Chapter 69

  In a forest near the Blockade, there was a small clearing where Ska’dur sat atop a boulder with his legs crossed. Motionless, he listened to the chirping of birds and the buzzing of insects, relaxing under the rays of light that peaked through the canopy.

  Sometime later, a dwarf appeared in the sky and landed next to Ska’dur, laughing, “What’s this about a new skill, Sir Ska’dur?”

  “Be patient,” Ska’dur eyed the dwarf. “Wait for the others to arrive.”

  Humming, the dwarf found somewhere to sit and asked, “How many are coming?”

  “About 20 or so,” Ska’dur replied simply.

  Over the next ten minutes, one person after another arrived in the clearing, whereupon they each made themselves comfortable. There were dwarves, elves, orcs, and humans, both male and female.

  When Keith showed up, he was recognized by everyone, and in turn, he recognized them. Besides Keith, everyone here was among the top 20 in the Blockade’s ranking list. They were the strongest individuals in the Innate Nation.

  Ignoring their gazes, Keith approached Ska’dur with a grin, “Uncle, long time no see.”

  “I’m glad you could come,” Ska’dur’s face lit up with delight as he jumped off the boulder and clasped Keith’s shoulder. Many in the area were envious of Ska’dur’s treatment toward Keith. He barely said a word when they arrived, yet when Keith came, he got up and embraced him.

  Keith clicked his tongue. “Say, I thought you already created a skill? Does that mean you know the requirements to make another?”

  “Lad, I’ve created 18 skills to date, not just one,” Ska’dur laughed boisterously.

  “Dang!” Keith looked at Ska’dur in wonder.

  Ska’dur waved his hand. “It’s not that amazing. It was easier when we were restricted to the Innate Dimension.”

  “How so?” Keith grew curious.

  “Simple.” Ska’dur began. “To create a second skill, you need to max out the level of the first one. In the Innate Dimension, leveling a skill to 500 wasn’t that difficult. Now that we’re in the Grandsky Realm, it’s a lot harder.”

  Keith’s eyes lit up, then dimmed.

  Quickdraw involved opening a space in your consciousness. He had no clue how that worked. Nobody else knew either. That meant Keith would have difficulty leveling the skill to 1,000.

  After catching up with Ska’dur, Keith wanted to ask him about the reward he got from the doppelganger challenge but thought better of it when he saw so many people around. While they conversed, Markus landed in the clearing.

  Upon his arrival, everyone stood up, full of respect.

  “High Commander.”

  “Greetings, High Commander.”

  Half of the people here belonged to the military, while the other half were adventurers who worked closely with the top echelon of the Innate’s government. They had interacted with Markus before, with some more familiar with him than others.

  “Relax. I’m off-duty,” Markus smiled, then turned to Keith and nodded.

  Ska’dur glanced around. “Seems like everyone’s here. Good.”

  Jumping onto the boulder, Ska’dur overlooked the clearing. “I’ve recently developed a new skill, and considering the state of things, I’ve decided to share it with you all. However, there’s a condition. You mustn’t reveal anything about the skill or how it works to anyone else.”

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  Nobody spoke as Ska’dur continued. “Frankly, this skill is too amazing, and I’m afraid it’ll fall into the wrong hands, like Torgs.”

  “What makes it so special?” An elf asked, intrigued.

  Ska’dur organized his thoughts before explaining, “As many of you have experienced, after reaching a certain threshold, you can no longer gain stats from physical exertion or elixirs. The skill I created resolves this issue.”

  “What?!”

  “Is that true?”

  Everyone stood to their feet, expressing surprise and joy.

  Ska’dur raised a hand, making everyone fall silent. He continued, “The skill has high requirements in both muscle control and Mana Manipulation. Without either, it’s pointless. Oh, you also need to use a few arrays.”

  The people gathered were all gifted geniuses.

  They were all confident in their muscle control and Mana Manipulation abilities, though some had never learned arrays. The dwarf who arrived first inquired with a troubled expression, “How hard are these arrays?”

  “If you have level 500 Mana Manipulation, not difficult. You just need to copy what I show you,” Ska’dur answered as the dwarf heaved a sigh of relief.

