B.F.HUUPS
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Chapter 54
🕑 Added 2025-08-09 20:43:27 +0000 UTCSitting in the training room, Aaron felt for the energy he had sensed when peering into the troll. As he inched closer to the sensation, he felt his heart thump with power and reached out.
His heart was something else. More than what it had been before the Integration. Like a power station for his body, it created Vitality and rejuvenated him when wounded. But there was more to it, and he delved deeper in search of concrete answers.
Health was fundamentally different from Mana and Stamina. At least that’s what he had thought. He hadn’t had the ability to control it, and so that was an easy mistake to make. But having fought the troll with its healing ability, he realized his assumption had been wrong. HP wasn’t merely an indicator of how much life one had left, but the energy used to rebuild the body.
Just like with Mana and Stamina, this energy could be harnessed. But unlike those energies, health was used to rebuild. To heal.
Enlightened, Aaron was able to pull forth this energy and control it in small amounts. Luckily, pain wasn’t something he concerned himself with too much anymore, and he bent back a finger, snapping it in half, only briefly wincing at the pain.
Controlling his Vitality, he poured it into the broken finger, and his eyes widened as it healed, consuming HP in the process.
But he wasn’t yet able to unlock the Vitality Heart. He needed to push himself further.
Climbing to his feet, he went looking for his alien friend.
***Mo'Han
“You want me to what? You must be mad, A-ran!”
“Apparently, we can attack each other in the training room if we both agree to it. C’mon, it’ll be a little fun.”
“I don’t like the feeling of this. We do not use our weapons against friends where I am from. But since you insist, I shall indulge you.”
“Okay, so you stand over there and blast me with your Skills. Try to avoid killing me, though.”
“It worries me how calmly you say that,” Mo’han grimaced.
“Eh, not like it’s permanent.”
The giant asura remembered the chilling effect of dying at Aaron’s words. Being able to shrug such a sensation off was… it was something alright.
“Okay, are you ready, A-ran?”
“Hit me!”
Mo’han raised a hand and summoned forth his power. A second later, a ring of red energy shot out. The asura was in deep focus, trying his best to rein in his own power as much as possible.
The ring of power flashed through the air in the blink of an eye, bisecting Aaron.
“Ahh,” Aaron groaned. “Not quite what I had in mind.”
“A-ran!” Mo’han rushed over, his eyes shaking in peril as he watched his friend scooping up his guts.
“It’s fine. Gimme a moment,” Aaron raised a hand. His mind had mostly turned inward and was focusing his Vitality toward the wound.
“How are you not…” Mo’han muttered, but his words fell short as he watched the gnarly wound attempt to heal itself.
“Okay, I’m not quite there yet,” Aaron croaked and expired.
Before the asura could even come to his senses, Aaron had respawned and strolled back into the training room.
“Alright, round two.”
“Wait, what about… I ahhh…”
“Problem, big fella?”
“No, it’s nothing,” Mo’han shook his head in amazement.
“Alright. Good, mind throwing another one of those things my way, mate?”
“S-sure.”
The same scene played out, but this time, Aaron didn’t die so fast. In fact, Aaron mused that it was far more than just his growing mastery over Vitality keeping him alive.
That strange feeling he had, which gradually familiarised him after each death, was present. Just like in the trial, he was able to hang onto his fleeting life, preserving himself for several seconds. Several very important seconds as he healed himself.
“Are you… that is Vitality mastery, isn’t it?” Mo’han questioned as Aaron healed himself.
“Sure is.”
“Right. I did something similar during the Tutorial. I unlocked something called a stamina vein. The energy I feel pulsating from you is very—”
“Alright, let’s go again,” Aaron said, patting Mo’han on the back as he walked back into the room. It was at that moment that the asura realized he had been talking to a dead man those last couple of seconds.
Mo’han gravely wounded Aaron again and watched him heal. But this time, he sensed the energy radiating from him. This, this was an opportunity. The asura closed his eyes and delved within as he mediated on the energy flowing out from the little human.
His meditation was cut short as Aaron tapped him on the back again and lined up for another shot.
“Are you sure about this, A-ran?”
“Huh? Yeah, why wouldn’t I be? I’m getting great gains from this. A lot easier when I don’t have to worry about some monster finishing the job, and I can just focus on healing. Now, are you ready?”
