215: Air Bombs!

Air Bombs!

It had recovered enough to be back at level 2.5 now, however; it was still showing an Injured Soul status, certainly meaning he could go beyond his previous level once it was perfectly healed.

Soul Level was closely linked to the soul power he had. If he increased his stats and skills too high, he might have issues with fueling his newly acquired abilities.

Two things could happen. He could empty his reserves of soul power too fast, and reach a feelless state faster than normal. If his physical stats were also too high for his current body to support, it might injure him as his Gift Fury had done in the past.

The only reason his body hadn't crumbled despite most of his stats having gone past those of Challengers was that his soul, even injured, has already reached an Ascender's level.

Taking into account the stat caps of 3 for challengers, he could guess more or less than going beyond 6 for an Ascender was probably suicide.

'My strength stat doesn't need to go higher than 5. Since my time on the 6th floor, I only need to think about the baldie for Fury to activate now. I can guarantee my strength will reach 6 if need be.

'I definitely need more points in my Body stat to increase my chances of survival in case of grave injury, so 2 stat points will go into it. Also, it won't bring about a big change that will require a time of adaptation like other stats would.

'I won't be fighting a horde so Stamina doesn't need much of an increase for my next fight. Moreover, I have Pneuma to recover my Stamina faster.

'To avoid a gap too high between my stats and create an imbalance that might have negative consequences, I'll also need 1 more point in Agility so it goes past the Challenger stat cap. Increasing it further than that might not do me any good. Getting used to the drastic change it'll bring in such a short amount of time before the fight will be tricky.

'Since I plan on leveling up my skills, I should also compensate by adding one more point into mana. This would leave me with four unused stat points I can save for later. Now for the skills.

'I see no need to increase my passive skills. Some of them have already leveled up during my time alone in the labyrinth. Taking into account all I've been through before, I guess that's normal. If I had to increase one passive skill, it would be Ax Mastery but it reached Lv 4, plenty enough. So I'll focus on active skills.

'Those I use above others will take priority. Reaper of Souls would also be interesting to level up but there is no use for it at the moment. I just need combat-related skills. This means I'll upgrade Impact, Durability, and Cleave by 1 level. Two skill points will go into Weight Control. It's the most versatile skill I have and the one I'm most familiar with after all. Allocating 5 points shouldn't take too much of a toll on my injured soul. It'll leave me with 4 skill points I can save for later. '

Having come to a decision, Aito was about to open his status window when Valinar suddenly interrupted him.

[Be careful of level-ups. If you allocate too many at the same time, the pain from leveling up with the system will be excruciating. In rare cases, greedy fools died from the pain alone.]

'I'm not afraid of pain. Death is much more frightening. Also, I will only allocate 5 stat and skill points to plug my weaknesses and further increase my strengths.'

[Five skill and stat points are already a lot. Whatever, knowing you, you shouldn't die from this. But don't come to me crying afterward saying I didn't warn you.]

'Pfff! Why would I even do that? Oh, by the way, your bastard of a husband just sent me a cryptic warning that urges me to prepare.'

[Hum, if he took the risks of sending you a warning through the system, then it must be quite urgent.]

'Risks? Why would something he could do with a flick of his fingers be a risk?'

[Because divine interferences on the mortal plane come with a cost, Aito. Why do you think skill points are so hard to acquire? It's because they cannot be given for free. A price must be paid. Thus the achievements in exchange of skills and system point to allocate freely.]

[That message of his on the 8th floor wasn't that impactful on your future, so the achievement you made covered the cost. However, a warning about a future danger can be too costly for an achievement to cover it all. While gods might be powerful, they are not without shackles. Recover another candle piece and I might have more information for you on the matter. Right now, my memory fails me.]

If what Valinar said was correct, then what about Belmand's interference on the island? What cost did he pay for that? As for after the black trial, it had been in the god's soul so that might not have cost him anything. Or did it? The Tower trial was taking place in a god's soul so... 

'*Sigh, my head hurts thinking about this. Whatever.'

Aito sighed. He felt uncomfortable at the idea of receiving help from a god he despised, even if that help was a little warning. Learning about people capable of seeing the future and possibly what was a greater power keeping in gods in check wasn't exactly lifting his mood either.

Well, for now, he decided to focus on what he could do rather than thinking about all those… dreadful things.

He opened his status window and proceeded to the level-ups.

Soon, his muscles started contracting, repeatedly bulging and receding back to normal. His bones broke apart, deconstructing, only to reassemble stronger, tougher than before. Organs and tendons were torn to shreds, then repaired. Meanwhile, myriads of information on his skills flooded his mind.

Aito was attacked physically and mentally. Dropping to the floor, his body rattled the ground, entering something akin to a seizure, albeit worse. He clenched his teeth through his foaming mouth, barely able to breathe using his nostrils.

It turned out to be the 2nd most painful experience of his second life. Nevertheless, he did not complain and silently bore the pain.

Alerted by the sound of his rattling, the other challengers gathered around him—albeit the still paralyzed Lucius taken care of by Elizabeth and Sam who only gazed at the situation from a distance for various reasons.

"What's happening to the boss?" George asked, confused.

"Goro, take a look at him. Quick!" Sheyla could barely hold on to her anxiety and fear, pleading her brother to do something.