  Raising an arm, Ska’dur said, “Watch carefully.”

  Keith observed as Ska’dur’s arm started to shake ever so slightly. There was also a soft hum in the air. Without superhuman senses, he wouldn’t have noticed anything different.

  “Keith, try touching my arm,” Ska’dur requested.

  Everyone’s eyes converged on Keith as he approached Ska’dur. Reaching out with a finger, Keith had barely tapped Ska’dur’s arm when an explosive force blasted his hand away. Keith took two steps back before he stabilized himself.

  “Vibrations?” A sharp-eyed elf muttered.

  “Exactly so,” Ska’dur grinned. “Using precise control over individual muscle fibers, I can create a powerful vibration through high-speed contraction and relaxation. I call it Tremor Force.”

  To demonstrate that Tremor Force was no joke, Ska’dur jumped off the boulder he was standing on and rested his palm on its surface. With a grunt, Ska’dur’s arm blurred as he increased the frequency of vibrations. Everyone’s jaw dropped when the boulder suddenly shattered into dust.

  Turning around to face the crowd, Ska’dur revealed, “The upper limit of Tremor Force depends on your physical stats. However, there’s a catch. Without enough vitality and endurance, you’ll end up damaging yourself. I discovered that this damage comes from microtears in the muscle fiber, similar to working out. Anyway, I started thinking… could I apply the same principles behind Tremor Force to mana?”

  Without pausing, mana rose from Ska’dur’s body and started vibrating in the same manner as his muscles, though clearly at a decreased frequency.

  Ska’dur paused briefly. “I wanted to combine both the physical and mana aspects of Tremor Force, but nothing came out of it. That’s where the magic of the skill creation came into play. As usual, the System filled in the gaps, though I’m ashamed to admit the arrays it used weren’t even that complicated. In the end, the Tremor Force Body Tempering skill came into existence.”

  All of a sudden, ripples spread out from Ska’dur’s body, sending visible waves through the air. At the same time, blood seeped out of Ska’dur’s pores, covering him in blood.

  “Are you okay?!” Keith gasped in shock.

  Ska’dur raised his head and laughed. “Without destruction, how can there be growth? The effects of the Tremor Force Body Tempering skill lie in its name. Tempering through vibration! As long as I’m getting stronger, so what if it's painful?”

  Keith’s eyebrows twitched.

  A moment later, Ska’dur deactivated the skill and then used a Cleanliness Ring to remove the blood. All this time, Markus had remained silent, simply observing. It was only after Ska’dur’s demonstration finished that he asked, “How many stats have you gained since acquiring the skill this morning?”

  Ska’dur counted with his fingers. “About a couple dozen points in strength, vitality, agility, and endurance.”

  Audible exclamations came from the crowd. They couldn’t believe what they’d just heard. A human shook their head in doubt. “Sir Ska’dur, are you joking with us?”

  “Of course not,” Ska’dur squinted his eyes. “Why do you think I asked you to keep this a secret? This skill isn’t all that difficult to learn. Should our enemies acquire it, what do you think will happen?”

  Markus nodded in agreement. “Your concern is valid.”

  At that moment, a familiar hum came from a middle-aged elf sitting cross-legged on the ground. Keith looked over and saw the elf’s body vibrating like mad. Sensing everyone’s attention on her, the elf opened her eyes, “Indeed, with sufficient control, it’s not hard at all.”

  With Ska’dur’s demonstration over, he went on to share the arrays involved in the skill.

  In less than an hour, everyone present had learned the skill, Keith included.

  (Transcendent, Legacy Skill) Tremor Force Body Tempering

  Description: A specific method of controlling mana and muscle to temper the user’s body.

  Note 1: Causes damage to the user.

  The skill’s effects were terrifying.

  In the short five minutes Keith had it active, his stats, save for intelligence, rose by 3 points each. For Keith, the accompanying pain was still bearable, though if it were him from a few years ago, he doubted he’d be able to endure it.

  As amazing as the skill was, the downside was obvious.

  Keith had lost 20% of his health in five minutes of tempering.

  To recover, it’d take Keith over eight hours.

  That meant he could only use the skill a few times a week.

  Regardless, in the face of gaining stats, the downside wasn’t worth mentioning.