Mo’han forced down the part of him that said this was insane, and fired another ring of energy at Aaron. But he couldn’t exactly complain. He had spent days meditating on his stamina to awaken his stamina veins. And it wasn’t like he could endure what Aaron was. In fact, despite his overwhelming power, Mo’han had no idea how he would go about awakening this ability if not for the energy Aaron was pouring out. It was the perfect opportunity, and with every second that passed, he was getting closer to his own revelations.
And so, despite his concerns, he continued to train with the human. Did it make any sense that Aaron was able to die with seemingly no concern? No, not really. But his mental state seemed unaffected, so why would he intervene?
Channeling Aaron’s energy was far more helpful than just trying to copy and learn from somebody else with a Vitality heart. The energy released as he poured power into the organ to awaken it was unique, and being in the presence of that was supremely helpful.
Mo’han gasped as he felt his own heart pounding with energy, and he delved inward as he poured his near limitless wells of HP into it, forcing it open.
“You okay, big guy?”
Blinking, Mo’han shook his head. Blurred and multiplied, Aaron waved a hand before his eyes.
Vitality Heart Awoken!
“I’m… better than okay. I feel amazing.”
“Right,” the human nodded with a suspiciously raised brow. “Anyway, thanks for that. I formed my Vitality Heart thanks to you, Mo’han. I owe you one.”
“You what? I mean, yes,” Mo’han nodded. “Of course you did.”
“Err, something wrong?”
“No, it’s the complete opposite.”
“Ahuh,” Aaron nodded as he probed the asura for more.
“I don’t know how you did it, human… but your energy…”
“My energy?”
Mo’han coughed and cleared his throat as he steadied himself. “It is not you who owes me thanks, A-ran. It is I who should be thanking you. By channeling the energy you were outputting, I managed to awaken my own Vitality Heart.”
“You did? Mate, that’s awesome.”
“Awesome indeed.”
He is so casual about it. He is a truly impressive specimen, Mo’han thought as he looked down at the smiling human.
“Look, I don’t mean to be a buzz kill, but I kinda wanted to hit my Class evolution,” Aaron said. “How about we do beers after I hit it?”
“Beers? I would be delighted, A-ran! We shall celebrate this great day after you’re done!”
“Well,” Aaron grimaced and scratched at the back of his neck. “I’ll try and be quick, but no promises, okay?”
“Take your time, A-ran!”
“Thanks, big fella. Catch ya soon!”
***Aaron
Title acquired: Health Control Prodigy.
The master controls the very beat of their thumping heart, channeling its energy and repairing wounds wherever they appear.
Rewarded for successfully forming your Vitality Heart prior to reaching E grade.
Reward: +20% Vitality
Aaron glanced at the title momentarily as he made his way to the trial dial. He selected the Trial of Dominance and got back to work. It was an easy decision to make. He wanted to fight something before hitting his Class evolution, and he wanted it to be strong.
It’d have been nice to enjoy the moment, but he really wanted to get this done. After all, he still had a few things to cross off his to-do list before the trials ended.
Appearing beside Oozagh, Aaron materialized in a snowy landscape before a huge, spiral tower that climbed up into the clouds. Clouds that were thick and blanketing, whipped up by blizzard storms that hid all but glimpses of the tower.
Casually, Oozagh’s shadow strolled toward the tower, and Aaron followed.
The entire trial appeared desolate. Entering the doorless tower and climbing the spiral stairs that ran around its interior, Aaron marched to its top. Not that there was much to see. He found nothing but empty rooms and broken furniture. There weren’t even cobwebs or spiders, but perhaps that was a weather thing. The environment was freezing, and if not for his stamina cycling, he’d likely have been chattering and shivering. Not that it would have made much difference, by this point, the naturally blocked out minor pain. An ability he had naturally developed over countless deaths. His body was also extraordinarily hardy, so feeling pain from minor things like frost no longer made sense, and as such, his body probably just blanked it out.
However, when he spat at the ground, he got a gauge for just how cold it really was, as his saliva quickly froze before his eyes.
“And to think, I used to hate the cold,” Aaron shrugged, momentarily reminiscing on the sun-soaked days he spent growing up. Swimming in the ocean baths or enjoying the beach.
Continuing up, he was soon amongst the clouds. The tower looked dodgy beyond belief, bricks missing here and there. But that didn’t seem to stop it from being absolutely huge. In fact, it was probably bigger than any skyscrapers on earth, and climbed above most of the cloud coverage.
Nice view, he thought, pausing briefly to look through some missing bricks.
