Lone: The Wanderer

Book 3: Chapter 28: Internal Strengthening Art and Aura Manifestations

The day had ended in success. Breena levelled her Needle Mastery twice and her Fireball once. She sadly wasn't able to level up her racial skill, Flickering Identity, but still, progress was progress.

Lone's training methods hadn't changed from when he had taught the teens. He fought her with the intent to kill her, giving her just enough room to use her skills and hitting just lightly enough to not actually kill her. It was a testament to her willpower and determination that no matter how close to dying Breena came she never cried or screamed. She had full faith in him.

Faith that was rewarded, quite clearly. Training like this was brutal and barbaric, but it was effective and it would keep one ready to continue fighting even if they lost a limb or ruptured a vital organ in actual combat. Losing a deadly battle due to going into shock over a traumatic injury was surprisingly common according to the history of this world, Lone had found in his studies.

He, of course, had finished getting Greataxe Mastery to intermediate rank and Teaching Mastery had even levelled, which was a pleasant surprise given how rarely that skill improved these days.

Lone reviewed his notification log while he fried up some breakfast with the caravan's cooks. They'd still be here for another couple of days so there was no harm in continuing to be friendly with Roderick and his people until they departed.

Congratulations! The host's passive skill [Greataxe Mastery] has levelled up! It is now Intermediate Level 1.

Passive Skill: Greataxe Mastery

A child skill of the parent skill [Axe Mastery] commonly used by barbarians and those of great Strength to cleave their enemies in two.

Greataxes used by the host will cut things 15% [+10%] more easily.

[New!] Grants the talent [Heft]. Say the phrase [Heft] and the host's weapon shall double in weight and triple in power. This talent only lasts for 5 seconds and can only be used once per 6 hours.

Cost:5,000 SP to use the talent [Heft]. Mastery:Intermediate Level 1

Congratulations! The host's passive skill [Teaching Mastery] has levelled up! It is now Expert Level 1.

Passive Skill: Teaching Mastery

A skill that makes teaching concepts 60% [+30%] easier to the unlearned. It also boosts the hosts ability to impart their own insights of skills to others by 60% [+30%].

When teaching free of charge there is a 1% [+0.5%] chance the host will earn a skill their student possesses should their teaching result in a new skill forming in that student. Additionally, when teaching a skill to a student that the student already owns, the host's version of the skill has a 1% [+0.5%] chance to instantly level up regardless of what level it is at and regardless of any rank-related bottlenecks. These effects are both limited to once per student.

[New!] The host can now detect when someone wants to learn something the host has the ability to teach them.

Cost:N/A Mastery:Expert Level 1

'Nice! Doubling the chance means it shouldn't be long before I get a skill from Soph and Breena. A few years, maybe? A single percent is still kinda low since it only rolls when I teach a new skill. The only skills Soph has that I don't which aren't unique would be Charm Resistance and Wing Chun Mastery. As for Breena... What skills did she have again?' Lone wondered.

He accessed his mental locks to find the answer that lay within his memories. 'Right. Flickering Identity which I can't get since it's racial. Hunger Resistance, Cooking Mastery, Acting and Fireball, all of which I have. That leaves Needle Mastery and Shadow Walker. Hey, Darkness, could I earn Shadow Walker via this method?'

'I... genuinely do not know. That is a very interesting question. Do test it if given the chance, would you, Loney-boy? I'm beyond invested now that you've asked,'the Primal answered.

'It's a useful skill and earning Needle Mastery should take no time at all to earn. Just gotta let Breena actually injure me with one of hers. With that out of the way, theoretically, if Teaching Mastery's additional effect procs, it should give me Shadow Walker,' Lone surmised.

Normally, he would already have Needle Mastery but Breena had always trained with Hamish and on the odd occasion that he had participated in their training, it wasn't as an active target of her needles.

'You are obsessed with skills,' Death commented. 'I approve. It is a healthy obsession for you specifically. It can be very deadly to those without your Basic Regeneration but you do have it, so that worry is rendered moot.'

Lone nodded. That was true. Many skills required extreme harm to the host to gain or even just to level, so it wasn't a particularly safe hobby, gathering and power-levelled skills.

'Speaking of, I should start working on the skill I bought info on in Golden Pass City,' Lone thought as he recalled said information. Even thinking of it made him excited given the implications.

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All known information about the skill Internal Strengthening Arts shall be displayed. You now have 42,797 credits.

Skill name: Internal Strengthening Arts

Skill type: Active

Skill rarity: 14,543 adventurers have registered this skill.

Skill effects: Allows the host to concentrate their energies (be that SP, MP, or any other type of energy) into permanently strengthening their internals (muscles and organs. This skill does not work on bones). Notes: The skill was invented by a summoned hero whose home planet was vastly larger than our own. This planet's power system was called 'Cultivation' according to the hero. They had no system. The summoning ritual connection to their world has been erased by that very hero to protect us, according to them. This skill is an accumulation of their knowledge of several similar such 'arts' back in their home planet, made practicable by all under the guidance of the system. To put this skill into scale, the creator of it has muscles so hard that despite their lithe frame and them only being an XX-ranker at the time of its creation, Grand Guildmaster Sarah could not penetrate more than four centimetres into their flesh. The average user of this skill can typically stop most common weapons with only their skin and clothing being cut during the attack.

Skill cost: However much you put into it. Note: Only SP can be used initially, but testing has proven adding additional energies as a source is an easily achievable additional effect.

Recorded additional effects:

1. Adding additional energy sources. Each new source will result in a new listed additional effect. This can be done by slowly and very carefully feeling for your source of whatever additional energy and gently pulling it into the channels mentioned in the known methods to acquire the skill.

