As they waited for Nina and Mara to return, Moon and the others maintained their formation, scanning the area vigilantly in case the penalty chanism activated while the two won were still inside the gate.
Nothing guaranteed that it won't after all.
Whilst everyone's eyes moved around, Moon's eyes were focused on a block of text floating before his vision:
[Class Slot {1/1}]
[Class: Lifeweaver]
[Skills: Minor nd, Purify]
[Duration: 24 hours]
——
[Minor nd]
[Rank: Uncommon]
[Proficiency: 0%]
[Details: Channel restorative energy to heal a single target for a moderate amount of health.]
——
[Purify]
[Rank: Epic]
[Proficiency: 0%]
[Details: Cleanse a target of all standard negative status effects and has a 1% chance to remove high-tier debuffs and advanced curses. Restores a small amount of health upon successful cleansing.]
Staring at the two skills before his eyes, Moon's expression sharpened with a glint. He'd copied Mara's class before she entered the gate specifically because of the possibility of her death and the value of acquiring healing skills.
He'd been wanting a strong healing skill for so ti, and the opportunity had presented itself within this gate. Mara was recognized as one of the strongest healers within the First Sanctuary, possessing a unique class variation.
'The skills aren't bad, but based on my experience so far, she's already evolved both skills through her own progression. That saves lives in evolution costs, which is convenient, but it also ans I'm getting the exact sa abilities without any variation due to the possibility of treading down a different pathway.' Moon reasoned.
Although he would have preferred to copy an epic-rank skill from its base form to see if he could truly evolve it to legendary rank, he doubted Mara possessed such mountain shattering potential. Nothing about her suggested access to skills at that tier.
Analyzing Mara's abilities more carefully, Moon recognized that her skills were more supportive utility than pure healing power. The Purify skill was good for removing poisons and debuffs, sothing that could be life-saving in the right circumstances.
But her actual healing output wasn't overpowered by any ans. It was slightly better than standard high-quality potions at most, with the main advantage being fast casting speed.
Without further ado, Moon began sneakily casting the healing skill on himself in small incrents, masking the gestures.
Just as he'd expected from his new innate comprehension abilities, the proficiency began rising at a sharp pace, increasing with every successful cast before gradually slowing as he continued practicing. He had yet to find out the exact reason why that was the case, but his only guess was due to the Pavilion of The World's Flaw.
With a full day remaining before the copied class expired, Moon didn't bother trying to expose his newfound ability to heal. He made absolutely certain that whenever he used the healing skill, nobody could tell what he was doing. His casts were subtle, the effects minimal, the mana barely perceptible.
Therefore, although his progression was objectively fast due to the sheer number of casts he managed during the waiting period, it remained relatively slow in absolute terms compared to focused, open practice.
After almost an hour of patient, covert training, both of his copied skills had reached ten percent proficiency:
[Minor nd]
[Rank: Uncommon]
[Proficiency: 12%]
[Details: Channel restorative energy to heal a single target for a moderate amount of health. Healing scales with Mana. 10% Healing Effect.]
[Purify]
[Rank: Epic]
[Proficiency: 10%]
[Details: Cleanse a target of all standard negative status effects and has a 2% chance to remove high-tier debuffs and advanced curses. Restores a small amount of health upon successful cleansing. 5% Additional Healing]
As Moon was preparing to cast his next subtle healing incrent, blue energy suddenly began swirling where the first gate had been.
Within monts, the portal rematerialized, its surface rippling with activity.
And seconds after its appearance, Nina and Mara stumbled through, erging from the gate back into the main chamber.
Nina's face was noticeably pale, her breathing slightly labored, but she appeared otherwise intact. Mara looked relatively normal.
The group imdiately rushed toward them, weapons ready, formation tightening in preparation for anything that might occur as a consequence of their actions.
Seconds passed but…nothing happened.
No penalty was triggered. And certainly, no additional beasts erged. The chamber remained exactly as it had been before Mara and Nina returned.
"Hey, are you both okay? What was inside the gate?" Grant asked urgently, his eyes fixed on Nina's pale face.
Mara spoke on Nina's behalf, her voice steady despite the obvious exhaustion the battle had incurred, "We faced an S-Rank Acromantuli inside. A massive spider with poison-infused webs. We managed to defeat it after a treacherous battle that cost Nina one death. The gates definitely contain S-rank beasts within them, just as we predicted."
As Mara explained the details of their encounter, Moon's attention was drawn to the gate they'd just exited.
It was shrinking.
The blue portal's edges were contracting inward, the surface destabilizing as the gateway gradually collapsed in on itself.
Within seconds, it disappeared completely, leaving only empty air where it had been.
Everyone noticed the phenonon, and questions imdiately began forming in their minds. Was this normal? Did clearing a gate cause it to close permanently? What did this an for the trial's structure?
This phenona especially contradicted the statents on the tablet. Was the tablet fake? Deceiving them, in order to lower their chances of success?
It was certainly a possibility.
But before anyone could voice these questions aloud, sothing terrible happened before their very eyes—
An ominous energy suddenly began engulfing Nina, wrapping around her body like invisible chains.
Blue light swirled around her body, intensifying with each passing mont.
"What—" Nina's eyes went wide with shock and fear as she felt the energy taking hold.
She tried to activate her class skills in an attempt to remove the energy from her body, but failed.
The group reacted instantly, multiple people lunging forward to grab her, to stop whatever was happening.
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