Boundless Cultivation-Chapter 57 - You Are Getting Too Confident

Alaric grinned as he witnessed the mana blast payload breach through Therin’s defense, ending the fight. He wasn’t sure the unstable payload would last that long before doing its job since he hadn’t perfected it yet.

Watching Therin’s poor state, he winced a little. Alaric wanted to punish Therin a little to strip the arrogance away from him. However, he hadn’t meant to literally gouge a hole through his body.

That must’ve hurt like hell. Alaric shook his head to dismiss that thought. His own state was just as bad, almost.

When the match concluded, he ceased channeling the power of his chakras. It would be a waste since the enchantments inside the training grounds would restore everything anew. When Sir Baldwin sprinted into the duel arena and snapped his fingers, his assumption was proven correct.

The green shimmer of energy - only visible for a moment - fixed all the damage inflicted in the surroundings and healed both his and Therin’s body. This assurance was the only reason they went all out during their battle.

His body still felt drained, but he was grateful for the protective enchantments enveloping the training grounds nonetheless. The memory of the fight lingered fresh in Alaric’s mind, and he resolved to analyze the fight during his meditation session.

For now, opted to review the notifications he gained.

Skills:

[Zen Flow lvl 12 -> Zen Flow lvl 13]

[Mana Strengthening lvl 8 -> Mana Strengthening lvl 10]

[Mana Blast lvl 6 -> Mana Blast lvl 9]

[Mana Scrambling lvl 6 -> Mana Scrambling lvl 9]

[Mana Shaping lvl 1 -> Mana Shaping lvl 4]

Hmm…Not bad. Alaric was satisfied with his progress. However, the real reward for this fight was the insight he gleaned during the match.

Ding! Insight detected for the skill [Mana shield lvl 10] (Common). Skill evolution options available - Layered Mana Shield (uncommon), Reflective Shield (uncommon), Adaptive Shield (uncommon)

He had heard of all three skill options, and they were all pretty useful in their own way. Like every skill, these had their pros and cons. The effectiveness of a skill ultimately depended on the fighting style of the user.

Alaric was still experimenting with his fighting style and decided to evolve the skill after reflecting upon it some more later.

Therin and Sir Baldwin approached him, both of them with different expressions etched on their faces. Sir Baldwin grinned as if he had discovered some hidden gem. Sweat trickled down Therin’s face, and his face was twisted into a grimace. He still couldn’t accept his defeat.

“That was a great fight,” said the knight commander. “Truthfully,” he glanced at Therin, “I didn’t expect you to defeat him.”

Therin’s face flushed. “I…you are much more powerful than I imagined,” he forced out.

Alaric chuckled with a nod. “You are quite powerful as well.” He patted Therin’s back. Somehow, it didn’t have the intended effect on him. Instead of being encouraged, the older boy grimaced harder.

Before he could reply, Alaric marched over to his friends, who were eagerly waiting for him. After dodging a barrage of questions about how he had managed to unleash such a powerful skill and survive Therin’s final attack, they all decided to have their lunch.

However, before exiting the grounds, he sensed the gazes of Edgar and the count lingering on him. They probably wanted to uncover the list of skills Alaric had attained and how he had secured them so soon.

Alaric guessed that all the adults could tell that he had already evolved a few skills. Otherwise, there wasn’t any way to match the power level of a Tier 2 cultivator at his current stage. He was truly relieved nobody had attempted to probe into the details for now.

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Acquiring skills depended on a lot of factors, but the major factor was insight. And, insight could only be gained through experience and practice or if one was exceptionally talented. Still, it would be quite difficult to justify how he managed to gain so much insight in such a short amount of time.

Alaric decided to let go of that matter for now. Still, his intuition was telling him that he would have to answer to somebody soon enough.

***

Alaric was excited to delve into the fourth stage of the Tutorial Rift - The Howling Expanse. The promise of learning a new skill was enticing, but the rewards and special cultivation resources he could unearth from the hidden areas were even more alluring to him.

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It was a bit strange though. When he discussed with his friends what type of challenges and monsters they encountered inside the Tutorial Rift, all of them recounted experiences that were more or less similar.

The challenges inside the Tutorial Rift were tailored for each cultivator, but the theme and monsters were almost always consistent. Unless one stumbled upon a hidden area, which was a rare phenomenon.

Yet, Alaric had successfully uncovered two hidden areas. Whether he was fortunate or the system was somehow orchestrating events due to his ‘Ally’ status, he couldn’t be sure. However, he strongly believed he could locate another hidden area inside the 4th stage.

It was too precious of an opportunity to miss - it offered a chance to obtain precious resources. However, the danger was exponentially high as well. That’s why he sought to be fully prepared before venturing in.

So, before that, he wanted to evolve his mana shield skill to the next level. That’s why he was back at the library with the book titled, ‘Popular Mana Skills and Their Evolutions,’ spread open on the table. It was time to make a decision.