2. Halving the energy cost for the same effect. This requires delicate and precise energy control. You must actively take part in the skill's functioning repeatedly while improving the flow of the channels mentioned in the known methods to acquire the skill. This is incredibly difficult. Only 201 of the known people to possess this skill have accomplished this despite thousands having marked down attempts.

Known methods to acquire the skill:

1. (Must be a B-ranker or have a very accurate method to detect the metaphysical). Use your aura (or another method) to sense the channels within your body. The creator of the skill called these channels 'meridians'. Every person has at least 12 channels but the exact number per person varies. Some have reported having thousands. More channels make the skill take longer to work but the results are typically better. Be very gentle and careful when trying to learn this skill. The channels can be quite easily repaired by a Soul Oracle but the pain caused by damaging one is enough to make some people end their own lives to stop it.

Best known method to level the skill: Actively participate in the skill functioning instead of allowing the skill to do all of the work. This has been known to increase the levelling speed dramatically.

The skill only cost 1,000 credits to learn about since it was kind of restrictive to earn. It needed someone to be a B-ranker in most cases to even start trying to learn it, after all.

Still, this skill came as a surprise to Lone due to the lore behind it. 'It's crazy that Cultivation is a thing. I mean, clearly not here but out there somewhere... That's straight out of a Chinese folk story. That hero's home planet must be in a different universe with different laws of physics and power, right? Does this confirm that theory? How did someone here connect there with a summoning ritual? Makes me wanna reverse engineer that magic much more than just going back to Earth ever did.'

Lone had the urge to wake Sophie and get her or Soph to teleport him back down into the Farwinds to go meet up with one of his silver-plate examiners, Reld Bellow. One of that man's adventurer group members was a summoned hero.

Were they a dwarf from another universe? Some place so magical and mystical that it had its own set of unique rules like those of this supposed world of Cultivation? The idea fascinated Lone.

Still, that could wait. It was a mild fascination but not one worth leaving his current plans to peacefully train and get stronger here in the Crimson Foxkin Clan as they anticipated Arch Devil Zel's next moves.

The next morning, after some lovely breakfast that Soph had cooked up for them, she, Breena, and Lone, immediately went to training. Gilbert had already said he'd make arrangements for their living space here should the clan welcome them, so there was no reason to do anything right now except to get stronger.

Breena was practising her new Fireball spell on a copper dummy of Lone's while he and Soph manifested their auras, intent on studying them deeply before the both of them attempted to earn Internal Strengthening Arts.

When he'd learned about this Cultivation-inspired skill that made one so much more physically sturdy, Lone, of course, had planned for his better half to earn it too. He had directed Soph to copy whatever he did today for her and Sophie's benefit.

She didn't even have the points needed to buy the information on the skill so she'd need to rely entirely on Lone's vague guidance. Thankfully, their faith in one another was as strong as it could be so there would be no mistakes born of doubt.

'And besides, when I earn it, I can talk about it freely and then use Teaching Mastery to get her to earn it too. I bet Sophie'll rescind her whole 'I'll bite' shtick when she gets the skill. Heck, my money's on her being able to develop it even faster than me as soon as she learns how to pump MP through her channels,' Lone thought before he drew his entire focus into his aura.

He had experimented with it a bit before but not extensively, just enough so to satiate his curiosity. Well, and he had tried to forcefully earn the skills Passive Aura Shield and Spirit Limbs - both skills he had learned existed from his first even time interacting with a credit slate.

Each attempt ended in a somewhat explosive failure. Messing around with your aura in a way that wasn't natural was very, very dangerous, Lone had learned back then.

Regardless, he turned to look at his fully formed intangible aura. It was a Golden Fox much like Kyuubi but slimmer and leaner. It was also as bigger than a bus. It had been blinded in both eyes and its luscious fur had been stained with its own blood, making it almost mistakable for a Crimson Fox. It had nine tails just as Lone did but four were severed, swaying at only half of their length. Its entire body was covered in scars but there was a strength about it. This beast had endured unimaginable abuse and was only made stronger for it.

The manifestation of his aura disturbed Lone. This was why he rarely, if ever, summoned or used it. It wasn't a new power since he could manifest it after he became a C-ranker, but he just didn't feel comfortable with the story it told. That was something he would have to get over since aura was such a useful tool when being actively used.

'The last time I brought it out was to try to shield me against the horror, wasn't it?' Lone thought. 'That's when it was blinded...'

The fox that was four metres tall and fifteen metres long snarled at him as if in defiance. It wished to be abused further and made greater as a result, not left discarded on the wayside never to reach its full potential. This sickened Lone because of how accurately it reflected his own mindset.

"The fourth fucked up tail is new... There were only three like that the last time I checked," Lone muttered as he turned and took at Soph's manifested aura.

Her aura took the form of a naked ethereal beauty lacking any distinctive features, be it a face, genitals, or anything really, but somehow, it just gave off the sense of immaculate perfection. It floated peacefully in the fetal position within a clear golden sphere that would stop at nothing to protect its occupant.

Lone's interpretation of Soph's aura was that she viewed herself as the figure and the sphere as Lone. She, an object of perfection to others but of no substance to herself, is constantly shielded by her lover, him. Soph disagreed but has never voiced what she personally thought it meant.

Funnily enough, Sophie had a different manifestation whenever she drew upon her aura, but she wasn't the one doing the training right now.

"Okay, we're gonna start. You good to begin?" Lone asked.

Soph nodded resolutely. "Whatever this is for, I'm ready!"