Chapter 424: Void Strike

A wave of unease rippled throughout his soul as [Spatial Crack] and [Barrier of Severance] collided. This impact reverberated throughout his soul and felt very different than his other skill combinations.

He quickly sat down to meditate and calm himself. The dim orbs that represented his unchosen skills were dragged closer to this mess and devoured before he could do anything.

As he felt this sensation, he was dimly aware of another person in the area. They weren’t getting any closer, so he ignored them for the time being. The combination was rough, but he felt it slowly coming together. Bits and pieces of the skills condensed into a singular orb, and he could feel the quality difference already. He wasn’t sure if the skill was precisely what he was looking for, but he knew that it was something quite powerful.

Eventually, the process finished up, and he finally let go of the breath he was holding.

Congratulations, you have learned [Void Strike] (Epic+)

The skill was actually very close to the skill he had been planning for. He had been hoping for a [Void Slash] or [Void Tear] skill, but he was happy with the way it ended up. He believed that it was a little more versatile as well.

Slashing and tearing seemed to go down the sharpness route a little too deeply for his liking. He believed that his Sharpness Concept wasn’t something that Dante would consider “mediocre” anymore. However, it still wasn’t his most powerful Concept. He didn’t want it to become the main direction of his path. He had learned that it was about time for him to start having all of his abilities come together with a bit more synergy.

For example, he didn’t know how well [Void Slash] would have worked with his current skill set.

After talking to Freya and Cain for some time, he had learned that establishing his Authority was the last step to becoming a Tier 4. Organizing his abilities into a cohesive arrangement would be the first step in achieving this.

And he felt like the skill would work well with his kinetic abilities as well as his mana constructs. He didn’t know how well something like [Void Slash] would work with his spikes or punches. The slashing bit always felt like he needed some kind of edge or blade to make it work. [Void Strike], on the other hand, felt like he could use it for any of his attacks. It was potentially weaker when it came to how much damage it could maximally inflict, but he would be able to use it for almost every attack.

He didn’t even know if it would be weaker. Perhaps it would be stronger.

The void description of the skill was something that he knew was scary. His [Void Step] was already quite powerful, and it was only because of his healing skill that he managed to stay alive long enough to learn it. Still, at the end of the day, [Void Step] was just a movement skill.

[Void Strike] was an offensive skill that would increase his all-around damage output. He had felt like he needed something like that if he continued to fight Tier 4s. During his previous battles against stronger opponents, they had shrugged off his punches and spikes with more ease than he was happy with.

His supportive skills were just fine. He was rarely caught off guard, and his focus skill allowed him to do more things than most other focus skills did. His aura control was also quite exceptional, especially for his age and tier. This provided more benefits than it initially appeared.

It was one of the backbones of his strength, as well as his willpower, that let him pull off insane ideas. Something that would only get stronger once he got his second soul evolution. Something that Doren stated he was already really close to.

He was hoping that this additional epic skill would drag him across that point. But it wasn’t meant to be.

With all of that being said, despite these advantages he had, the only real way he was able to do damage to such strong people was to overclock his body or to pack so much power into a construct that it exploded. However, with his new skill, he might not have to resort to that. That made him very happy and even more excited to test it out.

However, he might have to wait on that. At the moment, he needed to get back to the tent where he had left behind the prisoners and the rest of the bandits. So with one last glance at the lone figure surveying the camp, he made his way toward the center.

When he arrived, he saw that the Tier 4 was already awake. However, he was so disoriented that it barely made a difference. The man’s aura also felt utterly defeated, as if he had no more fight left in him.

That was fine with Julius. He wasn’t even planning on killing this man either. He had other ideas.

The prisoners had slowly come to themselves and understood they were free while Julius was dealing with the rest of the bandits. There was more light in their eyes than before, and it was something he was glad for. He didn’t know how he would get them all out of here when they were practically comatose.

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“Come on, let’s get you guys out of here,” he gestured toward them patiently.

They were hesitant at first, but when a few people started to move, the rest followed suit. There were a few of them who looked very angry at the unconscious bandits. Julius could sense their murderous intent from their aura and wasn’t surprised when one of the men ran over and started to wail on one of the unconscious bandits.

The man was clearly exhausted and weak, but still summoned enough energy to get his revenge. Julius didn’t know what they had gone through or if this bandit had killed someone important to the man, so he didn’t step in.

Once the man had exerted all his energy, one of the women went over to comfort the now-crying man. Julius didn’t want to seem coldhearted, but it was time to leave, and he couldn’t let them waste their time crying. He would rather they get out of here just in case someone comes looking for these bandits.