'...Selene.'
Alaric remained silent for a long mont, his sudden stillness radiating outward like a ripple across water.
The entire pavilion fell into deathly quiet, every Evolver in the vicinity instinctively ceasing their activities. Even the wounded spirits seed to hold their breath in solidarity.
When soone of Alaric's caliber went silent, it ant he was making a decision that would affect everyone around him.
Then, slowly, Alaric sheathed his sword. Clink!
"Tell him that I won't delay it for a mont longer than one year. Not a single second beyond that ti-line. Make that condition explicitly clear. The ti now is: 21:56:201. This ti next year, this agreent will end."
The Evolver's face imdiately brightened, breaking into a smile so wide his lips nearly reached the corners of his face. Relief and excitent radiating from his body.
"Yes, Captain! I will make sure to relay your terms to the the old master precisely!"
With his crucial duty fulfilled, the Evolver departed in a hurry, practically sprinting back toward the main gate to relay Alaric's decision to his father as quickly as possible
After the ssenger disappeared from view, Emma turned her attention to Alaric with visible concern on her face.
In a gentle tone, she said, "Hey...are you completely sure about this decision? You've been working so incredibly hard toward ascending. This is everything you've focused on for so long."
Alaric's expression returned to its composed calm, though sothing thoughtful lingered in his eyes.
"I know what I'm sacrificing," he acknowledged. "Based on our current progress clearing these Spirit Pavilions, I should be able to complete my advancent requirents within the next three months. So theoretically, I'm only waiting an additional nine months before ascending to the Third Sanctuary."
He paused, calculating.
"It's worth the exchange. Besides," a slight smile touched his lips, "I'm curious what kind of benefits and opportunities a Second Order S-rank gate might provide. The rewards for clearing such an unprecedented challenge could be extraordinary.
Selene is also approaching her evolution, so I could use that ti to spend so ti with her…if she wants to, that is."
Selene is also approaching her evolution, so I could use that ti to spend so ti with her…if she wants to, that is."
Emma sighed dramatically, the teasing smile creeping back across her face. Her eyes sparkled with mischief as she placed one hand on her hip in an exaggerated pose.
"I suppose we're stuck as Surpassers for a whole year then, hmm~?" She tilted her head with concern, "I simply can't abandon my poor, lonely captain to face this long period all by himself. He would be so... terribly... unbearably... lonely~"
She drew out the last word with such exaggerated sympathy that it was clearly mockery, punctuating it with a soft giggle and covering her mouth with her delicate fingers. Her eyes danced with amusent as she watched for Alaric's reaction, clearly trying to provoke so response from his stoic deanor.
"What would you do without to keep your spirits up during these long, arduous nine months of waiting?" Emma continued, pressing one hand to her chest as if wounded by the very thought. "Truly tragic~"
She made a small sound of amused contemplation—"Mmm~"—while tapping her chin thoughtfully. "Although, I suppose that taking that ti to relax and enjoy ourselves does have certain…appeals." Her blue eyes turned positively wicked. "Won't that be fun~?" Alaric's eye twitched almost imperceptibly, the only crack in his otherwise perfect composure.
"Emma."
"Yes, Captain~?" She batted her eyelashes with completely artificial innocence.
"Get back to work." "Of course, of course~" Emma giggled, giving a playful salute before skipping away toward the pavilion's storage areas, humming cheerfully to herself. Alaric sighed before turning his head towards the spirit that remained kneeling before him in submission, "As for you…"
♢♢♢♢
[Minor nd]
[Rank: Uncommon]
[Proficiency: 91%]
[Purify]
[Rank: Epic]
[Proficiency: 78%]
"Not bad. The proficiency is still rising at a good rate," Moon muttered, casting the healing skill once more on himself.
Moon's half-naked body stood bloodied in the fungal-lit cavern, facing the flying Bellywig that was also bleeding from multiple gashes across its sapphire carapace. Both combatants bore the marks of a hard battle, though Moon's injuries were more severe despite his continuous self-healing.
Although Moon was primarily focused on improving the proficiency of his copied healing skills, he ensured the fight didn't beco completely one-sided or risk the Bellywig fleeing or changing tactics. He periodically landed powerful counterstrikes of his own, attacks that knocked the breath from the insect's body and kept it engaged in aggressive combat.
The healing effectiveness was impressive and growing noticeably stronger every ti his proficiency crossed another percentage milestone.
CRASH!
Moon's body was sent tumbling across the cavern floor as the Bellywig landed an especially powerful strike, its bladed forearm catching him across the chest with enough force to launch him backward several ters.
He rolled with the impact, coming up smoothly despite the fresh would bleeding across his torso.
But the wound was shallower than it should have been, the damage noticeably reduced by his passive defensive skill.
His newly evolved [Golden Skin] was proving significantly more resilient in comparison to the previous [Silver Skin]. The passive damage reduction had increased substantially, now blocking approximately 20-30% of incoming damage from First Order weapons and beast attacks.
That 20-30% reduction was the difference between deep, potentially crippling wounds and manageable injuries that his healing could quickly address.
The synergy between [Golden Skin] reducing incoming damage and [Minor nd] rapidly closing what got through was creating a sustainability loop that made Moon extraordinarily difficult to kill through attrition.
Moon cast [Minor nd] again, his wounds slowly closing up once more.
His proficiency ticked upward another percentage point.
The Bellywig hissed with frustration, its eyes tracking this impossible prey that refused to die despite taking dozens of strikes that should have killed anyone else. What irritated it even further was the fact that its trump card—its poison—had no effect on its opponent, rendered useless no matter how many tis it was used.
"Co on, if you want to kill you need to hit harder... you haven't even burned through a single life of mine yet. I have plenty left to spare," Moon taunted through his blood-stained teeth.
The Bellywig hissed at the mockery, its wings beating faster as its fury began to rise.
It charged toward him once more with explosive speed, all four wings creating a deafening hum as it aid to take this human's life.
Moon's smile widened as he prepared to take another hit, his mind already calculating which body part to sacrifice next.
♢♢♢♢
In the other gates scattered across the S-Rank gate, the battles were also approaching their violent climaxes.
Both awakeners and their S-Rank beast opponents were heavily injured now, blood trickling down bodies on both sides. The initial exchanges had finally led to all-out assaults where single mistakes ant death.
Grant's shield arm hung at an awkward angle, dislocated from absorbing too many devastating blows, but his sword still struck with undiminished power. The Stone Golem he faced was missing chunks of its body, cracks spider-webbing across its torso from the repeated strikes.
The Berserker Ape that Caleb fought was missing an eye and most of its teeth, its fur drenched with blood. But Caleb looked worse, his class converting every injury into fuel for his escalating rage, making him progressively more dangerous even as his body accumulated catastrophic injuries.
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