Chapter 26 - Spar
"Rory please remove the fire surrounding the rabbit."
I ordered Rory after I calmed myself down. Rory then extinguished the fire around the rabbit. The rabbit tried to run away but I used my Ice Magic to freeze it's limbs disabling it from it's attempt.
I then used my skill Consume to test my experiment. Then the mouth emerged from my right hand and soon the tongue came out from the mouth, the tongue then moved towards the rabbit but it was not able to consume it. It just licked the rabbit's body.
I felt disappointed knowing that it was unable to consume a living target. I then used my Ice Magic to create an ice dagger, and thrown it towards the rabbit to kill it. The tongue was then able to consume the rabbit.
After I was done with my test, I looked at Rory and said.
"We shall continue our hunt of the lizardmen tomorrow. It is already night and their might be strong monsters roaming around. For now we shall spar, I want to see how powerful your evolved fire is."
This spar will be beneficial and I might not be able to win but I can maybe upgrade some of my skills.
"Yes, master Ave."
Rory replied while I prepare myself. I will use my shadow clones today because last time, I lost when his Blade Arts was still in the basic tier and now that it is in the intermediate tier, I think I will lose faster without them.
Rory was already prepared with his hand holding the sword. I then controlled my shadow clones to attack first while I stayed at the back summoning some ice spears. Rory was still standing while my shadow clones was only a few inches away from him. I then controlled my shadows by using punches with different angles but suddenly, Rory moved his sword and was able to block and dodge every single attack from my shadow clones. He was dodging it as if he was walking in a park.
Now that Rory is busy dodging my clones' attacks, I used this opportunity to throw ice spears at him. When the ice spears was almost at Rory, he waved his hand which instantly summoned his flames, melting the ice spears easily. I then used a sneak attack by making an ice spike behind him.
Rory then dodge the ice spike as if he has eyes at his back. He then dashed towards me while I move away from him. I know that I will instantly lose when fighting him in close quarters. While I was running away from him, I made the floor be covered with ice. I also summoned some ice spears to attack him when I have an opportunity.
Rory still dashed forward while melting the ice when he is passing through it. He chased me while I run which turned the spar into a stalemate. I made my shadow clones help me by making ice spears to throw at Rory but it was still ineffective. I then heard the system when I was fighting with Rory making me surprised.
Ding!
Your Multi Task skill leveled up!
Ding!
Your Smart Thinking skill leveled up!
Ding!
Your Multi Task evolved into Parallel Thinking!
Ding!
Your Smart Thinking evolved into Thought Acceleration!
I feel like I have two brains now. I tried controlling the shadows and it moved smoothly unlike before and not only that but I can even move my body easily now. It was like one of my brain controls the shadow while the other brain focuses only at my body. I can also see that Rory slowed down a bit, this can be the affect of Thought Acceleration making me think faster compared to before. I'll check my skills later but right now I need to focus on the fight.
I then dashed at Rory with my shadow clones which surprised Rory by a bit. Rory then prepared his sword, when me and my clones are close. We encircled Rory and fought him at different directions. Rory was having a hard time blocking our attacks compared to before. He switched into offense and tried to attack one of my shadow clones which the shadow clone easily dodge while me and the other shadow clone attack immediately seeing an opportunity to strike. Rory was hit by the side of his stomach by the shadow clone while I hit him at the back making him kneel.
"Let's stop here Rory. You can rest for now."
I said while I hear my system again in my ears.
Ding!
You learned Fire Resistance!
I must have gained this skill by fighting Rory with his fire magics.
Ding!
Your Basic Gauntlet Arts skill leveled up!
This level up made me really happy. I was really jealous by Rory's Intermediate Blade Arts and now that mine leveled up makes me feel like I am catching up to Rory's level. I then made another ice bed again which I sat at. The ice bed earlier was destroyed by our spar. When I was comfortably seated at the ice bed, I checked at my new skills to see the changes.
Parallel Thinking (Level 1):
You will now have the capacity to think by 2 times. It will make you feel as if you have another brain or mind inside your head.
Thought Acceleration (Level 1):
Your process of thinking will be 2 times faster than before.
This two skills are great! Without this skills earlier, I might have lost again by Rory. The Parallel Thinking helped me in controlling my shadow clones earlier while Thought Acceleration made me think faster making me have the capacity to make plans while fighting. This made my fight with Rory easy.
After I was done checking my skills, I looked for Rory and I can see him sitting down with his legs crossed while his eyes are closed. I think he is resting so I did not bother him and made myself sleep to be fully prepared for tommorow's battle with the lizardmen.