But as he continued up, he finally heard something. The low growls of a beast. It didn’t sound enraged or ready to attack. But the depths of its growls and the aura it sent rippling out alongside them were truly terrifying. Or at least they would be for a normal person.
Moments later, the stairs circled up to a huge platform that expanded well beyond the width of the tower. It made no sense. The tower should have toppled over from its weight, but it didn’t.
But physics-defying structures weren’t what was occupying Aaron’s thoughts. That was the giant bird staring him down. A huge, dragon-sized crow, with angry, yellow eyes bearing into him.
Gigamorphed Blizzard Crow [ Level 99 ]
Titles: [ Kinslayer ] [ Heavenly Defier ]
“It works!” Aaron cheered as he finally managed to inspect something and get a useful result. “It bloody works!”
The crow, however, did not seem so pleased by Aaron’s excitement and evident lack of regard for it and the danger it posed to him.
A shrill squawk filled the air, forcing him to cup his ears as it pierced through him.
“Alright, alright. I get it! Let’s fight.”
A huge beak crashed down a second later, but Aaron easily dodged it. However, the wing flap that followed it pelted him with a gust of wind that sent him hurling back and off the edge of the platform. If not for [ Gust Step ], he would have fallen straight off the tower.
The crow was not amused by Aaron running through the air back toward it, and it took to the sky, circling around before shooting down like a missile to swoop him.
Even if Aaron were the faster of the two, the skies were the beast’s domain, and he could not keep up with its flight via [ Gust Step ]. Not only that, but the Skill required additional mana, whereas his foe was fighting naturally. This was taking the fight to it and placing him at a disadvantage.
Turning back, he dodged a swooping attack and made for the tower. But then stopped. Tactically, he knew that fighting it either on the ground or maybe even in the tower was the best option. In fact, it was probably the entire reason the tower existed. To give challengers who could not fly a chance against this foe. But Aaron wanted to challenge himself. This was a sixth-stage trial, and it very well may push him toward level 25 and his first evolution. The harder he tested himself here, the better the gains would be. Anywhere else but the trials, this decision was probably dumb beyond belief.
Putting yourself at such a disadvantage was not smart, even if you considered yourself the stronger combatant. But Aaron wasn’t under normal circumstances, and he had an opportunity to push himself beyond what anybody else could. And as such, it would be foolish for him to waste such an opportunity.
“Alright, let’s do this,” Aaron cracked his neck and turned back toward the bird, who was already circling around for another swoop.
It was time to play batter, and he powered up a [ Overlocked Haymaker ] as the bird rushed toward him. But the dumb beast proved smarter than it looked. Opening its beak as it raced forward, a stream of circular, sonic attacks shot forth, rippling through the air. They were fast, but not fast enough to catch the nearly precognitive Aaron. However, he quickly realized that it didn’t matter. These attacks didn’t require perfect accuracy. Like a flak cannon, they exploded on proximity, sending reverberating energy cascading out toward him, despite the fact that they never hit, nor got particularly close. But the reverberating shockwaves traveled several meters, and did so extraordinarily fast.
Aaron was blasted back, and his entire body was violently shaking. The shock had come fast, and he didn’t initially realize the vibrations had turned him into swiss cheese.
He wasn’t even sure that the attack’s purpose was direct damage, but at peak E grade, the gulf between them was vast. Against another peak E grade, the Skill was likely used to immobilise, but against a peak F grade like himself, it had one-shotted Aaron.
The reverberations had traveled straight through him, and his bones and organs had been torn apart by its sonic power. But more concerningly, he hadn’t seen it coming.
Through fate, Aaron had seen the attacks and the pathways they would take, and he had dodged accordingly. But he hadn’t seen the shockwaves that they would explode into. This was more concerning than anything else. It presented a weakness in his defenses that he had built up and honed over countless hours and deaths.
It was better now than later, he figured. And it seemed like the perfect challenge to crash against in his run-up to seeing Yendal again.
This time, he would be ready, and he wouldn’t burn through months fighting her… well, hopefully not.
Comments
LOLZMAN
I am going to guess that Vitality also has other uses but more defensively? By that I mean while its used for healing it can also be used for fighting of toxins and diseases? I would hope we get a clearer explanation on them as the line between Vitality and stamina is kinda muddy while the lines between mana and stamina are quite clear. Like how does vitality travel given that stamina uses the veins? I do understand that we are seeing this system through the eyes of the MC so we are seing his flawed understanding which is great. I just can't wait till we get a proper understanding of it.
Ekko
Nice
Sleek Elite
Edited now