Reflective shield was the most common upgrade option for mana shield and was widely adopted by many tier 2 cultivators. The main benefit it offered was that a reflective shield could reflect a portion of the damage inflicted upon it back at the attacker.

Thus, this not only made reflective shields more durable but also integrated an offensive element into them. The reflective nature of the shield was excellent for withstanding pure elemental attacks.

Layered mana shields were far less prevalent. Alaric deduced he received this option only because he experimented with his shield skill and merged it with the mana shaping skill as well. As the name suggested, this skill enabled cultivators to forge densely layered shields with greater ease and speed.

Layered shields lacked the reflective nature of reflective shields, but they could become significantly more durable when reinforced with enough layers.

Adaptive shields were even rarer and primarily preferred by pugilists. These shields provided the best activation times and mana efficiency. When an attack struck a specific point in the shield, that specific point in the shield was fortified substantially, at the cost of weakening the other sections of the shield.

Thus, it excelled at absorbing attacks from a single source but faltered when facing assaults from multiple angles. Typically, the strategy when utilizing adaptive shields was to envelop the body in a single, dense layer of mana and maintain it constantly due to its efficiency.

Alaric was highly intrigued by the prospect of selecting the adaptive shield skill. At this stage in his cultivation journey, it would’ve synchronized exceptionally well with his [Mana Shaping] skill and [Mana Strengthening] skill.

However, after pondering for a while, he concluded that the layered mana shield skill would provide the best value for his overall combat style. The skill itself was quite practical. However, the primary reason he wanted to acquire it was its strong synergy with his [Mana Scrambling] and [Mana Blast] skills.

In fact, it would become pivotal in engineering mana-scrambling bombs. That’s what he decided to call the payload construct he deployed against Therin.

Alaric grinned. I cannot wait to hurl mana-scrambling bombs left and right at monsters once I advance my mana core to a sufficient level. He selected the layered mana shield skill option and checked the skill description.

Congratulations! You have learned the skill [Layered Mana Shield] (Uncommon).

[Layered Mana Shield lvl 1]

Layered Mana Shield: You can rapidly construct densely layered mana shields, significantly increasing their durability compared to standard barriers. This allows for faster deployment and improved resilience, making defenses more effective against sustained or powerful attacks. Higher skill levels enhance layering efficiency, stability, and overall shield strength.

Alaric activated his new skill to form a layered mana shield around his body. Unlike before, he no longer had to construct each shield layer individually. He could now forge a shield with multiple layers simultaneously.

He could also regulate the gaps between the mana shield layers more effectively. One benefit of such a shield design was that if an attack managed to breach the outer layer, he wouldn’t lose all his defense at once.

The skill harmonized well with his [Mana Shaping] skill, allowing him to infuse the gaps in the mana layers with pliable mana, making the construct more durable and shock absorbent.

I still have to experiment with the shield’s performance during a battle. Alaric was eager to plunge into the Tutorial Rift right away. However, he restrained that thought since he sensed the presence of a familiar gaze lingering on him.

Alaric slowly turned around with a smirk. “You have a thing for people-watching, don’t you?” he said.

A black shadow materialized from behind the curtains. Edgar fixed his glasses, grinning. “You never cease to amaze me with your detection skills.” He kept gazing as if anticipating an answer.

Alaric simply shrugged. “You just need to refine your stealth ability.” Of course, Alaric knew Edgar wasn’t actually trying to be stealthy. It was just a joke.

The head butler scrunched up his brows in mock disdain. ”Cheeky kid, you’re getting too overconfident with your victories.” He smirked and extended a hand for Alaric to take. “Come, let me bring you down a peg. You still have much to learn.”

So, that’s why you are here? Alaric smirked. Edgar and probably the count as well were concerned that his recent victories would inflate his ego. They didn’t want him to slack off on training due to overconfidence.

They’re trying to teach me a lesson, just like I wanted to teach Therin.

He was amused but nonetheless clasped Edgar’s hand. The next moment, both of them arrived at the Whispering Woods training grounds. Nobody else was present at that moment.

Edgar gestured for Alaric to step into the duel arena. He looked unusually pleased today. Alaric chuckled. The man is probably in the mood for some fun.

“I’ll restrict my powers to Peak Tier 1 today,” said Edgar. “Try to defeat me.”

So, you’re throwing down a challenge? Fine by me. Alaric cracked his neck and confidently strode into the ring. “And, what would be my reward if I manage to defeat you?”

Edgar looked surprised for a moment before releasing a smile. So, you didn’t even entertain the idea of me defeating you?

Alaric could see what Edgar was trying to achieve. He had never unleashed his full powers when sparring with Edgar before since there was no point — he couldn’t win.

Now that Edgar had declared he would limit his powers, it tempted Alaric to go all out. He wanted Alaric to showcase the same skills he had used against Rowan and Therin.

Fine, I’ll give you exactly what you want. He lunged at the head butler, and both of them clashed.