The next time I opened my eyes, I can already see light coming out from the caves entrance. I stretched and stand up while Rory was coming inside while holding a rabbit. The rabbit was dead this time.
"Good morning, master Ave. I hunted a rabbit for your breakfast while you were asleep."
I was touched by Rory's effort. I then missed the taste of a cooked meat. I can eat by using my Consume skill which is faster but I can't taste a thing when I am doing that.
"Good morning to you too. Can I ask you to cook that for me Rory?"
I asked Rory which he immediately nodded while he started a fire by a few meters from my ice bed. I came out of my bed and thawed the ice. I then moved towards Rory and sat in front of him while the fire is between us. Rory controlled the fire to cook the rabbit evenly. I can smell the rabbit being cooked which almost made me drop out some saliva.
I did not wait long for the rabbit to be cooked.
"Here you go, master Ave. Please enjoy your meal."
Rory said while passing me the cooked rabbit. I immediately took a big bite and was followed by another, instantly finishing the rabbit.
Ding!
You gain 80 EXP.
"It tasted good Rory!"
I said while burping. I rested for a while then stand up.
"Let's go back Rory, to the lizardmen's cave. It is time to conquer that place."
"I follow your orders, master Ave."
Rory said and then moved out to guide the way towards the lizardmen's cave.
It took an hour to come back into the waterfalls where we were ambushed. I did not move close to the waterfall again but instead I used my Ice Magic to freeze the entire waterfall making the lizardmen inside the water freeze to death.
Ding!
You gain 230 EXP.
Ding!
You gain 230 EXP.
Ding!
You gain 230 EXP.
Ding!
You gain 230 EXP.
Ding!
You gain 230 EXP.
Ding!
You gain 230 EXP.
Ding!
You gain.....
I heard the same thing for over 30 times making me leveled up to 81 which also made Rory level 81. By this level up my Ring of Khione was upgraded again and also made my Ice Magic and Ice Resistance level up to 9. I then checked my Ring of Khione.
Ring of Khione (Level 81):
A ring that was blessed by the god of snow.
+50% INT
+30% WIS
+30% DEX
+30% STR
+30% VIT
Bonus skills:
• Will gain knowledge of any language.
• Can easily learn skills mostly related to ice.
• For every ten levels your Ice related skills will level up by 1.
• For every fifty levels your Ice Domain skill will level up by 1.
Level is based on the owner and will upgrade based by the owner's level. Will unlock more skills as the owner's level rises.
Not much of an improvement, it only increased the bonus attributes. Rory's Fire Soul Sword also made an improvement which helped level up his Holy Fire Magic and Resistance, and also his Blade Arts. I checked Rory's Fire Soul Sword to see any changes.
Fire Soul Sword (Level 81):
+30% STR
+30% DEX
Bonus skills:
• Will level up your fire skills into 1 level per 10 levels.
It was almost the same except for the increase in bonus attributes.
After I was done checking the our equipment and skills, I walked towards the falls. I was a bit sad for not being able to use my Consume skill at the lizardmen but I don't want to unfreeze the whole waterfalls again and then waste my time finding the lizardmen one by one. I then thawed a part of the falls to enter it.
Afterwards, Rory went inside the cave first while I followed behind him. The cave has stones which glowed by the color of blue. It was beautiful to look at.
'Hey Akira, what are this stones?'
I asked Akira while me and Rory continued walking.
'Those stones are water stones, stupid cat. They are rare stones which are full of water element inside.'
'The water stones here are so abundant. I can maybe get some water stones and sell them to a human town to make some money.'
'A great idea for a stupid cat!'
'You bastard! How many times do I have to tell you to stop calling me stupid!?'
I shouted at my mind while Akira did not talk back. He must have left again.
"Rory help me get some of these stones before we proceed inside."
I said at Rory while trying to take some water stones from the wall.
"I follow your command, master Ave."
Rory said while using his sword to get the water stones. It did not take a lot of time to take away all of the water stones from the cave and we even managed to see the end of the cave after we finished our water stone collecting. I put all the water stones inside my storage space. I managed to collect hundreds of water stones making me satisfied by my good luck.
Afterwards, we made our way inside the room and I saw a water inside. There was no lizardmen around but I did not stayed unguarded. I looked at the water again and I can see that it was clear in color. I can also feel cold air coming out from it. I tried approaching the water but it gets cold every time I make myself go closer towards it.
THE HELL IS THIS WATER!?