"Time never waits..."
"I know, your damn asshole... tell me something I don't know!" Leon shouted.
Leon completed the twentieth cycle, and then he heard that voice again. Despite his insults, the voice didn't say anything. Leon was too mad to notice that he was only digging his own grave by insulting the spirit. He was getting stronger since he was using his skills non-stop and even increased his elemental resistances, but he would need something more to defeat just a fragment of the spirit of the time.
Despite that, his spirits couldn't or wanted to say anything. Leon's psych was being damaged little by little, but they couldn't do anything to help Leon. Although they lived a lot more than him, they didn't know how it was to wish for one thing so much but being out of its reach, despite being at the same time so close.
Congratulations! The skill Poison Resistance has leveled up.
You obtained 01 status points.
Congratulations! The skill Fire Resistance has leveled up.
You obtained 01 status points.
Congratulations! The skill Earth Resistance has leveled up.
You obtained 01 status points.
Congratulations! The skill Water Resistance has leveled up.
You obtained 01 status points.
Fortunately, not everything was bad news. Leon managed to level up most of his skills up to the level one hundred. Just a few support skills didn't level up because of their costs, some passive skills could only be used while fighting, so it couldn't be helped. Not only that, Leon discovered a few things, there was no acid resistance, but when he used skills that created acid, he leveled up his Water and Fire Resistance... he could make acid combining water and fire, and the small price he had to pay was to watch his flesh behind devoured by it.
In order to speed the process to make his body reach the limit, Leon had to increase his mana, intelligence, and control only. Thanks to those, his power increased a lot, and now his body could only endure five days doing that hellish 'training.'
"Shit... why do I have to endure this..." Leon bit his lips, and then he started to bleed through his mouth.
It was insane, but there wasn't much Leon could do about it. Maybe Leon was wrong again, but it looked like Sekundez wanted to test him by forcing him into a state where he was close to madness. Facing a mighty enemy and getting wounded was something, but the spirit wanted to make Leon wound himself until a dangerous point. At the very least, that only showed how much he valued his own power... Leon was expecting many things from it, but if its power disappoints him, Leon was determined to hunt a kill every single fragment of the spirit of the time. But for that, Leon would need power...
Congratulations! You have learned the skill: Avalanche.
Cost: 200 mana per second
Duration: 20 seconds
Cooldown time: 10 seconds
You obtained 01 status points.
Congratulations! You have learned the skill: Sleep.
Cost: 50 mana per second
You obtained 01 status points.
Congratulations! You have learned the skill: Savagery Barrier.
You obtained 01 status points.
Leon learned a few more spells, but it looked like they wouldn't be that effective on his current goal. Regardless, Leon bought them because their effects were interesting. Sleep could almost intensely put someone to sleep, and Savagery Barrier was similar to Mana Shield. Still, instead of nullifying, it accumulated the power of the attacks, and then when it reaches a certain point, it would repel all the damage caused. Leon's mana would be consumed faster, but it was useful, and it was also better to buy before he forgets about it.
Without wasting time, Leon began his task of wounding himself using snow created by the Avalanche. It wasn't that painful, but the cold was annoying beyond reason. With every single level up, the damage piled up, and Leon's body begun to pay the toll for keeping recovering from the wounds.
"I don't know for how long this will last... but even though I recovered to some extent the speed I obtain status points, I can't let this repeat indefinitely. I will only endure this until the one-hundredth time... If nothing happens after that, I will focus on getting the hell out of this place by leveling up Transfer and increasing my mana pool."
It was a bit insane, but drastic times call for drastic measures... Leon was fully aware of that. As long as he uses Mana Barrier, he wouldn't die in outer space, and if levels up Transfer up to the level max, he bet that he could easily move from one planet to the other. He also would have to level up Sharp Eyes, but that wasn't a problem.
By deciding that, Leon managed to take out a heavy strain in his body. It would be a waste to leave without at least talking with Sekundez's fragment, but even after going to such lengths, the spirit doesn't show itself. It would only mean that the little bastard was beyond annoying, and just its presence inside his head would make Leon mad. Maybe returning sooner than Ilyana expected would only cause his death. Still, Leon would rather die fighting for his family, friends, and planet than obtain power and not having anything or anyone to protect using that power. Just having power without a goal was meaningless.
"Don't you think that isn't a pretty difficult goal?" Celsius asked. "You are just on the twentieth run, after all."
"Considering Sekundez's fragment power... I have to try that much, at least," Leon answered. "It is risky, but I'm betting that Ilyana and my friends will manage to survive for a while..."
Ilyana's words were bothering Leon a little bit, but he decided to stay quiet about it. He knew that overthinking things wasn't one of his many flaws, so it was better to avoid that subject.