Rise of the Devourer

Book 2: Chapter 9 — Improvements

Moving to the sparring chamber, Noah stood opposite Raesar. Taking a moment, he checked on his abilities that had upgraded. Opening his notifications, he ignored his sub-attributes for now, simply focusing on Meditation and Pain Tolerance.

[Meditation (Advanced) - lvl 25]

Increases natural mana recovery rates by 300% during the meditation period. Increases physical recovery rates while active. You can activate this ability for a 100% increase in recovery rate even while doing tasks.

Noah looked at the meditation, before activating the ability. He felt mana being pulled into his body at a faster rate as his focus heightened.

Moving on, he checked Pain Tolerance.

[Pain Tolerance (Advanced) - lvl 29]

You are adept at ignoring pain. Become capable of ignoring pain for as long as this ability is active.

Noah stared at the ability, feeling a strange sensation, before he turned Pain Tolerance on. He was glad all that suffering had amounted to something useful.

Glancing around, he found none of the adventurers watching this time, all of them most likely busy on one quest or another.

“This time, we will be sparring. Last time I had been testing you and had simply asked you to land a hit. This time, you need to win.”

“What about these?” Noah asked, raising his hand to show off the shackles.

“You’ll be keeping those on,” Raesar replied, making Noah grimace. “You’re more than twice the level you were when you first sparred against me, stop making that face,” Raesar said.

“Now, take a stance,” Rae said.

Noah summoned his spear in his hand before activating Starforged Arms. Two spectral hands manifested around him, and he had two curved blades appear in each arm from his tattoos. The drain on his mana was higher, each activation putting a greater pull on his mana, but he continued nonetheless.

Hey bud, are you there?

The thought went nowhere as Tony continued to sleep. Guess I’ll have to do this on my own.

Raesar’s muscles bulged as the guildmaster stood, grinning his sharp predatory smile. “Now, show me Noah. Show me how you’ve improved. Come, let us fight!”

The first to act was Raesar, leaping into motion. His bulky body shook the ground as he moved at rapid speed, rushing towards Noah. Yet unlike last time, Noah did not have to teleport to dodge. His eyes were sharper, his body stronger, and he was faster. Dodging the move, Noah struck with his spear, the weapon sending sparks flying as Raesar deflected it with his claws. Starforged Arms spun around, swinging their blades of mana as Noah continued, moving in and aiming for the drailith’s gut.

The large man roared, spinning as his claws cut through Noah's arms, dissipating one of them, while his tail smacked Noah, sending him flying.

Blood filled Noah’s mouth, but he didn’t relent, teleporting right back into the fight, he charged at Raesar with his spear. Another activation had the missing Starforged Arm appear again and he sent them out of Raesar’s reach as they shot bolts of mana.

Raesar moved faster, sucking in air before he let out a powerful roar, making Noah’s ears pop. The fraction of a moment that Noah was stunned was enough, as Raesar launched forward, his fist slamming into Noah and sending him flying.

“So slow! Fight, fight back!” Raesar said, not giving him a moment as he rushed ahead. Using Blink, Noah dodged the incoming blow, before he began to form dimensional pockets. Teleporting around, he thrust his spear into a cut in space, mixing the strike in with the bolts from his starforged arms as the attacks struck at once from multiple directions. Raesar spun, taking the bolts of magic to his back but catching the spear into his arms behind him from where Noah struck from a dimensional pocket. Noah tried to pull the man along, but found his strength lacking as he was pulled through his own dimensional pocket, before Raesar slammed him into the ground.

Noah rolled on the ground, feeling his body ache, but he was surprised to find no bones had broken yet.

“Hmm, you’re quite a bit more resilient now,” Raesar said, before his smile widened. “Good, that means I can go all out.”

The drailith seemed to vanish as he rushed forward, and Noah barely dodged the blow heading for his face, yet the strike from Raesar’s feet had Noah falling. Blink flared, teleporting Noah away from the punch that made the ground crack.

Obliterate and Bleed swirled in a frenzy as Noah began to apply them to his Starforged Arms. His weapons changed color, now turning a shade of blue, red and black all mixed together as they fired arrow after arrow. Raesar ran across the field, charging at Noah, who continued to dodge, teleporting away from the strikes every time one came. Noah continued to run for a while, letting his arrows strike from afar, before Raesar stopped. Looking upwards, the drailith growled, before squatting. With a leap, he flew up above, striking at where the spectral arms shot from. Noah let the arrow dismiss itself, as he swiftly recalled the arms before using the chance.

Teleporting himself into midair, Noah struck with his spear and two blades of mana, each weapon covered in Obliterate and Bleed. The slashes from the sword sent arcs of void flying through the arena as the strikes landed on Raesar, drawing blood.

The drailith roared, before using his tail to grab Noah. Pulling him close, he grinned as the two fell, before landing a strike at his chest.

