Chapter 31: Final Preparations

Once he determined it was completely dead, he dropped to the ground. He immediately started the process of healing his arm, red and orange flames enveloping it. Funnily enough, for how much effort that fight took, he was still almost fully loaded on mana. The only one that was kind of depleted was his life mana. But he still had no problems healing himself back to full health.

While he recovered, he took a look at his notifications.

[Savage Dance lvl 10 -> lvl 11]

[Arcane Construct lvl 3 -> lvl 5]

[Pure Compression lvl 3 -> lvl 4]

[Pseudo-Phoenix Renewal lvl 3 -> lvl 5]

[Kinetic Reinforcement lvl 14 -> lvl 15]

Julius internally cheered, he had finally reached level 15 in [Kinetic Reinforcement]. It took putting himself in a lot of danger, but it paid off. He had accomplished his goal of evolving all his skills.

[Kinetic Reinforcement] has advanced to level 15. Would you like to evolve the skill?

Skill [Kinetic Reinforcement] is evolving… possible advancements: [Advanced Kinetic Reinforcement], [Force Tempering], [Kinetic Augmentation], and [Kinetic Surge]

He had four options available to him. However, three of them were similar sounding skills. [Advanced Kinetic Reinforcement], [Force Tempering], and [Kinetic Augmentation] all sounded like they were skills meant to increase the physical abilities of his body. Much like how [Kinetic Reinforcement] had changed it, just at a higher level.

[Advanced Kinetic Reinforcement] was the usual direct upgrade, and a solid option if he didn’t want to choose another option. [Force Tempering] was pretty intriguing. It was the only one that wasn’t labeled as “Kinetic”, which might mean it would temper his body against all forces, not just kinetic. If so, then Julius really liked that option. It might not be an offensive skill, but it could potentially be a reliable defensive upgrade.

[Kinetic Augmentation] reminded Julius of an artificial enhancement. If [Kinetic Reinforcement] strengthened what was already there, then [Kinetic Augmentation] might elevate his body to a whole other level. It might take him beyond mortal capabilities, and into the realm of superhuman.

Then there was [Kinetic Surge] to consider. It had to be an option because of how he had used kinetic energy to kill the last troll leader. If so, that was a potent weapon to have in his arsenal. His main worry was that the skill wouldn’t provide a way for him to handle the stress of the skill.

If he didn’t have [Pseudo-Phoenix Renewal] he would have lost not just his hand, but his entire arm. Not to mention how much damage it had done to every part of his body. It was not a skill he could use until either he got a much more robust physique or he got a Tier 2 body. However, one of them would require him to choose a skill other than [Kinetic Surge]. While the other would require him to wait until he tiered up. Even at his current fast pace, he couldn’t see himself being able to advance before the rift collapsed or whatever was happening to it.

He would also be able to use the technique without the skill, albeit without such ease that the skill would provide. A part of him wanted to choose it anyway, just so that he would have it when he reached Tier 2. But the more rational part of him thought better of it.

He needed all the power he could get at this very moment. He could plan for the long-term all he wanted, but it meant nothing if he died tomorrow.

Therefore, he disregarded [Kinetic Surge], though it pained him to do so. Then he also eliminated [Advanced Kinetic Reinforcement], because while [Kinetic Reinforcement] was nice for when he first got it. It slowly showed its limitations as Julius got stronger. [Kinetic Reinforcement] made his skin, bones, and entire body tougher, but it wasn’t even enough to endure even a single attack from the trolls. A halfhearted strike would shatter his body like a porcelain doll.

So it came down to deciding between [Force Tempering] and [Kinetic Augmentation]. He really liked the sound of [Force Tempering] because he felt like it would provide him the largest defensive benefit. But if he was being honest with himself, [Kinetic Augmentation] fit him better. Kinetic was one of his main affinities and his physical abilities could use a little “augmentation”. Decision made, Julius selected [Kinetic Augmentation].

Congratulations, skill [Kinetic Augmentation] (Rare) acquired.

Julius began to feel a tingling from his head to his toes.

Oh come on, not this again, Julius prayed that the sensations would stop there. He forgot how painful receiving [Kinetic Reinforcement] was. The sensations started to dial-up and reached a point where they went from uncomfortable to outright painful. Thankfully, he was able to activate [Savage Dance] at will now and could offset a lot of the pain. But he still was not looking forward to what going to happen.

Julius isolated himself as far away from the pain as was able to but still felt like fire ants were gnawing on his bones. He couldn’t imagine what it would feel like without numbing most of the pain.

Then the greedy perfectionist side of him reared its ugly head and he remembered how he implemented his healing skill during the process last time. He vividly recalled how the pain had increased due to the addition, but he also didn’t forget how much more impressive the results ended up being.

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