Chapter 113: Abyssal Elf (2)

Rainer sped through the forest, not even looking back. Void-walk after Void-walk with physicals leaps in between. Amer had told him of his previous Trials mixing for his second and third one. Rainer’s only hope was that this part stayed away.

Nonetheless, he was prepared. While he counted fully on Jor pulling him out of the fire, he had another plan. Advance beyond his clone. Under the assumption the mimic version of him could be beaten at all there was only a single option; gain enough strength to outpace an unlimited Mana version of oneself.

The only caveat here being Rainer’s hope that unlimited meant recharging rather than an ability to cast an all-encompassing [Absolute Frost]. At that point, he had no chance from the start. [Magic Detection] and [Void Detection] was constantly used, as he felt the clone behind him mimicking his [Void-walking].

There was only a single thing that could grant him a large enough advantage over a clone Rainer. Leveling [Void Grasp] to 10.

Rainer suddenly halted his retreat, before unleashing not only his armed Arcane bolts but an [Arcane Combustion] near where he assumed his clone was walking in.

He reached out with [Void Grasp] as his clone attempted to dodge, only to be rebuffed by a surge of Mana.

An [Arcane Blade] in hand, his other half appeared directly in front of him, only to vanish once more as Jor lashed out and then quickly returned at Rainer’s command.

The two stared at one another through the trees, the beasts of shadows still chasing in the distance.

Seeing no Jor equivalent on his clone upped Rainer’s spirits as he used this pause in combat to think on [Void Grasp] as he had been doing since he leveled [Void Seer]. He knew the skill was on the border of reaching level 10 after weeks of [Sleep Learning], It was only a matter of pushing it over.

Seemingly done waiting for his allies, the clone attacked at Rainer once more, repeating his own assault of armed [Arcane Bolt]s and fire.

Rainer, conserving mana, flared [Arcane Awakening] with Surge as well and rushed away. Jor leaped out of his shoulder as he went hunting for the beasts of shadows.

The unlimited Mana of the figure prompted him to use [Void-walking] to keep up with him, as it made the most sense for Rainer to do in his spot. And yet this was exactly what allowed Rainer to repeatedly practice [Void Grasp].

With Jor handling the others, Rainer focused entirely on his clone.

The two figures danced between one another, the clone having the advantage of using [Void-walking] freely even with the attempts to use [Void Grasp] by Rainer. Every clash of [Arcane Blade]s and launch of [Arcane Bolt]s sent Rainer further behind. The tips of his hair burned, the flesh on his face and bare chest repeatedly singed by just barely dodged bolts.

And yet with every use of [Void Grasp], Rainer’s focus increased further, even as his alternate self slashed his [Arcane Blade] across his thigh. Only [Arcane Invigoration] kept the blood loss from being fatal. With every clash, and with every attempt to use [Void-walking] to gain an advantage over the real Rainer, [Void Grasp] came closer to advancement.

And in a final moment of inspiration, Rainer understood. And sent a message for Jor to return.

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To grasp with the Void wasn’t only to defy the abilities of the Omnipresent Void, but to restrict Space and Time itself with its power.

[Void Grasp has reached level 10]

[Experience Gained: XX]

[Void Grasp has reached its maximum level. 5 skill points have been rewarded.]

[Void Grasp has unlocked Void Hold lvl 1/10]

Jor leaped out from behind a tree as planned while Rainer prevented his clone from [Void-walking]. His figure rushed forward when even his full efforts couldn’t penetrate the level 10 skill combined with [Void Hold]. The very Void sought to wrap around the clone, as a full on [Arcane Awakening] worked to escape Rainer’s hold.

With all of Rainer's remaining [Void Will] he forced his clone to stay in place, ignoring the power of [Arcane Awakening: Might] flowing through the alternate's body. Rainer’s ears bled as he used all his conscious effort to keep the figure in place. He had not even a thought to spare to do anything else. To even consider anything else.

Thankfully, Jor understood the situation very well.

With an indignant roar, the clone could do nothing as Jor consumed him. And he vanished too, with the shadow beasts joining him. A fully powered Jor rampaging as the massive Serpent he was.

[Second and Final Trial complete. Teleportation to Safe Area will commence in: 00:05:00] Thanks for reading on ManaNovel!

Rainer made no notion of stopping his fall as he collapsed on his back and rolled into a ball gripping his head. Only the knowledge that completing the Trial would heal him sustained the [Archon] through the pain.

Even with a comforting surge of healing, Rainer didn’t feel that much better.

