coordinate instead of acting like beasts."
Even so, the sheer strength behind the tendrils made itself clear.
Each strike forced the clone to respond with his full strength. Each bind took effort to break.
Against anything weaker, they would be devastating.
But before he dismissed them, another thought ca unbidden.
He rembered the description of the skill.
[Description: Tendrils strong enough to crush entire realms and capable of defeating armies, anything entangled by them will face the wrath of... "him."]
Sam’s lips curved upward. That single line gave him an idea.
He couldn’t just leave it alone.
So instead of unsummoning the tendrils, he tightened his grip on the sword and turned to the clone.
"Get ready," he said, grinning with anticipation.
The clone smirked in return, blade still ready.
Sam raised his sword skyward, then swung it down with all his strength.
Primordial Tendrils, Earth Mode!
The ground beneath the clone cracked, glowing faintly with crimson energy.
Fwish! BAM!
From the surface around the clone, dozens of tendrils suddenly erupted upward like monstrous roots.
They shot forward in every direction, coiling around the clone’s arms, legs, and torso before it had a chance to react.
Sam’s eyes lit up with exhilaration.
"Amazing..."
This wasn’t the sa ability as before. It wasn’t limited to his sword anymore.
Now the tendrils could manifest from the very world itself.
The implications were terrifying.
Enemies wouldn’t know when or where they would strike, and once they did, escape would be almost impossible.
The clone struggled, thrashing violently, trying to cut them off.
But the tendrils tightened.
They crushed down harder, binding the clone with unrelenting strength.
Sam shook his head slightly and sighed.
"You can actually try to get away now."
The clone’s grin widened. Its aura spiked.
In the next mont, BOOM!
A massive explosion of energy erupted from its body, throwing the tendrils back in every direction.
The ability [Affinities Shockwave] ripped through them, tearing them apart completely.
Sam narrowed his eyes.
’Expected. That thing has my exact power. Of course it can break free.’
Still, he knew one thing with certainty, if it wasn’t himself, if it was anyone else caught in that prison of tendrils, they wouldn’t have survived.
He dismissed the ability and moved on. Ti for the next test.
Primordial Hellscape!
He opened his palm, focusing his aura and affinities into his hand.
A spark of dark fire flickered there, almost weightless at first.
But when he poured more power into it, it grew, swelling into a sphere of unstable flas that twisted unnaturally with every heartbeat.
Even Sam had to pause to watch.
’This is dangerous... this thing could beco anything. Its uses are endless if I can master it.’
He smiled faintly and raised his hand toward the empty air above him.
The fla pulsed. He activated the ability fully.
BOOM!
Hellscape Domain!
The fire detonated in his palm and spread outward in an instant.
Flas surged across the ground, igniting everything within a massive radius around him.
The [Primordial Clone] was caught in it, but Sam ignored its reaction for now.
He was too focused on the sheer sight. Every inch of the domain erupted in blazing fire.
The flas towered high into the air, black and crimson, burning with impossible speed.
Anything caught in this would be reduced to ash.
Sam’s smile grew.
"Perfect."
He didn’t push it further. This was only testing.
For now, it was enough to know the base strength.
He closed his fist, extinguishing the domain, and prepared for the last skill.
Primordial Wings!
With a sudden rush of energy, two colossal wings burst from his back.
The motion startled even him, and he glanced over his shoulder quickly.
"...Wow."
They were enormous.
Much larger than the [Hatred Wings] he had once used, and infinitely more majestic.
Black feathers lined the wings, but within them were shifting streaks of gray and glimring shades that mirrored the colors of his affinities.
The edges of each feather glead faintly, unnaturally sharp.
Sam reached out with one hand to touch them, curious.
The mont his fingers brushed against the edge, a thin cut opened on his skin, bleeding instantly.
His eyes widened.
’Holy shit... the description wasn’t lying. These things are sharp.’
He realized the truth quickly. The wings weren’t just for flight.
They were weapons themselves, forged from the sa aura and affinity material as his primordial sword.
That ant they could slice through nearly anything.
He flapped them once, and the air cracked with force.
The clone imdiately followed suit, spreading identical primordial wings of its own.
With two of them in the air, he could now practice aerial combat as if fighting a true enemy.
And just like that, the last skill was checked.
Sam hovered there for a mont, staring at the clone across from him with his wings spread wide.
He raised his primordial sword once more.
"Alright," he said with determination. "Now the real training begins. Let’s get as strong as possible before everything goes to shit."
...
Exactly two weeks later in the real world, nearly one hundred days had passed inside the [Dinsion of Ti].
To most people, the endless repetition would have been maddening.
Training with the sa skills again and again, refining the smallest movents, day after day, without any break.
Ninety-eight days straight of battle against himself. But to Sam, it was fuel.
Every ti he rembered being crushed by those beings, every ti he rembered the despair of not being able to fight back, the fire in his chest burned hotter.
They had even been able to stop him from using his [Cooldown Breaker].
He had been helpless. But not anymore. Not if he pushed himself far enough.
He couldn’t give up, not now, not ever.
If he didn’t sharpen every skill until it was perfect, he wouldn’t survive.
He knew it. And so he kept training.
Until finally, after nearly a hundred days, he stood confident.
He had unlocked two new abilities for [Primordial Hellscape].
He had learned how to control [Primordial Wings] in full, mastering flight and movent.
His control over [Primordial Tendrils] had improved drastically, and he had discovered an entirely new ability with them.
His accuracy with [Primordial Barrage] had grown sharper with each attempt.
It was a complete training cycle, and the satisfaction of progress burned in his chest.
When it was done, Sam took one last steadying breath, and opened the exit portal of the [Dinsion of Ti].
The clone disappeared behind him as he stepped forward.
He clenched his sword tightly, eyes burning with determination.
From now, he would give everything he had.
He would complete the missions. And he would move on to the last realm.
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