Chapter 195: Testing the new skills.

Chapter 195: Testing the new skills.

If I wasnt so certain that my advancement had been successful, the dry mans ominous statement would have upset me slightly. Turns out that worry would have been for nought anyway, because he went on to assuage any lingering doubts I might have had.

Sorry for catching you off guard, child. I was simply surprised, is all. Such speedy trials arent unheard of, mind you. Just a little odd. Do you remember how time passed in your trial?

No, Im afraid not. I dont remember much from my trials, regardless. Except for a vague idea that the more times passed in the trial itself, I cant think of anything.

The gaunt man rubbed his stubble for a moment, humming in thought.

If everything else happened as intended, I suppose I dont have any reason to suspect side effects. Keep an eye out for your next trial, however. This system isnt usually this generous. I would bet half of my left foot that itll collect its proverbial due when it gets the chance. For now, I would like to congratulate you on your advance to the fourth tier. I daresay youve set a new record.

I nodded, happy to take his word for it. The part about the system put me a bit on edge, but it would be a long time yet before that particular issue mattered, or so I hoped. I couldnt help but ask, if only to satisfy my curiosity.

How much time would I need to advance to the next tier, do you think?

The old man snorted.

Years, if youre lucky. Decades, if not.

Really? That long? It only took a year to-

My sentence was cut off as he raised a hand to silence me.

Your level cap has grown by fifty, for a start. Secondly, tier 4 monsters only provide slightly more experience to tier 4 classers than tier 3 ones do for their respective tier, despite being far fewer in number and, therefore, far harder to find. Finally, fighting above your tier like you have been doing until now will be far more difficult. At the fifth tier and beyond, monsters gain a significant boost in strength and become far smarter, and more sentient. Expect powerful, tactical fighters.

Right. I nodded, thinking of the multi-floor dungeon I had stumbled across. While it mightve become more difficult now, the adage difficult but not impossible still rang true.

The dry man sighed as if he had read my thoughts, shaking his head.

The giant could be mistaken for a suit of armour, if it werent for the purple lights that shone where its eyes would have been and the purple haze that emanated from the separate pieces of carved plate armour. Runes that I didnt recognise shone lightly, keeping the armour from feeling dead, so to speak.

The creature was easily as large as Revan would be standing on its hind legs, but was far less sentient than my reptile companion. It stared out into space, unresponsive to my presence or even its surroundings.

Remembering the skills description, I thought about giving it the single command that it would follow until summoned again.

A gleeful smile spread across my face. The instinct to unsummon the elemental at any time was there, meaning that I could let it go wild.

Destroy everything within the near vicinity!

Instantly, the creatures demeanour changed from one of indifference to one of channelled fury. I hadnt let it copy any skills yet, but the carnage that it created in seconds nearly made me second-guess myself.

It had summoned a sword out of the black, swirling abyss that was its portal and started to use it to tear into everything it could find, even the earth it stood on.

Trees were uprooted, boulders were sent flying and a crater was being formed swipe by swipe. The creature fought in an animalistic way, possessing just enough intelligence to know which end of its weapon to hold, but its power was a sight to behold.

Unfortunately, its lack of direction quickly bit me in the ass when the knight found no more clear targets near it. Other than myself, that is.

I had to jump to the right, just barely dodging the house-sized sword that had sunk halfway into the earth, leaving a large gash where I had been standing just moments earlier.

I considered fighting the creature myself to test its power, but discarded the idea when the elemental was just a second away from turning me into a fine paste. I hurriedly unsummoned the creature and watched as it dissipated into black smoke which was sucked back into the portal.

The tear closed by itself, leaving no evidence that it had ever been there.

As cold sweat slowly slid down my neck, I could only think of one thing to say.

Cool Lets try that again!