“I want you to go all out. Show me everything you have,” Aaron said, limbering up and eating as he got into position across the arena from her.

  Talia nodded. Had anyone else besides Aaron asked her to do that, she’d have probably questioned and checked to confirm they were sure. That said, it was a little hard to take him seriously while he was stuffing his face.

  Staring him down as he continued to grow bigger and bigger, she summoned her avatar. Next, she raised a defensive Skill and considered her strategy.

  She had seen Aaron fight before, and she knew that he was no pushover. But more importantly, he could survive just about anything. She had to be smart. Play her moves correctly and lure him into something he couldn’t survive.

  Killing him once won’t be enough to win. If I’m going to get one over him, I’m going to need to set this up carefully.

  Also, going by the current size, she knew that he had a lot of energy available. He probably wasn’t at his fattest, but she certainly wouldn’t want to be stuck in the seat beside him on an economy-class flight.

  With that much energy stored up, killing him for good wasn’t going to be easy. If she was going to win the duel, she would need to force him into using it up.

  Okay, I have to draw his attacks out. Get him to drain down that fat-stored energy, and then I can bring out the big guns.

  Perhaps it was silly to use one of her last potions of heroism on a friendly duel that didn’t really matter, but she wanted to show Aaron that she wasn’t just a stepping stone. She was a serious contender for Earth, and she expected people to treat her as such.

  Still, if she was forced to calculate her own probability of winning… Well, it probably wasn’t particularly high. However, that didn’t matter. Aaron wasn’t the only one stubbornly determined to win, and she hadn’t gotten this far by playing it safe.

  Wings extended from the back of her avatar, and she flew up into the air. Looking down upon Aaron, she then attacked with several swings of [ Severing Swipe ] and her avatar’s already long blade extended into a beam of light that crashed down upon him. Even as the destructive beams of white energy were shooting down, she rushed forward, plunging toward him like a dive bomber as she continued her attack.

  The destructive power consumed most of the arena with explosions of devastating white light. But as expected, he was fast. Very fast. But it wasn’t just speed. If it were simply speed and agility that he was using to survive her attacks, then she was certain she could hit him. After all, she was high E-grade, and he wasn’t. And even though she wasn’t the fastest, she should be able to hit someone at his level.

  Still, his level wasn’t quite as bad as it looked, at first. She remembered that he was quite the committed chef. Those Profession levels certainly helped close the gap between them somewhat.

  Talia herself had taken up the Profession of Formation Mastery within the trials and gained several levels since reaching the trials. But she was still mostly focused on her Class.

  That said, E grade levels provided more points, and she had more of them. Not to mention the Skills she’d unlocked, although it was hard to tell if she was actually ahead of him on that front.

  The Skills you gained at higher levels were generally better, but Aaron had achieved things he had no right to achieve, and it had obviously resulted in spectacular Skills when leveling. He hadn’t given her all the details, but she honestly wouldn’t be surprised if he had unlocked a Legendary Skill already, considering what he was capable of.

  Her almost complete Skill Set might be considered comparable to a Legendary Skill, at least once it was finished. But she still hadn’t gotten anything better than an Epic.

  Her brow twitched as Aaron appeared untouched outside of the explosive range of where her attacks had landed. They weren’t working. But more importantly, he wasn’t draining himself anywhere near enough, and whilst she still had plenty of gas left, she was certain that the Skills she was using were draining her reserves quicker than he was.

  He had an incredible habit of always being where he needed to be. Like he knew exactly where her attacks would land, it was beyond frustrating, and she realized she was going to have to do something different.

  She had no choice. She was going to use her strongest attack. At least this way, she might force something out of Aaron, and after all, she still had a few trump cards remaining.

  The giant sword of her avatar burst into blinding white flames, and she brought down [ Cleansing White Flame Strike ] upon Aaron.

  It had killed countless monsters in a single strike, including ones far higher level than Aaron, and it blanketed the entire arena in white as its flames shot out in all directions.

  There was no dodging this.

  But then, her eyes widened in disbelief, and she gasped. Just like that, her strongest attack had been snuffed out, as if she had never called on its power at all.

  The last wisps of white flames sizzled out, and through them came Aaron, flying toward her. He was skinny now, but he was also entirely untouched by her attack.

  He destroyed my attack??

  [ Shields of the Avatar ] sprang up around her in a last-ditch effort to survive his attack.

  His punches landed heavily, reverberating across the magical shields that rotated around her like a barrier. But after only a couple of strikes, they began to shimmer and flicker.

  Talia’s lips trembled and gaped. “What the?” It wasn’t possible… [ Shields of the Avatar ] had saved her countless times against all manner of powerful monsters and beasts within the Tutorial.