Jor flew around his downed master before wrapping a circle the around fallen figure. Rainer got a small influx of information soon after that he could only translate as “who needs a stupid dragon” before Jor retreated into his shoulder just as the countdown fell.

And with a brief bout of teleportation Rainer’s Trial ended not with the power of the Arcane, but with the fury of a system-defying Serpent.

[2nd Class Advancement: Voidwalker has been completed.]

[Tallying Achievement Points]

[1st Class Titles, Already Processed: Arcane Scholar, Fae Contractor, Arcane Elementalist, Dungeon Pioneer, Philanderer, Trollsbane, Wielder of Space and Time, Wielder of Fire and Brimstone, Energy Drainer]

[1st Class Titles: Wielder of Water and Tides, Wielder of Terra and Foundation, Wielder of Shadows and Darkness, Wielder of Light, Wielder of Ice and Frost, Wielder of Mind and Illusion, Devilsbane, Manipulator of the Elements, Basic Elementalist, Shaman, Speaker of Power]

[Wielder of Water and Tides: 50]

[Wielder of Terra and Foundation: 50]

[Shaman: 60]

[Wielder of Shadows and Darkness: 60]

[Wielder of Light: 60]

[Wielder of Ice and Frost: 60]

[Wielder of Mind and Illusion: 60]

[Devilsbane: 80]

[Manipulator of the Elements: 99]

[Basic Elementalist: 99]

[Speaker of Power: 99]

[2nd Class Titles Already Processed: Wielder of the Arcane, Immortal Slayer]

[2nd Class Titles: Corruptor, Master of Space and Time, Master of Ice and Frost, Chosen Slayer, Queen Slayer, Devastator]

[Corruptor: 150]

[Queen Slayer: 150]

[Chosen Slayer: 180]

[Master of Ice and Frost: 190]

[Devastator: 199]

[Master of Space and Time: 199]

[3rd Class Titles: Master of the Arcane, Arcane Speaker, Magus of Tongues, Draconic Magus, Draconic Contractor, Voidwalker, One who defies Divinity]

[Master of the Arcane: 200 points]

[Arcane Speaker: 230]

[Draconic Contractor: 250]

[Magus of Tongues: 250]

[Draconic Magus: 250]

[Voidwalker: 299]

[One who defies Divinity: 299]

[Total Achievement Points: 3623]

[Create Enchanted Item: Imagine both the form and properties of any item you desire. Subsequent cost shall be displayed and if within the limit, you will be able to create the item.]

[Item creation limit: 5]

[00:15:00]

Wasting not a moment Rainer focused on the first and likely most important item, an improvement to [Void-walking]. In the end, if he couldn’t make it back home, risking the Trial for this was pointless. And as useful as [Miasmic Conversion] was for most Magic, [Void-walking]’s distance was more based on his maximum Mana and how much he could loosen the Void prior, the spell too short a cast to have enough time to take full advantage of [Miasmic Conversion].

[Cost: 400 Points]

[Ring of Void Magic: Increase the power Void Magic by 30%]

[Cost: 400 Points]

[Ring of Void-walking: Increase the power [Void-walking] by 50%]

And in a similar construction to his hilt.

[Cost: 400 Points]

[Ring of Void-walking: Decreases cost of [Void-walking] by 30%]

Attempting it to push it past 30, was 50 points for 31 and even more beyond that. But that wasn’t his goal here. Amer, after learning negative factors could be applied to great reimbursement, ventured that’d be the better path. And Rainer agreed with the Devil in this case.

And seeing as [Void-walking] was only expensive for huge jumps, then a limit was easy enough.

[Cost: 400 Points]

[Ring of Traveling: Decreases cost of [Void-walking] by 40%, for travels extending beyond one’s current world or plane]

And if he wasn’t going to be wearing it all the time…

Rainer tried to throw a couple more on, but found the increases too small and not worth being weak the moment he entered another world. A few more benefits tacked on for long distance Void-walking, didn’t add too much cost and he had a completed item.

[Cost: 953 Points]

[Ring of Traveling: Decreases cost of Void-walking by 45%, Increase power of Void-walking by 60%, for travels extending beyond one’s current world or plane. Restricts all [Void-walking] to cross world and plane travel only.]

With this part complete, he went on to create a ring of tethering to mimic the familiar bond.

[Cost: 200 Points]

[Rings of Bonding: Creates a magical bond between a pair of rings.]

He avoided creating it and instead applied it to all items he’d make for the party, having seemingly not bothered to write down the notion of a 5-item limit last time. He’d dump any remaining points to improve items as he went on.