Ogoro placed his bare hand on Aito's trembling body, focusing on his sense of touch. "Something is changing inside Aito. Bones, organs, tissues, everything is breaking apart then being repaired. I think he's… undergoing a level up using the system."

"It shouldn't be that painful. Unless… is it possible he's used too many of points at the same time?" Sheyla asked.

They had acquired stats and skill points thanks to achievements and quests. So they knew the process of leveling with this method was painful. However, they had only received one or two stat and skill points before, immediately adding them afterward.

While it had been painful, it hadn't been excruciating.

"Considering we are in a safe place and how many achievements he has, I think that's the most plausible explanation," Ogoro added. "Trying to speed up the healing process with my healing strings is only asking for trouble. The only thing we can do is wait until he recovers naturally. Probably in a minute or two. Let's just hold him so he doesn't hurt himself then turn him on the side to prevent him from choking on his own saliva and foam."

George took the legs, Ogoro the arms while Sheyla cushioned his head on her thighs. The saliva dripped down Aito's mouth, soaking Sheyla's pants.

Amidst the excruciating pain, he felt the warmth of his allies slightly alleviating his torment, bringing back his consciousness that had been on the verge of fading.

A few moments passed as his situation progressively stabilized. His muscles stopped bulging incessantly when finally his body completed its transformation.

Aito's vision previously blurred by the pain came back, weirdly cleared than before. He tapped Ogoro's hand, signaling his return to normal, and got to his feet, a grateful smile on his face.

Little to no words could describe the gratitude he felt towards them. Certainly, he would have not died from that but they had eased his suffering.

There at that moment, he realized more than ever before, how important these people were to him, further strengthening his guilt towards the possibility of them dying because of him.

"Thank you, guys."

As soon as he showed signs of getting better, Sheyla's warm gaze abruptly changed back into a cold one.

"Be such to be more careful next time," she said before striding away.

Aito stared at her leaving the figure, confused.

Ogoro sighed, shaking his head. "There she goes all tsundere again. I swear, she's completely out of it."

"Barf! Leave her be. She'll figure herself out eventually… hopefully," George waved, gesturing to close this matter. "More importantly, what you got from your level up boss?"

"Well, I'm about to find out," Aito smiled, opening his status window.

____

[Aito Walker]

[I. General Info]

Death: March 20th, 2030

Species: High Human

Sex: Male

Age: 25

Height: 183cm 

Weight: 120kg 

Emotional state: Anxious

[Partially Recovered] Class: Lv 2.5 Ax Braver  0

Titles: Black Challenger, Father killer, Training addict, Masochist, Goblin Slayer, Khan, Cheater.

[II. Attributes]

1. Gifts:

- Instinct 

- Strength blessed 

- Fury 

2. Skills (4 unallocated skill points):

Passive:

- Ax Mastery Lv4

- Shield Mastery Lv3 

- Marksmanship Lv2 

- Poison Resistance Lv1 

- Heat Resistance Lv2 

- Frost Resistance Lv2 

- Goliath's Appetite Lv2 

- **One Against Many Lv1** (Unique Skill) 

Active: 

- [New] Eyes of Demolition Lv3 

- Domain Lv4 

- [Lv Up!] Impact Lv4 (1. The shockwave is now twice as big. 2. The host can now channel Impact into his active skills.)

- Illusion Lv2 

- [Lv Up!] Durability Lv6 (1. Denser Coating. 2. The host can now coat his active skills. Coated items now glows according to the color of your soul.)

- Aura of Bravery Lv2 

- Cyclone Lv 2 

- [2Lv Up!] Weight Control Lv5 ( 1. Increase or decrease the original weight of lifeless targets by 16 times. 2. The host is now able to focus the total weight of an item into a single area of the targeted item.) 

- Pneuma Lv4 

- Reaper of Souls Lv2 

- [Lv Up!] Cleave Lv5 (1. Increased penetration power. 2. Increased power and range of wind blades to 60 meters.)

[III. Basic stats (4 unallocated basic stat points)]

- [Lv Up!] Strength: Lv5 

- [2 Lv Up!] Body: Lv6 

- Stamina: Lv4 

- [Lv Up!] Agility: Lv4 

- [Lv Up!] Mana: Lv5

- Destiny: Lv4 (cannot level up with Glory Points and Stat Points)

____

'Ho, now that's interesting. It appears once certain skills reach a certain threshold, they develop new effects,' he thought, looking closely at his detailed skill descriptions before turning towards Filona's statue, a devilish grin on his face. 'How about a little test?'

[Wait! Wait! Wait! What do you think you're doing!?]

Aito infused his ax with a combination of skills and hacked the air, a golden wind blade propelled out of his weapon. Its target? The goddess's statue.

—Active Skill: Durability Lv6 (Overload)—

—Active Skill: Impact Lv4 (Overload)—

—Active Skill: Cleave Lv5 (Overload)—

BOOM!

The marble immediately exploded upon "Impact," weakening the structure, making it an easier time for the wind blade with increased "Durability," to literally "Cleave" through Filona's feet.

He hadn't been able to apply Impact nor Durability to a skill before, only on items. That new addition further added to his ridiculous powers. Aito had now the possibility of launching Air Bombs.

Sam barely had enough time to move from his lying spot that Filona's statue crashed against the marble ground where he once stood.

The baldie was mouth agape, half annoyed and half surprised. "Freaking monster."

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