  She had survived chaotic maelstroms of destructive power cast against her from quest bosses within the Tutorial thanks to this Skill, and yet Aaron had dispelled them with a couple of relatively ordinary-looking punches. It was simply unbelievable.

  What the hell is he???

  She tried to fly away. To create distance. To give herself a chance to regroup and prepare for another attack. But he was faster than he looked, and Aaron jumped through the air after her.

  But it was the following punch that really sucked the wind out of her lungs. It was something else. There was no pain, but it felt like everything had become so difficult. Her body was beyond heavy, and even her fluttering eyelids threatened to close from mere fatigue. But worst of all, his punch had actually dispelled her avatar somehow.

  ***Aaron***

  “Are you okay?” Aaron shouted in a bit of a panic as he rushed to Talia’s side.

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  He had toned down the power of his [ Soul Shattering Strike ] just before landing it, but watching her eyes go white, and suddenly falling to the ground scared him a little.

  “I–I…” She murmured as Aaron grabbed her and propped her up in his arms.

  “Talia! Speak to me! Are you okay?”

  “I….”

  “Dammit. Shit, I overdid it. Didn’t I? Here, eat this! It’ll make you feel better,” he said, worry heavy in his words, and pulled food from his scabbard.

  Suddenly, Talia’s eyes widened, and she jumped back up. “No, no, no, it’s fine. Really. Unless it's one of those buns you made… otherwise, I’m certain I’ll live.”

  Wait, she looked like she was completely out of it just a second ago?

  “Are you sure? My trolorblin is great for regeneration and energy organ circulation. It’ll make you feel much better.”

  “I’m sure,” Talia nodded vigorously. “I’m really, really, really sure. You keep that for yourself,” she continued, her expression twisting with disgust as she looked at the foul dish in his hand.

  Aaron paused. The mutated roasted meat was already halfway out of his scabbard as he looked her in the eyes. “Alright, your loss,” he shrugged, and returned the meal to the spatial container. “But I’m telling you, this does wonders for energy recovery.”

  “I’m sure it does. But I’ll be okay,” she forced an awkward smile. “That move though… it broke down all of my defenses like they were nothing. I felt like I was literally turned offline for a moment.”

  “Yeah,” Aaron nervously scratched at the back of his neck. “Sorry about that. First time testing it out. I wasn’t entirely sure what to expect. I hope it didn’t screw you around too much.”

  “It’s fine. You’re not the only one who wants to get as strong as possible, Aaron. I’m not scared of taking a hit any more than you are.”

  “Well, you probably should be. I die a lot.”

  Talia chuckled at that. “Okay, maybe a little more scared than you are. But seriously, I need to challenge myself as well. And now it looks like I’m not just weaker than you, but considerably weaker,” she sighed.

  “Well, I guess you just have to work harder,” he shrugged. “Trust me, I know what it’s like being the underdog. As dumb as I might seem, I don’t just hammer my head against the wall mindlessly. Well, I sometimes do, when I think it’ll work, but usually, I look for ways to level the playing field. If I didn’t do that, I’d never have made it his far.”

  Talia nodded along, and it looked like she cheered up a little.

  “Yeah, he’s right,” Elmira said, walking over on wobbly legs. “Didn’t you say you basically just picked up your Profession?”

  Talia nodded.

  “Well, there you go, a low-hanging fruit. Hitting E grade in that will give you a decent power-up, and it shouldn’t be too hard to do in here, especially if you can knock out a few Trials of Endurance. That’s easy material for leveling. Honestly, you shouldn’t have any trouble doing that before the trials end. And if you need any help, maybe we can tag team.”

  “And what about beating trials?” Talia questioned. “If I focus on my Profession, then I’ll have less time for them.”

  “That’s for you to decide,” Aaron said. “You have to figure out what’s most important for yourself. If you think gaining Profession levels will provide the most benefit, then do that. Otherwise, keep grinding.”

  “Thanks. The both of you. It might sound silly after everything I’ve been through, but I needed that,” Talia got back to her feet. “I still feel a little off. That’s one hell of a strike, Aaron. But I’m stronger than this. You’ll see.”

  Aaron narrowed his gaze as he studied her. She wasn’t wrong. It was like his punch hadn’t just beaten her, but done damage to her self-confidence as a warrior. He hadn’t known her for that long, but he hadn’t seen this side of her before, and it just seemed like too much of a coincidence. He would have to be more careful about how he used the attack in the future. Then again, he doubted it would have the same effect on Mo’han. That guy was just built differently.

  I got a pretty good idea of how it works, at least. And it seems like she’s recovering fine. This Skill should make grinding more trials before I leave this place much easier.

