Chapter 305: Eight More
[Dormant Comprehensions]
[>Boxing (FF)]
[>Taekwondo (FF-)]
[>Muay Thai (FF-)]
[>...]
[>Mixed Martial Arts (-)]
[>...]
[>Blazing Will (-)]
Sylas took a breath and looked at his fist. When he saw the new Comprehension on his list, he couldn't help but frown.
Blazing Will? That was the same as his Title. Was that a coincidence?
Sometimes, Skills, Gene Talents, and even Genes themselves might share the same name. <Voice of a King> was one example of this, so it wasn't the first time Sylas had seen this sort of thing. But it still felt different.
This was especially so considering the last things that happened.
His fist had just suddenly enveloped and swallowed up the others. That was the closest that Sylas had ever come to truly fusing his telekinesis together to create a stronger effect.
Well, he noticed that while the Physical of his strikes didn't increase, what had increased was the... tangible nature of his fist.
'Interesting...'
The weight capacity limit of Sylas' telekinesis was also active in battle. For example, he couldn't pierce a knife into a person's body and then control it to rip out their inner organs or disembowel them. The reason for this was twofold.
For one, in such close connection with the affected party, their Will would take effect even if they didn't have telekinesis. The impediment would stop his telekinesis from working properly. Sylas had already noticed this before.
But those that could overwhelm his Will like that, even in such close proximity, were very rare. The larger problem was actually the second.
Weight capacity limit.
This matter seemed unrelated to the example, but it was very important. If Sylas tried to draw a knife across a person's body, he wasn't just carrying the weight of the knife alone anymore, but also what force it would take to continue breaking their skin.
The reason why Sylas could pierce people's bodies with his telekinesis now was the same reason there was a difference between static and kinetic friction. It took more effort to take a stationary target and make it move, than to continue moving an already moving target. If Sylas took a one-pound dagger and tried to disembowel someone, it would begin to feel more like dozens of pounds. If the person's Constitution was high, it would be even worse. This was why he preferred piercing weapons and why although he had Azrael's sword, he rarely used it for much other than shocking others and confusing their minds.
The only method that Sylas had of mitigating this trouble was the Gluttony Seed. But it could only be used very sparingly right now, and it required Destiny to grow. He had managed to stumble into several forms of Destiny now, but he wasn't foolish enough to believe that it was anything other than rare.
However, just now, that had changed a bit.
His fist showed signs of swallowing his Will and solidifying to another level.
The same problem he would face trying to disembowel someone with a knife was the same problem his fists met.
Every time he used Basic Aetherflow, it was like his enemy was receiving a full-on attack from someone who weighed 50 pounds. Although the Strength was high, the momentum was lacking.
If his Strength was high enough to blast a hole right through a person and not meet any resistance, it was good. But if there was even the slightest pushback, the result would weaken considerably.
However, that punch just now was the closest Sylas had ever gotten to one of his Basic Aetherflow fists landing like a real punch from him.
That wasn't all either.
It had to be remembered that when Sylas used Basic Aetherflow, he was also giving up portions of his Aether every time. As such, it acted a lot like a skill.
In that past, Sylas' boxing skill was so poor that it didn't even count as an F- Skill, so rather than the normal baseline 10% boost an F- Skill would give, his Basic Aetherflow only gave him a 5% boost.
But right now, he was getting the floor of a Fragmented Mastery FF Grade Skill out of it. That was a full 35% boost! A seven times difference!
The most shocking part was that while skills often cost more Aether the better it was, the cost of his Basic Aetherflow hadn't changed at all. It was like he could fire off FF Grade Skills for the price of F- ones.
It was only now that Sylas realized how much potential he had been leaving on the floor.
He only had 140 Strength. But with Basic Aetherflow, his fists flew like they had 189 Strength instead. On top of that, he could do so from a distance and really pack a punch while avoiding damage himself.
None of this answered his questions about what Blazing Will meant in this context, but that was fine. He didn't mind it at all considering the benefits.
It would be a while before he showed any intention of fusing with the Crystal anyway. He might as well take things as they come and enjoy the process.
Since he could improve like this even without taking it in, then why be bothered by it?
'Still, I have a large, glaring weakness. If I can manage it, I'll need to find a movement skill of some sort. I'm too stationary and it's hard to tap into the strength of these Dormant Comprehensions when I'm on the move. The martial arts I know aren't exactly meant to be
used as you run...'
Sylas vaguely wondered if it would be possible to integrate movement of some sort into this, but he ultimately decided that a separate skill would be better. If he could get something as powerful as <Shadow Warp>, that would be excellent. But he wasn't going to hold his breath
on that front.
'This is the second... eight more to go.'
Sylas suddenly threw out a fist and the only rampaging baby sperm whale remaining was killed swiftly.
This one had taken a full two hours instead of the one the first one had taken, but he had
improved even more.