As the night went on and tensions calmed Zatu and Night Fang parted ways, a little more awkward then they were by the morning.
As Zatu walked back home he opened his system panel.
And though he was still far from strong, just thinking back about the progress made after a single battle invigorated his spirit.
================
Name: [Zatu Rainfall]
Age: [18]
Class: [Magic Swordsman] -- (Tier 1 - Level 9/100)
Resources:
(Tier 1)
[Mana] -- (24 / 24) {18 → 24}
[Sword Intent] -- (17 / 17) { 14 → 17}
Skills:
(Tier 1)
[Basic Mana control] -- (level 3 → 4 /100)
[Basic Sword intent control] -- (level 4 → 5 /100)
[Imbue Lightning] -- (level 10 /100)
{Note: Sword threshold for connection reached - Derivative effect from - Imbue Lightning - New tab unlocked.}
Attuned Items:
Bastard Sword – (skill): [Imbue Lightning] – { 1 } - (0%)
{Note: grow attunement by using the skill which initiated it into the item.}
============
++++
With three more levels under his belt Zatu felt satisfied.
Compared to the levels gained through skill usage, hard fights were truly the fastest way for combat classes to level up.
Granted not everyone could have performed like Zatu did against the three scaled wolves.
And even for him having multiple of such fights in a single day is out of question.
Healing magic could do miracles, but it had a flaw like every external source of power.
Zatu's body had a limit in how much healing it could receive and after that point the mana usage got exponentially higher.
With a class unrelated to healing and a body at the first tier, that limit was pitiful.
To the point even this potion given by Night Fang had made him unhealable till tomorrow noon.
'I need to find a way to level even faster though.' He sighed calculating that even if this pace was kept for a month he would barely reach tier 2.
Which would not be the case since that assumed levels would take the same amount of time to grind as they went up.
A supposition Zatu straight out knew it was wrong.
'If only I could enter the truth state on command.' He daydreamed, imagining his level skyrocketing to tier 2 in a matter of days.
But then again, Arbo warned that the truth state couldn't be attained on command and instead was reached by… following his heart.
An answer so amorphous he wasn't quite sure how to do it.
'If a single impactful fight a day is not enough, maybe multiple easier fights could do the trick.'
He thought to himself, planning the direction he would take on tomorrow.
Reading further down the panel most changes were expected.
A great increase in his resource pools, larger of the mana than in the sword intent.
An understandable result since 'intent' type resources grew in strength based on their quantity.
A few levels on the control skills.
Which are fundamentally related with the uses of sword intent and mana respectively, so end up leveling mostly without a need for focused training.
Then at the bottom of the panel a surprising change caught his eyes.
A new tab which Zatu had no idea what it did or represented.
The only difference he had noticed, was that the connection between him and his sword that normally felt muted when not using sword intent had become a constant presence even without his input.
Feeling this connection the memory from the fight resurfaced in his mind, that last strike flashed vividly.
The feeling of every last drop of mana and every single strain of sword intent flowing and mixing in his sword before slashing the beast apart.
An attack so strong Zatu still did not understand what had happened, since he was pretty sure the amount of resources he had were not enough to invoke such power.
'Bursts of strength on the edge of death aren't rare, but they are never baseless. And mine was way too strong for someone without a related skill.' His eyes narrow and course back through his panel.
Knowing this was not normal and that there must be a source from it a first question appears in his mind.
'What things separate me from normal combatants my level?'
A few guesses light up in his mind.
His skills, multiple resource types, and attuned item and a cutting edge mana core.
Looking at his skills Zatu shakes his head, nothing in the descriptions of any of them showed any in combat power up.
Now with three theories left things got harder.
With a lack of system description the other three guesses would take a little more than a brief reading to test.
*
As he reaches home Zatu pulls out his sword and stands in front of the test dummy.
He raises it lightly, channeling just a little from his sword intent in a tentative strike.
If the power boost came from the attunement he was sure to feel it.
Stepping forward he swings his sword, the next moment sword and test dummy clash.
When he looks a white mark is left on its metallic skin.
'Minus one guess.' He thinks, feeling this strike was stronger than previously, but not enough to explain the last cut of the fight.
With that Zatu steps back once more, preparing to swing at the dummy again.
This time he doesn't use sword intent, instead trying for the first time to purposefully channel mana into the blade.
This way there was a chance for his mana core to react, if it was indeed the responsible for the power up.
Of course, this wasn't the most conclusive test since Zatu just didn't understand enough of how the core worked.
In moments the blade's edge clashes with the dummy, consuming a little of his mana on impact and marking the dummy with a faint white line.
Zatu feels no special reaction at his core and doesn't even need to look to know this attack was weaker than his first one.
'Then the answer should be multiple resource types.' He takes a step back.
Raising his sword and preparing his last strike.
With confidence in his step and grip tight on the handle he taps into the sword's connection.
As he swings he commands a little bit of sword intent and a little bit of mana to shoot towards his sword.
Before even reaching the sword the energies already start to combine giving Zatu the certainty that this was how to power up his attacks.
However just the next moment his heart skipped a beat in his chest.
Without his control or command all the mana from his body gathered towards it before flash flooding towards his blade.
'Oh no.' was all he could think of before his sword intent also went haywire and mixed into the strike.
A flash of purple illuminates the backyard, electric arcs jump between the blade and the dummy.
BANG!
Metal clashes and Zatu is pushed to the ground, as the dummy tanks his strike without even flinching.
Unmovable it stands there, the only sign it had even been struck at all being a yellow mark left on its unyielding metal skin.
'Level 75 tier 1 average beast skin toughness.' Zatu smiles widely before a wave of pain hits him from his heart and body.
'At least it's weaker than earlier today.' He consoles himself, sucking air through his teeth and reaching for a healing potion on his space bag.
However as he gets the bottle out and pulls the cork open he remembers a painful detail.
'I've already capped my body's healing capacity today.'
"Shit." He cusses, dropping the bottle on the floor and sheathing his sword on his hip before trudging his way to his bed.
Though lighter than earlier the pain in his heart was still excruciating and moving did nothing to help with it.
With each step he took Zatu could feel his vision blurry as his eyelids grew heavier and heavier.
From deep within him he could feel a wave of tiredness approaching fast.
And it was not the physical type of tiredness he was used to pushing through after training.
But instead a mental and magical one, that made his body feel like a dog that didn't want to go back home after the walk and instead sat on the street refusing to move.
Still, with pure willpower and years of body conditioning he picked himself up and dragged himself to his bed.
Tomorrow would be his first day hunting proper and sleeping on the floor another night before it was out of question.
Especially with the plan to have multiple small fights tomorrow.
So as he laid down and the wave of slumber hit him Zatu could not help himself but to smile.
Though not quite under control and probably a horrible idea to use on basic fights, at least this power strike was repeatable and powerful.
'If only I could control it better.' He daydreamed, before falling into actual slumber.
Unnoticed in his system panel a small line had a change.
=================
Attuned Items:
Bastard Sword – (skill): [Imbue Lightning] – { 1 } - (1%)
==================