Noah shot downwards, landing on the ground with an explosion that sent clouds of dust flying as the floor cracked beneath him. His body ached, as he felt his ribs finally break, though the pain barely registered in his mind.

Lifeblood worked on the damage, fixing the injury as Noah teleported away from Raesar, who was about to fall on top of him. Blood filled his mouth and he coughed, clutching his chest, before glancing at his mana.

Mana: 42%

Advanced Meditation was working hard to allow him to keep up, or else he would’ve been drained by now. Taking a moment, Noah tried to come up with a plan to win. Without Tony, his abilities were limited, and while he could use a mana stone, that would go against the spirit of the spar. There was no point if he couldn’t win using his own abilities.

Raesar stood where Noah had fallen, the tiles cracked beneath his scaled feet. “I’ve changed my mind. Take off the shackles,” he said.

“Really?” Noah asked, surprised by the change in attitude.

“Yes,” Raesar replied. “Put them back on after this spar, but take them off for now.”

Noah nodded, reaching into his inventory as he took out the key. A moment later, with a click, both shackles fell to the ground. Noah rotated his wrists freely, taking in a deep breath as he felt the weight from his soul finally lift itself. “Oh man, that feels so much better.”

“Now that you’ve learned to use your abilities under a restraint, continue like that. Your mana usage is inefficient and you waste too much. The shackles forced you to reduce that,” Raesar said. “Before, when your ability required half a glass, you were pouring in an entire glass worth of mana, making it overflow. Do you understand?”

Noah nodded.

“Good. I will be using a single ability. Try not to die,” Raesar said.

Noah stared at the drailith, unsure whether he was serious or not. He watched as Raesar’s aura fluctuated, gathering around his body. A red glow gathered around him, his muscles tensing as he stood in a stance, letting out a quiet breath.

Then the drailith moved.

Noah barely saw the strike coming before he was pummeled into the ground. His spear blocked the attack, cracking under the force of the blow as the ground gave beneath him. Teleporting, he dodged, but Raesar moved faster. A roar came from the drailith, his draconic eyes glowing a red shimmer as he charged.

There was no longer any leeway to think as Noah continued deflecting barrage after barrage of blows. Starforged Arms moved, a shield forming around him as he teleported to keep dodging the attacks that threatened to punch through his body. His ability struggled against the strength of Raesar’s attack, the shield dissipating within three blows, forcing Noah to run again.

There was no room to counter-attack, and Noah found himself lacking time to even breathe as he took blow after blow that shattered his bones.

A final blow struck Noah in the gut as he flew across the arena, before crashing into the wall. Groaning, Noah struggled to pull himself up as Raesar rushed closer, pinning him down.

Staring at the drailith, Noah looked in his glowing red eyes before using one final desperate shot.

Burning his mana, Noah pulled on Raesar with Blink. Resistance flared, his mana pushing against Raesar’s aura. Noah screamed as his mana was sapped, blue wisps glowing around his body, before the world shifted.

Warning. Low Mana.

Mana: 6%

Noah stood in the darkness of a swirling cosmos within his dimensional storage. He looked ahead, watching Raesar standing nearby. His mana was nearly empty, but his regeneration seemed just enough to keep them both in here.

“What is this place?” Raesar asked, looking around.

“My inventory. Although this is the first time I’ve been able to bring someone else in with me,” Noah replied.

“Curious ability. Regardless, our battle continues,” Raesar said, turning towards Noah.

As Raesar charged, Noah teleported, finding Blink barely costing anything inside his inventory. The drailith looked at him in surprise before charging again and Noah blinked once more, dodging with ease.

The pattern continued for a good minute, and Noah began to sweat, watching his mana drop down to 2%.

Raesar looked at Noah in frustration. “That is a difficult ability to work against,” he replied. “I would need to use my other abilities to do anything,” Raesar said, humming. “How long can you keep us here?”

“Forever,” Noah lied.

Raesar squinted and Noah did his best to keep his expression neutral as he gave a shrug.

“Very well, I run out of patience. Let us call this match a draw,” Raesar said, extending a hand. Noah walked up, grabbing it as he shook and gave the man a smile.

As if on cue, he felt his mana run out as both of them were spit out of his dimensional storage.

Raesar stared at Noah, realising what had happened.

“Like you said when I first came here. Use anything to win,” Noah replied with a win.

The drailith boomed with laughter, patting Noah’s shoulder. “You amuse me, Noah. It was a good battle.”

Noah nodded. “A good battle indeed.”

“Keep training with the shackles, and if you can reach B rank, I believe you can surpass me in strength one day as well,” Raesar said, patting Noah’s shoulder before he turned around and walked away.

Noah watched the drailith walk out of the chamber, before he glanced around. The floor tiles were cracked, the walls too, and the arena looked like it had been attacked by an army passing through. Noah smiled, feeling pleased before his attention went to his notification menu.

Smiling, he clicked the box open.

Time to see how much I’ve improved.

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