  “So, you’re good now?”

  “Yeah,” Talia nodded. “I survived the Tutorial, I can survive this.”

  “Good. Let me know if you need anything. But right now I’ve got some decisions to make.”

  Humming to himself, he turned away for some peace of mind and considered Stat choices and what he most needed. And perhaps more importantly, what would help most against Mo’han?

  Strength and Dexterity were the lowest of his main attributes, and could always do with a little buff. But did they currently need them higher?

  Not really, was the answer. Dexterity would be nice, since it only gained 1 point from both his Class and Profession, but he was already so skilled at hitting things, and that was mostly what he used it for. However, it did provide some athletic benefits as well.

  He hadn’t thought much about durability since he could bring himself back to life, but against someone like Mo’han, it was much more important. Sure, there probably wasn’t anything he could do to survive a full-power strike from the asura, but he didn’t want to die from literally everything Mo’han threw at him. And reconstituting an obliterated body cost way more aether than recovering from a hole in his chest.

  Dying was a backup, and it wasn’t a great strategy to use it unnecessarily. Not only that, but Fortitude, which hardened his body and made him more resilient, also increased SP. And more energy, even for someone like Aaron, was always useful.

  He had a whopping 84 unspent points, and after an extended moment of deliberation, he placed them all into Fortitude. With any luck, the points would make surviving Mo’han’s basic attacks easier.

  With all of his points allocated, he marvelled at his Status page.

  [ Name: Aaron Dober ]

  [ Age: 23 ]

  [ Race: Human [ Awoken ] ]

  [ Grade: E ]

  [ HP: 45700 ]

  [ MP: 20400 ]

  [ SP: 52500 ]

  [ AP: 2000 ]

  [ Class: Empty-Handed Energy Monk, lvl 35 ]

  [ Profession: Ogre Gastronomist, lvl 40 ]

  [ Stats ]

  [ Strength: 314 (+132) ]

  [ Vitality: 457 (+219) ]

  [ Fortitude: 525 (+251) ]

  [ Dexterity: 239 (+113) ]

  [ Agility: 373 (+168) ]

  [ Intelligence: 239 (+101) ]

  [ Willpower: 204 (+99) ]

  [ Charisma: 177 (+111) ]

  [ Perception: 316 (+134) ]

  [ Titles: Shadow Trials Trailblazer, Stamina Control Prodigy, Mana Control Prodigy, Vitality Control Prodigy, Holder of a True Blessing, In the Eyes of the Gods, Aether Wielder, World Overlord ]

  [ Traits: Fate Weaver (Alpha), Major Blessing of Oozagh the Rotund, True Blessing of Yendal the Empty-Handed, Herald of a God, Death Cheat ]

  [ Racial Skills: Inspect, Lingua Multiversa ]

  [ Profession Passive Skills (3/3): Questionable Recipes, Conductive Gut, Adipose Fusion ]

  [ Profession Active Skills (6/6): Spirit Toes, Oozagh’s Breath, Foul Ichor, Unsightly Degustation, Perfect Measurements, Spirit Hands ]

  [ Class Passive Skills (3/3): Reverse Cycle Faux Core, Equal and Opposite, Blurred Image ]

  [ Class Active Skills (6/6): Soul Shattering Strike, Relentless Scourge, Gorgon’s Time Dilation, Turbocharged Haymaker, Gust Step, Spectral Fist ]

  His two highest Stats were now Vitality and Fortitude, which should allow him to take a decent amount of damage. That, combined with his self-resurrection ability, should make him bloody hard to kill now.

  If he was completely honest, he was itching for a chance to fight Mo’han now, but he had to wait until the trial’s final day, not that it was too far away any longer.

  What to do next, he wondered?

  Fighting Yendal in the Trial of the Challenger as he prepared for Mo’han made a lot of sense, but it could soak up a lot of his time. Beating some more easy trials wasn’t a bad idea, either. But as nice as a few extra levels were, it wasn’t a very efficient use of his time. He wasn’t sure they would make a difference preparing for Mo’han. At least not compared to the stats he could gain from his Profession levels. He wasn’t restricted to those, so he could just keep grinding until the very end.

  With that in mind, he decided to try to knock out a couple more stages of the Trial of Endurance. Hopefully, that wouldn’t take too long. If he could do that, then he could do a nice grinding session on his Profession with the ingredients. That was likely the best way to gain levels and Stat points prior to the big duel, and once he felt satisfied, he could cement everything against Yendal.

  If he had some spare time, then he could try knocking out more trials, but he had to ration what he had left for the best gains.

  With a mad grin, he made his way to the trial dial. The final stretch was here, and he was eager to see just how much he could squeeze out of it.

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